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The Department of Anthropology offers courses broadly categorized as
Introductory, Ethnography, Culture Theory, Archeology, and Biological
Anthropology. In addition, the Department offers occasional special-topic
courses and seminars intended to address the particular interests of students
and faculty as the need and opportunity arise. Independent studies also may be
arranged with a supervising professor on topics of interest to upper-level
students.
Syllabi
01. Introduction to
Anthropology
03. Introduction to Cultural
Anthropology
04. People and Cultures of
Native North America (Identical to NAS10)
05. Reconstructing the
Past: Introduction to Archaeology
06. Introduction to Biological
Anthropology
08. The Rise and Fall of
Prehistoric Civilizations
09. Introduction to the
Study of Language and Culture
11. Ancient Native Americans
(Identical to NAS 11)
14. Death and Dying
17. The Anthropology of Health
and Illness
19. Islam: An Anthropological
Approach (Identical to AMES 6)
20. Lemurs, Monkeys and Apes
22. Olmecs, Maya, and Toltecs:
Ancient Civilizations of Mesoamerica (Identical to LACS43)
23. The Civilization of the Ancient Near
East
24. The Civilization of Ancient
Egypt
26. Southeast Asia: Tribes, Kingdoms
and Nation States
Ethnography
04. Peoples
and Cultures of Native North America (Identical to NAS10)
12.2. Alaska: American Dreams and Native Realities
(Identical to NAS33)
25. The Land of the Totem Poles:
Native Peoples of the Northwest Coast (Identical to NAS 49)
26. Southeast Asia: Tribes, Kingdoms
and Nation States
27. Thought and Change in the Middle
East and Central Asia (Identical to AMES 16)
32. Anthropology of Tibet and the
Himalayas (Identical to AMES 26)
33. Crossing Over: Latino Roots
and Transitions Identical to LATS44)
35. Culture, Class, and Community
in Contemporary Mesoamerica
36. Africa: The Ethnographic
Encounter (Identical to AAAS 44)
37. Legacies of Conquest in Latin
America
38. Peoples of Oceania
39. Ethnicity and Nationalism
in Russia and the Neighboring States (Identical to Russian
39)
50.3. The Brazilian Amazon and Multilingualism
(Identical to Linguisics 50/LACS51)
50.8 Illicit Networks, Informal Entrepreneurs, and the
Neoliberal State: Interrogating Rights, Justice, and Violence in
Contemporary Latin America (Identical to LACS 50)
52. Introduction to Maori Society
54. Foreign Study in
Anthropology
Cultural
03. Introduction
to Cultural Anthropology
09. Introduction to the
Study of Language and Culture
12.3. Anthropology of Art
12.4. Museum Anthropology
14. Death and Dying
15. Political Anthropology
16. Secrecy and Lying in Politics, Law
and Society (Identical to PBPS 81.7)
17. The Anthropology of Health
and Illness
18. Introduction to Research
Methods in Cultural Anthropology
19. Islam: An Anthropological Approach
(Identical to AMES 6)
31. Gender in Cross-Cultural
Perspective
34. Comparative Perspectives on
the US-Mexican Borderlands (Identical to LATS 45)
44. Globalization from Above and
Below
45. Asian Medical Systems
46. Culture, Economy, and
Development Policy in the World's Poorer Regions
47. Hunters and Gatherers
48. Anthropology of
Religion
49. Culture and the Environment
50.2. Religion, Reason and Reform in Morocco
(Identical to AMES)
50.4. The Anthropology of Tourism
50.5. Humans and Animals
50.6. Japan's Linguistic Modernity: The Anthropology
of Japanese Language and Society (Identical to AMES 20)
51. Colonialism and Its Legacies
in Anthropological Perspective
55. Anthropology and International
Health
56. Introduction to Research Methods in
Medical Anthropology
60. Knowledge, Power & Representation in
Native American Studies (Identical to NAS 54)
73. Main Currents in
Anthropology
Archaeology
05. Reconstructing the Past: Introduction to
Archaeology
08. The Rise and Fall of
Prehistoric Civilizations
11. Ancient Native Americans (Identical
to NAS 11)
21. The Aztecs (Identical to LACS
42)
22. Olmecs, Maya, and Toltecs: Ancient
Civilizations of Mesoamerica (Identical to LACS 43)
23. The Civilization of the Ancient Near
East
24. The Civilization of Ancient
Egypt
75. Ecology, Culture, and
Environment
Biological
06. Introduction to
Biological Anthropology
20. Lemurs, Monkeys and Apes
41. Hominid Evolution
42. Primate Societies
43. Human Osteology
77. Origins of Language
Independent Study
85. Reading
Course
87. Research Course
88. Anthropology Honors
FSP New Zealand
Students may earn Anthropology credit for the New Zealand FSP
at the University of Auckland. See the Foreign
Study section of this website.
