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Courses Offered

ANTH 1000 Introduction to College 1 SH

Intended for 1st year students in the College of Arts and Sciences. Introduces students to liberal arts; familiarizes them with their major; develops the academic skills necessary to succeed (e.g. analytical ability and critical thinking); provides grounding in the culture and values of the University community; and helps to develop interpersonal skills—in short, to familiarize students with all skills needed to become a successful university student.

ANTH 1101 Peoples and Cultures 4 SH

Surveys concepts in anthropology (the study of culture). Analyzes a range of societies in terms of such sociocultural institutions as kinship, gender relations, economics, politics, and religion. Examines important political and economic processes, such as colonialism and development, affecting cultures around the world.

ANTH 1277, ANTH 1278, ANTH 1279 Honors Adjunct 1 SH each

Offers additional introductory academic experience by exploring course-related topics in greater depth with the professor. Available only to courses approved by the University Honors Program. Prereq. Honors program participation.

ANTH 2300 Reading Culture through Ethnography 4 SH

This course is designed to introduce students to the concepts, methods, and practice of ethnography. It examines a wide range of cultures and topics (e.g. gender, religion, food, and globalization), through some of the discipline's best known ethnographic works, as well as the anthropologists who did the studies. Major emphasis is placed on assisting students to understand how ethnographies are put together, and how anthropologists bring their perspectives to bear upon cultural study. Required for Anthropology Majors.
Prereq. ANTH 1101 or SOCL 1101 and middler standing recommended.

ANTH 2302 Gender and Sexuality: A Cross-Cultural Perspective 4 SH

Examines popular and scientific notions about sex, gender relations, family, and kinship. Examines why our images of family, masculinity, and femininity are not universal by analyzing the patterns of sex roles, sexual practices, and kinship in other cultures. Discusses how and why relations between men and women change during times of socioeconomic and political change.
Prereq. ANTH 1101 or SOCL 1101.

ANTH 2305 Global Markets and Local Culture 4 SH

Discusses selected topics in the socioeconomic transformation of other cultures, including urbanization, industrialization, commodity production, and international labor migration. Focuses on the impact of capitalist development on contemporary Third World and postcolonial societies; examines local responses to those changes.
Prereq. ANTH 1101 or SOCL 1101.

ANTH 2312 Anthropology of Masculinity 4 SH

Provides a cross-cultural examination of the ways in which social and cultural institutions shape men, and how men respond to those institutions. After studying the ways in which gender is constructed, the ways in which women are distinguished from men, and a history of masculinity, the course explains the range of masculinities that compete with one other for expression. Uses case studies from Latin America, Melanesia, North America, and Africa.
Prereq. ANTH 1101 or SOCL 1101.

ANTH 2315 Religion and Modernity 4 SH

Focuses upon the ways in which religion impacts other cultural institutions in select societies. Theories of religion in non-Western societies are surveyed through select case studies.
Prereq. ANTH 1101 or SOCL 1101.

ANTH 2330 Environmental Anthropology 4 SH

Introduces the study of human-environment interactions over time and across cultures. Drawing on a range of scholarship from ecological anthropology, environmental history, political-economy, and environmental justice, this class examines transitions in subsistence systems and cultural factors from early hunting-gathering societies through to industrial giants in a globalizing world.
Prereq. ANTH 1101 or SOCL 1101 and sophomore standing.

ANTH 2350 Urban Anthropology 4 SH

Explores the cultural, economic, and political role of this city in its dynamic relationship to the environs around it as well as the larger contexts. Examines the nation and transnational factors in greater detail as we examine urban centers throughout the world.
Prereq. ANTH 1101 or SOCL 1101.

ANTH 2365 Sport, Culture, and Society 4 SH

Course looks at the ways in which sport reflects and obscures social and cultural institutions. Half of the course focuses upon American sport, and the rest upon the global character that modern sport has taken on. Makes use of case studies from U.S., Dominican Republic, Japan, Brazil, and elsewhere.
Prereq. ANTH 1101 or SOCL 1101.

ANTH 3412 Language and Culture 4 SH

Focuses on the anthropological study of linguistics. Presents basic theories of sociolinguistics and explores language in its social context. Includes animal communication; language learning; language and mind; cognitive and symbolic anthropology; the ethnography of speaking, speech, and boundaries; multilingualism; language and gender; language and ethnicity; language and social class; and pidgins and creoles. Includes several field assignments.
Prereq. Introduction to Language and Linguistics (LIN 1150 or ENGL 1150).

ANTH 3415 Anthropology of Travel and Tourism 4 SH

Examines historical and contemporary practices of travel as a means to understand how mobility shapes one's understanding of "the other." With new technologies of movement, the difficulty of travel is lessening and tourism is open to more people, but tourism itself is changing. This class considers themes that include authenticity, violence, gender, "the gaze."
Prereq. ANTH 1101 or SOCL 1101.

