Courses and Syllabi
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Anthropology Courses
Undergraduate
100-Level Courses in ANTH
Overview of major ideas and approaches to the study of cultures around the world. Surveys kinship, social organization, political economy, religious beliefs, language and other aspects of non-Western cultures. Limited to three attempts.
Introduction to archeology and bioanthropology. Explore issues and debates in human biological evolution, prehistory and social change, as well as lab and field methods for understanding archaeological remains. Limited to three attempts.
Uses an evolutionary perspective to introduce students to the study of humans and non-human primates as biological organisms. The course will analyze the genetic and environmental bases for modern human biological variation, understand primate behavior and biological relationships, and reconstruct the fossil record. Discussions about prehistoric skeletal remains will emphasize biological responses to changes in subsistence and social structure. Limited to three attempts.
300-Level Courses in ANTH
Cross-cultural and transtemporal examination of complex societies and civilizations. Explores developmental schema for rise, articulation, spread, and decline of historic and contemporary civilizations. Limited to three attempts.
Examines Latin American cultures and selected aspects of historical record. Limited to three attempts.
Examines the peoples and cultures of ancient Mesoamerica, including Olmec, Maya, Teotihuacan, and Aztec societies. Major topics include the rise of civilization, the development of the Mesoamerican cultural tradition, the growth of cities, trade, exchange, writing systems, political organization, religion, conflict, and the archaeological study of this indigenous heritage. Limited to three attempts.
Examines the anthropological literature on peoples and cultures of the Middle East, with particular attention to political and social change over the course of the 20th century. Limited to three attempts.
Examination of South Asia, with emphasis on India. Includes general overview of prehistory and history; impact of colonialism; contemporary Indian culture, including the changing relations of caste and class, family organization, and the roles of women, religion, and ideology; and current trends in economic development and socioeconomic differences in different parts of the country. Limited to three attempts.
Examines cultural and ecological contexts of political structures and competition for power in selected societies; and cross-cultural and comparative approaches to study of political conflict, leadership, values, and symbolism. Limited to three attempts.
Examines religion as a cultural system. Topics include mythology, ritual, symbolism, and dogma. Emphasizes cross-cultural and predominantly non-Western material. Limited to three attempts.
Explores how human beings across cultures have historically expressed social anxieties through references to the one particular manifestation of the undead: zombies, figures representing a state in which human beings are animate and affective in the world around them, but lack consciousness or free will. Limited to three attempts.
Explores the complex and distance-defying connections shaping Africa and being shaped by Africans on the continent. Emphasizes the diversity and change characterizing peoples who are at the center of world processes. Topics include popular representations of Africa and Africans, colonial and postcolonial histories, gender, money, family, religion, environment, and health. Limited to three attempts.
Examines materials, theories, and methods of archaeology derived from and applied to historical sites, as they complement archival records. Limited to three attempts.
Examines origin and nature of conflict in human society with an emphasis on the ancient past. Major topics include the possible role of violence in human evolution, cross-cultural studies of conflict in indigenous society, warfare in early states, and sacrifice as a ritual practice. Limited to three attempts.
Intensive study of archaeological field techniques by directed group projects in site survey, site testing, recording techniques, and stratigraphy through discussions, demonstrations, and hands-on experience. May be repeated within the term for a maximum 6 credits.
Examines cultures of a specific region such as Africa and the Middle East. Focuses primarily on non-Western cultures. Limited to three attempts.
Introduction to causes and consequences of forced dislocation as a global issue. Covers formally recognized refugees, as well as people such as internally displaced persons and asylum seekers who are in refugee-like circumstances. Focuses on understanding the personal experiences of refugees and examining efforts on their behalf at national and international levels. Limited to three attempts.
Examines the varieties of cultural experience. Several cultures are studied in depth; with attention to local histories, global contexts, and shifting perspectives on the practice of ethnography. Notes: May be used for credit toward the BA in sociology. Limited to three attempts.
