ANTH Courses for Spring 2024
Please click on the course title for more information.
|
ANTH 101 01 - Introduction to Cultural and Social Anthropology
Course: |
ANTH 101 - 01 |
Title: |
Introduction to Cultural and Social Anthropology |
Credit Hours: |
1 |
Description: |
A comparative approach to the concept of culture and an analysis of how culture structures the worlds we live in. The course examines human societies from their tribal beginnings to the postindustrial age. We will consider the development of various types of social organization and their significance based on family and kinship, economics, politics, and religion. |
Prerequisite(s): |
None. Not open to students who have taken this course as ANTH 104. |
Notes: |
This course was formerly offered as ANTH 104. |
Distribution(s): |
Social and Behavioral Analysis |
Instructors: |
Justin Armstrong |
Meeting Time(s): |
Pendleton East 129 Classroom - MR 11:20 AM - 12:35 PM |
|
ANTH 102 01 - Introduction to Biological Anthropology
Course: |
ANTH 102 - 01 |
Title: |
Introduction to Biological Anthropology |
Credit Hours: |
1 |
Description: |
This course will examine the evolutionary foundations of human variability. This theme is approached broadly from the perspectives of anatomy, paleontology, genetics, primatology, and ecology. For this purpose, the course will address the principles of human evolution, fossil evidence, behavior, and morphological characteristics of human and nonhuman primates. Explanation of the interrelationships between biological and sociobehavioral aspects of human evolution, such as the changing social role of sex, are discussed. In addition, human inter-population differences and environmental factors that account for these differences will be evaluated. |
Prerequisite(s): |
None |
Notes: |
|
Distribution(s): |
Social and Behavioral Analysis |
Instructors: |
Adam Van Arsdale |
Meeting Time(s): |
Pendleton East 130 Classroom - TF 12:45 PM - 2:00 PM |
|
ANTH 205 01 - Anthropology Methods and Project Design
Course: |
ANTH 205 - 01 |
Title: |
Anthropology Methods and Project Design |
Credit Hours: |
1 |
Description: |
This course is intended to provide a theoretical framework as to how anthropologists construct questions, design research strategies, and produce anthropological knowledge. Students will discuss and explore major framing questions for anthropological methods while pursuing an independent project of their choice. Working with a faculty advisor, students will engage in independent research, while using the class as a workshop and discussion environment to refine their project. Students will be exposed to issues of positionality, ethical obligations in research, mixed qualitative and quantitative methods, and writing for specific audiences. This course is required of all anthropology majors and will provide a bridge between introductory and advanced courses. |
Prerequisite(s): |
ANTH 101, or permission of the instructor. |
Notes: |
|
Distribution(s): |
Social and Behavioral Analysis |
Instructors: |
Justin Armstrong |
Meeting Time(s): |
Pendleton East 349 Seminar Room - MR 2:20 PM - 3:35 PM |
|
ANTH 215 01 - Bronze Age Greece in its Mediterranean Context
Course: |
ANTH 215 - 01 |
Title: |
Bronze Age Greece in its Mediterranean Context |
Credit Hours: |
1 |
Description: |
Ancient Greek historians associated the ruins of Bronze Age cities with the legends of the Trojan War, the lost city of Atlantis, and the labyrinth of the Minotaur. This course takes a more archaeological approach, combing the ruins for evidence that allow us to reconstruct complex societies that integrated contributions from diverse participants, including enslaved people and foreigners, as well as heroic adventurers. We will investigate the role of African and Asian cultures in early Greek state formation and collapse, technologies of art and writing, and religious traditions featuring a mother goddess. The course requires no background and offers an introduction to archaeological analysis as well as the cultures of the ancient Mediterranean. |
Prerequisite(s): |
None |
Notes: |
|
Distribution(s): |
Historical Studies
Social and Behavioral Analysis |
Cross Listed Courses: |
CLCV 215 01 - Bronze Age Greece in its Mediterranean Context
|
Instructors: |
Bryan Burns |
Meeting Time(s): |
Pendleton West 001 Classroom - MR 3:45 PM - 5:00 PM |
|
ANTH 220 01 - Epidemics and Pandemics: Biopolitics, and disparities in historical and cultural perspective
Course: |
ANTH 220 - 01 |
Title: |
Epidemics and Pandemics: Biopolitics, and disparities in historical and cultural perspective |
Credit Hours: |
1 |
Description: |
