Anthropology (ANTH)
Head of Department: Professor Penn Handwerker
Department Office: Room 438, Beach Hall
For major requirements, see the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences section of this Catalog.
100. Other People's Worlds
Either semester. Three credits.
A survey of the development, contributions, and contemporary social problems of selected non-Euroamerican peoples and cultures. CA 2.
CA 4-INT.
100W. Other People's Worlds
Prerequisite: ENGL 110 or 111 or 250.
CA 2. CA-4-INT.
101W. Anthropology through Film
Either semester. Three credits. Prerequisite: ENGL 110 or 111 or 250.
An introduction to cultural anthropology, approached through the medium of ethnographic film. Particular attention is given to how films represent humans' varied beliefs and behavior. CA 1. CA 4-INT.
102. Great Discoveries in Archaeology
Either semester. Three credits.
Survey of important discoveries in archaeology spanning the whole of human prehistory across the globe. Current issues, methods, and techniques in the field of archaeology. CA 2. CA 4-INT.
106. Introduction to Anthropology
Either semester. Three credits. Two class periods and one 1-hour discussion. Students should ordinarily take this course in the fall semester.
This course is concerned with the biological and cultural development of humans from their origin to the present. A brief survey of human evolution is followed by a comparative study of behavior and beliefs of our own and other societies. CA 2. CA 4-INT.
193. Foreign Study
Either semester. Credits and hours by arrangement. May be repeated for credit (to a maximum of 17). Consent of Department Head is required before departure. May count toward the major with the consent of the advisor.
Special topics taken in a foreign study program.
195. Special Topics Lecture
Either semester. Credits, prerequisites, and hours as determined by the Senate Curricula and Courses Committee. May be repeated for credit with a change in topic.
209. European Prehistory
Either semester. Three credits.
Interdisciplinary survey of the archaeological, biological, cultural, and behavioral evolution of prehistoric humans and their societies across Europe and portions of western Asia .
212W. The Development of Anthropological Theory
Either semester. Three credits. Prerequisite: ANTH 220; ENGL 110 or 111 or 250. Recommended for seniors.
Historical and contemporary theories in social and cultural anthropology.
214. Introduction to Archaeology
Either semester. Three credits. Open to sophomores or higher.
The concepts, methods and practice of anthropological archaeology.
215. Migration
Either semester, alternate years. Three credits. Recommended preparation: ANTH 100 or ANTH 106.
The social, cultural and economic causes and consequences of internal and international migration in the modern era. Topics include migrant selection, social adaptation, effects on home and host societies, and cultural identity.
CA 4.
217. Old World Prehistory
Either semester. Three credits.
The origin of humanity in Africa, hunters and gatherers of the Paleolithic, the origins of agriculture and the transition to settled life, and the emergence of civilizations in Africa, Asia and the Near East.
218. New World Prehistory
Either semester. Three credits.
The entry of early hunters into the New World, the origins of agriculture and sedentary life, and the rise of complex civilization in Mesoamerica and South America. CA 4-INT.
220. Social Anthropology
Either semester. Three credits. Open to sophomores or higher.
A comparative study of social structure including an analysis of kinship, marriage, community organization, political and economic institutions, and the role of the individual in these institutions. CA 2. CA 4.
220W. Social Anthropology
Prerequisite: ENGL 110 or 111 or 250. Open to sophomores or higher. CA 2. CA 4.
221. Contemporary Latin America
Either semester. Three credits.
Survey of anthropological contributions to the study of contemporary Mexico, Central America, South America, and the Hispanic Caribbean. Special focus on the comparative analysis of recent ethnographic case studies and local/regional/national/international linkages.
222. Peoples and Cultures of South America
Either semester. Three credits.
The history, ecology, and culture of the native peoples of South America.
223. Pre-Colonial Africa
Either semester. Three credits.
A survey of African society and history prior to and including the Atlantic slave trade.
225. Contemporary Africa
(Also offered as AFAM 225.) Either semester. Three credits.
Africa since its partition in 1884. Urbanization, social stratification, racial and ethnic conflict.
226. Peoples and Cultures of North America
Either semester. Three credits.
A survey of representative Native American cultures as they existed prior to the twentieth century, together with a view of the changing life of modern Native Americans.