Considers the dimensions and meanings of the immigrant experience in the United States, with a focus on the diversity of immigrants and refugees who have arrived during the past 30 years. Emphasis on the social context in which immigration occurs and on the bearing of institutional and cultural influences on patterns of adaptation, assimilation, and exclusion from the host society. Limited to three attempts.
Domains of religion and ritual are conjoined by questions of power: its deployment, distribution, and forms of resistance it engenders. Course investigates connections among religious thought, ritual practice, and social action by drawing on a variety of theoretical orientations in the social sciences including structuralism, semiotics, and performance theory. Limited to three attempts.
Introduces human developmental stages in terms of behavior, biology, and genetics. Addresses the history and methods of human growth research. Explores the environmental and socioeconomic influences on human growth. Investigates the evolution of uniqueness in human developmental stages of the human species in comparison of other primates. Limited to three attempts.
Explores the fossil evidence for human and primate evolution. Exposes students to evidence for the origins of mammals and primates, and to discussions of human evolution. Uses human fossils as tools to understand evolutionary relationships (phylogenetics), behavior, functional anatomy, and broader adaptation. Limited to three attempts.
Introduces students to the study of human skeletal remains and their associated archaeological artifacts, focusing on using the human skeleton to address behavior, growth, stress, ritual, social complexity, diet, disease, and violence in the past. Uses the human body and associated artifacts to provide a detailed analysis of cultural transitions, expression of socioeconomic inequality, the origins of ritual complexity, violence, and disease. Limited to three attempts.
Explores human health and disease from anthropological and evolutionary perspectives. Examines what a disease is, what causes them, how we have co-evolved with diseases, how disease patterns have changed over human history, and the future of disease. Limited to three attempts.
Explores scientific methods of classification as a reflection of social values. Explains the harms of “race” and eugenics committed under the aegis of science. While critiquing the biological concept of race, considers how the social construction of race becomes part of living bodies through racism. Details modern human variation as a product of evolutionary forces. Limited to three attempts.
Explores the relationship between diet and human adaptation from biological, archaeological, cultural, and evolutionary perspectives. Examines how humans are unique in our ability to find and process a wide range of foods. Introduces agriculture as a co-evolutionary strategy between humans and other species. Limited to three attempts.
Examines relationships among environment, culture, and human behavior with an emphasis on cultural ecological explanations in mainly non-Western contexts. Limited to three attempts.
Use of ethnographic, archaeological, linguistic, and documentary data, in light of anthropological theory, to interpret the past and processes of change among indigenous peoples throughout the world. Limited to three attempts.
Examines a variety of experiences through foods, which bring not only nutritional but also sociocultural debates to our table (e.g. identity, memory, senses, ethnicity, gender, geopolitics, climate change, and globalization). Focuses on both Western and non-Western cultures. Limited to three attempts.
Focuses on the study of burial patterns and death rituals in antiquity by introducing students to the methods of burial excavation, examining the history of mortuary archaeology theory and engagement with processual and postprocessual schools of thought, and examining case studies from around the world to decode the complex symbolisms encoded in burial practices. Limited to three attempts.
Provides an introduction to anthropology of human's relationship with animals across a large geographic and temporal span. From domestication of animals to animism, pets and animal classification systems, course explores society's attitudes toward and dynamic interactions with the animal kingdom. Limited to three attempts.
Examines 12,000 years of pre-Hispanic cultures of the Andean region of western South America. Focuses on the development and key achievements of some of the most remarkable civilizations of the New World, including the Chavin, Paracas, Cupisnique, Moche, Sicán, Nasca, Chimú, Wari, and lnka. Considers as well the nature, priorities, and accomplishments of scientific Andean archaeology. Limited to three attempts.
Anthropological analyses of language behavior, origins, and change. Emphasizes the interplay of language, culture, anthropology, and linguistics. Limited to three attempts.
Surveys the discipline of medical anthropology, focusing on traditional medical beliefs and the diverse responses to modern scientific medicine in developing countries and among cultural minorities in the United States. Limited to three attempts.
