Royal Anthropological Institute

The Royal Anthropological Institute’s Education programme, Discover Anthropology, has been set up to develop actions and strategies to inform teachers and young people about anthropology as a university subject, and to bring the subject more generally into pre-university education. Anthropology, the study of what it means to be human across different societies, cultures and histories, is not currently taught in schools and colleges in the UK and compared to other social sciences, anthropology undergraduate degrees attract fewer students from widening participation target groups. Yet the discipline of anthropology has a distinctive, and vital, contribution to make to understanding the world today. Anthropology offers a deep understanding of what we share in common as a species, how different societies work, how people live, their beliefs, customs, ideas, prejudices and aspirations. In an era when global understanding and recognition of diverse ways of seeing the world are of critical social, political and economic importance, anthropology has a central role to play in education.

Overview

As part of the RAI’s Education Outreach Programme, we are looking for new creative ways to encourage young people to engage with Anthropology. Currently the Education Officer is developing a website called Discover Anthropology which aims to provide information, teaching and learning materials for anyone interested in finding out more the subject. The website will be launched in July/August 2009. As part of its development, the RAI would like to publish outstanding work from members of the general public, students, and teachers, in order to enrich the website itself, and promote public engagement in the RAI’s educational outreach activities.

The cartoon competition is part of a series of new initiatives to be launched by the Education Outreach Programme. We hope these activities will provide opportunities for people with a passion for anthropology to share their work and take an active involvement in the discipline.