102 Archaeological Myth and Reality: World Prehistory

This course seeks to replace myths of “killer apes” and “ancient astronauts” with archaeological reality. A broad survey of archaeological knowledge of both New and Old World prehistory provides a framework for analysis of major transitions in cultural evolution and of selected archaeological puzzles, such as the enigmatic markings of the Peruvian desert near Nazca. This course is designed for non majors who want a general understanding of what “happened” in prehistory. The course is also suitable for prospective majors who need an overview of the archaeological record against which to set more specialized courses in archaeology. No prerequisites. (Nicholas, offered annually)

110 Introduction to Cultural Anthropology

This course explores the anthropological understanding of human society through ethnographic case studies of particular societies. In the holistic approach of anthropology, the interrelations of kinship, economics, politics, and religion are stressed. Special emphasis is also placed on anthropological theories of human behavior and the wide range of creative solutions to the problem of social living devised by various cultures of the world. (Dillon, Staff, offered each semester)

115 Language and Culture This course introduces students to the study of language as a natural phenomenon and as a human creation. Different approaches to the analysis and study of language as a social and symbolic system are presented. Topics include the Sapir Whorf hypothesis (the idea that language determines how and what we think), the relationship between language and gender, how social forces alter the shape of language, and what language tells us about the structure of the human mind. (Staff, offered occasionally)

205 Race, Class, and Ethnicity This course explores race, class, and ethnicity by focusing on new immigrant groups in the United States and Europe. It addresses the broad social, cultural, economic, and political forces outside and within communities that affect the lives and identities of new female and male, legal and illegal migrants. The impact of racism is crucial in shaping the way in which migrants live, their transcultural connections, and their concepts of themselves and others. Students analyze the relations between groups such as white and African Americans with Latin Americans, Asians, and Eastern Europeans in the U.S., and Europeans with each other and non Europeans in Europe. This is explored in the contexts of work places, schools, residences, shopping areas, and festive and crisis events. The comparisons shed new light on theoretical and policy issues regarding multiculturalism and diversity in the North American context. (Staff, offered alternate years)

206 Early Cities This course deals with the manner in which humankind first came to live in cities. Early urbanism is viewed within the context of the general origins of complex society in both the Old and New Worlds. Explanatory models, such as those emphasizing population pressure and trade as causal mechanisms for the growth of cities, are reviewed. This course provides the student with a knowledge of early urban forms in different parts of the world, as well as familiarity with the methods used by archaeologists to study such phenomena. ANTH 102 is helpful background but is not required. (Nicholas, offered alternate years)

208 Archaeology of Japan and China This course surveys the archaeology of East Asia from the Paleolithic through the era of classical civilizations. Special attention is given to the growth and development of cities in this region, but other aspects of the record are not neglected. Students study the “underground army” of the first emperor of China, the monumental mounded tombs of early Japan, the extraordinary pottery of the Jomon culture, and more. Students discuss the overall trajectories of China and Japan in a social evolutionary perspective. (Nicholas, offered every two to three years)

209 Women and Men in Prehistory Until recently, much of world prehistory has been written as if only men were participants in the evolution of culture. Women for the most part have been invisible to archaeology. In the last decade, however, archaeologists have begun to focus explicitly on the issue of gender in prehistory. This course examines some of the older male-centric models, as well as some of the innovative (and controversial) new work, endeavoring to build a picture of the past in which both men and women are seen to be actors. Cases are chosen from a mix of archaeological periods and settings but currently include the controversy over the gender of the occupant of Tomb 7 at Monte Alban, Oaxaca, Mexico. (Nicholas, offered every two to three years)

210 Prehistoric Ecology Karl Butzer has said that when we study human ecology, we look at the “dynamic interface between environment, technology, and society.” This course takes an ecological perspective to the prehistory of humankind, finding that many events in the past can be understood more clearly when ecological analyses are undertaken. Much of the course centers on the radical shift in human relationship to the environment that took place when hunting and gathering was replaced by domestication of plants and animals. Ecologically oriented research on the trajectories of the great ancient civilizations is also studied. (Nicholas, offered alternate years)

220 Sex Roles: A Cross Cultural Perspective This approach to the study of sex roles is cross cultural and multidisciplinary, oriented toward an understanding of the behavior of women and men in various societies including the United States. The course addresses such questions as: What are the biological bases of femaleness and maleness? Are there correlations between physical environments and the status of women and men? How do individuals learn their sex roles? Do some social structures, religious ideologies, rituals, and values support or perpetuate inequality between the sexes? And, have sex roles changed with modernization, urbanization, and industrialization? (Staff, offered alternate years)

