Undergraduate Courses
Graduate Courses
MWF 11:45-12:35 MAX: 100 Shore
Content: TBA
Texts: TBA
Particulars: TBA.
TTH 10:00-11:15 MAX: 25[ANT 150] / 10[AFS 150] Lacy
Content: To explore the great diversity of the numerous cultural traditions of Africa, we begin with the historiography of Africa from the dawn of humankind to creation of modern African nations. Then we will turn to regional case studies, African literature, film, and music to further explore several cultural traditions from the continent. In the final part of the course students will conduct original research on the cultural dynamics of critical issues facing contemporary Africans. The objective of this course is to introduce students to the rich diversity of African cultural traditions, and to equip students with the African Studies and Anthropology research skills necessary for further explorations into the Cultures of Africa.
Texts:TBA.
Particulars: 2 mid-course exams, 3 map tests, 1 book review, research paper & presentation.
MWF 10:40-11:35 MAX: 7 [ANT 190S ] / 8 [NBB 190S] Gouzoules
Content: From its inception, the study of primate behavior has inspired theories of the origin of human nature. This course will explore the ways in which human nature has been viewed through a historical review of primatology, with emphasis on how interpretations of the social patterns of primate behavior have changed through time. Using a multimedia approach, this course will also provide students with an introduction to the non-human primates. What questions and themes have characterized primate studies from their beginning to the present? How have these studies been used to generate theories of the origins of human nature? Gender and culture issues in primatology will also be examined: do women and men scientists view primate societies, and their relevance to human origins, differently? Do scientists from different cultural backgrounds interpret the nature of primate societies in variable ways? Finally, what can we learn about human behavior from studying other primates?
Texts: Tentative List – these titles may change:
OTHER SELECTED READINGS FROM JOURNAL ARTICLES.
Particulars: Grades will be based on a series of response papers, comments on readings posted on Blackboard, class presentations and class participation. Freshmen only.
W 2:00-4:00 MAX: 15 Knauft
Content: This freshmen seminar explores what it is like to live in alternative cultural environments, including in foreign countries, amid the cultural diversity of the U.S., and in the experience of migrant or diasporic communities here and abroad. The course combines reading and classroom exposure to different cultural experiences with independent projects through which students experience some of the international diversity of the metropolitan Atlanta area and on campus.
Following a general overview concerning cultural diversity and contemporary social change, the course considers the following issues and themes: (a) cultural diversity in Western and non-Western societies; (b) migration and diasporic experience; (c) the international world of Atlanta; (d) the future of global experience; (e) the life of contemporary peoples and cultures in: (i) Melanesia; (ii) Africa; (iii) Asia; (iv) Latin America
Texts:
Particulars: Freshmen only. Evaluation based on reading quizzes, reflection papers, participation and either a final exam or research project.
MWF 2:00-2:50 MAX: 15 Barlett
Content: This seminar will be an exploration of the enormously popular “drug foods” of coffee and chocolate, using a broad range of disciplinary approaches, including cultural and biological anthropology, history, geography, political economy, and symbolic analysis. The course will also be an introduction to the basic research methods in social science and to different kinds of writing, so that graduates of this seminar will be well prepared for a wide range of research and writing tasks throughout their college years.
In our study of the different production systems of coffee and chocolate (from peasant households to plantations to industrial processing), we will also explore the changing meanings of these foods for consumers in different times and places. We will learn about African and Latin American and Asian producers, and the implications of world trade in these commodities for national politics. Aspects of the sustainable food movement will be connected to coffee and chocolate, through an exploration of Fair Trade and organic certifications, and the implications for ethical consumption. The health dimensions of caffeine and the addictive aspects of the drug will be connected to their many uses. Students will have an opportunity to carry out original research on a topic of interest, and the class will learn both anthropological techniques of observation and interview.
Texts:
Particulars:Students will write weekly one-page themes, carry out several research assignments, and write one major term paper.
TTH 11:30-12:45 MAX: 100 Hadley
Students must enroll in a lab section:
201 L-A: M 2:30-5:30 Faculty
201 L-B: T 2:30-5:30 Faculty
201 L-C: W 2:30-5:30 Faculty
201 L-D: TH 2:30-5:30 Faculty
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 2:30-3:45 MAX: 35 Ozawa-de Silva
Content: This course will explore key concepts and methods in cultural anthropology. We will discuss theoretical issues related to the field, study ethnographic method, and read various ethnographies of different societies, countries and local people living in these places. Students will learn both theoretical knowledge in anthropology and practical experience in ethnographic analysis through class lectures, discussion, written papers, viewing and analyzing ethnographic films, and original ethnographic research. Students are expected to read texts thoroughly and critically before class and bring at least two questions for discussion. Class discussion and presentations will be crucial in earning skills for critical analysis. This course will provide students with a foundation for pursuing other more advanced anthropology courses and is therefore suited for those whose major or minor is anthropology.