227. Contemporary Mexico
Either semester. Three credits.
Analysis and interpretation of interrelated economic, political and cultural processes in the contemporary social life of Mexico and the U.S.-Mexico borderland. Draws broadly on the social science literature with a special focus on anthropological contributions.
228. Indigenous Rights and Aboriginal Australia
(Also offered as HRTS 228.) Either semester. Three credits. Recommended preparation: ANTH 220.
An introduction to the study and understanding of Aboriginal ways of life and thought. An exploration of the complexity of contemporary indigenous social orders and land rights issues. CA 4-INT.
229. Caribbean Cultures
Either semester. Three credits.
Peoples and cultures of the Caribbean region.
230. Peoples of the Pacific Islands
Either semester. Three credits.
Survey of the indigenous societies and cultures of the Pacific Islands, from the first settlement to the postcolonial period.Topics include prehistoric canoe voyaging, modes of subsistence, political forms, ritual and religion, ceremonial exchange, gender ideologies, European colonization, and modern indigenous nationalism. Ethnographic examples will be drawn from Polynesia, Melanesia, and Micronesia.
CA 4-INT.
231. Anthropological Perspectives on Women
(Also offered as WS 231.) Either semester. Three credits. Open to sophomores or higher.
Major conceptual and historical problems in the study of gender in anthropology. Women's roles in different historical and contemporary settings, and new understandings of family, kinship, power, and cultural ideologies.
232. Cognitive Anthropology
Either semester. Three credits. Recommended preparation: ANTH 244.
The study of how the content of thought or knowledge, is created, organized, and distributed in human communities. Topics include cultural models of the mind, emotions, personality, and relationships.
233. Human Evolution
Either semester. Three credits. Open to sophomores or higher.
The processes and events leading to the origin of human beings. Human physical and cultural development from its beginning to the dawn of settled life, through the approaches of physical anthropology and archaeology.
234. Culture and Religion
Either semester. Three credits. Prerequisite: ANTH 100 or 106.
Major theories and approaches in the study of religion as a social institution and cultural system. Topics include myth, ritual, taboos and pollution beliefs, shamanism, magical practices, fundamentalism and religion in modern society.
235. Economic Anthropology
Either semester. Three credits.
An introduction to the comparative study of economic life in contrasting pre-industrial, tribal and peasant economies.
236. Human Behavioral Ecology
Either semester. Three credits.
The application of the theory of natural selection to the study of human culture and behavior, with emphasis on the interaction between humans and their environment.
237. Psychological Anthropology
Either semester. Three credits.
Cross-cultural overview of critical issues regarding the relationship between individual personality and sociocultural systems, and mental health and illness.
238. Peoples and Cultures of the Middle East
Either semester. Three credits.
Selected social and cultural features of past and contemporary Middle Eastern social forms, and the origins and varieties of Western perceptions of these features.
239. Cultural Dynamics
Either semester. Three credits.
Interrelations among cultural, social and psychological factors influencing the process of cultural growth and change.
241. Latin American Minorities in the United States
(Also offered as PRLS 241.) Either semester. Three credits.
Emphasis on groups of Mexican, Puerto Rican and Cuban origin, including treatment and historical background, social stratification, informal social relations, ethnic pereptions, relations and the concept of Latino identity.
244. Culture, Language, and Thought
Either semester. Three credits.
Anthropological contributions to the study of language, culture, and their relationship. Topics include the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis and the application of cognitive anthropological methods and theory to the study of folk classification systems.
245. Parent-Child Relations in Cross-Cultural Perspective
(Also offered as HDFS 245.) Either semester. Three credits.
Theory and research on major dimensions of parenting in the U.S.A. and cross-culturally: parental warmth, control, and punishment.
246W. Illness and Curing
Either semester. Three credits. Prerequisite: ENGL 110 or 111 or 250.
Cross-cultural analysis of ethnomedicine, major medical systems, alternative medical systems, curing and healing illness and social control, gender and healing, and the role of traditional and cosmopolitan medical systems in international health. CA 4.
247. Culture, Power, and Social Relations
Either semester. Three credits.
Comparative and historical analysis of the sources and consequences of power in human populations.
249. Field Research in Social Settings
Either semester. Three credits. Prerequisite: ANTH 100 or ANTH 106.
