In studying this course, students will come to appreciate how Anthropology as a discipline contributes to an understanding of contemporary issues, such as war and conflict, the environment, poverty, injustice, inequality and human and cultural rights. The study of Social and Cultural Anthropology offers critical insight into the continuities as well as dynamics of social change and the development of societies, and challenges cultural assumptions. Students undertaking this course will have the opportunity to become acquainted with anthropological perspectives and ways of thinking, and to develop critical, reflexive knowledge. Social and Cultural Anthropology contributes to a distinctive approach to intercultural awareness and understanding. It allows students to develop the capacity to recognize preconceptions and assumptions of their own social and cultural environments, through an exploration of both the familiar and unfamiliar worlds of other people.