Texts: Several books to be assigned. Selected journal articles and chapters.
Particulars: This course requires intensive participation from students which includes class discussion and presentations. A mini-ethnography will be conducted as a part of the class. There will also be several papers, a mid-term exam, and a final project based upon the ethnography.
MWF 9:35-10:25 MAX: 18 Schulein-Parsons
Content: This course is an introduction to key theoretical concepts and research methods in cultural anthropology. We will be reading a number of classic and contemporary ethnographies about different populations in order to explore theoretical approaches in historical context. We will also consider fieldwork, ethnographic methods and data, analysis, and ethnographic writing. This course provides a foundation for the anthropology major or minor
Texts: TBA.
Particulars:This course requires active participation from students in class discussions and presentations. There will be several short papers, a midterm examination, and a final paper.
TTH 1:00-2:15 35 [LING 201]/ 14 [ANT 203] 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:
Recommended:
Particulars: Grades will be based on attendance and participation, weekly homework assignments, 3 quizzes, and a final exam.
MWF 3:00-3:50 MAX: 35 Stutz
Content: This course explores archaeology as a contemporary social science. Through the stages of excavation, analysis, interpretation, and conservation, archaeology is the study of the human past through the analysis of material culture. This simply defined but broad field encompasses a range of different approaches, theories, and techniques, which often cut across traditional disciplinary boundaries. The course will begin by exploring the history of the discipline, from its roots in the 18th century, through its nationalist and colonialist past during the 19th century, and on to the development of archaeology today. This section will also include a discussion of archaeology in popular culture. We then move on to exploring the fundamental theoretical influences on contemporary archaeology, ranging from processualism and systems theory to critical social theory, and including gender and queer perspectives. Throughout the course, concrete case studies of important archaeological sites and studies will be used to illustrate and discuss the topics. The course also includes discussions on ethical aspects of archaeology.
The objective of the course is to introduce students to the basic principles of archaeology, the study of material culture and to the current debates within the field.
Texts: TBA.
Particulars: Grades will be based on mid-term and final exam, response papers, comments on readings posted on Blackboard, class presentations and class participation.
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%.
TTH 11:30-12:45 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.
Texts:
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.
TTH 2:30-3:45 MAX: 35 Hadley
Content: Course examines the evolution, current diversity, and social significance of human diet and nutrition. Also explores the ways in which diet is influenced by ecological, political, economic, and cultural factors.
Texts: TBA.
Particulars: TBA.
MWF 11:45-12:35 MAX: 35 Rilling
Content: As primates, we are unusually social mammals and devote extensive cognitive effort and resources to managing and maintaining social relationships. Indeed, the need to interact skillfully with others may well have been one of the key selective pressures shaping the evolution of human brain and mind. There has been a recent explosion of research aimed at elucidating the neurobiological substrates that support human social cognition and behavior. This course will review and synthesize this growing body of research coming out of the fields of neuropsychology, psychiatry, neuroimaging and experimental animal research.
Texts: To be determined, but will include research articles published in academic journals.
Particulars: Grades will be based on several announced quizzes, class presentations and participation, and a final paper in the form of a research proposal. Prerequisites: ANT 200/NBB 201, Psych 110 or permission of instructor
TTH 1:00-2:15 MAX: 18 Armelagos
Content: The class will investigate many of the contemporary health problems from the perspective of evolutionary biology with a biocultural perspective. The adaptation and evolution of human populations have altered our relationship with the pathogens and other insults that share our environment. The shift to agriculture resulted in the first epidemiological transition in which infectious disease become major selective forces. We will examine the evidence for disease in prehistory and the how humans response to them. The second epidemiological transition (the “control” of infectious disease) highlighted by the rise of medicine, institution of public health measure, and improved nutrition is characterized by the rise of chronic disease such as allergies, osteoporosis, cancer and cardiovascular disease. In the twilight of the antibiotic era, we are entering the third epidemiological transition in a period of globalization in which there is emergence of “new” infectious diseases and the re-emergence of antibiotic resistant diseases that are threats to human populations.
Texts:Readings will be posted on e-reserve.
Particulars: Annotated bibliographies (Using Endnote) and reaction papers (25%), Four page topical paper (15%), Twenty page term paper (40%), Quizzes, classroom participation, LearnLink participation (20%).
TTH 10:00-11:15 12 [ANT 338S]/ 6 [GHCS 300S] 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.
