ANTH 1010         Introduction to Anthropology [Igoe]

TuTh 9:30AM - 10:20AM | This course will introduce you to the field of Anthropology. It will ask fundamental questions about how humans evolved as physical and biological beings, as well as social and cultural animals. The course places specific emphasis on answering the question, ‘what is culture? We will approach this from anthropology’s four perspectives: 1) biological; 2) archeological; 3) linguistic; and 4) cultural. As we shall see in the course of this semester human culture contains a central paradox: it is essential the survival of all human beings and at the same time it potentially threatens the survival of the human species and the future of our planet. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 2153         North American Indians [Hantman]

MoWe 3:30PM - 4:45PM | This class introduces students to the diversity of historical and contemporary experiences of Native Americans. Starting with an overview of precolonial American Indian history and regional cultural traditions, we turn to the effects of colonial and postcolonial encounters and Native American engagement with the United States and Canada (nations within a nation, dependent and sovereign). We explore topics of broad interest such as relationships to the ancestors and to land, ecological adaptations, the myth of the disappearing Indian, and issues in the appropriation of Indian identity and cultural icons. Finally, we will discuss and debate the implications of unique rights conferred by the state to indigenous peoples. Our texts are primarily by indigenous authors who provide a contemporary view of North American Indian life. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 2190         Desire and World Economics [Mentore]

MoWe 11:00AM - 11:50AM | This course offers an insight into the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services practiced by people’s 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. (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 2280         Medical Anthropology [Scherz]

TuTh 11:00AM - 11:30AM | This course is an introduction to the rapidly expanding subfield of medical anthropology. It will teach you to analyze how social, cultural, political, and economic factors impact the body. It will also show you how these factors shape the ways people understand, experience, and respond to states of health and disease. In addition to exploring the medical systems of other cultures, we will also reflect on biomedicine as a cultural artifact. (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 2320         Anthropology of Religion [Dennis]

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

ANTH 2340         Anthropology of Birth and Death [Khare]

Th 3:30PM - 6:00PM | The course anthropologically approaches and explicates birth, health-wellness, and death related issues in diverse changing—far and near and now often also globalizing—human societies and cultures. We will focus on comparative ethnographic, bio-cultural and medical anthropological approaches to explicate different (a) child birth, birthing and child-rearing practices; (b) surrogacy under global changes; (c) family dietary and industrial food cultures and self-identity issues; and (d) dying, good and bad deaths, and the “life after life” experiences and explanations. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 2375         Disaster [Weston]

MoWe 2:00PM - 3:15PM | The sociocultural approach to the study of disaster highlighted in this course includes analysis of the manufacture of disaster, debates on societal collapse, disaster management discourse, apocalyptic thought, representations of disaster in film, the ways that disasters mobilize affect, and disaster as political allegory. Students will learn to apply analytic frameworks to a series of case studies from different societies of various "natural," industrial, and chronic disasters, as well as predictions of future disasters. Cases range from nineteenth-century famines to Hurricane Katrina, the Bhopal gas disaster, the nuclear meltdowns at Chernobyl and Fukushima Daiichi, the HIV/AIDS pandemic, climate change catastrophism, computer modeling of specific disaster scenarios, and doomsday preparation. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 2400         Language and Culture [TBA]

MoWeFr 11:00AM - 11:50AM | A survey of topics having to do with the relationship between language, culture, and society. We will consider both how language is described and analyzed by linguists and how evidence from language can shed light on a variety of social, cultural, and cognitive phenomena. Topics include: nature of language, origins of language, how languages change, writing systems, use of linguistic evidence to make inferences about prehistory, the effects of linguistic categories on thought and behavior, regional and social variation in language, and cultural rules for communication. Course includes a plus obligatory discussion section. Satisfies the College Non-Western perspectives requirement. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 2420         Language and Gender [Pancoast]

MoWeFr 12:00PM - 12:50PM | In many societies, differences in pronunciation, vocabulary choice, and/or communicative style serve as social markers of gender identity and differentiation. We will compare gender differences in our own society with those in other societies including non-Western ones. Topics to be addressed include: the relation between gender difference and gender inequality (in scholarly discussion of language as well as in language itself); intersection of gender, race, and social class in language use; gender and non-verbal communication (including representations of gender in advertising and the media); issues of nature vs. nurture in explaining these differences. Requirements will include a paper based on fieldwork conducted jointly with a working group, an individual paper, participation in the required discussion section, and a take-home essay question exam focusing on the course readings and lectures. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 2500         Cultures, Regions, and Civilizations [Howarter]

