ANTH 1010         Introduction to Anthropology [Handler]

MoWe 11:00AM - 11:50AM | This course is an overview of key themes and theory in cultural anthropology. It is meant to provide students with the analytical and methodological tools to critically consider cultural difference, social organization, and social change. Themes include: anthropological methods, kinship, gender, religion, colonization, media, pop cultures, consumption, medicine, media, globalization, and post-modernity.This course is an overview of key themes and theory in cultural anthropology. It is meant to provide students with the analytical and methodological tools to critically consider cultural difference, social organization, and social change. Themes include: anthropological methods, kinship, gender, religion, colonization, media, pop cultures, consumption, medicine, media, globalization, and post-modernity. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 1050         Anthropology of Globalization [Hedges]

MoWeFr 9:00AM - 9:50PM | TBA (3.0 Units)

ANTH 2190         Desire and World Economics [Mentore]

MoWe 11:00AM - 11:50AM | Because of the current woeful lack of understanding about the economies of other societies, this course offers an insight into the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services practiced by peoples ignored or unknown to classic Western economics. Its principle focus will open upon the obvious differences between cultural concepts of the self and the very notion of its desire. Such arguments as those which theorize on the “rationality” of the market and the “naturalness” of competition will be debunked through the critical purvey of alternative subjectivities. More substantively the course will present societies of the gift, barter, and monetary exchange; the morality of consumption; the value and ethics of production; to name but a few of the topics covered. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 2230         Fantasy and Social Values [Wagner]

TuTh 9:30AM - 10:45AM | An examination of imaginary societies, in particular those in science fiction novels, to see how they reflect the problems and tensions of real social life. Attention is given to "alternate cultures" and fictional societal models. A "cultural imaginary" allow us to think carefully about implications of gender, technology, and social existence that we, for very good reasons, are not allowed to experiment upon. Three papers, mandatory attendance in lecture. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 2310         Symbol and Ritual [Douglass]

TuTh 3:30PM - 4:45PM | This course will introduce the student to the social meaning of symbols and rituals. We will look at symbols not only in rituals but also those embedded in “everyday life.” Likewise, we will study rituals not only as recognized ceremonies but also as accepted parts of our normal routines. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 2370         Japanese Culture [Alexy]

TuTh 9:00AM - 9:50AM | This course offers an introductory survey of Japan from an anthropological perspective. It is open without prerequisite to anyone with a curiosity about what is arguably the most important non-Western society of the last 100 years, and to anyone concerned about the diverse conditions of modern life. We will explore many aspects of contemporary Japan, and draw on scholarship in history, literature, religion, and the various social sciences. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 2400         Language and Culture [TBA]

MoWeFr 9:00AM - 9:50AM | This course takes a historical look at the role that speech and language have played in Hollywood movies. We will look at the artistic controversies, aesthetic theories, and technological challenges that attended the transition from silent to sound films as a backdrop to the main discussion of how gender, racial, ethnic, and national identities were constructed and reproduced through the representation of speech, dialect, and accent. This course provides an introduction to the study of semiotics but requires no knowledge of linguistics or of film studies. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 2440         Language and Cinema [Lefkowitz]

MoWe 9:00AM - 9:50AM | This course takes a historical look at the role that speech and language have played in Hollywood movies. We will look at the artistic controversies, aesthetic theories, and technological challenges that attended the transition from silent to sound films as a backdrop to the main discussion of how gender, racial, ethnic, and national identities were constructed and reproduced through the representation of speech, dialect, and accent. This course provides an introduction to the study of semiotics but requires no knowledge of linguistics or of film studies. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 2470         Reflection of Exile [Lefkowitz]

TuTh 12:30PM - 1:45PM | Covers Jewish languages Yiddish, Judeo-Arabic, Ladino, and Hebrew from historical, linguistic, and literary perspectives Explores the relations between communities and languages, the nature of diaspora, and the death and revival of languages. No prior knowledge of these languages is required. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 2590         Social and Cultural Anthropology [Kavadias]

MoWeFr 11:00AM - 11:50AM | TBA (3.0 Units)

ANTH 2800         Introduction to Archaeology [Laviolette]