Methods and techniques of field research in social settings, including observational procedures, interviewing, and the construction and use of questionnaires.
252. Native American Arts
(Also offered as ARTH 256.) Either semester. Three credits.
A topical survey of the arts of Native American culture in the United States and Canada.
253. North American Pre-history
Either semester. Three credits.
Prehistoric cultures of North America from the earliest traces to European contact, with emphasis on the region east of the Mississippi. CA 4.
254. Archaeology of Eastern North America
Either semester. Three credits. Prerequisite: ANTH 253 or consent of instructor.
Prehistoric cultures of the eastern United States and Canada from their earliest appearances to the arrival of the Europeans. Laboratory and field work projects.
257. Near Eastern Pre-history
(Also offered as HIST 212.) Either semester. Three credits. From the earliest hunter-gatherers to the rise of the state: the transition from food gathering to food production and the development of complex societies in the Near East.
261. Medical Ecology
Either semester. Three credits. One 3-hour class period. Recommended preparation: ANTH 277.
Anthropological perspectives on the interrelationships between culture, biology, environment, and disease. Major topics include ecology and adaptation, population dynamics, nutrition, reproduction, disease in sociological context, health seeking behavior, and the complexity of the interaction of western and non-western medical systems.
262W. Laboratory Techniques in Archaeology
Either semester. Three credits. Prerequisite: ENGL 110 or 111 or 250.
The analysis, interpretation, and presentation of archaeological data sets including lithics, ceramics, floral and faunal remains and spatial information from excavated sites.
263. Ethnohistory of Native New England
Either semester. Three credits.
Combines archaeological and ethnohistorical data to reconstruct the lifeways of the Native Americans of New England from the prehistoric period to the present. CA 4.
263W. Ethnohistory of Native New England
Either semester. Three credits. Prerequisite: ENGL 110 or 111 or 250. CA 4.
264. African Prehistory
Either semester, alternate years. Three credits.
The African archaeological record from first artifacts to historic times. The stone age, the domestication of crops, the ways of life of early herding societies, the development of metal working, and the rise of early African kingdoms.
265. Paleoanthropology
Either semester, alternate years. Three credits. Recommended preparation: ANTH 214, 217, or 233.
Fossil evidence for the evolution of the human family, Hominidae. Anatomical features, behavior, and evolutionary relationships of extinct hominids; the use of biological, geological, and archaeological evidence to reconstruct past hominid adaptations.
266. Human Osteology
Either semester. Three credits. Recommended preparation: ANTH 233.
Human skeletal anatomy from an evolutionary and functional perspective. Identification and interpretation of bones of the human skeleton, methods for aging, sexing, and identifying pathologies.
267. Lithic Technology
Either semester. Three credits.
The properties of stone tools - the primary evidence of human behavior for humanity's first 2.5 million years - and the processes of their manufacture. Analysis of prehistoric tools and tool replication.
268. Cultural Research
Either semester. Variable (one to three) credits.
The theoretical foundations and basic methods used to collect and analyze cultural data.
269. World Religions
Either semester. Three credits.
A survey of religious belief systems, both polytheistic and monotheistic, from around the world. CA 1. CA 4-INT.
270. Contemporary Native Americans
Either semester. Three credits.
Analysis of Native American reservations and urban communities and their relationship to the larger U.S. society. Special focus on federal policy and economic development, cultural identity, and politics of Native Americans.
273. Women in the Bible
(Also offered as WS 273.) Either semester. Three credits. Prerequisite: INTD 294.
An introduction to Biblical interpretation from a feminist perspective, examining how women are represented in the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament. Issues of authorship, translation, point of view, cultural context and language.
274. Women and Religion
(Also offered as WS 270.) Either semester. Three credits. Not open for credit to students who have passed WS 278 when offered as Women and Religion.
Gender issues in the world's religions. Survey of women's theological standing, ritual activities and participation in a cross-cultural sample of religions, both monotheistic and polytheistic.
275. Race, Ethnicity, and Nationalism
(Also offered as AFAM 275.) Either semester. Three credits.