MoWeFr 9:00AM - 9:50AM | This course introduces students to Pacific Island cultures through anthropology, history, and literature. Through these avenues students will learn to question and contextualize contemporary issues in the region like the politics of body size; changing traditions of transgenderism; environmental displacement from climate change, mining, and nuclear contamination; remittance economies; diaspora crime; and cultural revitalization and sovereignty movements. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 2590-01    Outer Space [Messeri] 

MoWe 2:00PM - 3:15PM | People see different things when looking up into the night sky. Some see the future of humankind, others see an empty void. There are those who see the homes of gods or ancestors and those certain of extraterrestrials. This class considers how outer space, at different times and for different people, acts as a mirror that reflects back aspirations and anxieties of those studying and pondering the universe. By studying outer space we will in fact by studying ourselves. This class draws on ideas in anthropology and science, technology, and society (STS) to examine the extraterrestrial. We will read social science texts alongside scientific and fictional accounts of space science and exploration. Students will learn how science more generally is infused with cultural ideas and how this understanding adds richness when studying both social and scientific phenomena. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 2590-02    Gender, Culture and Violence [Handler] 

MoWe 10:00AM - 10:50AM | Beginning with theories of sex, gender, and sexuality as culturally constructed and socially experienced, this course explores the relationship between gender and violence. Topics will include same-sex and opposite-sex contexts, theories of power, structural violence, and legal and extra-legal responses. Arguing that violence is neither innate nor biological, we will explore examples of how violence shapes and is shaped by gender, with particular attention to gender-based violence at U.S. universities. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 2590-03    Ethnographic Laboratory: Indigenous Societies of Mexico Today [Questa] 

MoWeFr 12:00PM - 12:50PM | Its booming population and industry, its ancient history and ethnic diversity, paired with its many challenges regarding human rights, violence, poverty and several forms of discrimination rooted in its colonial history, make Mexico a country of radical contrasts. Among the most salient features of this nation is its massive indigenous population. A strong ethnic presence of over 12 million people—one in every 10 Mexicans— that identifies as belonging to some Indigenous group by language usage. Close to three million are living in the US, speaking English, all the while preserving their Amerindian languages, redefining many labels on what is adaptation, tradition, and modernity. This course will offer elements on their long history and archeological vestiges, their linguistic variation and the cultural challenges they face today. The main focus will be placed on the vast array of ethnographic literature. Through these materials we will meet powerful systems of knowledge that keep evading stereotypes while provoking anthropological questions. This course is designed as a seminar focusing on ethnographic practice, writing, and cross-cultural engagements. Ethnography on Mexican indigenous societies should not be regarded as a regional topic only, as it entails in its very making, a deep reflection on human diversity, and the things we all share. Conceived as a laboratory, this course will emphasize horizontal participation, collaborative attitude, and cross-cultural engagements. Finally, the course is also designed as a seminar, focusing on stimulating ethnographic description, writing, and anthropological thinking. It should be of interest to anthropology students in general, as well as to people concerned with fieldwork research, Mexico and Amerindian Indigenous societies. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 2590-04    Anthropology of Personhood [Rolando] 

MoWeFr 9:00AM - 9:50AM | This class introduces the topic of personhood in the social sciences. The three fundamental questions that structure this class are: What do we refer to when we talk about persons in the social sciences? Are they the same everywhere? How do different societies produce persons? (3.0 Units)

ANTH 2625         Imagining Africa [Igoe]

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

ANTH 3010         Theory and History of Anthropology [Damon]

TuTh 9:30AM - 10:45AM | This course is designed for students who are majoring in anthropology. It presents a broad historical outline of major theoretical approaches in the field, from the late 19th century to the present. These approaches will be examined in relation to both evolving debates within the discipline, and the larger historical, cultural and intellectual contexts in which they were produced, and which they to some degree reflect; we will also discuss the enduring relevance of these theories. The course stresses close reading of primary texts and emphasizes in particular the critical analysis of these texts' arguments. The discussion section is obligatory. This is a required course for anthropology majors. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 3152         Amazonian Peoples [Mentore]