MoWe 10:00AM - 10:50AM | Anthropological archaeology, which is the focus of this class, contributes to anthropology more broadly through the study of past societies very different from our own. Through research, archaeologists (re-)construct the broad sweep of human experience and history, mostly before the advent of written records. Combining often humanistic questions on one hand, and mostly scientific methods on the other, archaeology offers perspectives on such things as daily life, religion, economy, and social relations in the past through the systematic analysis of artifacts, faunal and botanical remains, structures, and landscapes. Archaeology is quite visible to the public, and it is fascinating. But how does it actually work? What are archaeology’s unique contributions to our knowledge of the deep and more recent past? This survey course attempts to provide you with answers to these questions. In addition to two 50-minute lectures, students enroll in a weekly discussion section. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 3010         Theory & History Anthropology [Igoe]

TuTh 2:00PM - 3:15PM | Overview of the major theoretical positions which have structured anthropological thought over the past century. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 3130         Disease, Epidemics and Society [Shepherd]

MoWe 2:00PM - 3:15PM | Topics covered in this course will include emerging diseases and leading killers in the twenty-first century, disease ecology, disease history and mortality transitions, the sociology of epidemics, the role of epidemiology in the mobilization of public health resources to confront epidemics, and the social processes by which the groups become stigmatized during disease outbreaks. This is a course that seeks to present a holistic view of global health by drawing on work crossing several disciplines, including anthropological demography, epidemiology, public health, disease history, genomic studies of disease pathogens, and medical anthropology. The written work for this course will fulfill the second writing requirement; the requirement is not completed, however, until you submit a completion form with your final paper (the form is available at Monroe Hall or on-line). (3.0 Units)

ANTH 3152         Amazonian Peoples [Mentore]

MoWeFr 10:00AM - 10:50PM | Analyzes ethnographies on the cultures and the societies of the South American rain forest peoples, and evaluates the scholarly ways in which anthropology has produced, engaged, interpreted, and presented its knowledge of the 'Amerindian.' (3.0 Units)

ANTH 3155         Anthropology of Everyday American Life [Damon]

MoWeFr 10:00AM - 10:50AM | Taking a production and exchange orientation to society, this course uses anthropological models to analyze aspects of the US experience in North America and its extension into the world. The models draw from the anthropological analysis of exchange, rites of transition and sacrifice, and the analysis of mythology. Although introduced by issues from the immediate questions of American culture, the course has a serious historical orientation. It runs from our 18th century foundation up to contemporary crises.  Students will write several response papers (2-4 pages/) and one longer paper (10+/_ pages) moving towards a synthesis of the course or a research proposal built out of the response papers but involving modest additional library or ethnographic research. Monday and Wednesdays are lecture days, Fridays devoted to Damon-led discussion. There will be no tests but occasional quizzes. The course should satisfy Second Writing Requirement. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 3320         Shamanism, Healing and Ritual [Turner]

Th 7:00PM - 9:30PM | The course delves into the sources of shamanism and ritual healing. It provides understanding of their different logic, and therefore why they communicate and heal. The class brings to life the reports and experiences of contemporary non-Western shamanic and healing rituals, maintaining respect for native interpretations in order to understand the effectiveness of their rituals. We will emphasize the human, personal experience of the events as living processes, and will use the in-depth studies of scholars who have become more than academics and who sometimes participate as practitioners of the crafts about which they seek knowledge. The experiencing and practicing of shamanism and healing being the actual life of these crafts, we will learn how to approximate a sense of these rituals by enacting them. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 3480         Language and Prehistory [Danziger]

WeFr 10:00AM - 10:50AM | This course covers the basic principles of diachronic linguistics – the study of how languages change over time -- and discusses the uses of linguistic data in the reconstruction of prehistory. We will consider for example the use of linguistic evidence in tracing prehistoric population movements, in demonstrating contact among prehistoric groups, and in the reconstruction of daily life. Examples and case studies will be drawn from the Mayan languages of Central America, and will include discussion of pre-Columbian Mesomerican writing systems and their ongoing decipherment. Over the semester, students will be responsible for completing several homework assignments based on course content, and a final exam. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 3541         Topics in Linguistics [Contini-Morava]

