Anthropology

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

An introductory interdisciplinary study of African society and culture that examines the richness, diversity and time-depth of African civilizations. (I, S)

Introduction to the four subfields of anthropology (sociocultural, biological, linguistic and archaeology) through analyses of the cultural, social and biological dimensions of human variation. Appropriate first course for students considering major or minor in anthropology, as well as nonmajors fulfilling general education requirement. (S)

This course examines the claims of popular writers in archeology that "mysterious" archeological sites, statues, etc. were influenced by outer space visitors. Problems of diffusion. Discussed are Stonehenge, pyramids, Easter Island, "Maya spaceships," Atlantis and Mu, Nazca Lines and other archeological "mysteries." (H)

This course examines (1) aspects of sexuality from a cross-cultural viewpoint and (2) traces the development of an individual’s sexuality and sexual identity. Sexual anatomy and functioning, gender roles, and the interplay of behavior and sexual ethics are discussed. (I, S) GR-E†

The nature of culture. The content of cultures; languages, subsistence, economic structures, art and religion in human societies. The integration of culture. (S, I)

The utility and application of anthropological theories, methods and knowledge for the solution of specific human problems, including discrimination, hunger, disease and underdevelopment. (S, I)

Discussion of archeological evidence for the development of civilization in its regional variants from the earliest beginning to the dawn of written history. Analyzes causes of cultural development in Old and New World Centers. (H, I)

Archeological materials relating to prehistoric North American cultures. The origins of the North American Indian, Historic Indian, and colonial materials. (H) GR-E†

This course treats civilizations in Mesoamerica from the beginnings of agriculture to the time of the coming of Europeans. Besides Maya and Aztec Civilizations, the course treats the Olmec, Zapotec and Teotihuacan cultures. (H, I)

The evolution of the Inca empire is traced back archeologically through earlier Andean states and societies to the beginning of native civilization. (H, I)

Cross-cultural survey of beliefs and practices dealing with the supernatural, magic, and religion. Conceptualization of the supernatural. Sacred specialists, their function and social position. Theories of comparative religion in the light of anthropological data. (S, I)

Anthropological perspective on division of labor by sex in different world societies. Variation in sex roles in economic, religious, political domains. Socialization and the life cycle. (I, S)

An introduction to Latin American Peoples; native culture areas and high civilizations. Metropolitan Hispanic culture and cultural syncretism in selected and geographically varied nation-states, selected urban and peasant subcultures. (I, S)

An understanding of Islam’s origin and spread; its belief and ritual; its strength as a sociocultural force. (H, I) GR-E†

Survey of Middle Eastern peoples and societies, beginning with the rise of Islam to the present and covering the area from Egypt to Iran. Topics covered include Islam, peasant, tribal, and urban society. (I, S) GR-E†

Uses photography and film as tools and products of social science. Ways of describing, analyzing and presenting behavior and cultural ideas through visual means. Student projects and laboratory work with visual anthropology. GR-E†

A survey of racial and cultural minority group contacts, inter-group relations, conflicts, the nature of prejudice, and the problems of minority groups in the contemporary world. Examples will be taken from North and South America, Africa, and Asia. (I, S) GR-E†

This course is exploratory and serves as an introduction to the traditional medical system of a people as it is influenced by beliefs and actions, nutrients and taboos and facilitated by specialists, folk-medicines, and avoidance. The interrelationships of traditional systems with the germ theory of disease, clinics and medical specialists and material medicine are considered. (S) GR-E†

Introduction to that subfield of anthropology that focuses on the natural history of humankind. Through lecture and laboratory, the course surveys a wide range of material focusing on the diversity of the Order Primates with an emphasis on human and primate variation, adaptation, and evolution. (B)

Survey of human anatomy from evolutionary and embryological perspectives. The phylogenetic and functional basis for human form. Anatomical principles underlying developmental and functional disorders are explored through clinical and comparative examples.

Survey of forensic anthropology, an applied field of biological anthropology, focusing the wider scope of skeletal biology on problems of medicolegal significance, primarily in determining personal identity and cause of death from human remains.

The role of speech in individual, social and cultural settings. Linguistic basis of thought and perception. Mythological studies and analysis. Bilingualism, biculturalism and minority language politics in current perspective. (I, S) GR-E† (4)

This course is designed for junior level students to explore special topics classes in the various sub fields of anthropology.

Examination of the nature of human rights cross-culturally, focusing 0n the history of the concept, universalism vs. particularism, religion, gender, race, regionalism, and modern human rights conventions.