MoWe 3:30PM - 4:45PM | 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 will be drawn primarily from the anthropological analysis of exchange, rites of transition, sacrifice and mythology. Although introduced by issues drawn from present-day conditions, the course has a serious historical orientation. It handles weightier issues in the analysis of ‘religion,’ for example, during what is called “The Second Great Awakening” in US history (ca 1790-1830+). Slightly less historical attention is given to two important centennials that began last year, the completion of the Panama Canal, one of several great communication projects initiated in the 19th century; and the start of the West’s major wars, WWI&WWII, and their legacies. The course concludes with an analysis of the most recent of our periodic, if not cyclical, (financial) 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 a response paper. One paper devoted to analyzing at least two movies must be written with another student. Monday and Wednesdays are lecture days, many 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 3171         Culture of Cyber Space [Trevett-Smith]

We 5:00PM - 7:30PM | Today’s personal, social, political, and economic worlds are all affected by digital media and networked publics. Together we will explore both the literature about and direct experience of these new literacies: research foundations and best practices of individual digital participation and collective participatory culture, the use of collaborative media and methodologies, and the application of network know-how to life online. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 3320         Shamanism, Healing and Ritual [Turner]

Th 5:00PM - 7:30PM | 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 3395         Mythodology [Wagner]

TuTh 12:30PM - 1:45PM | Mythodology: A participatory crash-course in the obviation skill set: how to “solve” a myth or story as if it were a topological mind-puzzle. All the student is required to do is furnish a myth or story of their own choosing, analyze it in class presentation, and prepare a final paper on the subject. Class attendance mandatory. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 3470         Language and Culture in the Middle East [Lefkowitz]

MoWeFr 11:00AM - 11:50AM | This course provides an introduction to the people, cultures, and histories of the Middle East, through an examination of language-use in contemporary Middle Eastern societies. The course focuses on Israel/Palestine, and the contact between Hebrew and Arabic, as a microcosm providing insight into important social processes-such as colonization, religious fundamentalism, modernization, and the changing status of women-affecting the region as a whole. Readings contrast ethnographic with novelistic representations of language, society, and identity. A primary concern will be to compare social scientific and literary constructions of self and other in the context of the political and military confrontation between Israel and Palestine. This is a lecture and discussion course. A number of feature films from the Middle East are incorporated into the course material. Requirements include four short essays and a book review. Prerequisite: previous course in anthropology, linguistics, or Middle Eastern studies; or permission of the instructor. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 3541         Language Loss and Reclamation in Native North America [TBA]

MoWe 2:00PM - 3:15PM | The colonization of North America led to a dramatic decline in the continent's indigenous linguistic diversity. Today, some Native American languages have few or no living speakers. But many communities in Canada, Mexico, and the United States are taking steps to reclaim their heritage languages, often in collaboration with linguists and anthropologists. In the first half of the course, we examine models for language maintenance and revitalization, strategies for language activism and advocacy, impacts of language planning and policies, and the kinds of changes heritage languages undergo as communities shift to majority languages. In the second half of the course, we take an ethnographic approach to the methods and meanings of language maintenance, focusing on how culture shapes what is at stake in language loss and how revitalization efforts are evaluated by the populations they serve. After taking this course, students will have a better understanding of the current status, future prospects, and variable roles of Native American languages in indigenous communities. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 3559         Archaeology of Food [Wattenmaker]

TuTh 2:00PM - 3:15PM | We all need food to survive. However, what we eat, how we eat it, and whom we share our means with are infused with cultural meanings. This course explores food and drink as a window into the symbolic, social, economic and political structures of ancient societies. We will explore the methodologies used by archaeologists to investigate ancient foodways, and gain a temporal perspective on changing consumption patterns. Archaeological evidence will provide insight into the ways that food and drink are culturally transformed through social practices, as well as the ways that foodways have themselves contributed to cultural change. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 3590-01    Ethnography of China [Shepherd] 

TuTh 3:30PM - 4:45PM | This is a seminar for graduate students and upper level undergraduates with background in Chinese studies and/or Anthropology. In this seminar we will read ethnographies selected to represent the most recent ethnographic works focusing on Chinese societies in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Topics will range from post-reform rural and urban life, gender, ethnicity, political culture, and religion. The seminar will critically review the numerous approaches to the Chinese culture of social relations that have been proposed by anthropologists, psychologists, and political scientists. The adequacy of these characterizations will be tested against ethnographic descriptions and literary accounts of Chinese families, gender roles, village life, friendship, formal organizations, and political culture. Ethnographies will be drawn from the People's Republic, Taiwan, and overseas communities. The course will be conducted as a seminar based on student participation and discussion focusing on critical responses to the readings.

