The purpose of this course is to examine how anthropologists, archaeologists, folklorists and other analysts of humanly constructed artifacts and environments infer cultural symbol and logic from prehistoric, historic and contemporary material culture. A cross-cultural sample of cultures and societies is considered. Material categories addressed include architecture, gravestones, measuring instruments, pottery vessels, clothing and settlement pattern.
Economic and Ecological Anthropology
This course provides an overview of contemporary relationships of economy to society, culture, and environment. Students examine the major anthropological approaches to the study of human adaptation and livelihood. The course focuses on basic processes of production, exchange and consumption for societies ranging from small-scale foragers to global-scale capitalists.
Archaeology of Status and Identity
This course examines the material culture of status and identity throughout the world from an archaeological perspective. The different hierarchical relationships present in complex societies are investigated through the lens of group and personal identities such as race, gender and ethnicity. Emphasis on the various practices and material culture used by elites to assert their status as well as the strategies all members of society employ to achieve ‘upperclass’ standing are explored around the world and through time. In addition, the differing roles of men and women as well as the function of the household as an economic unit are explored in relation to class and rank. The different material expressions of these include dress and personal adornment, architecture, diet, and burial practices. Students who previously took this as a topics course, ANTH 352, may not take again for credit.
Atlantic World Archaeology
This course explores the creation of the “Atlantic World” formed through ongoing contacts between Europeans, Africans and Native Americans from the late 15th century through the early 19th century. This period was characterized by exploration, contact, discovery, trade, conquest, colonization, slavery and the rise of capitalism.
The Cultured Body
This course explores historical and cultural variations of the body and embodiment used to construct and contest identities that reflect ideas about the self, family, gender, nation, nature and the supernatural documented from a sample of cultures around the world.
African Atlantic Archaeology
The course begins with an overview of the idea of the Atlantic World and its formation beginning with European oceanic exploration. This is followed by an examination of West African trade networks, settlements and politics at the time of European contact. Students examine the realignment of different trade networks in West Africa following the establishment of Europeans at various points on the coast, and colonial settlements and the emergence of the plantation economy involving enslaved communities in the Americas. The course addresses specific questions tied to contact, identity formation and socio-economic interactions from the perspective of Africa and Africans in the Diaspora, drawing on historical archaeological sources. Students who previously took this as a topics course, ANTH 352, may not take again for credit.
Anthropology of Tourism
This course explores the history, experience of, and creation of tourist sites and landscapes through an anthropological lens. Multiple perspectives are considered in various venues including typical vacation spots such as hotels and beaches as well as those sites ‘off the beaten path’. As a broad survey course, it will begin with the ‘grand tours’ of the 18th and 19th century and continue through the present day. The various roles and experiences of the tourist, tour guide, and other stakeholders within cultural, ecological, heritage, sex and leisure tourism will be examined. Students who previously took this as a topics course, ANTH 352, may not take again for credit.
Introduction to Historic Preservation
Historic preservation in the US is an exciting, growing and interdisciplinary field. This course provides a general overview of historic preservation as an applied practice, including historical and cultural resources sustainability and management. We will explore the history, method, theory, ethics and law of historic preservation as currently practiced in the United States. Students who previously took this as a topics course, ANTH 352, may not take again for credit.
Native American Culture and History
This course provides an interdisciplinary anthropological and ethnohistorical analysis of Native American societies and cultures in the Americas from the first peopling of the New World through interactions with Euro-Americans from the 17th to the early 20th century. Archaeological, ethnographic and ethnohistorical approaches are employed. Cross-listed as HIST 311. Students may receive credit for either course but not both.
Principles of Applied Anthropology
This course provides an overview of applied anthropology and the work of practitioners from a historical perspective. The course examines the contexts in which practitioners work, the types of problems they face and the political and ethical challenges associated with their work. Students become familiar with and begin to develop requisite skills to undertake applied work by carrying out a service-learning project in the local community.