MoWe 2:00PM - 3:15PM | This course is an introduction to the linguistic diversity of the African continent, with a focus on sub-Saharan Africa. For about three-fourths of the course we will discuss linguistic structures (sound systems, word-formation, and syntax) among a wide variety of languages; the classification of African languages; and the use of linguistic data to reconstruct prehistory. For the last fourth of the course we will address a range of sociolinguistic topics, including language and social identity, social functions of language, verbal art, the politics of language planning, and the rise of "mixed" languages among urban youth. While lectures address general and comparative topics, each student will choose one language to focus on, using published materials available in the library. This language will be the basis for the major assignments. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 3550         Ethnography [Khare]

Th 3:30PM - 6:00PM | This course discusses selected ethnographies (i.e. the “classical,” transnational and reflexive) and ethnographers for their diverse culturally contextual, methodological, and interpretive strategies to account for increasingly diverse human conditions, needs and problems. With selected recent ethnographies as the learning resource, the course focuses on the adapting craft of “doing ethnography today,” especially as illustrated by the (a) anthropology’s pedagogical self-location; (b) women’s ethnographies for acquiring active voices and new concerns; (c) new Subalterns on representing themselves; (d) new globalizing industrial vs. healthy, natural “food narratives;” and (d) “survival ethnography” under dearth and disease. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 3589         Topics in Archaeology [Neiman]

We 3:30PM - 6:00PM | This course examines current archaeological approaches to the reconstruction and explanation of the ways in which humans at once shaped and adapted to past landscapes. It highlights the roles that linked ecological, economic, and social dynamics play in conditioning trajectories of change in past land use, and the ways in which archaeological evidence can advance our understanding of those processes. It emphasizes current theoretical perspectives, as well as GIS and statistical methods for the analysis of diverse data including artifact scatters, topography, and pollen spectra. The course is structured around three projects in which students will have an opportunity to make sense of real archaeological data from ongoing research into past landscape dynamics at Monticello. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 3590-01    Death and Dying [TBA]

TuTh 11:00AM - 12:15PM | TBA (3.0 Units)

ANTH 3590-02    Anthropology of Time and Space [Damon]

MoWe 5:00PM - 6:15PM | All societies position themselves in space and time. This course samples the anthropological discussion of the ways social systems have configured spatial/temporal orders.  We will consider both internalized conceptions of time and space and the ways an analyst might view space and time as external factors orientating a society’s existence. We will sample classic discussions of spatial-temporal orientations in small and large, “pre-modern” and “modern” societies.  What are the differences between these scales and kinds of societies? Students will be responsible for producing up to three short essays (4-5 pages) about texts considered by the class as a whole and then a research paper (approximately 20 pages) devoted to a single society or part of the world.  Class time will be divided between lecture format and discussion, increasingly turning to the latter as we move towards the end of the semester and each student concentrates on his or her own project.  This course should satisfy the second writing requirement. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 3630         Chinese Family and Religion [Shepherd]

TuTh 12:30PM - 1:45PM | Prerequisite: Anthro 101 or equivalent social science or China-related course.  This course will introduce students to anthropological analysis of the traditional forms of the Chinese family and popular religion, and their modern transformations. Heavy emphasis is on the ethnography from Taiwan where traditional forms have endured and been studied intensively. Topics to be covered include the dynamics of traditional Chinese marriage and domestic life, gender roles, the religious underpinnings of Chinese family life in ancestor worship and the Chinese cult of the dead, marriage rituals, and the cult of filial piety.  The forms of temple worship, the interaction of the Buddhist, Taoist, and Confucian traditions, and the shamanic tradition will also be covered.  Finally, attention will be paid to the changing role of the family and religion in twentieth century Chinese life. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 3680         Australian Aboriginal Art and Culture [Smith]

MoWe 3:30PM - 4:45PM | This class will study the intersection of anthropology, art and material culture focusing on Australian Aboriginal art. We will examine how Aboriginal art has moved from relative obscurity to global recognition over the past thirty years. Topics include the historical and cultural contexts of invention, production, marketing and appropriation of Aboriginal art. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 3700         Globalizing India [Khare]

