Twenty-first century anthropology has seen an ‘ontological turn’ or ‘turns’, or more broadly, the emergence of anthropologies of ontology. Increasingly, a variety of anthropological discourses invoking the concept of ontology have come into dialogue, yet ontology-oriented approaches remain diverse. Over the past decade, these discourses have been sites of divisive debate, strong contestation, pointed polemic, and at times personal critique. In the wake of these debates, and keeping them in view, this course aims to illuminate current work around ontology by reading three recent and influential books, each of which takes a distinctive anthropological approach to questions of being.