Anthropology provides insight into human societies, cultures, and behaviors across time and place. For teens who want to know what it means to be human, these resources offer some exciting ways to examine cultural diversity, human evolution, and social behavior. From immersive experiences to online resources, each of these resources gives students a way to explore anthropological study.
1. AAA Junior Anthropologist Award Program
The Junior Anthropologist Award by the American Anthropological Association provides free membership opportunities for elementary, middle, and high school students interested in anthropology. Awardees will receive free membership in the AAA until high school graduation, including membership benefits such as Anthropology News magazine and online access to AnthroSource digital library. The awardee will also be provided membership in the National Association of Student Anthropologists to connect young learners and anthropologists across the country. The National Association of Student Anthropologists also includes other great teaching materials, open access textbooks, and information about internships for high school students. The Junior Anthropologist Award especially provides students interested in people, culture, and history an early opportunity to explore anthropology as a potential career.
2. SAPIENS Anthropology Magazine
SAPIENS is an independent digital magazine about "everything human," highlighting the field of anthropology through storytelling rather than being purely academic. This outlet is an approachable way to present complex anthropological ideas to young people, taking complex learning and making it accessible through entertaining articles. This magazine covers a wide range of ideas and themes - from cultural practices to human evolution, and is written by anthropologists or science journalists. SAPIENS offers written pieces but also many multimedia forms such as podcasts and videos that add to their writing but also help with understanding the anthropological research they are sharing. The magazine is particularly concerned with being relatable to today's readers, illustrating the relevance of anthropological observations, ideas and recent research to aspects of many contemporary global issues, the larger social conditions, and the challenges we currently face as a global society. The stories can range from discoveries made at archeological sites to contemporary human behavior, allowing for greater scope and identity of anthropology.
3. Royal Anthropological Institute Online Courses
The Royal Anthropological Institute has developed a specialized 10 session Introduction to Anthropology course for children and young people. The course includes units on biological anthropology and on cultural anthropology, asking for example what it means to be human in different societies around the globe. The course is targeted at school age learners who are thinking about studying anthropology or related social science subjects at university. Students consent to enrolling in the course to provide them access to the RAI Anthropology Library, which has a range of books and resources to support their research. Additionally, the course operates on a flexible price model. Included in this model are bursaries to give all students access to anthropology, regardless of their background. The course covers a range of topics including social anthropology, cultures, identity, fieldwork, migration, and applied anthropology.
4. Anthropology Podcasts Collection
Diversity of anthropological podcasts is offering the coming generations a way to learn about human cultures and societies. SAPIENS: A Podcast for Everything Human ventures from all around stories about chili pepper origins to pluralism in criminal justice decisions. This Anthro Life marries human insights with cultural storytelling to revolutionize how we understand the human creatures in question. The AnthroBiology Podcast covers biological anthropology with a focus on evolutionary history and revealing what the bones speak about humans. Direct interviews with noted scholars and frontier researchers: enriching anthropology through engaging audio content. Episodes run from 30 to 70 minutes, the right time length for teens to listen on the way to school.
5. Phoebe A. Hearst Museum Field Trips
The Hearst Museum's "We Are All Anthropologists" program uses authentic anthropological tools and methods with 6th graders. Students gain behind-the-scenes access to the research facilities of UC Berkeley and create objects based on a selected study of the museum's diverse collection. The program examines ancient Egypt, enabling students to refine their anthropological thinking about ancient civilizations. Students take a field trip with the option of a utilitarian tour of the UC Berkeley campus. The field trips are intended to foster empathy, curiosity, attention to detail, and perspective-taking skills. The program fee is $10 per student with free admission for Title I students; transportation funding may be available from any number of educational organizations in the Bay Area.
6. AAA Virtual High School Internship
Every spring the American Anthropological Association offers virtual internships for high school students interested in anthropological research . Each of these internships provides students with direct exposure to professional-level anthropological work and research methodologies . Students work in partnership with established anthropologists, and are introduced to all of the subfields of the discipline. Since these internships are virtual, they are accessible to students everywhere . Not only do students gain research skills while participating in anthropological projects, but the internship also makes them a great candidate for pursuing anthropology as a college major or a career.
7. Teaching Anthropology Blog Resources
The Teaching Anthropology website contains numerous resources for learning important anthropology concepts . "Discover Anthropology" includes a large extensive library of museum collections, newspaper articles, radio programs and podcast episodes providing museum content relevant to anthropology . "AnthroSchools" provides open access extracurricular teaching resources connecting anthropology back to national curriculum subjects such as Biology, Geography, History and Psychology . "Teaching Sapiens" provides free educational resources, organized into four theme topics that reflect the main branches of anthropology, Archaeology, Biological, Linguistic and Cultural Anthropology. Within each of the units there are SAPIENS articles, keywords, discussion questions, activities, and other resources for further learning and exploring . All of these resources allow anthropological learning to go beyond the confines of traditional classroom settings .
8. National Geographic Teen Expeditions
National Geographic is offering expeditions and field workshops for high school students wanting to explore anthropology. They offer students programming ranging from archaeology, photography, wildlife conservation, and even community service experience. Expedition locations include Tanzania, Ecuador & the Galapagos Islands, and New Zealand. Field workshops are offered at Monterey Bay, Tuscany, and Yellowstone National Park. Each programming option allows students to participate in hands-on anthropological methods and immersive cultural experience. Students are working with National Geographic staff while also learning from in-the-field, experienced researchers.
9. University of Queensland Online Anthropology Course
World101x: Anthropology of Current World Issues is a free online course that presents anthropology and current global issues. With content covering a variety of topics, including refugees, indigeneity, multiculturalism in Australia and what everyday objects signify in various cultures, students will learn to examine anthropological perspectives to gain new perspectives on current world issues. The course has interviews with influential anthropologists along with footage from various fieldworks in different parts of the world. The first offering itself has over 16,000 students with 182 countries represented. The self-paced format means students can not feel rushed to go through the materials.
10. Anthropology Virtual Reality Experiences
Virtual reality technologies allow teens to experience aspects of an anthropological field experience and engage with culture in ways that allow them to leave the classroom. Students may interact with VR headsets as they practice participant observation in new, unfamiliar environments and improve those skills through making observations and asking logistical and pragmatic questions. The technology can enhance their experience of socializing and potentially conducting ethnographic research in environments they may or may not be able to access in person.Students are practicing taking observation notes and building theories similar to anthropologists would in the field.
The resources available for youth are multiple and inform them of various ways that English Speaking young adults can access anthropology as academic or career programs or even for articulated storytelling mediums. The resources offer youth a range of exciting options related to engaging in your chosen pathway... There can be academic or creative platforms examining diverse human cultures and cultural complexity through either virtual reality experiences, museums, or interesting anthropological-themed podcasts. Exploring these options as a curious anthropological-minded teen would represent the diversity of anthropology and better appreciate the pathways between anthropology, and potential engagement in a post-secondary studies program or career pathway.
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