Uses tools and resources of sociocultural anthropology to study life in cities in a
comparative, global context, including topics such as poverty, discrimination,
migration, transnationalism, and urban planning. Case studies draw from
different urban environments in Asia, Latin America, Europe, Africa, and North
America. Limited to three attempts.
Introduces students to statistical methods used in anthropology. Emphasizes appropriate and creative application of statistical tests to anthropological problems and careful interpretation of results. Explores methods used to compare means, variances, and correlations within and between samples. Provides instruction on methods used in anthropological demography. Builds fluency in the use of statistical software. Limited to three attempts.
Explores the methods and theories applied in zooarchaeology through integrating hands-on assignments working with a comparative collection. Examines how archaeologists can understand human-animal relationships in the past including their role in reconstructing paleoenvironments, their contribution to ancient foodways, domestication of animals, and ritual uses of fauna. Limited to three attempts.
Introduces students to the methods of modern human skeletal analysis in bio- and forensic anthropology. Covers introductory human skeletal and dental gross anatomy and describes analytical techniques spanning including age and sex estimation, osteometry, and paleopathology. Limited to three attempts.
Laboratory course associated with ANTH 388. Limited to three attempts.
Overview of the major theoretical traditions and schools of thought in anthropology. Notes: Required for Anthropology majors, and for students applying to the Accelerated Master's program in Anthropology. Limited to three attempts.
Human remains play key roles in medicolegal investigations. Provides an overview of contemporary forensic anthropology including age and sex estimation from human remains, estimation of the time since death, analysis of sharp force, blunt force, and gunshot trauma, mass disaster contexts, and the forensic archaeological recovery of buried remains. Limited to three attempts.
This lab class in the companion to ANTH 391. Involves hands-on lab exercises in the learning of methods in modern forensic anthropology, covering age and sex estimation from human remains, estimation of the time since death, analysis of traumatic trauma, individual identification, and archaeological recovery of buried remains. Limited to three attempts.
Provides an introduction to the field of paleopathology which involves
identification of pathological conditions in human skeletal remains, and
reconstruction of the natural history and co-evolution of disease with humans.
Covers the differential diagnosis and history of infectious pathogens, skeletal
trauma, oral diseases, metabolic abnormalities, developmental defects, and more. Limited to three attempts.
Introduction to the anthropology of work, technology, and society, with emphasis on information technology. Covers general conceptual issues of information technology and also involves specific practical exercises with computers, their operating systems, the logic of automated production, databases, and web-based communication. Attention also directed to social and ethical issues raised by contemporary information technology. Limited to three attempts.
Topic of contemporary interest in anthropology, focusing on social science topics of interest. Notes: May be repeated when topic is different. May be repeated within the term for a maximum 18 credits.
Field project or study abroad experience leading to the production of a written report Notes: May be repeated with permission of department. May be repeated within the degree for a maximum 6 credits.
Topic of contemporary interest in anthropology, changing from semester to semester, and focusing on topics such as sex roles, anthropology and ethics, and primate social organization. Notes: May be repeated for credit when topic is different. May be repeated within the term.
400-Level Courses in ANTH
Examines selected topics with emphasis on the integration of different kinds of knowledge and the balancing of alternative ways of assessing meaning and relevance. Topics usually drawn from issues of global economic processes, civic rights and responsibilities, ethics, museums, public policy, the environment, and migration. Notes: May be repeated when topic is different. May be repeated within the term for a maximum 9 credits.
Examines the needs and problems of communities and organizations and develops professional skills for a career in applied anthropology. Topics include the history of applied anthropology, research methods and ethics, fields in which applied anthropologists work, career options, and professionalization. Students prepare a career portfolio and other documents common in the workplace for applied anthropologists. Limited to three attempts.
Explores some of the most useful nonquantitative research techniques in social sciences and offers practice in their application. Limited to three attempts.
Examines how gender, sexuality, race, and class come together as analytically distinct, yet practically intertwined, systems of meaning and practice. Examples highlight questions of political economy and history while focusing on specific ethnographic or historical readings. Limited to three attempts.
Second of a two-course sequence that reviews major theoretical traditions and schools of thought in anthropology. Notes: Required for anthropology majors and usually taken as a senior seminar. Limited to three attempts.
