Undergraduate Courses
Graduate Courses
TTH 10:00-11:15 MAX: 100 Shore
Content: How can one field encompass both the study of human evolution and human religious practices? The field of Anthropology presents probably the most encompassing vision of what it means to be human. Anthropology is the study of human nature through the study of human variation. Anthropologists are interested in both biological and cultural variations among human populations, and how these variations emerged. This course presents an introduction to the full spectrum of Anthropology, and we will approach the discipline as an integrated bio-cultural study of human evolution and human adaptation. Through lectures, readings and a film series, the course will consider the four main subfields that comprise Anthropology: Biological Anthropology, Archeology, Cultural Anthropology and Anthropological Linguistics. Rather than treating all these subfields as separate branches of Anthropology, this course will emphasize an integrated and coherent framework that makes sense of the scope and diversity of this fascinating discipline.
Grades will be based upon the best total of two out of three exams. Students will be able to earn extra credit points by attending films and extra lectures and writing summary reports.
Texts:
Particulars: TBA.
MWF 9:35-10:25 MAX: 35 Baykal
Content:This course is designed as an advanced introduction to the Middle East.
It covers the anthropological research that has been conducted in the Middle East to provide students with the cultural knowledge necessary to understand and interpret contemporary social, political and economic dynamics of the region. Some discussion will be devoted to nearby Muslim societies of Central Asia. We will begin by outlining the underlying principles and tensions of Middle Eastern history and social organization, then move to a discussion of the ways in which these principles and tensions are expressed in religious, communal, gender and political relationships. We also will consider the effects of the media and global market on authority and power relations within these settings.
Texts: TBA.
Particulars: TBA.
MWF 10:40-11:30 MAX: 7 [ANT 190S ] / 8 [NBB 190S] Gouzoules
This seminar has been cancelled.
TTH 11:30-12:45 MAX: 15 Armelagos
Content: Dead men (and women) do tell tales. We will use the methods of Paleopathology (the study of disease in prehistory) to reveal patterns of trauma, nutritional disease, evidence of antibiotic use, infections, markers of activity found on the human skeleton. You will learn the essentials of skeletal biology such as the determination of age, sex, stature, pathology, and activity markers by “hands-on” examination of the human skeleton. The pattern of pathological indicators will be used to reconstruct how our ancestors lived and died. Patterns of disease are not a matter of chance but reflect the culture and environment in which we live. You do not need to have a background in science. An incredible curiosity, the deductive ability of a detective and the tenacity of a scientist are required. A case study approach will be used. Readings will be available on-line. You will be required to write six one page reports and a term paper on an issue raised in the class research.
Texts: TBA.
Particulars: TBA.
TTH 1:00-2:15 MAX: 100 Hadley
Students must enroll in a lab section:
201 L-A: M 2:30-5:30 Freed
201 L-B: T 2:30-5:30 Freed
201 L-C: W 2:30-5:30 Freed
201 L-D: TH 2:30-5:30 Freed
Content: Evolution of the human species, fossil populations, primate behavior, and human variation. Covers the use of anatomical, genetic, and behavioral evidence to make inferences about human evolution, prehistoric evolution of cultures, and contemporary issues in bioanthropology. Weekly lab in methods and techniques in biological anthropology.
Texts: TBA.
Particulars: TBA.
TTH 10:00-11:15 MAX: 35 Lacy
Content: How might Cultural Anthropology help us understand our lives, our communities, and our world in the 21st century? In this course we explore the work of cultural anthropologists to create an inclusive understanding of some of the specific concepts and methods that have shaped our discipline and our world. Through a historical review of innovative research methods and fieldwork we will re-imagine key anthropological concepts including race, poverty, development, inequality, and knowledge and belief systems. We will apply anthropological methods and ideas as part of a local ethnography project which will challenge students to envision a Cultural Anthropology for the 21st century
Texts: Reading packet (most readings will be available on-line through e-reserve)
Particulars: Coursework will include two exams, a term paper, and full participation in a class project (a local ethnography).