Students should expect to read a new ethnography approximately every two weeks, supplemented by articles and reviews. Requirements include reading responses, preparation of discussion questions, and active seminar participation. Written work will include two short essays (8-10 pages), and a term paper (15-20 pages). (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 3850         Historical Archaeology [Neiman]

We 3:30PM - 6:00PM | Historical archaeology is the archaeological study of the continental and transoceanic human migrations that began in the fifteenth century, their effects on native peoples, and historical trajectories of the societies that they created. This course offers an introduction to the field. It emphasizes how theoretical models, analytical methods, and archaeological data can be combined to make and evaluate credible inferences about the cultural dynamics of the early-modern past.

The class combines lecture and discussion with computer workshops in which students have a chance to explore historical issues raised in the reading and lectures using real archaeological data. The course is designed to teach students in architectural history, history, and archaeology how to use theoretical models, simple statistical methods, and software applications, including spreadsheets, databases, and GIS, to address important historical questions

Our principle historical focus this semester is change in the conflicting economic and social strategies pursued by Europeans, Africans, and Native-Americans, and their descendents in the 17th-century and 18th-century Chesapeake. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 4420         Theories of Language [Contini-Morava]

TuTh 2:00PM - 3:15PM | We will survey a number of modern schools of linguistics, both American and European, 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 and methodology. Grades will depend on: four or five written homework assignments that ask you to look at some data from a particular theoretical perspective; weekly reading responses, a take-home, open-book final exam; and evidence (from class discussion) that you have been doing the readings, which are an essential part of the course. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 4591-01    Social Life of Goods [Wattenmaker]

We 3:00PM - 5:30PM | Drawing on theoretical works in the social sciences, archaeological case studies, and ethnographies, this course examines the diverse ways that cultures have used materials and goods to create and transform their worlds. The course takes an inclusive view of material culture that considers settlements, houses, burials and shrines, as well as objects. We consider how the productive context, exchange of goods, physical properties of materials, and their cultural uses endows them with spiritual and social meanings. Topics covered include the use of goods in negotiating social relations, the circulation of goods, gifts and commodities, craft production as ritual, bodies as objects, body adornment, dress, gender and identity, and consumption and globalization. Archaeological examples highlight the roles of tradition and history in the uses of durable goods over generations and across space, providing significant theoretical insights into how goods are infused with social meanings. Ethnographic cases allow us to consider more perishable goods and provide richer documentation of the social roles of goods in the daily lives of people. A cross-cultural perspective that draws on the social uses of goods in various parts of the world furthers our understanding of how goods lacking in intrinsic value take on powerful social meanings. (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 5470         Language and Identity [Lefkowitz]

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

ANTH 5510-1     Topics in Ethnography: Melanesia [Bashkow]

TuTh 12:30PM - 1:45PM | In this seminar course we will read selected works on the ethnography of Melanesia, with a focus on the Pacific Island nation of Papua New Guinea. Topics include exchange practices, conceptions of the body and person, the cultural construction of knowledge and the emotions, gender, memory, language ideology, social movements, ritual, and Christianity. Students in the course will gain practice in the analysis and interpretation of ethnographic material. Course requirements include weekly reading and writing assignments, an in-class presentation, and a final research paper. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 5510-2     Ethnography of China: Gender and the Chinese Culture of Social Relation [Shepherd]

TuTh 3:30PM - 4:45PM | This is a seminar for graduate students and upper level undergraduates with background in Chinese studies and/or Anthropology. This course will critically review the numerous characterizations of female and male gender in modern Chinese cultures. The adequacy of these characterizations will be tested against ethnographic descriptions and literary accounts of Chinese families, gender roles, friendships, business and religious communities. Examples will be drawn from the People's Republic, Taiwan, and overseas communities. The course will conducted as a seminar based on student participation and discussion focusing on critical responses to the readings. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 5528         Topics in Race Theory [Bashkow]

MoWe 3:30PM - 4:45PM | This advanced seminar course is intended primarily for graduate students who are planning race-related research. The first part of the course will be historical, focusing on the history of race and related ideas in Euro-American scientific and popular culture. We will then take up a series of topics explored in recent scholarly work, including race vs. ethnicity, critical studies of whiteness, distinctive local and national constructions of race and racism, linguistic approaches to racial identity, raced material objects and aesthetics, racial health disparities, and the new genetics of race. The course will invite students to consider anthropology’s specific contributions to the discussion of race and race problems, in contradistinction to the larger literatures that exist in adjacent fields like Sociology. To help us grapple with the central question of how symbolic hierarchy interacts with material discrimination, we will explore the possibility of conceptualizing race as a semiotic phenomenon, one involving not only the objectification of persons but also the racialization of material objects that have both concrete and culturally-mediated properties and effects. Course requirements include weekly reading and writing assignments, an in-class presentation, and a final research paper. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 5541         Topics in Linguistics: Pidgins and Creoles [Dobrin]