The course will examine epidemics and pandemics and how they shape society and culture. It will explore catastrophic disease events such as the 4th century BC Ancient Greek plague, the Black Death of Medieval Europe, the European infectious diseases that killed native populations of the Americas, the Spanish flu of 1918, the AIDS/HIV epidemic in the late 20th century, and the present-day coronavirus pandemic. Key questions that will guide the course are: 1. Who holds the bio-political power to guide the population through the danger of widespread morbidity, and how is this power used and/or abused? 2. What kind of socioeconomic, gender, ethnic ,and racial disparities are perpetuated and constructed in times of disease? 3. How do individual political entities cooperate and coordinate in their efforts to curtail disease? 4. How is the rhetoric of “war” employed to describe epidemic and pandemic diseases? 5. What are the effects of actual war, violence, and genocide that often follow epidemics? 6. What are the uses and the limitations of international public health organizations in addressing pandemics? |
Prerequisite(s): |
None |
Notes: |
|
Distribution(s): |
Social and Behavioral Analysis |
Cross Listed Courses: |
PEAC 220 01 - Epidemics and Pandemics: Biopolitics, and disparities in historical and cultural perspective
|
Instructors: |
Anastasia Karakasidou |
Meeting Time(s): |
Pendleton East 251 Seminar Room - TF 2:10 PM - 3:25 PM |
|
ANTH 232 01 - Anthropology of Media
Course: |
ANTH 232 - 01 |
Title: |
Anthropology of Media |
Credit Hours: |
1 |
Description: |
This course introduces students to key analytic frameworks through which media and the mediation of culture have been examined. Using an anthropological approach, students will explore how media as representation and as cultural practice have been fundamental to the (trans)formation of modern sensibilities and social relations. We will examine various technologies of mediation-from the Maussian body as “Man's first technical instrument” to print capitalism, radio and cassette cultures, cinematic and televisual publics, war journalism, the digital revolution, and the political milieu of spin and public relations. Themes in this course include: media in the transformation of the senses; media in the production of cultural subjectivities and publics; and the social worlds and cultural logics of media institutions and sites of production. |
Prerequisite(s): |
None |
Notes: |
|
Distribution(s): |
Social and Behavioral Analysis |
Cross Listed Courses: |
CAMS 232 01 - Anthropology of Media
|
Instructors: |
Anastasia Karakasidou |
Meeting Time(s): |
Pendleton East 251 Seminar Room - TF 3:45 PM - 5:00 PM |
|
ANTH 233 01 - The Anthropology of Religion
Course: |
ANTH 233 - 01 |
Title: |
The Anthropology of Religion |
Credit Hours: |
1 |
Description: |
This course offers an introduction to the anthropological study of human religious experience, with particular emphasis on religious and ritual practice in a comparative perspective. What is the relationship between religion and society? Can categories such as “religion” and “the sacred” be legitimately applied to all cultures? Does religion necessarily imply belief in a God or sacred beings? We will concentrate on a range of small-scale, non-Western, cultures for much of the semester, returning to religious experience in the modern industrial world and the concept of "world religions" at the course’s end. |
Prerequisite(s): |
None. |
Notes: |
|
Distribution(s): |
Religion, Ethics, and Moral Philosophy
Social and Behavioral Analysis |
Cross Listed Courses: |
REL 233 01 - The Anthropology of Religion
|
Instructors: |
Holly Lynn Walters |
Meeting Time(s): |
Pendleton East 216 Case Method Room - TF 9:55 AM - 11:10 AM |
|
ANTH 235 01 - Introduction to Ethnomusicology: The Anthropology of Music
Course: |
ANTH 235 - 01 |
Title: |
Introduction to Ethnomusicology: The Anthropology of Music |
Credit Hours: |
1 |
Description: |
What happens when we study music and sound from an anthropological framework? Ethnomusicology, or the cultural study of music and sound, seeks to do just that. Through a hands-on approach to music research, this course has three aims: 1) to give students the opportunity of doing ethnographic research in a local community; 2) to explore key concepts pertaining to ethnomusicology and the anthropology of sound; 3) to work together to create a good working atmosphere in which students can share ongoing research with each other. Students will gain experience doing fieldwork as participant observers; taking notes and writing up field journals; recording and transcribing interviews; and conducting secondary research online and in the library. Each student will conduct regular visits to a local music group or community of their choice. Past projects have focused on Senegalese drumming, musical healing circles, and hip-hop dance groups. The semester will culminate in a final presentation and paper (8-10 pages) based on the student’s research. |
Prerequisite(s): |
None. |
Notes: |
|
Distribution(s): |
Visual Arts, Music, Theater, Film and Video |
Cross Listed Courses: |
MUS 245 01 - Introduction to Ethnomusicology: The Anthropology of Music
|
Instructors: |
Kaleb Goldschmitt |