MWF 3:00-3:50 MAX: 18 Baykal
Content: This course will consider the fundamental relationship between fieldwork, ethnographic data and contemporary anthropological theory through an in-depth reading of a number of contemporary ethnographies.
It examines the individual anthropologists’ education and training, cultural perspectives and vision, fieldwork methods and experiences, and the approaches to analysis of social processes and realities found in the field. Through an exploration of the anthropologists’ encounter with their subjects, methods of data collection, types of analyses and generalizations made from fieldwork data, as well as an examination of anthropologists’ own reflexivity about their own cultural, gender and political sensibilities, the students will develop a deeper understanding of the connection between different elements that go into the production of ethnographic knowledge and anthropological theory.
Texts: TBA.
Particulars: TBA.
TTH1:00-2:15 MAX: 10 [ANT 203] / 30 [LING 201] Hary
Content: What is "language" and how do world languages differ? How do linguists investigate the basic building blocks of human languages? This course introduces students to linguistics, the scientific study of human language systems. We will emphasize the fundamentals of descriptive linguistics, the diversity of world languages, and the culturally-specific functions of speech. We will examine speech sounds (the field of phonetics), the sound systems of languages (phonology), word and sentence formation (morphology and syntax), how language expresses meaning (semantics), and how context influences the interpretation of meaning (pragmatics). Additional topics include historical linguistics, language typology, sociolinguistics, and multilingualism. The course is a core course for the Linguistics/Psychology Major and the Linguistics Minor, and should be of interest to students of Psychology, Anthropology, Sociology, Philosophy, English and foreign languages.
Texts:
Particulars: Grades will be based on attendance and participation, weekly homework assignments, 3 quizzes, and a final exam.
MWF 2:00-2:50 MAX: 25 Barlett
Content: This course introduces students to the debates and issues surrounding our contemporary industrial food system and the emergence of new practices and critiques that argue for an alternative, more sustainable system. Using both scientific and popular texts, hands-on experience with cooking, farm work, and local markets, students will develop skills to assess the true cost of food and evaluate alternatives. Readings and guest speakers will explore issues of food production (incl. industrial organic, local small-scale, and methods in between), distribution (grocery chains, Whole Foods, farmers markets, CSAs), and changing consumer tastes (Slow Food, seasonality, the “taste revolution”). The health implications of diet choice (both for humans and natural systems) and the experiences of workers will be linked to global implications. The specific focus of this “Anth of Today’s World” will be the hard choices and important opportunities we face as Emory seeks to foster a sustainable food system for the Southeast.
Texts:
Particulars: Students will demonstrate learning through quizzes, essay exams, a series of reflection papers, and an op-ed piece and will be responsible for organizing a campus Sustainable Food Fair in September.
TTH 2:30-3:45 MAX: 35 Whitten
Content: This course provides a broad-based, comparative survey of the behavior and ecology of nonhuman primates, focusing on the ecological and evolutionary forces that have shaped the behavior of primate species. Emphasis will be placed on why social systems and behavioral patterns may be adaptive for individual primates, using data from studies of wild primates in their natural habitats. Topics to be considered include feeding and sexual competition, ecology and social organization, sexual behavior and reproductive strategies, parental behavior and infant development, social bonds, communication, and cognition. Classes will consist of lectures, films, and discussions.
Texts:
Particulars:Grading will be based on the following: 3 exams: 60% (20% each); assignments and discussion: 40%.
MWF 12:50-1:40 MAX: 35 Konner
Content: This course is an upper level introduction to the basis of complex human behavior in the brain. We will focus on human brain structure and function with a view toward mastering the anatomy that underlies cognition and emotion. We will give significant attention to the phylogenetic context of human brain evolution, with reference to comparative neuroanatomy of primates, other mammals, and other vertebrates. We will then proceed to study the most interesting new model of higher brain function, that of behavioral neurologist Albert Damasio. The overall goal is to master the anatomy underlying higher human capacities, but without losing sight of the ways in which our brain’s evolutionary past can inform our understanding of how that brain works now.