08F, 09S, 09F: 10
A comprehensive study of humankind, the course will survey
and organize the evidence of our biological and cultural evolution. It will
explore the unity and diversity of human cultural behavior as exemplified in
the widest variations in which this behavior has been manifest. Lectures and
readings will describe the dialectical relationship between the material
conditions of our existence, on the one hand, and, on the other, the unique
human capacity for creativity both in thought and in action. The focus of this
course will be not only to outline the conditions and conditioning of our
cultural past and present, but also to indicate possibilities for future
evolution of human culture and experience. Dist: SOC; WCult: CI.
Alverson, Igoe. Back to top
09W, 10W: 10
Cultural anthropology is the study of human ways of life in
the broadest possible comparative perspective. Cultural anthropologists are
interested in all types of societies, from hunting and gathering bands to
modern industrial states. The aim of cultural anthropology is to document the
full range of human cultural adaptations and achievements and to discern in
this great diversity the underlying covariations among and changes in human
ecology, institutions and ideologies. (CULT) Dist: SOC or INT; WCult:
NW. Gutiérrez Nájera. Back to top
09W: 12, 09X: 2A, 10W: 2
The course provides an introduction to the cultures of Native
North America. In each major region ("culture area"), one or two indigenous
peoples (nations) are highlighted to emphasize particular forms of economy,
social organization, and spirituality, as well as modes of their integration.
While the course focuses on the more traditional American Indian cultures prior
to the establishment of Western domination, crucial aspects of the more recent
American Indian culture history and modern-day situation are also discussed.
Open to all classes. (ETHN) Dist: SOC; WCult: NW. Kan. Back to top
09S: 11
Archaeology is the anthropology of past human societies. It
has three important goals:
- studying culture history,
- reconstructing past life-ways, and
- understanding culture change.
This course will introduce students to the basic principles
used to interpret the material remains of past human behavior. Students will do
a series of small projects designed to acquaint them with archaeological
methods. Case studies will be discussed to demonstrate how archaeologists
reconstruct past cultures and investigate changes in them. (ARCH) Dist:
SOC. Abdi. Back to top
08F: 11; 09F: 10
The major themes of biological anthropology will be
introduced; these include the evolution of the primates, the evolution of the
human species, and the diversification and adaptation of modern human
populations. Emphasis will be given to
- the underlying evolutionary framework, and
- the complex interaction between human biological and
cultural existences and the environment.
(BIOL) Dist: SCI. Dobson. Back to
top
08F: 10; 09F: 10A
One of the most intriguing questions in the study of human
societies is the origins of cities and states or the transformation from small
kinship-based societies to large societies that are internally differentiated
on the basis of wealth, political power, and economic specialization.
Most of our knowledge of early civilizations comes from archaeology. This
course examines the explanations proposed by archaeologists for the development
of the first cities and state societies through a comparative study of early
civilizations in both the Old World and the Americas. (ARCH) Dist: SOC or
INT; WCult: NW. Nichols. Back to top
09S: 12
This course will introduce students to the study of human
language as a species-specific endowment of humankind. In this investigation we
will examine such issues as: 1) the relationship between language use (e.g.
metaphoric creativity) and cultural values, 2) the relationships between
language diversity and ethnic, political, economic stratification, 3) language
use and the communicating of individual identity, thoughts, and intentions in
face-to-face interaction, 4) the cultural patterning of speech behavior, and 5)
whether or not the structure of specific languages affects the characteristics
of culture, cognition, and thought in specific ways. (CULT) Dist: SOC.
Ball. Back to top
Not offered 2008-10
This course provides an introduction to the ancient societies
of North America. Discussion begins with a consideration of the wider social
context of archaeological views of Native Americans and how these have changed
over time. The course examines the populating of the Americas and related
controversies. We then concentrate on the subsequent development of diverse
pre-Columbian societies that included hunter-gatherer bands in the Great Basin,
the Arctic, and the sub-Arctic; Northwest Coast chiefdoms; farmers of the
Southwest, such as Chaco Canyon and the desert Hohokam; and the mound-builders
of the Eastern Woodlands. (ARCH) Dist: SOC; WCult: NW. Nichols. Back to top
09S: 12; 10S: 2
Since the time United States "purchased" Alaska from Russia,
this land has been seen by many as the "last frontier" - a place where tough
and adventurous Euro-Americans could strike it rich or get away from the
negative consequences of civilized living. Using anthropological and historical
works as well as fiction, film and other media, the seminar explores the
mythology surrounding the "land of the midnight sun." This myth of the "last
frontier" - in its development-driven as well as conservationist versions -- is
also contrasted with the ways Native Alaskans' have viewed and lived on their
land. (ETHN) Pending Faculty Approval. Kan. Back to
top
10S: 11
Death is a universal human experience, yet the attitudes and
responses toward it develop out of a complex interplay between the personality
of the individual and her or his sociocultural background. Using
anthropological, historical, and biographical works, as well as novels and
films, the course explores the meaning of death in a variety of cultures and
religious traditions. Particular attention is paid to understanding native
ideas about the person, emotions, life cycle, and the afterlife, as well as the
analysis of mortuary rituals and the experience of the dying and the survivors.