The history and development of anthropological theory. Methods in anthropological research. Directed reading of major theoretical publications. (S) GR-E†

Survey of the theoretical and methodological tenets of anthropological archeology; critical review of archeological theories, past and present; relation of archeology to anthropology. (S)

The viewpoint and methods of archeology, especially as applied to New World materials. The archeological survey. Methods and techniques of excavation. Systems of chronological analysis. GR-E†

A consideration of economic philosophies and the behavioral bases of formal economic theories. Cross-cultural studies of production, distribution and consumption, money and the acquisition of goods. The latest materials from cultural ecology, Marxism, formalism, substantivism and discourse centered approaches are reviewed. (S) GR-E†

An examination of legal systems cross-culturally with a focus on the interrelationship of law with culture, society, economics and politics.

The problem of identifying political behavior. Natural leadership in bands, tribes and small groups. Acephalous societies and republican structures. Kingship and early despotic states. Theories of bureaucracy. (S)

The settlement and early cultures of the area with an emphasis on the rise of the major culture centers. The impact of European civilization and surviving Indians. (S, I) GR-E†

The area-cotradition. The Spanish Conquest. The shaping and persistence of colonial culture. Twentieth-century communities and their social, land tenure, religious and value systems. Modernization, cultural pluralism, and problems of integration. (I, S) GR-E†

Ethnology of Brazil; historical, geographic, and socioeconomic material will be covered and representative monographs from the various regions of Brazil will be read. The contribution of the Indian, Portuguese and African to modern Brazilian culture. (I, S) GR-E†

Investigation into cultural contact that has taken place in the Caribbean and results of that contact in terms of peoples and sociocultural units produced and processes of cultural change involved. (I, S)

An anthropological survey of the culture, history and ethnographic background of the peoples of Africa. A basis for appreciation of current problems of acculturation, nationalism, and cultural survival and change among African peoples. (I, S) GR-E†

Study of continuity and change in contemporary African societies with special reference to cultural and ethnic factors in modern nations. (I, S) GR-E†

The interaction of people and their environment as mediated by cultural institutions. Levels of socioeconomic adaptation in hunting and gathering, pastoral, and agricultural societies. Warfare and ritual as ecological mechanisms. (S) GR-E†

Property concepts, forms and complexes. Tribal patterns of government and social control. (I, S) GR-E†

A survey of the field of medical anthropology and its interdisciplinary context. The course examines contemporary approaches and the development of an applied field concerned with human sickness and healing.

Cross-cultural perspectives of adult development and aging in traditional and industrial society. This course includes comparative assessment of culturally mediated, life-cycle transformations into old age, and health related and human service policy issues. (S) GR-E†

Human skeletal identification for the physical anthropologist and archeologist. Techniques for estimated age at death, race and sex from human skeletal remains. The measurement of human skeleton for comparative purposes. (B)

The evolution of cognition among primates and the behavioral, social and phylogenetic influences on cognitive processes. Theories of learning and imitation and their impact on analysis of ecological and social decisions.

Deals with the taxonomy, distribution and ecology of primates. The range of primate behavior for each major taxonomic group is explored. GR-E†

Survey of primate evolution from Paleocene through Miocene epochs. Methods of paleontological inference. Emphasis on problems of taxonomy, phylogeny, biogeography and functional morphology in the fossil record.

This course surveys the evidence for the evolution of humankind. Emphasis is placed on the late Miocene to Pleistocene human fossil record and its interpretation. Basic principles of geology, systematics, evolutionary theory, functional morphology, and phylogenetic reconstruction are introduced and used to aid in understanding the human fossil and archaeological records. (B)

The methods and techniques of descriptive linguistics. Language structure and process especially related to describing, understanding and analyzing non-Western languages.

Processing of data recovered in field excavations; includes cleaning, identification, cataloguing, classification, drawing, analysis, responsibilities of data reporting.

Excavation of archeological sites, recording of data, laboratory handling and analysis of specimens, and study of the theoretical principles which underlie field methods and artifact analysis.

For students undertaking directed research in supplementary or regular course work or on special problems.

Open to students meeting departmental honors criteria and normally taken in the senior year. Students will develop special interests and write an essay based upon this research.

Rotating topics.

A communication course adjusted to a specific professional discipline, the discipline to be determined by need. Covers major elements of organizational communication with emphasis on composition of reports, proposals, letters and memos, manuals and oral presentations. Course materials and assignments are relevant to the specific discipline. Also listed as ANT 4930.(C) GR-E†