227 Intercultural Communication To what extent is communication between members of different cultures really possible? This course uses an anthropological approach and examples from many cultures and ethnic groups to address this question. It explores the systematic blindness that all too often produces conflicts between members of different cultures, ethnic groups, and races, and considers the role of values and relativism in intercultural relations. The course welcomes foreign students, those planning study abroad, and students experiencing the challenges of “re-entry” to American culture. No prerequisites. ANTH 110 is helpful but not required. (Dillon, offered annually)

228 Physical Anthropology Physical anthropology studies humans as biological organisms (members of the Primate Order). This course provides an overview of the three major divisions of physical anthropology: anatomical and behavioral characteristics of living nonhuman primates; the fossil evidence for human evolution, including discussion of the origins of culture as a major adaptive characteristic of humankind; and examination of human variability today, including a discussion of race. (Nicholas, offered alternate years)

230 Beyond Monogamy: The Family and Kinship in Cross Cultural Perspective This course explores the intriguing question of whether it is possible, functional, and normal for people to live outside the structures of monogamous marriage and the nuclear family that have been so idealized recently in the West. Through in-depth case studies of several very different cultures, students seek a greater understanding of how and why some peoples have managed to organize their lives without emphasizing these two key institutions. Students also examine how the forces of social and economic change and colonial and post-colonial government policies have impacted diverse kinship systems around the world, as well as how various African, Asian, Caribbean, and Native American peoples have tried to cope with imposed changes and the challenging conditions that they face. No prerequisites. Anthropology 110 is helpful but not required. (Dillon, offered alternate years)

247 Urban Anthropology Urban anthropology treats the research problems and strategies of anthropologists in a wide variety of urban situations. The course corrects some popular myths and misconceptions about crowding, size, poverty, and class. It also treats issues such as rural/urban migration and interethnic relations. An analysis of crucial social, economic, and political relationships in Third World and Western contexts is provided. (Staff, offered alternate years)

271 Jobs, Power, and Capital: The Anthropology of Work This course is concerned with the theory and policy associated with the concept of work in traditional, transitional, industrial, and post industrial societies. Special attention is given to the changing role of family, kin, and gender in labor, and the impact of industrialization and the new international division of labor on the work experience, the workplace, and the labor process. Open to students in anthropology, sociology, urban studies, women’s studies, economics, Africana studies, and Latin American studies. Prerequisite: ANTH 110 or by permission of instructor. (Buechler, offered every three years)
Note: Students may obtain anthropology seminar credit by enrolling in this course as ANTH 471 Seminar: Jobs, Power, and Capital.

273 Ethnographic Research and Methods This course considers the practice, problems, and analysis of field and library research in social and cultural anthropology. It examines the theoretical background and social and political role of ethnographers, and gains an understanding of the basic skills and qualitative methods of inquiry, including participant observation, interviewing, photography, life history, ethnohistory, and network and structural analysis. Students conduct research projects locally. Prerequisite: ANTH 110. (Staff, Spring, offered alternate years)
Note: Majors should plan to take this alternate year only course at the earliest opportunity in order to complete their programs.

280 Environment and Culture: Cultural Ecology The subject of ecological studies in cultural anthropology is the study of the interaction between human populations and their environments. These populations—hunters, gatherers, farmers, herders, and city dwellers—are examined in diverse habitats or settings: tropical forests, flooded rice plains, highland pastures, deserts, and cities. Attention is focused on ecological concepts and human adaptations and implications of these for present dilemmas in our own troubled environments. What lessons are there to be learned about resource management from “primitive” people? (Staff, offered alternate years)

285 Primate Behavior Because primates are humankind’s closest relatives, the study of primate behavior holds a special fascination for us. This course uses films and readings to examine the various behaviors of representative prosimians, New World monkeys, Old World monkeys, and apes. It looks primarily at studies of natural primate behavior in the wild but also reviews some examples of lab research. The focus is on locomotion, subsistence, social behavior, and intelligence within an evolutionary framework. The course concludes by considering the light which study of non human primates might shed on the evolutionary origins of our own species. (Nicholas, offered alternate years)

290 Pharaohs, Fellahin, Fantasy This course examines Egypt of the Pharaohs: their forebears and their descendants to the present day. Just as the Nile links Africa, Egypt, and the Mediterranean, a stream of culture links the Egyptian past to the present, and as a great river meanders, carves new banks but still flows from source to sea, so too, Egyptian culture has changed through conquest and innovation but remains, at some level, recognizable. Students explore gender and economic relations, how we know what we know, and how to recognize occult or romantic fantasy. ANTH 102 or 206 are recommended but not required. (Nicholas, offered every 2-3 years)

296 African Cultures This course considers African societies and cultures from both the insider’s and the outsider’s points of view. Anthropological works and short stories by Africans are used in an attempt to understand the African cultural experience. The course explores the various world views and adaptations represented by traditional African cultures as well as the transformations that these cultures have undergone during the colonial and independent eras. No prerequisites. (Dillon, offered alternate years)