Th 3:30PM - 6:00PM | The course discusses globalizing cultural forces and processes operating on—and from within—modern India, showing their diverse socioeconomic, political, moral and mass-media communication impact and the related new issues/problems. Within comparative cultural (especially the present-day Indian, American and Indian American) frames, the specific topics under detailed consideration will be the transforming (a) caste and class structures of hierarchies and inequalities; (b) marriage, family, gender and age relations, forging new social claims, ethics and critical problems; (c) bazaar cultures (local to transnational) for new media-led consumerism; and (d) political economy and the related contentious moral, religious and political claims. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 3830         North American Archaeology [Hantman]

MoWe 3:30PM - 4:45PM | This course provides an overview of the contributions of archaeology to our understanding of long-term cultural histories of North America. After a brief review of the history of archaeological research on the continent we will examine case studies that provide detailed analysis of: 1) the peopling of North America during the late Ice-Age; 2) continuity and change in precolonial and colonial-era Native American societies in the Eastern and Southwestern U.S., 3) the archaeological study of individual and group identities among Euroamerican, African-American and Native American communities in the colonial era. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 3840         Archaeology of the Middle East [Wattenmaker]

TuTh 2:00PM - 3:15PM | This course is an introduction to the prehistory/early history of the Middle East (Egypt, Mesopotamia, the Levant and southeast Anatolia) from 10,000 to 4,000 BP. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 4559         Human Impact on the Environment [Plog, Shugart, & Most]

Th 1:00PM - 3:30PM | Once humans evolved into complex, sentient beings they began to leave the landscape scattered with the remains of their activities (tool making, fire making, house building, etc.). As we became more complex, our impact on the landscape became more significant such that we are now said to be responsible for the extinction of North American megafauna and global warming. Using methods and theories from environmental sciences and archaeology, this class will examine the impact of humans on the environment during various time periods in prehistory and history. We will examine the impact of plant and animal domestication, the introduction of non-indigenous species, climate change, water rights, and monoculture. Examples of environmental collapse and ecocide will be closely examined. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 4591-01    Archaeology of Virginia [Hantman]

TuTh 3:30PM - 4:45PM | This course is a capstone course for your studies in Anthropology. As with all senior seminars it is organized around a theme or themes and in this course you will be bringing your global knowledge of anthropology to bear on issues in ‘our’ own backyard. These issues are concerned with colonialism, race, and class in Virginia. We will read and discuss works of cultural anthropology, archaeology and cultural history to bring new perspectives to Virginia cultural history from ca. 1600 to the present. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 4591-02    Animals: Good to Think [Douglass]

TuTh 11:00AM - 12:15PM | Animals: Good to Think will be a seminar on the anthropology of human cultural relations with animals. It is inspired in part by the recent research and theory in animal studies. The seminar will emphasize only a few of many possible themes, such as animals as symbol, animals as spectacle and sport, animals as domesticates, “pets” and food, and animals as scientific object. We will especially emphasize horses. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 4591-03    Anthropology of the Middle East [Wattenmaker]

We 6:30PM - 9:00PM | We explore the prehistory and early history of the Middle East and Egypt, focusing mainly on the period from ca. 11,000 to 4000 BP. Through both lectures and discussion, we will examine archaeological research and findings on the origins of food production (the domestication of plants and animals), the earliest village communities, the origins of social ranking, the advent of state societies, urbanism and the origins of writing systems. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 5235         Legal Anthropology [Alexy]

TuTh 2:00PM - 3:15PM | This course is an introduction to legal anthropology for graduate students or advanced undergraduates. At the intersection of legal studies and anthropology, this sub-discipline examines the role of law in, of, and through culture and society. Key questions include: How are legal systems shaped by culture? How are cultures shaped by legal systems? Can we view law as a cultural system with all the attendant implications this brings? Following cultural relativism, are all legal systems equal? Can global or international justice exist? How do we use anthropology to investigate legal demands, beliefs, and actors? What is the relationship between law and social change? How do bureaucracies matter? How does culture impact bureaucracies, and vice versa? This course investigates key anthropological questions through the lens of law systems, legal argumentation, and people’s interactions with these thoughts and forms. Rather than taking as given the hegemonic power that legal structures might hold over people’s lives and thought, this course questions how people use, abuse, subvert, and leverage the legal structures in which they find themselves, while paying attention to how law constructs power. Broadly, we will be investigating how law matters in everyday lives. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 5420         Theories of Language [Contini-Morava]