ANTH 3450 Globalizations: Theory and Practice 4 SH

Examines the most advanced notions of globalization with an eye to creating an understanding of the theories, factors, as well as practices of globalization. Globalization is a complex combination of factors and trends that come from a wide range of disciplines. Case studies from throughout the world are analyzed as we seek to build a theoretical model in this very important area.
Prereq. ANTH 1101 or SOCL 1101 and ANTH 2305.

ANTH 3477, ANTH 3478, ANTH 3479 Honors Adjunct 1 SH each

Offers additional intermediate academic experience by exploring course-related topics in greater depth with the professor. Available only to courses approved by the University Honors Program. Prereq. Honors program participation.

ANTH 4500 Latin American Society and Development 4 SH

Explores the processes of social, economic, and cultural change in Latin America. While concentrating on the present, traces class formation, agrarian structures, ethnic identity, ceremonial organization, gender roles, and political conflict since the colonial era in a range of countries. Emphasizes the relationship of communities and national political and economic systems. May emphasize Central America and Mexico or countries in South America through case studies.
Prereq. ANTH 1101 or SOCL 1101.

ANTH 4505 Native North Americans 4 SH

Explores North American Indian tribes including the Dakota (Sioux), Navajo, Pueblo, Mohawk, and Penobscot, and examines the historical changes that led to their contemporary situation. Focuses on the reservation and its many problems from various viewpoints.
Prereq. ANTH 1101 or SOCL 1101.

ANTH 4510 Anthropology of Africa 4 SH

Conveys a sense of the cultural diversity of Africa through a reading of ethnographies and key texts. Examines aspects of the social life of some African peoples, and places those examples in specific social and historical contexts. Explores both precolonial and colonial social systems, concentrating on the adaptations that African peoples have made to life in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Begins with an introduction to the geography and history of the continent and develops an appreciation of Africa's major regional differences. Considers several topics of contemporary relevance drawn from West Africa, East Africa, and Southern Africa, such as issues of religion, commoditization, gender, tribe and ethnicity, and violence and displacement. In the process, students pay particular attention to the ways in which the idea of "Africa" has come to be understood through Western perceptions and influenced the historical and contemporary treatment of Africa.
Prereq. ANTH 1101 or SOCL 1101.

ANTH 4515 Anthropology of South Asia 4 SH

Focuses on learning more about the peoples, history, and culture of South Asia as a world region and particularly on the ways that this area has influenced and been influences by the rest of the globe. Seeks to help students understand the pathways along which knowledge about South Asia has been created and the ways that the cultures of those who live in the region have been shaped by their engagement with the world, including issues such as tradition vs. modernity, Sanskritization, colonialism, and village life. Places particular focus on themes such as Orientalism, caste, making history under colonialism, religion and conflict, gender, and modenity.
Prereq. ANTH 1101.

ANTH 4580 Special Topics in Anthropology 4 SH

Designed as a specialized themes course for students with prior experience in anthropology and/or sociology. Offers unique opportunities--visiting guests, special thematic interests--which are not part of the regular curriculum.
Prereq. ANTH 1101 or SOCL 1101 and two 200-level anthropology or sociology courses.

ANTH 4600 Senior Seminar in Cultural Anthropology 4 SH

Required for cultural anthropology majors.
Prereq. Permission of the instructor, junior/senior standing, anthropology majors.

ANTH 4677, ANTH 4678, ANTH 4679 Honors Adjunct 1 SH each

Offers additional advanced academic experience by exploring course-related topics in greater depth with the professor. Available only to courses approved by the University Honors Program. Prereq. Honors program participation.

ANTH 4921 Directed Study 1 SH

ANTH 4922 Directed Study 2 SH

ANTH 4923 Directed Study 3 SH

ANTH 4924 Directed Study 4 SH

Offers independent work on a chosen topic under the direction of a member of the department.
Prereq. Permission of the instructor, junior/senior standing, anthropology majors.

ANTH 4951 Experiential Education Directed Study 4 SH

Draws upon the student's approved experiential activity and integrates it with study in the academic major. Restricted to those students who are using it to fulfill their experiential education requirement.
Prereq. Permission of the instructor.

ANTH 4970 Junior/Senior Project 1 4 SH

Focuses on in-depth project in which a student conducts research or produces a product related to the student's major field. Culminating experience in the University Honors defined equivalent for 8 credit honors project.
Prereq. Honors program participation.

ANTH 4971 Junior/Senior Project 2 4 SH

Focuses on second semester of in-depth project in which a student conducts research or produces a product related to the student's major field. Culminating experience in the University Honors Program.
Prereq. ANTH 4970 and honors program participation.