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Particulars:
Exams:
Prerequisite – One or more of the following: Anthropology 210, NBB 201/Anth 200, Psych 103, or Psych 110; or permission of the instructor Comments – Recommended for strongly motivated students
MWF 12:50-1:40 MAX: 35 Worthman
Content: This course examines human reproduction and reproductive health at the intersection of biological and social processes: it investigates how cultural context interacts with biology to influence how individuals and social groups behave and reproduce. Basic reproductive physiology is reviewed, along with some biology of reproductive behavior. Then, social components of reproduction (sexuality, gender, marriage and kinship) are discussed. Finally, health and illness as they relate to human reproduction are discussed, focusing on maternal-child health, STDs and HIV, contraception, and new reproductive technologies. Case studies in each topical area further demonstrate interactions of cultural context with biology to shape individual behavior, reproductive life history, and reproductive health. Demographic as well as ethnographic levels of analysis are presented. Implications for national and international trends and policies are considered.
Particulars: Prerequisite - Anthropology 201 or 210, or equivalent. Exams - Take-home midterm and final. Papers - Three case study analyses, ranging from 2-6 pp.
TTH 11:30-12:45 MAX: 3 [ANT 325S] / 6 [LING 333S] / 3 [WS 333S] Tamasi
Content: This course challenges students to ask questions about the way gender and sexuality are determined by and expressed in language. Some specific questions we will address are: How are sexuality and erotic desire expressed in language? How does language shape our experience and understanding of sexuality and sexual difference? Do gay men and lesbians have a language of their own? Are children socialized into gender-specific speech behaviors? Why do we use euphemism to speak about sex, and what do euphemisms communicate? Are certain languages (including English) inherently sexist? We will also look at miscommunication due to gender differences as well as cross-cultural differences in male and female speech styles.
Texts:
Particulars: Students will be expected to engage in scholarly discussion of the topics and readings as well as create and carry out their own research projects. Grading will be based on class participation, three essays, and a research paper. This course fulfills the GER advanced seminar requirement. There are no prerequisites.
TTH 2:30-3:45 MAX: 18 Lacy
Content: In the face of unrivaled technological advances and corporate wealth, the persistence of extreme poverty and inequality in our world challenges the very notion of “progress and development.” How do Anthropological perspectives on social change and economic development influence the way people live and work in our 21st century world? In this course we will explore the idea of “sustainable development” including economic, social, and environmental definitions of sustainability. Our core approach will focus on the theories, values, assumptions, and data of those who practice and/or critique sustainable development. Key themes will include: population growth, common pool resource management, industrial vs. small-scale agriculture, farm labor, migration, political instability, colonialism, and globalization.
Texts: Reading packet (most readings will be available on-line)
Particulars: Coursework will include two exams, a term paper, and a group project focusing on sustainable development priorities facing the Emory community.
MWF 10:40-11:30 MAX: 18 Freed
Content: This course will focus on the biological processes that have influenced primate anatomy, behavior, distribution, and evolution, as evidenced in the fossil record. Topics discussed include paleontological methods, ecology, diet, locomotion, co-evolution, and interpretations of the primate fossil record. This course is well-suited to those interested in archaeology, paleontology, primates, human evolution, dental anatomy, geology, and conservation. Previous coursework in biological anthropology, archaeology, or environmental studies is suggested.
Texts: Fleagle, Primate Adaptation and Evolution and Assorted Readings
Particulars: Three examinations, one project, and participation. This course has both lecture and lab components.