TuTh 2:00PM - 3:15PM | We will survey a number of modern “Western” schools of linguistics, trying to understand each approach in terms of its historical context, the goals it sets itself, the assumptions it makes about the nature of language, and the relation between theory, methodology and analytical practice. The main focus is on theories of grammar, but we will also discuss some phonological theories whose theoretical concepts are applied to grammar and beyond. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 5480         Literacy and Orality [Dobrin]

Mo 3:30PM - 6:00PM | Literacy and orality are counterparts within a common “scriptural economy.” And shifting and value-laden notions of both of these have been central tropes in discussions of social difference and progress for many decades. This course surveys some of the ethnographic and linguistic literature on literacy, focusing on the social meanings of speaking vs. writing (and hearing vs. reading) as opposed communicative practices, looking especially at traditionally oral societies. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 5590-01    Mathematical Kinship [Wagner]

TuTh 12:30PM - 1:45PM | TBA (3.0 Units)

ANTH 5590-02    Ethnography [Fraser]

TuTh 5:00PM - 7:30PM | Readings in Ethnography An ethnography is the characteristic way of presenting the results of research in anthropology. They provide our claim to knowing something interesting and useful about the world. But ethnographies vary widely in their style of presentation, theoretical underpinnings, and success at convincing the reader. This course explores this variety by close readings of half a dozen texts ranging over several continents. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 5625         Imagining Africa [Igoe]

TuTh 9:30AM - 10:45AM | Africa is commonly imagined in the West as an unproblematically bounded and undifferentiated entity. This course engages and moves beyond western traditions of story telling about Africa to explore diverse systems of imagining Africa's multi-diasporic realities. Imagining Africa is never a matter of pure abstraction, but entangled in material struggles and collective memory, and taking place at diverse and interconnected scales and locales. Prerequisite: ANTH 1010 (3.0 Units)

ANTH 5885         Archaeology of Colonial Expansions [Laviolette]

Th 3:30PM - 6:00PM | This seminar explores the comparative archaeology of colonialism in its changing theoretical landscape, examining the structural similarities and differences between European colonialism and many other archaeologically known examples, as well as the task of representing the human experience of being colonized. While most studies of colonialism have focused on the expansion of Europe since the emergence of competitive mercantile economies, archaeological and historical examples of different kinds of colonialism abound in previous eras, and we will explore a range of all types across time and space. 

This course is intended for graduate students and upper-level undergraduates who have completed at least one other archaeology course. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 5235         Legal Anthropology [Alexy]

TuTh 2:00PM - 3:15PM | This course is an introduction to legal anthropology for graduate students or advanced undergraduates. At the intersection of legal studies and anthropology, this sub-discipline examines the role of law in, of, and through culture and society. Key questions include: How are legal systems shaped by culture? How are cultures shaped by legal systems? Can we view law as a cultural system with all the attendant implications this brings? Following cultural relativism, are all legal systems equal? Can global or international justice exist? How do we use anthropology to investigate legal demands, beliefs, and actors? What is the relationship between law and social change? How do bureaucracies matter? How does culture impact bureaucracies, and vice versa? This course investigates key anthropological questions through the lens of law systems, legal argumentation, and people’s interactions with these thoughts and forms. Rather than taking as given the hegemonic power that legal structures might hold over people’s lives and thought, this course questions how people use, abuse, subvert, and leverage the legal structures in which they find themselves, while paying attention to how law constructs power. Broadly, we will be investigating how law matters in everyday lives. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 5420         Theories of Language [Contini-Morava]

TuTh 2:00PM - 3:15PM | We will survey a number of modern “Western” schools of linguistics, trying to understand each approach in terms of its historical context, the goals it sets itself, the assumptions it makes about the nature of language, and the relation between theory, methodology and analytical practice. The main focus is on theories of grammar, but we will also discuss some phonological theories whose theoretical concepts are applied to grammar and beyond. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 5480         Literacy and Orality [Dobrin]

