Teaching and Learning Anthropology

The COVID-19 pandemic has introduced myriad challenges for teaching anthropology and has altered the academic landscape for years to come. However, it has also brought new opportunities for improving coursework with creative digital methods and online resources. Can an entire anthropology course be taught using only freely available web-based materials? If so, what could it look like? I embarked on this digital learning experiment hoping to create open educational resources (OERs) that could be shared and adapted by anthropology instructors. Aimed at introducing students to the fundamentals of cultural anthropology, Ethnographic Insights Across Cultures is an engaging 13-week syllabus supported by carefully curated readings, videos, and activities. I reflect on designing these resources as adaptable tools for online or hybrid learning during the pandemic and share feedback from instructors and students who have used them. Finally, I suggest that flexible approaches to education implemented out of necessity to buffer the uncertainty and disruption of a global public health crisis will continue to have long-term effects on teaching and learning anthropology.