TTH 10:00-11:15 MAX: 10 [ANT 385] / 15 [LING 242] Tamasi
Content: This course will address a range of questions about language through an exploration of the following areas: language families and historical relationships, linguistic typology and language universals, sound and structural features of several of the world's languages, and writing systems. We will see how the study of languages can provide a unique view of major events in human history, such as large-scale migrations and sociocultural changes, and will discuss some of the ethnic, social, and political ramifications of language choice.
Texts:
Particulars: Grades will be based on participation, attendance, homework, 2 tests and final project and presentation.
TTH 1:00-2:15 MAX: 35 Krupa
Content: Anthropology has placed considerable emphasis on things that seem to endure beyond individual human lives and through periods of social transformation. Our discipline’s central concepts, such as culture, social structure, language, kinship, reproduction, and even social change, draw upon assumptions of perpetuity, continuity, and systemic resilience. This course aims to interrogate this anthropological premise by focusing on pressing questions about the absolute end—of life, the world, and what is even imaginable. We will take two approaches to this problem. One will treat ‘the end’ as a cultural construct, a conceptual location given meaning under specific ways of reckoning time and the forces said to guide it. We will examine different forms of historical consciousness and the ways people organize around it when finitude becomes an option, such as millenarian movements, cargo cults, conceptions of the apocalypse and its aftermath, religious uses of corpse imagery, and various science fiction narratives. Our other approach will have us look at how the end (of the world) emerges as a real, material possibility that threatens to overtake life itself. Here we will address issues of genocide and environmental destruction, terror and violence, mass mortuary practice, reproductive infertility, and radical debates about same-sex desire. Our goal will be to use this perspective to refine the possibility for anthropological concepts and methods to shed light on experiences of deep social friction around the globe today.
Texts: TBA.
Particulars: TBA.
TTH 1:00-2:15 MAX: 5 [ANT 385] / 5 [AAS 385] / 12 [EDS 308] Rone
This course has been cancelled.
MWF 9:35-10:25 MAX: 18 Worthman
Content: This course surveys the global landscape of challenges to physical and mental health that confront us today, and traces the emergence of biosocial approaches to both explaining and tackling these challenges. A major goal for the class is to develop student skills for navigating the current global health situation in the light of theory and practice in public health and biomedicine, as well as global economics, ecology, and resource availability. To accomplish these aims we will cover five recent insights and emerging dynamics in global health, and critically apply them in a series of case studies. Class assignments will take the form of exercises for which students will consult, evaluate, and integrate multiple information resources to assess the state of our knowledge and write reports and analyses. Information resources specialists will contribute training and guidance throughout the course.
Texts: TBA.
Particulars: Prerequisite – Anthropology 230 or 332. Exams – none. Papers – Seven case study analyses, ranging from 2-6 pp.
MAX: 999 Faculty
Content: TBA.
Texts: TBA.
Particulars: By permission only.
MAX: 999 Kingston
Content: TBA.
Texts: TBA.
Particulars: By permission only.
MAX: 999 Faculty
Content: TBA.
Texts: TBA.
Particulars:By permission only.
W 1:00-4:00 MAX: 15 Nugent
Content: Anthropology 500 provides a graduate introduction to the field of Anthropology, especially as practiced here at Emory University. We begin with a brief introduction to some of the debates and issues surrounding the analytical scope, theories, and methods of the field of Anthropology. The bulk of the semester will be spent exploring how these wide ranging approaches to Anthropology, epistemology, methodology, theory, and inter-disciplinarity are reflected, translated, and applied in Anthropological research. These engagements with Anthropological scholarship will be enacted in several forms: (1) a pro-seminar, in which various faculty members of the Emory Anthropology Department visit the class to present and discuss their ‘sub-field’ of anthropology and their own scholarly research; (2) weekly precis papers summarizing a selected text from the assigned readings; (3) individual research projects (annotated bibliographies as well as a more integrative ‘review essay’) engaging a range of theories and methodological approaches within their chosen area of scholarship. Students are also strongly encouraged to attend scholarly presentations sponsored within the department as well as related campus talks, seminars and workshops as they arise over the course of the semester.