297 Peoples and Cultures of Latin America This course examines the development of diverse populations of Latin America from colonial times to the present, dealing especially with the effects of population growth, urbanization, industrialization, international politics, and rapid social change. (Staff, offered alternate years)

298 Modern Japan Japan is a remarkable society. The only non-Western nation to repel colonization and industrialize independently, Japan now has the second largest economy in the world. This course looks at contemporary Japanese society from the perspective of cultural anthropology. In addition to considering anthropologists’ overall interpretations of Japanese culture, personality, and ways of thinking, it explores Japanese society through ethnographies or in depth case studies of changing Japanese families, schools, businesses, religious groups, villages, cities, and towns. No prerequisites. (Dillon, offered alternate years)

306 History of Anthropological Theory This course explores the range of anthropological theory by reviewing works identified with different theoretical perspectives: 19th century evolutionism, Boasian empiricism, British social anthropology, structural idealism, cultural ecology, neo-evolutionism, practice theory, and post modernism. The emphasis is on developing the student’s own ability to evaluate and use theory. Prerequisites: Several anthropology courses or permission of instructor. This is ideally a junior year course for majors and students from related fields. (Dillon, offered alternate years)
Note: Students should plan to take this alternate year only course at the earliest opportunity in order to complete their major or minor programs.

326 Pattern and Process in Ancient Mesoamerican Urbanism This course surveys the broad outline of Mesoamerican archaeology, with a special focus on cities viewed in their ecological and cultural contexts. Cities studied include Monte Alban, Teotihuacan, Tikal, Tula, Chichen Itza, Mayapan, Tenochtitlan, and others. The course familiarizes students with various descriptive and theoretical models of ancient urbanism and discusses the relationship between these theoretical models and the data from Mesoamerica (as well as the relationship between theory and research design). No prerequisites, but ANTH 102 or ANTH 206 provide helpful background. (Nicholas, offered alternate years)

342/442 Comparing Ancient World Systems This course focuses on how ancient cultures came into contact with one another to create larger systemic networks of information exchange, trade, political interaction, and warfare. The study is grounded in “comparative world-systems theory,” which modifies Wallerstein’s vision of a modern world-system and extends the concept to significantly earlier time periods. Students explore continuity and transformation in general world-system dynamics in antiquity, paying particular attention to effects on urbanism and warfare. The course is grounded in the study of archaeological/ historical cases (for example, ancient Mesopotamia), and is discussion based; student research presentations are an integral part of the course. (Nicholas)

352 Builders and Seekers Is egalitarian social life really possible? Is egalitarian social life really possible? What factors encourage such a lifestyle or work against it, and what are the different ways of engineering “equality” within a community? In this course, examples of African and Australian hunting and gathering societies are used to explore these issues and to investigate how traditional egalitarian groups have been affected by the contemporary world system. Modern communes and utopias also are considered. Open to both anthropology students and others with relevant background and interest. (Dillon, offered alternate years)
Note: Students may obtain anthropology seminar credit by enrolling in this course as ANTH 452 Seminar: Builders and Seekers.

362 Evolution and Culture Evolutionary models seek to understand the processes underlying changing successions of living organisms or cultural systems. This course examines the relevance of evolutionary approaches to the understanding of culture. It begins by examining the degree to which biological analogues are or are not appropriate in building models of cultural evolution, considering such topics as Darwinian gradualism, Lamarckianism, and punctuated equilibria. The approaches of the 19th century unilineal evolutionists in anthropology are then contrasted with the multilineal theories of the 20th century. The course concludes with student presentations of research projects on either the history of evolutionary concepts in anthropology or on modern applications thereof. Prerequisites: Students are recommended to complete several anthropology courses before taking this seminar. Students with a strong interest in the topic and backgrounds in related fields are encouraged to seek permission of the instructor. (Nicholas, offered every three years)
Note: Students may obtain anthropology seminar credit by enrolling in this course as ANTH 462 Seminar: Evolution and Culture.

450 Independent Study Permission of the instructor.

495 Honors Permission of the instructor.

499 Internship in Anthropology A minimum of 150 hours of work or practice under the supervision of an anthropology faculty adviser. Students are expected to keep a reflective journal and to produce a paper that relates their experience to more general issues in anthropology. The length and scope of the paper shall be determined in consultation with the internship faculty adviser. Internship adviser permission is required to take this course, and prior departmental approval is required for any students who wish to repeat ANTH 499. Permission of the instructor.

Anthropology Courses Taught Occasionally
260 Medical Anthropology
293 The Near East, Past and Present
320 Ethnoarchaeology
370/470 Life Histories