The course also offers an anthropological perspective on the development of the
modern Western (particularly American) mode of dealing with death and dying and
addresses the issue of mass death in the twentieth century. (CULT) Dist:
SOC or INT. Kan. Back to top
08F: 2A
The political anthropology of non-Western societies raises
basic questions concerning the nature of authority, coercion, persuasion, and
communication in both small-scale and complex societies. Classical approaches
to problems of freedom and order are challenged through examples drawn from
various societies. Topics including the ideologies and language of political
domination, revolution, wealth, and the transition to post-modern societies are
assessed, as are factions, knowledge and control, state secrecy, state and
non-state violence, and religious fundamentalism. (CULT) Dist: SOC or INT;
WCult: NW. Eickelman. Back to top
08X: 10A
Claims to secret knowledge—in families, organizations, and
states—is a form of authority over those who do not possess it. This seminar
explores how claims to secret knowledge and lying relate to the institutional
and cultural frameworks in which knowledge is produced, the use of "leaks" to
challenge hierarchical controls and sometimes sustain them, and the ways in
which secrecy, deception, and lying form a necessary and often desirable part
of social, political, and economic life. (CULT) Dist: SOC.
Eickelman. Back to top
09W: 12, 10S: 10
This course introduces students to the cross-cultural study
and analysis of health, illness, and medical systems, conceptions of the body,
the nature of disease, and the values of medicine. We examine pain, suffering,
and healing as universal aspects of the human condition, shaped by the
cultural, political, and environmental contexts in which they occur. In
addition to considering the symbolic dimensions of illness and healing, we
discuss issues of global health inequality, human rights, and social
suffering. (CULT) Dist: SOC or INT. Welsch.
Craig. Back to top
08F; 09F: 3A
This course will introduce students to the premier method of
empirical research in cultural anthropology: participant observation, and
associated informal dialogue and interviewing. We will study techniques for
planning and carrying out such research, and for recording, checking validity
and reliability, storing, coding, analyzing and writing up of ethnographic
data. Students will undertake "mini" research projects, and become familiar
with basic ethical issues, informed consent, writing of research proposals,
formulating research contracts, and sharing results with cooperating
individuals and groups. Prerequisite: Anthropology 1 or 3 or one
ethnography/culture area course. (CULT) Dist: SOC. Gutiérrez Nájera,
Alverson. Back to top
08F: 10A
This course integrates anthropological approaches to
understanding Islam with textual and social historical ones. The
anthropological approach values the study of sacred texts and practices as they
are locally understood throughout the world and in different historical
contexts. This course focuses on Islam as practiced in the Middle East, South
and Southeast Asia, Africa, Central Asia, and in Europe and North America. It
seeks to appreciate the contributions of religious leaders and activists as
much as ordinary believers, showing the multiple ways in which Muslims
throughout the world have contributed to the vitality of the Islamic tradition.
Many different people and groups, including violent ones, claim to speak for
Islam. This course suggests ways of re-thinking increasingly vocal debates
concerning "authentic" Islam and who speaks for it. (CULT) Dist: SOC;
WCult: CI. Eickelman. Back to top
09S: 2; 10S: 11
Humans are primates. The biology of our species cannot be
fully understood outside of this context. This course offers a broad survey of
living nonhuman primate diversity. The physical, behavioral, and ecological
attributes of each of the major groups of primates will be discussed. Emphasis
will be placed on traits relating to diet, locomotion, growth, mating, and
social systems. Students will gain a comparative perspective on humankind.