Texts: Faculty for each unit will assign classic/highly influential texts as well as their own publications and/or work in progress. No books have been ordered for this course. All published journal articles are available via eJournals on EUCLID. All other required readings will be available via Reserves Direct on EUCLID.
Particulars: Grades will be based on the following:(1) Weekly précis and question papers [50%];(2) Review Essay* [30%]; (3) Class participation [20%]. * Review Essays will be graded by individual faculty experts in concert with the course instructor.
By permission only. Enrollments are handled by the Department of Anthropology.
F 10:00-1:00 MAX: 15 Kingston
Content: The goal of this course is to develop a theoretical framework in evolutionary biology within which we can explore human evolution and ultimately aspects of modern human biology and behavior. We will begin with a broad, historical survey of the development of evolutionary theory and then focus on a number of key theoretical issues. Before going on to assess the extent to which evolutionary perspectives can shed light on modern human culture and biology, we will briefly examine the degree to which the application of evolutionary concepts enlighten us on the adaptive significance of key morphological innovations in early hominids as well as the utility of primate models for developing an evolutionary foundation for human behavior. These studies will provide biological continuity for assessing aspects of modern humans that are unique and allow us to identify specific topics on which we should converge. Towards the end of the course, we will examine aspects of human biology and culture that have been interpreted in an evolutionary context and evaluate the usefulness of applied evolutionary theory in the study of modern humans.
Texts: TBA.
Particulars: By permission only. Enrollments are handled by the Department of Anthropology.
TTH 2:30-4:00 MAX: 15 Shore
Content: Culture and Mind considers the place of public cultural institutions and culturally-derived knowledge in a general theory of mental representations. A synthesis of traditional Symbolic Anthropology and Cognitive Anthropology, the course deals with the relationship between the content of cultural knowledge and the forms in which it is encoded. Culture in Mind attempts to bridge the "objectivist" view of culture as "public texts" with the "experientialist" vision of culture as cognitive models. Readings will draw from the classic literature in symbolic anthropology, as well as more recent work from anthropology on cultural models and related work in cognitive psychology.
Texts:
Particulars: By permission only. Enrollments are handled by the Department of Anthropology.
M 10:00-1:00 MAX: 15 Ozawa-de Silva
Content: This course is designed as an introduction to medical anthropology. The course is organized thematically and examines some of the important issues in contemporary medical anthropology, including: Illness, disease and sickness; illness as metaphor of socio-cultural distress; the process of medicalization; current paradigm shift in biomedicine; culture-bound syndromes; contestation for medical legitimacy in plural societies; non-western medical systems; body and mind in illness and healing; cross-cultural psychiatric anthropology; infectious disease and inequality; power/knowledge and medical practices; and ambiguity in death and dying in the era of high technology. This course will explore the role of medicine in our society, how anthropological analysis can be applicable in understanding the complexity of human conditions such as health, illness and sickness, physical and mental pain, suffering, death and dying.
Texts:
Particulars: Requirements include class presentations, three written assignments, and a final paper (12-15 pages).
This course was previously offered under ANT 585-00P: Special Topics: Medical Anthropology.
By permission only. Enrollments are handled by the Department of Anthropology.
This seminar has been cancelled. Instead, ANT 500: Proseminar taught by David Nugent is offered on Wednesday from 1 to 4 pm.
W 4:00-7:00 MAX: 15 Brown
This seminar has been cancelled.
W 5:00-8:00 MAX: 6 [ANT 585] /6 [POL 585] Knauft/Doner
Content: The study of development is complex, and “development” itself, is multifaceted, contingent on context, and frequently contested. Even economists, often the most confident of social scientists, are increasingly cautious about previously robust generalizations concerning development. The international aid community, which has frequently allocated resources in the hope of stimulating development in less advantaged countries, finds in retrospect that many of its initiatives have failed or been highly equivocal. This graduate seminar is designed to recognize but not get bogged down in these issues.