Popular and scholarly theories of human group identity and diversity, in cross-cultural and historical perspective. Topics include: an overview of "race" and "ethnicity" in Western thought, ethnic group formation and transformation, political mobilizations of group identity, and systems of inequality. CA 2. CA 4
277. Medical Anthropology
Either semester. Three credits.
An introduction to the theory, method, and content of medical anthropology.
279. Quantitative Methods for Archaeologists
Either Semester. Three credits.
Quantitative methods appropriate to the analysis of artifacts data, radiocarbon dating, and the spatial distribution of sites.
280W. Human Rights in Democratizing Countries
(Also offered as HRTS 280W.) Either semester. Three credits. Prerequisite: ENGL 110 or 111 or 250; Open only with consent of instructor.
Human rights, political violence, political and legal anthropology, prosecutions of human rights offenders, truth and memory, reconciliation, international justice. CA 4-INT.
281. Sex and Gender
Either semester. Three credits.
Cross-cultural and interdisciplinary analysis of biological sex, gender, sex roles, and sexuality.
282. People and the Conservation of Nature
Either semester. Three credits.
Local communities and their environments, resource use, land tenure and conservation of healthy landscapes.
283. Theories of Society
Either semester. Three credits. Recommended preparation: 200's level social science course work.
Theories about human culture and society. Attempts to formulate general theories that integrate cultural, social, and psychological factors in the ethnographic investigation of human life.
285. Anthropological Perspectives on Art
Either semester. Three credits.
Approaches to cultural creativity and aesthetics in the graphic and plastic arts of pre-state societies. Examples from North America, Oceania, and Africa.
286. Zooarchaeological Method and Theory
Either semester. Three credits.
Method and theory of archaeological faunal analysis, including training in the identification of skeletal materials, the formation of the zooarchaeological record, and the interpretation of zooarchaeological data.
287. The Origins of Agriculture
Either semester. Three credits.
The origins and spread of agriculture worldwide. Economic, social, and ideological ramifications of the agricultural transition. Processes of plant and animal domestication.
288. Experimental Archaeology
Either semester. Three credits. Prerequisite: ANTH 214.
Method and theory of experimental archaeology, including hands-on study of past human behavior through experimentation with modern material cultural, and the execution of an experimental research project addressing an archaeological question.
288W. Experimental Archaeology
Prerequisite: ANTH 214; ENGL 110 or 111 or 250.
289. Methods in Maritime Archaeology
Either semester. Three credits. Recommended preparation: ANTH 214.
Methods and techniques in underwater archaeology covering both maritime (ships, ports, etc.) and submerged settlements archaeology. Overview of the aqueous environment, underwater archaeological methods, geophysical/geotechnical surveying and data interpretation, diver and ROV-based documentation and excavation techniques survey methods.
292W. Ecological Anthropology Seminar
Either semester. Three credits. Prerequisite: ENGL 110 or 111 or 250.
Interdisciplinary study of the ecology of humans, integrating ecological and anthropological theory with archaeological, historical, and contemporary case-studies.
293. Foreign Study
Either semester. Credits and hours by arrangement. May be repeated for credit. Consent of Department Head required, normally to be granted prior to the student's departure. May count toward the major with consent of the advisor.
Special topics taken in a foreign study program.
294W. Seminar in Archaeology
Either semester. Three credits. Prerequisite: ANTH 214; ENGL 110 or 111 or 250. Consent of instructor required.
Historical development of archaeology and theoretical controversies, past and present, that shape the field.
295. Variable Topics
Either semester. Three credits. With a change in topic, may be repeated for credit. Prerequisites, required preparation, and recommended preparation vary.
296. Directed Field Research in Anthropology
Either semester. Course may be repeated, but credits may not exceed 12 by graduation. Hours by arrangement. Prerequisite: ANTH 249 or consent of instructor.
The investigation of a sociocultural and/or archaeological problem in some domestic or foreign field location.
297. Field Work in Archaeology
Summer session. Variable credits. Open only with consent of instructor.
Training in the techniques of archaeological site excavation; mapping; recording; field conservation, and preliminary analysis of materials.
298. Special Topics
Either semester. Credits and hours by arrangement. Open only with consent of instructor. With a change of content, may be repeated for credit.
299. Independent Study
Either semester. Credits and hours by arrangement. Open only with consent of instructor. With a change in content, may be repeated for credit. |