Supervised project in applying anthropology in relevant settings including public and historical archaeology, developmental anthropology, museums, non-profit organizations, advocacy, communications, or consulting organizations. Notes: Students must complete 45 hours of work at the internship site for each credit. May be repeated within the degree for a maximum 6 credits.
Considers evolution as a biological as well as cultural concept. Parallels and contrasts among conceptual approaches allow a critique of the potential of evolution as a unifying biosocial theory. Limited to three attempts.
Individual research on a topic to be organized in advance by student and instructor. May be repeated within the term for a maximum 12 credits.
Topics in ANTH
Topic of contemporary interest in anthropology, focusing on social science topics of interest. Notes: May be repeated when topic is different. May be repeated within the term for a maximum 18 credits.
Field project or study abroad experience leading to the production of a written report Notes: May be repeated with permission of department. May be repeated within the degree for a maximum 6 credits.
Topic of contemporary interest in anthropology, changing from semester to semester, and focusing on topics such as sex roles, anthropology and ethics, and primate social organization. Notes: May be repeated for credit when topic is different. May be repeated within the term.
Graduate
500-Level Courses in ANTH
Examines some of the major theorists of 19th- and early 20th-century cultural theory. Marx, Freud, Durkheim, and Weber are surveyed as foundational thinkers for reading the works of such 20th-century theorists as Boas, Malinowski, Benedict, and Sapir. May not be repeated for credit.
Examines contemporary theorists of anthropology, covering ongoing debates over epistemology and the multiple strands that inform anthropological theory and practice. May not be repeated for credit.
Domains of religion and politics are conjoined by questions of power: its deployment, distribution, and forms of resistance it engenders. Course investigates connections among religious thought, ritual practice, and political action by drawing on a variety of theoretical orientations in the social sciences including structuralism, semiotics, psychoanalysis, and performance theory. May not be repeated for credit.
Examines the relevance of cultural processes to policymaking and the culture of policymaking organizations. Topics include development, welfare policy, environmental and energy policy, regulation and risk; health care and immigration policy; and the war on drugs. May not be repeated for credit.
Introduces human developmental stages in terms of behavior, biology, and genetics. Addresses the history and methods of human growth research. Explores the environmental and socioeconomic influences on human growth. Investigates the evolution of uniqueness in human developmental stages of the human species in comparison of other primates. May not be repeated for credit.
Explores the fossil evidence for human and primate evolution. Exposes students to evidence for the origins of mammals and primates, and to discussions of human evolution. Uses human fossils as tools to understand evolutionary relationships (phylogenetics), behavior, functional anatomy, and broader adaptation. May not be repeated for credit.
Examines 12,000 years of pre-Hispanic cultures of the Andean region of western South America - that constituted the most remarkable complex civilizations of the New World. Focuses on the development and key achievements of the Chavin, Paracas, Cupisnique, Moche, Sican, Nasca, Chimu, Wari, and lnka cultures, and the nature, priorities, and accomplishments of scientific Andean archaeology. May not be repeated for credit.
Examines U.S. cultures and explores concept of an American culture. Course readings and discussions explore underpinnings of the American experience, document broad historical shifts, and detail the experience of diverse groups of Americans, thus forming the basis for a critical, analytical, and comparative discussion of American life and life in America. May not be repeated for credit.
Focuses on the study of burial patterns and death rituals in antiquity by introducing students to the methods of burial excavation, examining the history of mortuary archaeology theory and engagement with processual and postprocessual schools of thought, and examining case studies from around the world to decode the complex symbolisms encoded in burial practices. May not be repeated for credit.
Provides an introduction to anthropology of human's relationship with animals across a large geographic and temporal span. From domestication of animals to animism, pets and animal classification systems, course explores society's attitudes toward and dynamic interactions with the animal kingdom. May not be repeated for credit.