Mo 3:30PM - 6:00PM | Literacy and orality are counterparts within a common “scriptural economy.” And shifting and value-laden notions of both of these have been central tropes in discussions of social difference and progress for many decades. This course surveys some of the ethnographic and linguistic literature on literacy, focusing on the social meanings of speaking vs. writing (and hearing vs. reading) as opposed communicative practices, looking especially at traditionally oral societies. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 5590-01    Mathematical Kinship [Wagner]

TuTh 12:30PM - 1:45PM | TBA (3.0 Units)

ANTH 5590-02    Ethnography [Fraser]

TuTh 5:00PM - 7:30PM | Readings in Ethnography An ethnography is the characteristic way of presenting the results of research in anthropology. They provide our claim to knowing something interesting and useful about the world. But ethnographies vary widely in their style of presentation, theoretical underpinnings, and success at convincing the reader. This course explores this variety by close readings of half a dozen texts ranging over several continents. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 5625         Imagining Africa [Igoe]

TuTh 9:30AM - 10:45AM | Africa is commonly imagined in the West as an unproblematically bounded and undifferentiated entity. This course engages and moves beyond western traditions of story telling about Africa to explore diverse systems of imagining Africa's multi-diasporic realities. Imagining Africa is never a matter of pure abstraction, but entangled in material struggles and collective memory, and taking place at diverse and interconnected scales and locales. Prerequisite: ANTH 1010 (3.0 Units)

ANTH 5885         Archaeology of Colonial Expansions [Laviolette]

Th 3:30PM - 6:00PM | This seminar explores the comparative archaeology of colonialism in its changing theoretical landscape, examining the structural similarities and differences between European colonialism and many other archaeologically known examples, as well as the task of representing the human experience of being colonized. While most studies of colonialism have focused on the expansion of Europe since the emergence of competitive mercantile economies, archaeological and historical examples of different kinds of colonialism abound in previous eras, and we will explore a range of all types across time and space. 

This course is intended for graduate students and upper-level undergraduates who have completed at least one other archaeology course. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 7010         History Theory I [Bashkow]

TuTh 12:30PM - 1:45PM | This course is the first half of the graduate core sequence in the History of Anthropological Theory, covering from (roughly) the beginning of cosmic time until the mid-20th century. By careful reading of classic works we will learn about the philosophical roots of the two great streams of western social theory, prefiguring the conflict between social evolutionism and cultural particularism in the 20th century. We will study different national traditions of anthropology, emphasizing the U.S., France, and Britain, and trace the early trajectory of major approaches and debates in the field. We will be concerned to understand anthropological theories not only as frameworks for understanding other cultures, but also as reflections or commentaries upon the culture of those who produced them. The course stresses close reading, analysis, and discussion of primary texts. This is a required course for entering anthropology graduate students. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 7060         Dissertation Research Proposal Workshop [McKinnon]

We 3:30PM - 6:00PM | TBA (3.0 Units)

ANTH 7130         Disease, Epidemics and Society [Shepherd]

MoWe 2:00PM - 3:15PM | Topics covered in this course will include emerging diseases and leading killers in the twenty-first century, disease ecology, disease history and mortality transitions, the sociology of epidemics, the role of epidemiology in the mobilization of public health resources to confront epidemics, and the social processes by which the groups become stigmatized during disease outbreaks. This is a course that seeks to present a holistic view of global health by drawing on work crossing several disciplines, including anthropological demography, epidemiology, public health, disease history, genomic studies of disease pathogens, and medical anthropology. The written work for this course will fulfill the second writing requirement; the requirement is not completed, however, until you submit a completion form with your final paper (the form is available at Monroe Hall or on-line). (3.0 Units)

ANTH 7400         Linguistic Anthropology [Dobrin]

Th 4:00PM - 6:30PM | This is an advanced introduction to linguistic anthropology, a sub-field of anthropology that looks at language as a socio-cultural phenomenon and at society and culture as discursive phenomena. Linguistic anthropologists are interested both in how the study of language can help address issues of social structure and cultural change, and in how the study of social context can inform the description of linguistic systems. This course mirrors the field’s duality in that the readings, lectures, and practical exercises combine linguistic description and analysis with ethnographic interpretation. One goal of the course is to provide anthropology students with the ability to interpret language use as a social practice wherever they conduct research. The course fulfills the Linguistics requirement for graduate students in Anthropology. It also fulfills the Theory requirement for Linguistics. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 7480         Language and Prehistory [Danziger]