(BIOL) Dist: SCI. Dobson. Back to
top
09W: 11
For nearly two thousand years the dominant political power in
Middle America has resided in central Mexico. Mexico City, the capital of the
empire of New Spain and of the modern nation-state of Mexico, lies over the
remains of Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec empire. This course examines
the development of the Aztec empire and the organization of Aztec society and
religion, and the Spanish conquest of the Aztec. It ends with an introduction
to Nahua society in the first century after conquest. We will also consider the
varied perspectives of Aztec history offered by Nahua texts, archaeology,
history, and art history. (ARCH) Dist: SOC; WCult: NW. Nichols. Back to top
08F: 12; 10W: 11
Mesoamerica, the area encompassing Mexico and northern
Central America, provided the setting for two major transformations in human
history: the development of maize agriculture and the emergence of cities and
states. The legacy of those achievements is still evident today among
contemporary Latin American societies. We begin with an examination of how
people first occupied Mesoamerica during the Ice Age and discuss the
development of agriculture and early villages that laid the foundations for the
evolution of Mesoamerica's earliest complex societies, including the Olmecs. We
then the explore the Classic civilizations of Teotihuacan, Monte Albán, and the
Maya. The course ends with an overview of the Postclassic city-states and
kingdoms of the Toltecs, Mixtecs, and Maya and the Aztec empire at the time of
the Spanish Conquest. (ARCH) Dist: SOC; WCult: NW. Nichols. Back to top
08F: 11
Often hailed as the "Cradle of Civilization," the ancient
Near East witnessed many major developments in the human career, including the
origins of villages and cities, food production, states and empires, and
writing. This course will trace the roots of Near Eastern civilization from
early sedentary villages to complex political formations. It will also survey
socio-political and cultural developments—including religion, literature, and
arts and crafts—in Mesopotamia, Persia, Anatolia, and the Levant. (ARCH)
Dist: SOC; WCult: NW. Abdi. Back to top
09S: 2
The most majestic of ancient civilizations, Egypt holds a
special place in human history. This course will begin with a consideration of
how the environment and geography of Egypt shaped the course of Egyptian
civilization from the archaic period to the Roman conquest. It will focus on
the distinctive features of Egyptian civilization, including the cosmology,
institution of kingship, and characteristic style of art and architecture.
(ARCH) Dist: SOC; WCult: NW. Abdi. Back to
top
Not offered 2008-10
With their complex social organization, elaborate ceremonies,
fascinating mythology, and flamboyant "art," the indigenous peoples of the
Pacific Northwest Coast represent a truly unique "culture area" of Native North
America. The course surveys several cultures of this region (from the coast of
Oregon to southeastern Alaska), drawing upon early travelers' accounts,
anthropological works, native testimony, artifacts from the Hood Museum of Art,
and films. Lectures, class discussions, and student presentations will deal
with the "classic" Northwest Coast cultures of the eighteenth and the
nineteenth centuries as well as their modern versions. Open to all classes.
(ETHN) Dist: SOC; WCult: NW. Kan. Back to
top
Not offered 2008-10
The cultures of Southeast Asia are remarkably varied, ranging
from elaborate Hinduized civilizations (Bali) and modern city-states
(Singapore) to "hill tribes" (e.g., the Meo of Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam) and
nomadic foraging bands (e.g., the Semang of Malaysia). This course is a survey
of Southeast Asian societies focusing on the question of why their cultures
take the form they do. This entails an examination of the modes of
environmental adaptation of the various peoples, their integration into
regional and world-wide systems, and the historical influences of the great
civilizations of India, China, the Middle East, and Europe. The course looks at
how Southeast Asians live and at the religions that give meaning to their
lives. (ETHN) Dist: SOC; WCult: NW. Endicott. Back to
top
Not offered 2008-10
This course focuses on changing ideas of political and
religious authority in the Middle East. Topics include how changing notions of
personal, tribal, ethnic, and religious identities influence politics locally
and internationally; religion and mass higher education; the multiple meanings
and prospects of democracy; conflict over land and natural resources; political
and economic migration; new communications media; the global and local bases
for extremist movements; and the changing faces of Islam and other religions in
the region's public spaces. (ETHN) Dist: SOC; WCult: NW. Eickelman. Back to top
09F: 12
Sex (biological differences between men and women) and gender
(social constructions of those differences) are not straightforward or natural,
and it naturally follows that gender inequalities and gender oppression are
also not straightforward and natural. Therefore, we will pay close attention to
the issue of power - in terms of control and distribution of resources and the
enforcement of gender roles and sexuality. We will also look at how Western
gender ideals have been imposed on people in other parts of the world. We will
talk about concepts, perceptions, images, stories, encounters, games,
connections and disconnections. Finally, we will explore questions of practice
and resistance. Pending Faculty Approval. Igoe. Back to
top
09S: 2
This course introduces students to the peoples and cultures
of Tibet and the greater Himalayan region (Nepal, northern India, Bhutan). We
examine the cultural, ecological, political, religious, and economic interfaces
that define life on the northern and southern slopes of Earth's greatest
mountain range. In addition to learning about Himalayan and Tibetan lifeways,
we will also learn about how these mountainous parts of Asia have figured into
occidental imaginings, from the earliest adventurers to contemporary travelers.