Meeting Time(s): |
Pendleton West 001 Classroom - TF 12:45 PM - 2:00 PM |
|
ANTH 240 01 - Monkeys, Apes, and Humans
Course: |
ANTH 240 - 01 |
Title: |
Monkeys, Apes, and Humans |
Credit Hours: |
1 |
Description: |
This course will provide students with an overview of primatology, with a focus on comparative morphological, behavioral, and ecological aspects of Anthropoid primates. Students will consider the evolutionary relationship among humans and non-human primates and how comparative studies can elucidate shared aspects of social, energetic, and reproductive behaviors, while also pointing to uniquely derived features among these organisms. Readings for the course will focus on primary research derived from a diverse range of primates in addition to theoretical pieces that connect the study of non-human primates to evolutionary understandings of what it means to be human. Students will also be exposed in their assignments to the methods used to understand the behavioral ecology of humans and non-human primates. Finally, the course will introduce students to the complex history of primatology as a field of study situated across anthropology, psychology, and biology, and one in the midst of a shift towards questions of conversation and decolonization. |
Prerequisite(s): |
ANTH 102 or BISC 111, or permission of the instructor. |
Notes: |
|
Distribution(s): |
Natural and Physical Sciences |
Instructors: |
Adam Van Arsdale |
Meeting Time(s): |
Pendleton East 130 Classroom - TF 11:20 AM - 12:35 PM |
|
ANTH 246 01 - Digital Anthropology: Cultural Heritage and the Future of Digital Humanities
Course: |
ANTH 246 - 01 |
Title: |
Digital Anthropology: Cultural Heritage and the Future of Digital Humanities |
Credit Hours: |
1 |
Description: |
How can the complexities of Cultural Heritage be captured in digital form? Can advanced media visualizations, such as Augmented and Virtual Reality, give new insights on diverse global cultures? Can public dissemination of research using gamification positively impact our lives in the present? What ethical responsibilities do scholars have when digitizing material from ancient and contemporary communities? How can we ensure that our digital cultural achievements last as long as pyramids built in stone? This course will pair readings on the theory, practice, and ethics of visual and public digital humanities cultural heritage projects. Online archival resources for cultural heritage are at the forefront of developing public digital humanities. The digital archive resources used in class will be used to critique current trends in digital data capture and open access resources. The final project will be the creation of a new digital cultural heritage resource, presenting content created by students through a digital platform: an interactive archive, augmented or virtual reality, location-based games, or a combination thereof. Students will be offered a choice of visual and textual cultural heritage archive data from the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, UC Berkeley Hearst Museum of Anthropology, and the National Museum of Sudan, or can identify their own open-access cultural heritage archival source of interest. |
Prerequisite(s): |
None |
Notes: |
|
Distribution(s): |
Social and Behavioral Analysis |
Cross Listed Courses: |
MAS 246 01 - Digital Anthropology: Cultural Heritage and the Future of Digital Humanities
|
Instructors: |
Elizabeth Minor |
Meeting Time(s): |
Pendleton East 327 Classroom - MR 3:45 PM - 5:00 PM |
|
ANTH 265 01 - The Politics of Nature
Course: |
ANTH 265 - 01 |
Title: |
The Politics of Nature |
Credit Hours: |
1 |
Description: |
In this course we will consider the historical, social, and political life of nature in its many guises and from an anthropological perspective. What is the relationship between resource control and the consolidation of power? How have social movements and development agencies mobilized ideas of participatory conservation to achieve their goals, and how have these same concepts been used to exclude or to reproduce inequality? We will explore themes such as the relationship between race, nature, and security; intellectual property and bioprospecting; and the lived effects of the many “green,” “sustainable,” and “eco-tourism” projects now attracting foreign travelers around the world. Additionally, the course will introduce students unfamiliar with socio-cultural anthropology to ethnographic research methods, ethical dilemmas, and the craft of ethnographic writing. |
Prerequisite(s): |
None |
Notes: |
|
Distribution(s): |
Social and Behavioral Analysis |
Cross Listed Courses: |
ES 265 01 - The Politics of Nature
|
Instructors: |
Susan Ellison |
Meeting Time(s): |
Pendleton East 130 Classroom - MR 9:55 AM - 11:10 AM |
|
ANTH 301 01 - Advanced Theory in Anthropology
Course: |
ANTH 301 - 01 |
Title: |
Advanced Theory in Anthropology |
Credit Hours: |
1 |
Description: |