Th 4:00PM - 6:30PM | In this course we will survey the literature on pidgin and creole languages in order to gain a sense of their history, structure, and sociolinguistic correlates. Pidgins and creoles are born of contact, making their status as languages a subject of debate; they have also raised a number of important issues for linguistic theory (e.g., regarding language origins, language mixing, the nature of linguistic change, and structural complexity). Students will each focus on a particular language or topic in creole linguistics in order to ground their research and contributions to class discussion. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 5589         Public Archaeologies [Hantman]

Th 3:30PM - 6:00PM | This seminar addresses the interpretive, ethical and legal issues that affect the study and public presentation of archaeological research in the United States. Following a review of national policy regarding cultural patrimony, and the history of academic and government involvement in archaeology and preservation, we will give particular attention to recent studies of a diverse range of Native American and African American sites. The class will consider the development of collaborative and indigenous archaeologies and engagement with descendant (contemporary) communities. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 5590         Anthropology of Ethics [Scherz]

TuTh 2:00PM - 3:15PM | In recent years the word “ethics” has become increasingly prevalent in public discourse. The discipline of anthropology is no exception to this rule. Much time has been spent discussing anthropology’s professional ethics, examining the problems related to translating bioethics cross-culturally, and exploring the effects of ethical discourse in contemporary forms of governance. To some extent, this course brackets these more topical problems in favor of attending to the classic anthropological project of examining diverse forms of reasoning concerning matters related to the good, justice, and right action. In line with this aim, we will work to define and utilize a conceptual toolkit adequate to the task of investigating how social actors understand and negotiate complex ethical quandaries, and how by so doing such actors may come to participate in processes of social change. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 5470         Language and Identity [Lefkowitz]

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

ANTH 5510         Topics in Ethnography: Melanesia [Bashkow]

TuTh 12:30PM - 1:45PM | In this seminar course we will read selected works on the ethnography of Melanesia, with a focus on the Pacific Island nation of Papua New Guinea. Topics include exchange practices, conceptions of the body and person, the cultural construction of knowledge and the emotions, gender, memory, language ideology, social movements, ritual, and Christianity. Students in the course will gain practice in the analysis and interpretation of ethnographic material. Course requirements include weekly reading and writing assignments, an in-class presentation, and a final research paper. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 5528         Topics in Race Theory [Bashkow]

MoWe 3:30PM - 4:45PM | This advanced seminar course is intended primarily for graduate students who are planning race-related research. The first part of the course will be historical, focusing on the history of race and related ideas in Euro-American scientific and popular culture. We will then take up a series of topics explored in recent scholarly work, including race vs. ethnicity, critical studies of whiteness, distinctive local and national constructions of race and racism, linguistic approaches to racial identity, raced material objects and aesthetics, racial health disparities, and the new genetics of race. The course will invite students to consider anthropology’s specific contributions to the discussion of race and race problems, in contradistinction to the larger literatures that exist in adjacent fields like Sociology. To help us grapple with the central question of how symbolic hierarchy interacts with material discrimination, we will explore the possibility of conceptualizing race as a semiotic phenomenon, one involving not only the objectification of persons but also the racialization of material objects that have both concrete and culturally-mediated properties and effects. Course requirements include weekly reading and writing assignments, an in-class presentation, and a final research paper. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 5541         Topics in Linguistics: Pidgins and Creoles [Dobrin]

Th 4:00PM - 6:30PM | In this course we will survey the literature on pidgin and creole languages in order to gain a sense of their history, structure, and sociolinguistic correlates. Pidgins and creoles are born of contact, making their status as languages a subject of debate; they have also raised a number of important issues for linguistic theory (e.g., regarding language origins, language mixing, the nature of linguistic change, and structural complexity). Students will each focus on a particular language or topic in creole linguistics in order to ground their research and contributions to class discussion. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 5589         Public Archaeologies [Hantman]

Th 3:30PM - 6:00PM | This seminar addresses the interpretive, ethical and legal issues that affect the study and public presentation of archaeological research in the United States. Following a review of national policy regarding cultural patrimony, and the history of academic and government involvement in archaeology and preservation, we will give particular attention to recent studies of a diverse range of Native American and African American sites. The class will consider the development of collaborative and indigenous archaeologies and engagement with descendant (contemporary) communities. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 5590         Ethics [Scherz]