(ETHN) Dist: SOC, WCult: NW. Craig. Back to
top
08F: 11
This course focuses on the experiences of Mexican, Central
American, Cuban, Dominican, and Puerto Rican migrants living in the US. The
literature will draw from anthropology and its neighboring disciplines in an
attempt to understand the social, political, and economic processes that shape
the varied experiences of Latino migrants living in the United States. In so
doing the class will examine Latino migrant experiences in relation to issues
such as the changing character of capitalism as an international system, the
organizing role of networks and families, changing patterns of gender
relations, the emergence of a second generation, and the cultural politics of
class formation. (ETHN) Dist: SOC; WCult: NA; Class of 2008 or
later: WCult: CI. Gutiérrez Nájera. Back to
top
10S: 2
The borderlands will be examined in ways that take us from a
concrete analysis of the region, including conflict and organizing efforts at
the border, to more abstract notions that include strategies of cultural
representations and the forging of new identities. We will consider several
analytical perspectives relevant to anthropology including: gender, identity,
resistance, economics, globalization, migration, and the politics of everyday
life. (CULT) Dist: SOC; WCult: NA; Class of 2008 or later:
WCult: CI. Gutiérrez Nájera. Back to
top
10S: 12
A comparative study of the Hispanic and indigenous societies
of Mexico and Guatemala, this course will focus upon the synthesis of three
developments that play a major role in the problems of nation-building and the
formation of national consciousness in this region of the world: (a) the mixing
of Spanish and pre-Columbian civilizations that has led to the creation of
vital, if contradictory, indigenous cultures; (b) the role of conflicting
social relations between the masses and elites and their effect upon
demographic, economic, and intellectual developments; and (c) the new
geopolitical importance of this region for the U.S. and the reciprocal growing
influences of Hispanic culture in contemporary North America. Prerequisite: One
course in Anthropology or Latin American, Latino and Caribbean Studies. (ETHN)
Dist: SOC; WCult: NW. Watanabe. Back to
top
09S: 12; 10W: 10
This course will survey principal changes in institutions and
ideologies which have taken place in rural and in urban communities of
southern, central, and west Africa over the past half century. Emphasis will be
placed on study of the responses and adaptations of indigenous arts
(sculptural, architectural, ritual, and healing) and associated cultural
ideologies to the intrusions into, and appropriations of, African communities
by Western institutions and interests. Case study material will draw on peoples
of the modern African nations: South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Congo,
Cameroon, Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Mali. Prerequisite: One introductory
course in anthropology or in AAAS or by permission. (ETHN) Pending faculty
approval. Igoe. Back to top
09F: 11
Despite nearly five hundred years of conquest, colonialism,
and change, native peoples still survive in culturally distinct enclaves within
the dominant Iberian traditions of Latin America. This course examines the
roots as well as the endemic social inequalities and prejudices that resulted.
Selected case studies will relate to such contemporary problems as
international drug trafficking, deforestation of the Amazon basin, and ongoing
political repression and revolution in Central America. The course draws on the
insights of local ethnographic studies to shed light on global problems, while
anthropologically situating native cultures of Latin America in their larger
historical and geopolitical context. Prerequisite: One course in anthropology
or Latin American and Caribbean Studies. (ETHN). Dist.: SOC;
WCult: CI Watanabe. Back to top
08F, 09F: 12
This course will deal with the ancient, historical, and
contemporary aboriginal peoples of Polynesia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and New
Guinea. It will investigate migrations of humans into the Pacific, their
adaptation to the island environments, the variety of sociocultural systems
that arose, and the relationships between the various peoples of the region. It
will also consider some effects on Oceanic cultures of trade, colonialism,
missionaries, the second world war, tourists, ethnic self-consciousness, and
national independence. Prerequisite: Anthropology 1 or 3 or permission of the
instructor. (ETHN) Dist: SOC; WCult: NW. Welsch, Endicott. Back to top
09W, 10W: 10
This course explores the emergence of ethnic identity and
nationalism among the peoples of the Russian empire, the Soviet Union and their
successor states. Drawing on anthropological and historical works, it examines
the process of formation of a centralized multiethnic Russian empire and the
liberation struggle of its nationalities prior to 1917. It then proceeds to the
crucial period of 1917 - 1991 and explores the theory and practice of
nationalities politics of the Bolshevik, Stalinist, and late Soviet socialism.
The dissolution of the USSR, the rise of interethnic conflicts, and the
relations between ethnic groups in Russia and the successor states are the
focus of the second half of the course, where several case studies are
discussed in depth. (ETHN) Dist: SOC; WCult: W. Kan. Back to top
09S: 11; 10S: 2
This course examines human evolution primarily from the
perspectives of paleontology and archaeology. It emphasis contemporary attempts
to reconstruct the hominid past by drawing variously upon morphological,
ecological, and cultural considerations. Attention is also given to the
patterns of biomolecular variation illuminating the origin of the human lineage
and on the subsequent appearance of the modern species .Prerequisite:
Anthropology 6 or permission of the instructor. (BIOL) Dist: SCI.
Dobson. Back to top
09F: 12
Primates are highly-social mammals. Most primate species live
in cohesive social groups. Living in a group poses unique challenges to the
individual. This course explores the diversity of primate social organization,
with regard to the costs and benefits of group living. Students will gain an
understanding of the evolutionary pressures influencing primate social behavior
in an ecological context. (BIOL) Dist: SCI. Dobson. Back to top
09W, 10W: 12
This course is concerned with analysis of skeletal remains of
earlier human populations. Topics include bone morphology, principles of bone
growth and remodelling, biomechanical aspects of bone structure, analysis of
variation within and between populations, paleopathology, and paleodemography.
