ANTH186

Arts & Sciences

ANTH

186

This introductory course explores the true crime genre through an anthropological lens, with a focus on critical thinking, ethics, and advocacy. True crime narratives will be considered, not simply as entertainment, but as lived experiences that reflect and shape our understandings of humanity, morality, and justice. Students will evaluate true crime content laterally, from current to historical cases, to elucidate how storytelling can vastly influence, and potentially bias, the portrayal of victims and perpetrators in terms of guilt and innocence, and how this has changed over time. Students will learn to decipher between content that is sensationalized or exploitative versus that which is victim-centered, trauma-informed, and acts to further justice. Case studies of violent crimes will feature intersectional identities of individuals who are disproportionately represented as victims, such as women, the LGBTQ+ community, BIPOC, the unhoused, and sex trade workers. Intersectionality and wrongful convictions will also be considered. The importance of social movements such as Black and Missing, Lavender Rights, and Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives will be emphasized. This course satisfies the Core Curriculum Information Literacy (CILT) flag.