Anthropology

 

Students interested in studying and comparing peoples and cultures from different areas around the world find a fresh analytical perspective in anthropology courses contribute to the interdisciplinary major in Global Cultural Studies


Course Listings

ANTH 199 Topics in Anthropology (1-4)

A semester-long study of topics in Anthropology. Topics and emphases will vary according to the instructor. This course may be repeated for credit with different topics. See the New and Topics Courses page on the Registrar’s webpage for descriptions and applicability to majors/minors in other departments.

  • General Education Requirement Fulfillment: Topic dependent
  • Prerequisite: Topic dependent
  • Offering: Occasionally
  • Instructor: Staff

ANTH 232 Peoples and Cultures of Africa (4)

This course explores Africa's cultural diversity from an interdisciplinary perspective. To situate specific African groups in their local and global context, the course begins with a study of African geography and history. The bulk of the course is then devoted to the study of present-day Africa, including ethnographic studies on language, literature, social organization, religion, politics and popular culture. The last unit of the class focuses on the causes and consequences of Africa's current upheavals and humanitarian crises.

  • General Education Requirement Fulfillment: Social Sciences;PDE; World Engagement: CV
  • Offering: Fall
  • Instructor: Millen

ANTH 235 Cultures of Mexico and Ecuador (4)

This course focuses on the cultures of Mexico and Ecuador, with the primary focus on Mexico, including the experience of Mexican-Americans. Topics include ethnicity, gender, class, religion, healing, immigration, and politics. Many of the units are organized around first-person accounts, as read through the lens of anthropological theories.

  • General Education Requirement Fulfillment: Social Sciences; World Engagement: CV
  • Offering: Spring
  • Instructor: Wogan

ANTH 299 Topics in Anthropology (1-4)

A semester-long study of topics in Anthropology. Topics and emphases will vary according to the instructor. This course may be repeated for credit with different topics. See the New and Topics Courses page on the Registrar’s webpage for descriptions and applicability to majors/minors in other departments.

  • General Education Requirement Fulfillment: Topic dependent
  • Prerequisite: Topic dependent
  • Offering: Occasionally
  • Instructor: Staff

ANTH 335 Visual Anthropology (4)

This course focuses on a variety of visual texts, from documentary films about non-Western cultures to fictional films made in the U.S. Special emphasis is placed on questions about visual representations of other cultures, and the way audience responses to visual texts reflect cultural values. Students will carry out independent fieldwork projects, in some cases making use of video-recording technologies.

  • General Education Requirement Fulfillment: Arts & Humanities, Social Sciences
  • Prerequisite: One previous anthropology course; preference given to Anthropology Majors and Minors
  • Offering: As Appropriate
  • Instructor: Wogan

ANTH 344 Medical Anthropology (4)

This course introduces students to medical anthropology. By exploring human health, sickness and healing from diverse theoretical and cross-cultural perspectives, students will learn how different peoples around the world conceptualize the human body, explain the causes of disease, manage patients and healers, contend with stress, and articulate the meaning and origin of social suffering. The course has a service learning component.

  • General Education Requirement Fulfillment: Social Sciences
  • Prerequisite: One course in Anthropology and/or consent of instructor
  • Offering: Annually
  • Instructor: Millen

ANTH 346 Technology and Society (4)

This course focuses on the social aspects of technology, such as how technology practices, beliefs, and attitudes are shaped by age, class, and (sub-)culture. Most of the primary research will be provided by the students themselves, based on their qualitative investigations of uses and interpretations of technology, including their own. The majority of the data will be taken from the U.S., but we will also examine uses and interpretations of technology in other areas, such as Western Europe, Latin America, and Asia. Possible topics include social patterns and variations in the attribution of human qualities to robots and other technology; reactions to artificial intelligence and surveillance technology, ranging from resistance to indifference and positive embrace; and the sociolinguistic aspects of communication through phones, video-conferencing, and other media.

  • General Education Requirement Fulfillment: Social Sciences; World Engagement: Cultural Values
  • Offering: Annually
  • Instructor: Wogan

ANTH 356 Language and Culture (4)

This course introduces students to the major issues and methodologies in the study of language in its cultural context. In particular, the course focuses on linguistic questions related to the following: 1) gender; 2) power; 3) ethnic, racial, and national identifies; 4) literacy; 5) poetic, verbal performance; and 6) intercultural communication. Analysis often centers on video and cassette texts from films, conversations, and the students' own fieldwork data.

  • General Education Requirement Fulfillment: Social Sciences; World Engagement: CV
  • Prerequisite: Previous coursework in Anthropology recommended
  • Offering: Alternate years
  • Instructor: Wogan

ANTH 399 Topics in Anthropology (1-4)

A semester-long study of topics in Anthropology. Topics and emphases will vary according to the instructor. This course may be repeated for credit with different topics. See the New and Topics Courses page on the Registrar’s webpage for descriptions and applicability to majors/minors in other departments.

  • General Education Requirement Fulfillment: Topic dependent
  • Prerequisite: Topic dependent
  • Offering: Occasionally
  • Instructor: Staff

ANTH 429 Topics in Anthropology (1-4)

A semester-long study of topics in Anthropology. Topics and emphases will vary according to the instructor. This course may be repeated for credit with different topics. See the New and Topics Courses page on the Registrar’s webpage for descriptions and applicability to majors/minors in other departments.

  • General Education Requirement Fulfillment: Topic dependent
  • Prerequisite: Topic dependent
  • Offering: Occasionally
  • Instructor: Staff

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