Practical techniques, emphasizing fragment identification, aging, and sexing,
are intensively developed in regular laboratory sessions and are central to the
course. Prerequisite: Anthropology 6 or permission of the instructor. (BIOL)
Dist: SLA. Muldoon. Back to top
10S: 10
Globalization is used to describe various differing social,
economic, and political processes. Most commonly, globalization is used to
refer to increasing interconnections of people, ideas, and money across the
world. While some scholars may praise the connections offered by globalization,
others provide more critical accounts of the homogenizing impacts of
globalization on culture, and the exploitative nature of transnational
corporations on both people and the natural environment. In this course we
examine both he ways that globalization is producing a world that while
diverse, is changing through increased interconnectedness and new form of
mobilization on the ground that challenge various forms of inequalities. (CULT)
Dist: SOC or INT; WC: CI. Gutiérrez Nájera. Back
to top
09S: 10; 10W: 10A
This course investigates systems of healing practiced in, and
derived from, Asia. We will focus primarily on three Asian medical systems:
Ayurveda, Chinese medicine, and Tibetan medicine. We will strive to understand
how these medical systems are based on coherent logics that are not only
biologically but also culturally determined. We will also analyze the
deployment of these medical systems in non-Asian contexts, and examine the
relationship between Asian systems and "western" biomedicine.
(CULT) Dist: SOC; WC: NW. Craig. Back to
top
Not offered 2008-10
This course explores the hunting and gathering way of life,
the sole means of human subsistence until the development of agriculture 10,000
years ago, now represented by only a few dozen groups around the world. We will
examine a number of hunting and gathering peoples living in highly disparate
environments— deserts, tropical forests, arctic regions—in an attempt to
discover how they adapt to their natural and social environments, how they
organize and perpetuate their societies, and how they bring meaning to their
lives through religion. Understanding contemporary hunter-gatherers illuminates
the workings of earlier human societies as well as fundamental features of
human society in general, such as the sexual division of labor. Prerequisite:
One introductory Anthropology course. (CULT) Dist: SOC or INT; WCult:
NW. Endicott. Back to top
09S, 10S: 10
 In this course
religions are seen as cultural systems which give shape and meaning to the
world in which people live and provide a means, in the form of rituals, by
which they can attempt to manipulate those worlds. The emphasis is on
understanding non-Western religions, especially those of tribal peoples,
through the interpretation of myth, ritual, and expressed beliefs. The role of
religion as a social institution is also examined. Alternative approaches to
the interpretation of myth, ritual symbolism, deity conceptions, witchcraft,
etc., are explored. Prerequisite: One course in anthropology or religion or
permission of the instructor. (CULT) Dist: SOC or INT; WCult: NW. Kan,
Watanabe. Back to top
10W: 12
Environmental issues and problems cannot be understood
without reference to the cultural values that shape the way people perceive and
interact with their environment. This course examines the ways in which
different cultures conceptualize and interact with their environment, but with
special emphasis on American cultures and values. We will examine how the
American experience has shaped the ways in which Americans imagine and interact
with the environment and how this has been exported to the rest of the world.
We will pay close attention to issues of consumption and conservation and how
they have impacted ecologies and human livelihoods in different parts of the
world. Pending Faculty Approval. Igoe. Back to
top
Not offered for the period 2008-10
This course introduces religion in Morocco, and how Islam
(and other faiths) relate to Moroccan society, politics, and culture and to the
Middle East and Mediterranean worlds. Secular and religious movements in
Morocco, as in Tunisia and Algeria - France's other former colonies - show
profound political contrasts and have a vital impact on European societies
today. The course also explores how the study of North Africa, particularly
Morocco, has contributed significantly to ongoing debates over understanding
the role of religion and politics in contemporary social life. (CULT) Dist:
SOC; WCult: NW. Eickelman. Back to top
TBA
This course examines multilingualism as an anthropological
object through the comparison of two indigenous Amazonian “multilingual culture
areas,” or social systems where many languages coexist in networks of alliance
and shared cultural patterns. We explore mythology, kinship and marriage, and
the history of contact in connection to language in these sites. We also look
at the politics of language identity and indigenous rights in contemporary
Brazil. (ETHN) Dist: SOC; WCult: NW. Ball.Back to
top
09S: 10A
This course examines the practice of tourism as a way of
knowing the world and constituting the self. It also explores the role of
tourism in the lives of those who act as “hosts” to tourists. Topics include
the role of tourism in the essentialization and commodification of culture, the
emergence, organization, and effects of mass tourism, the cultural dynamics
surrounding several kinds of niche tourism, and the possibility of socially and
ecologically responsible tourism development.