The seminar will consider the relationship between the material outcomes and social impacts of economic development; its political, governmental, and institutional context; and the degree to which economic development is or can be sustained over time. In this regard, the seminar considers what may be taken as the objective conditions of economic development as well as the political institutions and cultural forms through which economic development is variously achieved or not, asserted, and contested. The seminar considers economic development both as a real, ascertainable process and also as a condition of social, political, and ideological aspiration and assertion. Neither of these processes subsumes the other; their variable relationship is itself important
Texts: TBA.
Particulars:Students are expected not only to come prepared to discuss the assigned reading but also to use the seminar to initiate or develop their own research project. In addition to theoretical and empirical engagement, this requires engaging issues of methodology. Students will be graded on seminar participation, reaction papers, and on a final research project or draft research proposal.
By permission only. Enrollments are handled by the Department of Anthropology.
W 9:30-12:30 MAX: 4 [ANT 585] / 4 [EDS 774]/ 4 [LING 585] Rone
This seminar has been cancelled.
W 1:00-4:00 MAX: 3 [ANT 585] / 3 [HIST 585]/6 [ILA 782]/3 [SPAN 797R] Kratz
Content: This course has two goals: 1) to help students formulate clear, focused dissertation research projects with appropriate humanistic research methodologies and 2) to train students in the preparation and presentation of their research projects in formats such as outside funding applications and dissertation proposals. Students will be involved in analyzing research methods and critiquing draft proposals for grants.
Texts:
Particulars:Although practical logistical considerations have limited the number of departments that can be cross-listed for this course, the seminar is open to students in all humanities departments, and to students in any department whose research focuses on humanistic issues. It is best taken in the second or third year of coursework, when students are beginning to formulate dissertation research projects and to draft grant proposals.
By permission only. Enrollments are handled by the Department of Anthropology.
TH 1:00-4:00 MAX: 3 [ANT 585] / 6 [HIST 585]/3 [ILA 790] Lesser
Content: This course will examine the formation of racial, ethnic and national identities in 19th and 20th century Latin America. We will analyze the many approaches to the history of racial and ethnic discourses and their sociopolitical uses in the formation of modern nations and empires. We will examine Latin America’s postcolonial, societies in a constant tension with the legacies of colonialism, slavery and immigration. This, in turn, will suggest the connections with the class and gender in the region. We will focus on how concepts of race and ethnicity were constructed in moments of national flux and how racial/ethnic discourses shaped popular and elite cultures. The goal of the course is to examine majors questions, themes and methods which in turn can be allied to each student’s own research project.
Texts:
This is a reading intensive course, often exceeding one monograph per week. Texts that may be included are:
Particulars: By permission only. Enrollments are handled by the Department of Anthropology.
MAX: 999 Faculty
Content: TBA.
Texts: TBA.
Particulars: By permission only. Please obtain form in Room 207 Anthropology.
MAX: 999 Faculty
Content: TBA.
Texts: TBA.
Particulars: By permission only. Please obtain form in Room 207 Anthropology.
MAX: 999 Faculty
Content: TBA.
Texts: TBA.
Particulars: By permission only. Please obtain form in Room 207 Anthropology.
MAX: 999 Faculty
Content: TBA.
Texts: TBA.
Particulars: By permission only. Please obtain form in Room 207 Anthropology.
MAX: 999 Faculty
Content: TBA.
Texts: TBA.
Particulars: By permission only. Please obtain form in Room 207 Anthropology.
MAX: 999 Faculty
Content: TBA.
Texts: TBA.
Particulars: By permission only. Please obtain form in Room 207 Anthropology.
MAX: 999 Faculty
Content: TBA.
Texts: TBA.
Particulars: By permission only. Please obtain form in Room 207 Anthropology.