Claude Levi-Strauss’s Structural Anthropology contends that distance and details separate world cultures—and not much else. High schoolers watch a short explanatory video to learn more about the theory of structuralism, the societial pursuit of reconciling binary opposites, and the commonalities of basic human needs in every culture.

Concepts

cultural diversity, diversity, human needs, human nature, world cultures, anthropology

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Additional Tags

social studies

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Instructional Ideas

• Flip the classroom by assigning the video as a homework assignment and discussing the main points in class the next day
• Use the video as a basic introduction to an anthropology unit when discussing commonalities across culture
• Include Levi-Strauss's text as a source in a larger anthropology project

Classroom Considerations

• Access the full video analysis at the publisher's website
• Use full-screen mode to avoid showing the comment section of the video

• This video is hosted on YouTube

Pros

• Employs an understandable analogy of two different toy factories to describe multiple cultures
• Animation is engaging for all reading levels

Cons

• None

Common Core

RH.9-10.2 RH.9-10.9 RH.11-12.2 RH.11-12.9