It is commonly understood that the end the nineteenth century and early twentieth century marked the beginning of the social sciences as disciplines. Yet, the study of peoples and societies has deeper roots, starting with early modern global expeditions and European territorial expansion.  Emphasizing the links between anthropological knowledge and political power, this seminar contextualizes the early beginnings of social studies in the attempt to comprehend new territories and peoples during the Age of Discovery. The cultural encounters in Asia and the Americas encouraged the development of critical theoretical and practical tools that were necessary to understand indigenous societies and humanity more broadly. These included reliance on ethnographical fieldworks, the use of empirical approaches and methods, and the creation of institutions for accumulating and analyzing anthropological data. The seminar aims to present the development of the study of humanity from the end of the sixteenth century to the end of the eighteenth century, a period which is identified both with European dominance in the world, and scientific and technological breakthroughs. 

The first part of the seminar provides a philosophical and sociological introduction to the study of the native peoples through the works of modern thinkers (including Michel de Certeau, Michel Foucault and Clifford Geertz). Later, we will examine key themes and approaches that evolved during the period under study, such as the comparative approach to culture, “evolutionary” models for social development, the origin of religious studies, the connection between ethnography and colonial regimes, monogenism and polygenism, climatic and environmental determinism, racism and proto-eugenics. We will ask how concepts such as culture and religion evolved as a consequence of the development of ethnographic methods. Additionally, we will consider how ethnographic knowledge shaped the ideas of enlightenment thinkers who sought to explain the natural development of humanity.