(CULT) Dist: SOC. Garland. Back to
top
09S: 2A
This course explores the cultural dimensions of human
relationships with animals. Topics to be covered include the diversity of
relationships between people and animals around the world, the nature and
significance of the boundary between humans and animals, and the ways in which
people use animals to create, think through, and naturalize human social
dynamics, particularly in relation to distinctions of race, gender, sexuality,
and class. Students will have the opportunity to develop the insights of
the course in an independent research project on a contemporary animal-related
subject of their own choosing. (CULT) Dist: SOC. Garland.
Back to top
09W: 11
Western and native folk views of the Japanese language and
Japanese society emphasize uniqueness, homogeneity, and adherence to tradition.
Linguistic Anthropology argues, however, that areas of Japanese Women’s
Language and Honorific Register, long thought to be exemplary of these
sociolinguistic traits, have in fact emerged historically through Japan’s
engagement with the West, and through the production of social difference
within Japan. This course takes up the social and historical relation between
these Japanese linguistic forms, speech practices, and the production of
Japanese cultural identities and differences. (CULT) Dist: INT or SOC,
WCult: CI. Ball. Back to top
08F: 10A
"Legality at first glance appears a straightforward concept.
There is a line dividing what is legal and what is illegal; rules define those
lines, judicial codes institutionalize these rules, and enforcement agencies
guard justice. Yet there is no biological imperative marking crime from
legitimacy; borders between the world of the licit and the illicit are
conceptual. As concepts change, so too do borders. And as cultural categories,
borders are fraught with ethical implications..." (Carolyn Nordstrom,
Shadows of War, p. 85).
This course explores the relation between illicit networks, the informal
economy, transnationalism, and the state in Latin America. We study the links
between what is considered formal and informal, and legal and illegal, in order
to ethnographically examine what official views obscure in the everyday
relations of transnational activities. We begin with a critical examination of
the categories of "illegal," "illicit," "the state," and "corruption." We
reveal these categories as cultural and political constructs rather than as
pre-existent neutral categories of analysis. Who applies these definitions? How
have they changed and what interests do they serve? Do distinctions between
"illegal" and "illicit" provide us with a useful label or do they obscure the
power of the state to determine legitimacy? Are some activities inherently
illegal? (ETHN) Dist: SOC, WCult: NW. Meyers. Back to
top
09W, 10W: D.F.S.P.
Between the early 16th and mid 20th centuries, European
nations and Japan colonized much of the rest of the world. This course looks at
the history of colonialism in various parts of the world, focusing on the
similarities and differences between colonialism as practiced by different
colonial rulers in different regions at different times. It also traces the
ways in which the colonial process and experience has shaped the world we live
in today, both in developed and developing nations, in such areas as political
systems, economic systems, religions, and interethnic relations. Prerequisite:
Any two courses in anthropology; Anthropology 38 highly recommended. (CULT)
Dist: SOC or INT; WCult: CI. Endicott. Back to
top
09W, 10W: D.F.S.P.
This course is an introduction to the study of traditional
and contemporary Maori society and culture. topics for study include:
pre-european Maori history, origin and migration traditions, land ownership and
use, religion, leadership, meeting ground (marae) protocols, the colonial
experience, struggles of resistance and of cultural recovery. (ETHN) Dist:
SOC; WCult: NW. Endicott, Eickelman. Back to
top
09W, 10W: D.F.S.P.
Credit for this course is awarded to students who have
successfully completed the designated course in the department of Anthropology
at the University of Auckland during the Dartmouth foreign study program in
Anthropology and Linguistics and Cognitive Science. Prerequisite: Two courses
in Anthropology. Dist: SOC. Endicott, Eickelman. Back
to top
08X: 10A
This course explores human responses to disease and illness
from the perspective of medical anthropology, with a particular focus on
international health. In this context, 'international health' not only refers
to health care systems, medical practices, and ideas about illness and the body
in cross-cultural contexts, but also encompasses issues of health development
paradigms, culture and epidemiology, global health equity and human rights
issues. This course is designed for both undergraduates and Dartmouth Medical
School (DMS) students. (CULT) Dist: SOC or INT. Craig.
Back to top
08X: 2A
This course will introduce students to the various methods
Medical Anthropologists have used to understand and study health, illness,
health care, health-seeking behavior, as well as issues surrounding the ethics
of anthropological research in a variety of medical contexts. This course will
provide both theoretical foundations and “hands-on” opportunities to study
issues directly relevant to health and illness, and to the effective provision
of health care. This course is designed for both undergraduates and Dartmouth
Medical School (DMS) students. (CULT) Dist: SOC or INT. Craig. Back to top
08F, 09F: 2A
One of the key goals of Native American Studies is to
re-center the representation of Indians from the perspective of Native American
peoples and communities. This course will examine the structural and the
disciplinary constraints that prevent this goal from being realized, as well as
the potential intellectual downfalls of this goal. In particular, the course
will explore the critiques of academic representation and research practices
offered by contemporary Native American scholars and place them in dialogue
with scholars from the "dominant" disciplines that study Indians --
anthropology, history and literature. Open to all classes.