WeFr 10:00AM - 10:50PM | This course covers the basic principles of diachronic linguistics - the study of how languages change over time - and discusses the uses of linguistic data in the reconstruction of prehistory. We will consider the use of linguistic evidence in tracing prehistoric population movements, in demonstrating contact among prehistoric groups, and in the reconstruction of daily life. To the extent that the literature permits, examples and case studies will be drawn from the Mayan language area of Central America, and will include discussion of the pre-Columbian Mayan writing system and its ongoing decipherment. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 7541         Topics in Sociolinguistics [Contini-Morava]

MoWe 2:00PM - 3:15PM | This graduate seminar course exposes students to a variety of recent and forthcoming research in linguistic anthropology, with an emphasis on students’ own professionalization and preparedness to undertake research.  Students will explore such topics as the preparation of a research proposal, ethics in linguistic anthropology research, and publication venues in this field.  Assignments will be tailored to the needs of particular students enrolled in the class, but will include written submissions as well as seminar presentations during the semester. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 7589         Landscape Archaeology [Neiman]

We 3:30PM - 6:00PM | This course examines current archaeological approaches to the reconstruction and explanation of the ways in which humans at once shaped and adapted to past landscapes. It highlights the roles that linked ecological, economic, and social dynamics play in conditioning trajectories of change in past land use, and the ways in which archaeological evidence can advance our understanding of those processes. It emphasizes current theoretical perspectives, as well as GIS and statistical methods for the analysis of diverse data including artifact scatters, topography, and pollen spectra. The course is structured around three projects in which students will have an opportunity to make sense of real archaeological data from ongoing research into past landscape dynamics at Monticello. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 7590-01    Anthropology of Technoscience [Weston]

MoWe 2:00PM - 3:15PM | TBA (3.0 Units)

ANTH 7590-02    Ethnography: Contexts, Methods, and Meaning [Khare]

Th 3:30PM - 6:00PM | This course discusses selected ethnographies (i.e. the “classical,” transnational and reflexive) and ethnographers for their diverse culturally contextual, methodological, and interpretive strategies to account for increasingly diverse human conditions, needs and problems. With selected recent ethnographies as the learning resource, the course focuses on the adapting craft of “doing ethnography today,” especially as illustrated by the (a) anthropology’s pedagogical self-location; (b) women’s ethnographies for acquiring active voices and new concerns; (c) new Subalterns on representing themselves; (d) new globalizing industrial vs. healthy, natural “food narratives;” and (d) “survival ethnography” under dearth and disease. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 7590-03    Anthropology of Time and Space [Damon]

MoWe 5:00PM - 6:15PM | All societies position themselves in space and time. This course samples the anthropological discussion of the ways social systems have configured spatial/temporal orders.  We will consider both internalized conceptions of time and space and the ways an analyst might view space and time as external factors orientating a society’s existence. We will sample classic discussions of spatial-temporal orientations in small and large, “pre-modern” and “modern” societies.  What are the differences between these scales and kinds of societies? Students will be responsible for producing up to three short essays (4-5 pages) about texts considered by the class as a whole and then a research paper (approximately 20 pages) devoted to a single society or part of the world.  Class time will be divided between lecture format and discussion, increasingly turning to the latter as we move towards the end of the semester and each student concentrates on his or her own project.  This course should satisfy the second writing requirement. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 7630         Chinese Family and Religion [Shepherd]

TuTh 12:30PM - 1:45PM | Prerequisite: Anthro 101 or equivalent social science or China-related course.  This course will introduce students to anthropological analysis of the traditional forms of the Chinese family and popular religion, and their modern transformations. Heavy emphasis is on the ethnography from Taiwan where traditional forms have endured and been studied intensively. Topics to be covered include the dynamics of traditional Chinese marriage and domestic life, gender roles, the religious underpinnings of Chinese family life in ancestor worship and the Chinese cult of the dead, marriage rituals, and the cult of filial piety.  The forms of temple worship, the interaction of the Buddhist, Taoist, and Confucian traditions, and the shamanic tradition will also be covered.  Finally, attention will be paid to the changing role of the family and religion in twentieth century Chinese life. (3.0 Units)