ANTHR-350 Anthropology of Play: Toys and the Politics of Playfulness
This course examines play as a serious social, cultural, and political practice. Drawing on anthropological theories of ritual, performance, materiality, affect, and infrastructure, we explore how play organizes social life across contexts, from children’s games and sports to toys, anime, video games, trading cards, and digital platforms. Rather than treating play as trivial or escapist, the course approaches it as a domain through which identities are formed, communities are sustained, economies are structured, and power is negotiated.
Seminar (12)
Credits
1