Covers major theoretical trends and ethnographic works in environmental anthropology, focusing on the frameworks developed and used by environmental anthropologists, including cultural ecology, ecological anthropology, environmentalism, political ecology, new ecology, and science and technology studies. Explores how environmental anthropologists have contributed to broader debates about modernity, globalization, power, kinship, science and technology, and human-environmental relations. May not be repeated for credit.
Introduces students to the methods of modern human skeletal analysis in bioarchaeological and forensic science. Covers introductory human skeletal and dental gross anatomy and describes analytical techniques spanning including age and sex estimation, osteometry, and paleopathology. May not be repeated for credit.
Laboratory course associated with ANTH 582. May not be repeated for credit.
Provides an introduction to the field of paleopathology which involves identification of pathological conditions in human skeletal remains, and reconstruction of the natural history and co-evolution of disease with humans. Covers the differential diagnosis and history of infectious pathogens such as tuberculosis and syphilis, skeletal trauma, oral diseases, metabolic abnormalities neoplasms developmental defects joint disease and more. May not be repeated for credit.
Explores the cutting-edge methods of bioarchaeological science and reconstructs ancient living worlds from the remarkable information encoded in bones via patterns of demography, disease, diet, trauma, violence, lifestyle, social structures, sex and gender, ethnicity, and identities on a global scale and over the last 10,000 years of history. May not be repeated for credit.
Introduces students to statistical methods used in anthropology. Emphasizes appropriate and creative application of statistical tests to anthropological problems and careful interpretation of results. Explores methods used to compare means, variances, and correlations within and between samples. Provides instruction on methods used in anthropological demography. Builds fluency in the use of statistical software. May not be repeated for credit.
Provides an overview of contemporary forensic anthropology. Topics include: age and sex estimation from human remains, estimation of the postmortem interval, analysis of sharp force, blunt force, and gunshot trauma, individual identification, forensic taphonomy, mass disaster contexts, and the forensic archaeological recovery of buried remains. May not be repeated for credit.
Laboratory course associated with ANTH 590. Involves hands-on lab exercises in the learning of methods in modern forensic anthropology, covering age and sex estimation from human remains, estimation of postmortem intervals, analyses of traumatic trauma, individual identification, forensic taphonomy, and archaeological recovery of buried remains. May not be repeated for credit.
Explores the methods and theories applied in zooarchaeology through integrating hands-on assignments working with a comparative collection. Examines how archaeologists can understand human-animal relationships in the past including their role in reconstructing paleoenvironments, their contribution to ancient foodways, domestication of animals, and ritual uses of fauna. May not be repeated for credit.
600-Level Courses in ANTH
Explores the changing relations between culture, indigenous groups, representation and knowledge by examining how meaning is created and conveyed in museums and exhibits. May not be repeated for credit.
Examines classic and contemporary works in urban theory, in light of broader scholarly discussions of modernity and globalization. Uses a case-study approach to analyze topics such as: public and private space, citizenship and governance, architecture and design, housing, transportation, formal and informal settlements, and the contest over space and environmental resources in cities around the world. Notes: Course may be offered fall or spring. May not be repeated for credit.
Human societies have always engaged in complex political relations and economic exchanges. The cultural meanings people create are shaped by, and in turn shape, systems of power. Political economy is the attempt to understand the relationship between politics and economics, at the juncture of local meanings and global histories. Course reviews major works and models of political economy, especially as they relate to social and cultural analysis. May not be repeated for credit.
Examines theoretical approaches in archaeology, paleoanthropology, and biological anthropology. May not be repeated for credit.
Explores major refugee flows since the mid-20th century, emphasizing mechanisms for providing assistance, asylum, and resettlement. May not be repeated for credit.
International migration in the contemporary world, focusing on the full range of economic, political, and social reasons for migration and the effects of different national policies on that process. May not be repeated for credit.
In-depth study of peoples and cultures of a specific world region (Latin America, East Asia, the Pacific, or United States). Content may include cultures defined by diaspora, migration, and other global forces and processes. Notes: May be repeated when topic is different. May be repeated within the degree for a maximum 6 credits.
Explores the application of contemporary anthropological ideas, theories, and methods to find solutions to practical problems as defined by various organizations and institutions including business, government, nongovernmental organizations, and various institutions. May not be repeated for credit.