TuTh 2:00PM - 3:15PM | In recent years the word “ethics” has become increasingly prevalent in public discourse. The discipline of anthropology is no exception to this rule. Much time has been spent discussing anthropology’s professional ethics, examining the problems related to translating bioethics cross-culturally, and exploring the effects of ethical discourse in contemporary forms of governance. To some extent, this course brackets these more topical problems in favor of attending to the classic anthropological project of examining diverse forms of reasoning concerning matters related to the good, justice, and right action. In line with this aim, we will work to define and utilize a conceptual toolkit adequate to the task of investigating how social actors understand and negotiate complex ethical quandaries, and how by so doing such actors may come to participate in processes of social change. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 7010         History Theory I [Weston]

MoWe 11:00AM - 12:15PM | 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 [Laviolette]

Mo 5:00PM - 7:30PM | A workshop for graduate students preparing dissertation proposals and writing grant applications. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 7400         Linguistic Anthropology [Dobrin]

Tu 4:00PM - 6:30PM | This course is an advanced introduction to the study of language from an anthropological perspective. It presupposes no prior coursework in linguistics. The aim is to prepare graduate students to use what they learn in their own research. Topics include language structure, the nature of indexicality and the use of linguistic symbols, the linguistic shaping of worldview, language as a form of social action, ethnographic approaches to study of language, the meaningfulness of linguistic differences, storytelling in social life, and more. Students will explore the implications of these topics through readings, discussion, and an application of linguistic anthropological concepts to a particular ethnographic setting chosen in consultation with the instructor. The course fulfills the linguistics requirement for anthropology graduate students and the theory requirement for linguistics graduate students. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 7420         Theories of Language [Contini-Morava]

TuTh 2:00PM - 3:15PM | We will survey a number of modern schools of linguistics, both American and European, 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 and methodology. Grades will depend on: four or five written homework assignments that ask you to look at some data from a particular theoretical perspective; weekly reading responses, a take-home, open-book final exam; and evidence (from class discussion) that you have been doing the readings, which are an essential part of the course. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 7470         Language and Culture in the Middle East [Lefkowitz]

MoWeFr 11:00AM - 11:50AM | This course provides an introduction to the people, cultures, and histories of the Middle East, through an examination of language-use in contemporary Middle Eastern societies. The course focuses on Israel/Palestine, and the contact between Hebrew and Arabic, as a microcosm providing insight into important social processes-such as colonization, religious fundamentalism, modernization, and the changing status of women-affecting the region as a whole. Readings contrast ethnographic with novelistic representations of language, society, and identity. A primary concern will be to compare social scientific and literary constructions of self and other in the context of the political and military confrontation between Israel and Palestine. This is a lecture and discussion course. A number of feature films from the Middle East are incorporated into the course material. Requirements include four short essays and a book review. Prerequisite: previous course in anthropology, linguistics, or Middle Eastern studies; or permission of the instructor. (3.0 Units)

ANTH 7559         Archaeology of Food and Drink [Wattenmaker]

TuTh 2:00PM - 3:15PM | We all need food to survive. However, what we eat, how we eat it, and whom we share our means with are infused with cultural meanings. This course explores food and drink as a window into the symbolic, social, economic and political structures of ancient societies. We will explore the methodologies used by archaeologists to investigate ancient foodways, and gain a temporal perspective on changing consumption patterns. Archaeological evidence will provide insight into the ways that food and drink are culturally transformed through social practices, as well as the ways that foodways have themselves contributed to cultural change. (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)

ANTH 7855         Historical Archeology [Neiman]

We 3:30PM - 6:00PM | Historical archaeology is the archaeological study of the continental and transoceanic human migrations that began in the fifteenth century, their effects on native peoples, and historical trajectories of the societies that they created. This course offers an introduction to the field. It emphasizes how theoretical models, analytical methods, and archaeological data can be combined to make and evaluate credible inferences about the cultural dynamics of the early-modern past.

The class combines lecture and discussion with computer workshops in which students have a chance to explore historical issues raised in the reading and lectures using real archaeological data. The course is designed to teach students in architectural history, history, and archaeology how to use theoretical models, simple statistical methods, and software applications, including spreadsheets, databases, and GIS, to address important historical questions

Our principle historical focus this semester is change in the conflicting economic and social strategies pursued by Europeans, Africans, and Native-Americans, and their descendents in the 17th-century and 18th-century Chesapeake. (3.0 Units)