Cole introduces anthropology as a multifaceted lens, a way for students to see the world and themselves from varied perspectives. The focus on friendship allows students to look closely at the anatomy of bigotry and discrimination, as well as how individual attitudes and behaviors shape changes in the organization of society. While there is no society that is totally free of all forms of discrimination, we have examples of societies that have seriously attacked systems of inequality. Certainly, our own has dealt with racial issues in terms of ending an era of formal segregation. South Africa's attack on apartheid would be another stunning example.
Literature is considered an important approach to the topic.
Students read Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom, Toni Morrison's Sula and other selected articles. Tuesdays illuminates a very special relationship that cuts across age and involves a teacher instructing his former student about life through the experience of his approaching death. Sula raises issues that are often ignored, like the question of class differences among African Americans. The principle characters, Nel and Sula, share age, race and gender, but not class-the most significant challenge to their friendship. Students benefit from their professor's extensive research on the topic.