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Course Criteria
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4.00 Credits
Westerners tend to think of male and female as fixed and unambiguous biological categories determined by nature. But non-Western societies interpret sexual difference in myriad cultural ways. The aim of this course is to examine cross-cultural variations in the perception and elaboration of sexual difference. We focus on non-Western hunting, gathering, pastoral and horticultural societies, but compare and contrast these cultural forms with Western, industrialized societies as appropriate. This cultural diversity provides a backdrop for the interplay among ideology, childhood socialization and gender roles; differential status, power and prestige; symbolic connotations and reinforcement of gender imagery; and cross-cultural comparison of practices and attributes associated with sex and gender classification. Prerequisite: Anthropology 102, Gender Studies 103 or permission of the instructor. Also offered through Global Studies.
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4.00 Credits
This seminar focuses on the origins and development of culture in Africa. We will reconstruct paleoenvironments and cultural patterns from the earliest archaeological traces 2.5 million years ago through the emergence of iron-using peoples, by analyzing selected site reports. Prerequisite: Anthropology 101 or permission of the instructor. Also offered through African Studies.
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4.00 Credits
What does it mean to be "human"? How do different cultures definehuman/non-human/other-than-human beings in the experiential world? This seminar explores the role of culture in the symbolic and psychological shaping of individual human experience from birth through death; conceptions and comparative valuations of bodily features; ideal types; gender identity; and individual goals for achievement and culturally accepted routes to achieving them. We will analyze cases from Africa, Native America and the Pacific islands, and draw comparisons with "Western" ideas. Somebackground in cultural anthropology or psychology is desirable. Not open to first-year students.
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4.00 Credits
When faced with wondrous yet puzzling archaeological remains that cover the globe, what were the reactions of scholars and lay people 100 or 500 or 1,000 years ago? This course traces the intriguing history of archaeological investigation, from its antiquarian, "treasure hunt" origins to its modern incarnationas a systematic, scientifically driven discipline. We examine how the practice of archaeology has been shaped by social and political climates; explore the impact of changing notions toward historical time, human progress and the "other"; and evaluatecontemporary theoretical and methodological approaches to the study of the human past.
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4.00 Credits
An exploration of attempts to understand human social and cultural phenomena, from early European efforts to account for human diversity to the spectrum of modern anthropological thought. We will read some of the arguments and analyses of people whose ideas have influenced views of why human beings act the way they do. We will consider the nature of their disagreements and the issues that have persisted in these debates, and argue these issues among ourselves. Each scholar has a particular view of human nature, even if it amounts to the assertion that there is no such thing. We will explore the implications of these views, try to see them in the social and political contexts in which they arose and examine them with a critical eye. This course is designed as a senior capstone seminar for anthropology majors.
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4.00 Credits
This seminar offers an overview of the empirical evidence and interpretive models of early human evolution. Emphasis is given to Plio-Pleistocene hominids from eastern and southern Africa. Specific topics for discussion include the divergence of apes and humans, origins of bipedality, evolutionary relationships of early hominid species and the emergence of anatomically modern humans. Prerequisite: Anthropology 201 or permission of the instructor.
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4.00 Credits
We are born, we live and we die. Although this is also true of other animals, only humans are aware of the precariousness of life and the inevitability of death. Only the human animal sees a pattern behind the facts of existence and worries about life here and in the hereafter. Only humans create elaborate symbolic mechanisms to cope with these universal unknowns. This course examines how people cope with the trials and tribulations caused by the uncertainties of life through symbolic systems such as magic, sorcery, religion, myth and ritual. Ethnographic examples are drawn predominantly from non-Western cultures in Africa, the Island Pacific, India and Southeast Asia, with comparative discussion of contemporary Western cultural traditions. Recommended: Anthropology 102 or 205, or permission of the instructor. Also offered through Global Studies.
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4.00 Credits
Offered occasionally. These seminars deal with significant topics in anthropology on an advanced level. Recent offerings have been African belief systems, nationalism and the post-colonial experience in South Asia, the anthropology of war and raiding, Apache studies and the beginning of food production. Prerequisites: previous relevant course work to be specified in the Class Schedule or permission of the instructor.
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4.00 Credits
Open to qualified students who wish to pursue more specialized or advanced anthropological study and research on a specific topic under the direction of a faculty sponsor. Prerequisite: at least two anthropology courses and permission of the instructor.
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4.00 Credits
Open to anthropology majors with a grade point average of at least 3.5 in all courses taken within the department. Requires completion of a long-term project beginning late in the junior year under the guidance of a faculty advisor. Details are available from the department. Prerequisite: permission of the instructor.
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