This course introduces students to contemporary anthropology by tracing its historical development and its specific application in ethnographic writing. It examines the social context in which each selected model or "paradigm" took hold and the extent of cognitive sharing, by either intellectual borrowing or breakthrough. The development of contemporary theory will be examined both as internal to the discipline and as a response to changing intellectual climates and social milieu. The course will focus on each theory in action, as the theoretical principles and methods apply to ethnographic case studies. |
Prerequisite(s): |
ANTH 101 and at least one 200 level ANTH course, or permission of the instructor. |
Notes: |
|
Distribution(s): |
Social and Behavioral Analysis |
Instructors: |
Holly Lynn Walters |
Meeting Time(s): |
Pendleton East 339 Case Method Room - W 9:30 AM - 12:10 PM |
|
ANTH 302 01 - Museum Anthropology: Curating Equity and Representation
Course: |
ANTH 302 - 01 |
Title: |
Museum Anthropology: Curating Equity and Representation |
Credit Hours: |
1 |
Description: |
This seminar will immerse students in current developments in Museum Anthropology through an exploration of the history of museum development, the role of museums in society, and the ethical considerations of preservation and education. Under an anthropological lens, the history of development of museums in the global North can be used to contextualize recent movements to decolonize the collection, curation, and display of ethnographic and archaeological material. After researching up-to-date international exhibitions, students will critically assess museum curation practices and then develop their own outreach projects in small groups. This course will include virtual visits to New England area museums–including the MFA Boston, Harvard Peabody Museum, and the Mashantucket Pequot Museum. |
Prerequisite(s): |
One 100-level or 200-level Anthropology course. |
Notes: |
|
Distribution(s): |
Social and Behavioral Analysis |
Instructors: |
Elizabeth Minor |
Meeting Time(s): |
Pendleton East 327 Classroom - W 1:30 PM - 4:10 PM |
|
ANTH 345 01 - Introduction to Ethnomusicology: The Anthropology of Music
Course: |
ANTH 345 - 01 |
Title: |
Introduction to Ethnomusicology: The Anthropology of Music |
Credit Hours: |
1 |
Description: |
What happens when we study music and sound from an anthropological framework? Ethnomusicology, or the cultural study of music and sound, seeks to do just that. Through a hands-on approach to music research, this course has three aims: 1) to give students the opportunity of doing ethnographic research in a local community; 2) to explore key concepts pertaining to ethnomusicology and the anthropology of sound; 3) to work together to create a good working atmosphere in which students can share ongoing research with each other. Students will gain experience doing fieldwork as participant observers; taking notes and writing up field journals; recording and transcribing interviews; and conducting secondary research online and in the library. Each student will conduct regular visits to a local music group or community of their choice. Past projects have focused on Senegalese drumming, musical healing circles, and hip-hop dance groups. The semester will culminate in a final presentation and paper (15 pages) based on the student’s research. |
Prerequisite(s): |
MUS 100 or permission of the instructor. |
Notes: |
|
Distribution(s): |
Visual Arts, Music, Theater, Film and Video |
Cross Listed Courses: |
MUS 345 01 - Introduction to Ethnomusicology: The Anthropology of Music
|
Instructors: |
Kaleb Goldschmitt |
Meeting Time(s): |
Pendleton West 001 Classroom - TF 12:45 PM - 2:00 PM |
|
ANTH 346 01 - Seminar: Doing Well, Doing Good? The Political Lives of NGOs
Course: |
ANTH 346 - 01 |
Title: |
Seminar: Doing Well, Doing Good? The Political Lives of NGOs |
Credit Hours: |
1 |
Description: |
From de-mining countries to rehabilitating child soldiers, from channeling donations for AIDS orphans to coordinating relief efforts in the wake of natural disasters, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are ubiquitous. They provide essential services once thought to be the purview of the state, and increasingly champion entrepreneurial approaches to poverty reduction. NGOs are also subject to heated debate and increased surveillance within the countries where they operate. This seminar brings a critical anthropological lens to bear on the work of NGOs, connecting global trends, donor platforms, and aid workers to the everyday experiences of people targeted by NGO projects. |
Prerequisite(s): |
One 200-level unit in anthropology, economics, history, political science, or sociology, or permission of the instructor. |
Notes: |
|
Distribution(s): |
Social and Behavioral Analysis |
Instructors: |
Susan Ellison |
Meeting Time(s): |
Pendleton East 151 Seminar Room - M 3:45 PM - 6:25 PM |
|