Reviews and examines major research methods commonly employed in cultural anthropological field study, with emphasis on ethnographic research design and the use of standard ethnographic techniques. Includes practice in designing ethnographic research project and using ethnographic methods and techniques in a field setting. May not be repeated for credit.
Explores different approaches to understanding the interaction of nationalism, transnationalism, and states given the apparently simultaneous dissolution of demographic, economic and cultural borders, and modernist social science paradigms. May not be repeated for credit.
Regional survey of specific culture area in archaeology to be chosen by student and instructor. May not be repeated for credit.
Considers anthropological approaches to the study of history, the ways in which people construct their histories, and social historians' effort to incorporate anthropological and ethnographic orientations into their accounts. Attention to tensions between culture and power in the constitution of historiography and to methodological challenges of interpreting qualitative and quantitative data. May not be repeated for credit.
Directed reading and research on a specific topic, agreed on by student and faculty member, resulting in a written project. May be repeated for maximum of 6 credits. May be repeated within the degree for a maximum 6 credits.
Explores the wide variety of cultural interpretations of health, illness, and curing. Examines a number of different curing systems, both traditional and modern, and compares them with cosmopolitan biomedicine. Several book-length case studies cover a wide variety of cultural groups, health topics, and theoretical orientations. May not be repeated for credit.
All internships must be approved by faculty advisor to ensure suitability to the student's course of study. Introduction to applied anthropology through approved work and study at a museum, institute, agency, or other approved site. May be repeated within the term for a maximum 6 credits.
Intended for participation in formally organized course offered by Center for Global Education or an overseas institution or engagement in a field project related to the Master's thesis or project. May be repeated for a maximum of 6 credits. May be repeated within the degree for a maximum 6 credits.
Explores current issues and debates in sociocultural anthropology. Notes: May be repeated when topic is different. May be repeated within the term for a maximum 6 credits.
700-Level Courses in ANTH
Explores power and social conflict through the lens of cultural analysis. Special attention to the role of cultural differences in the structuring of conflict and the deployment of cultural theory in formulating a practice of conflict resolution. May not be repeated for credit.
"Genre" refers to kind, sort, or type. Course surveys the various modes of representation anthropologists use in elaborating participant-observation field work, as well as how these styles refer to and construct ethnographic "others." Explores a set of central philosophical and methodological issues in social-cultural anthropology such as framing, perspective, authority, reflexivity, and politics of style. May not be repeated for credit.
Utilizes interdisciplinary material within an overall anthropological perspective on body meanings and practices. Readings highlight questions of political economy and history, focusing on specific ethnographic or historical contexts, to develop an understanding of how gender, sexuality, race, and class become analytically distinct yet intertwined systems of meaning and practice. May not be repeated for credit.
Capstone research project conducted under the supervision of a faculty project director and project evaluation committee. Project should be a substantial contribution to anthropological knowledge and is in lieu of a thesis. Notes: Students must initially enroll for a minimum of 3 credits of ANTH 796 and maintain continuous enrollment in 796 until project is submitted. A maximum of 6 credits of ANTH 796 may be applied to the degree. May be repeated within the degree for a maximum 12 credits.
Work on research proposal that forms basis for master's thesis or project. May be repeated within the degree for a maximum 6 credits.
Master's thesis research and writing under direction of thesis committee. Notes: Students must register for a minimum of three credit hours in their first semester of 799 and maintain continuous enrollment in 799 while writing and submitting a thesis. A maximum of 6 credits of 799 may be applied to the degree. May be repeated within the degree for a maximum 24 credits.
Topics in ANTH
In-depth study of peoples and cultures of a specific world region (Latin America, East Asia, the Pacific, or United States). Content may include cultures defined by diaspora, migration, and other global forces and processes. Notes: May be repeated when topic is different. May be repeated within the degree for a maximum 6 credits.
Explores current issues and debates in sociocultural anthropology. Notes: May be repeated when topic is different. May be repeated within the term for a maximum 6 credits.