(CULT) Dist: SOC. Class of 2007 and earlier: WCult: NA.
Class of 2008 and later: WCult: CI. Ranco. Back to
top
09W: 10A; 09F: 2
This course examines the theoretical concerns that define
anthropology as a discipline. These include the nature and extent of
human social and cultural variation; the relationship of institutional
arrangements in society to systems of meaning; the material and moral
determinants of human social life; the dynamics of change within and between
ways of life otherwise taken by their practitioners as given; the place of
power in maintaining, challenging, and representing meaningfully constituted
human orders. Readings by major theorists past and present will be
treated as neither canonical texts nor dead-letter formulations but as part of
an ongoing inquiry into the myriad dimensions-and possibilities-of being human.
(CULT) Dist: SOC. Igoe, Watanabe. Back to
top
09F: 2A
Anthropology's interest in the interactions of humans and
their environments has been long-standing, especially in archaeology. In this
seminar we will consider changing conceptual frameworks for understanding
human-environmental interactions and long-standing debates about nature vs.
culture, materialist vs. symbolic approaches, the development of cultural
ecology, and the new "ecologies." We will draw on the research of
archaeologists, biological and sociocultural anthropologists, geographers, and
historians. (ARCH) Dist: SOC. Nichols. Back to
top
08F: 3A
The human capacity for language is an emergent property of
multiple interacting biological processes, some of which are shared with other
animals. Each piece of the puzzle has its own unique evolutionary history. The
goal of this senior seminar in anthropology is to investigate the evolutionary
origins of language by integrating perspectives from linguistics, animal
behavior, comparative anatomy, and paleoanthropology. Students will be required
to critique recent scientific research on the evolution of language, while
developing an understanding of the historical context of current debates. The
following questions will be addressed. (BIOL) Dist: SCI.
Dobson. Back to top
All terms: Arrange
Students who would like to pursue intensive, supervised study
in some particular aspect of anthropology may do so with the agreement of an
appropriate advisor. The student and advisor will work out together a suitable
topic, procedure, and product of the study. Prerequisite: written permission of
the department faculty member who will be advising the student. Back to top
All terms: Arrange
Students with an interest in research in anthropology and a
particular problem they would like to investigate may do so with the agreement
of an appropriate advisor. The student and advisor will work out together a
suitable topic, procedure, and product of the study. Prerequisite: written
permission of the department faculty member who will be advising the student.
Back to top
All terms: Arrange
Open only to honors seniors by arrangement with the Chair.
Admission to the honors program shall be by formal written proposal only.
Consult with Chair concerning the details. Prerequisite: written permission of
the department faculty member who will be advising the student. Back to top
The Department of Anthropology accepts transfer credit for
anthropology courses taken at other institutions if they are comparable to our
courses in scope and rigor. (They do not necessarily need to be equivalent to
any of our current course offerings.) In general, we expect a course to be
taught by a Ph.D., to have a substantial required reading list, and to have
several graded exams and/or other assignments.
In order for the department chair to determine whether a
course is suitable for transfer credit, you must provide a copy of the syllabus
for a current or past offering of the course. A catalog description alone is
not sufficient. You can often get syllabi from the institution's web site, the
secretary of the department offering the course, or the instructor. You can
usually find the necessary telephone and fax numbers and email addresses on the
Internet. You can have the syllabus faxed to Dartmouth's Department of
Anthropology fax machine at (603) 646-1140 if you wish.
Procedure
To obtain a transfer credit you must follow the procedure and
regulations described in the ORC under "Regulations: Off-Campus Activities." In
general this involves the following steps:
- See the Associate Registrar to get approval of your transfer
term, to pay the processing fee, and to get the transfer credit application
form.
- Fill out the transfer credit application form.
- Obtain a copy of the syllabus of the proposed
course.
- Make an appointment to meet with the chair of the Department
of Anthropology. Bring the syllabus and application form to the
meeting.
- After getting the signature of the chair of the Department
of Anthropology, return the form to the Registrar's office. If you are
requesting transfer credit from other departments, you must follow their
procedures and obtain the signatures of their chairs as well.
Deadlines
The transfer credit application must be signed by the chair
and returned to the Registrar by "the first day of the Dartmouth term
immediately preceding the first day of the intended transfer term" (ORC). For
example, for a fall term or semester course, you must get your proposed courses
approved before the beginning of Dartmouth's summer term. Do not wait until the
last minute to seek transfer credit approval. Be aware that chairs of
departments are often not available during breaks between terms. Back to top
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