TTH 11:30-12:45 12 [LING 340RS]/ 6 [ANT 340RS] Tamasi
Content: In this course, we will take an interdisciplinary approach to answer two key questions: 1) How does society affect the way people use language? and 2) How does language affect society? We will begin with a cross-cultural investigation into the social rules that underlie language use within a society. We will use discourse analysis to understand how language has social, expressive, and referential functions that allow us to produce cooperative conversations. We will then explore language attitudes - the perceptions, beliefs, and stereotypes that are commonly attached to language and language use. We will investigate where such attitudes come from, how they are disseminated throughout a society, as well as how they affect our linguistic choices. Finally, we will look at real world applications and outcomes of language attitudes, including language discrimination and linguistic profiling. Students will be introduced to both qualitative and quantitative methods for the elicitation and analysis of data, and will develop their own research projects.
Texts: Various articles on electronic reserve.
Particulars: Grading will be based on class participation, several short response papers and/or field assignments, and a final research paper.
TTH 2:30-3:45 12 [LING 340RS]/ 3 [ANT 340RS]/ 3[SOC 389S] Pak
Content:No two people or groups of people use language in exactly the same way. Why is this so? How and why does language vary? How can we know when, how and why language is changing? The field of variationist sociolinguistics was first developed by William Labov as one way to respond to these questions, and has subsequently become the most well-known branch of sociolinguistics. This course introduces students to the principles of the study of language change, including techniques for analyzing variation and change in phonetics, phonology, morphology, lexicon, syntax, and discourse. During the course we will examine specific case studies from dialects of American English and other languages, and students will develop research projects of their own in which they collect and analyze their own linguistic data.
Texts:Many of the assigned readings will be from Miriam Meyerhoff's Introducing Sociolinguistics (2006, Routledge). Additional assigned readings will be made available electronically.
Particulars: Grading will be based on homeworks, exams, field project reports, and class participation.
TTH 1:00-2:15 MAX: 25 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.
TTH 10:00-11:15 MAX: 12[ANT 352SWR] / 6[WS 342SWR] Freeman
Content: “Globalization” is a concept that has proliferated in popular and scholarly arenas describing the increasing intensity of flows of capital, labor, commodities, and ideologies across national borders. Electronic highways, the expansion of jet travel, and trade liberalization have made transnational communication and cultural, political, and economic connections closer and faster than ever before. This course aims to analyze the complex meanings and implications of globalization within people's everyday lives. We will study workers (white collar, pink collar, and blue collar), consumers, migrants, and tourists, as actors on the global stage. What have these transformations of space and time meant for local identities (nationality, gender, class, race, sexuality) and the meanings and enactments of culture? How as anthropologists might we study these transformations in ways that bring into view both macro level processes and life “on the ground”? Through the analysis of theoretical works and ethnographies from several world areas (Asia, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, North America) we will explore the changing shape of local culture, and the gendered underpinnings of global processes as they are enacted across “first” and “third” worlds.
Texts: TBA.
Particulars: As a writing intensive seminar, several short papers and one major research paper will constitute a major part of the course. Students will write three analytical essays based upon course readings, one essay based upon diaries of their consumption patterns, and conduct independent research for their individual final projects. Close attention will be paid to written expression and evidence of analytical skills. Grades will be based upon the quality of class participation and written work. Anthropology 202 prerequisite.
MWF 2:00-2:50 MAX: 35 Shore
Content: TBA.
Texts: TBA.
Particulars: TBA.
MWF 10:40-11:30 MAX: 15 Spitulnik
Content: How do anthropologists write about people, cultures, and everyday life in the contemporary world? What research methods and writing strategies are employed? Through this intensive methods and writing course, students are trained in the skills of ethnographic documentation, composition, and analysis. Students will gain first-hand knowledge of the ins and outs of ethnography as they engage in original research projects. Students will also read a range of classical and contemporary ethnographic texts, as we examine how ethnographies are stylistically constructed and how different writers handle issues of objectivity and subjectivity in qualitative social science research. Students will be trained in research ethics and will be required to complete the Emory University Institutional Review Board (IRB) on-line CITI ethics training. Many of the concepts and skills developed in the course can be applied to other fields such as journalism, sociology, psychology, history, public health, law, literary studies, and international affairs
Texts:
Particulars: This is a writing-intensive class. Students will produce a short piece of critical or research-based writing every other week, each of which will count toward 10% of the final grade. These will culminate in a final ethnographic piece (approx. 15 pages) which will account for 30% of the final grade.Prerequisite: Previous cultural anthropology course or instructor’s permission.
MWF 2:00-2:50 MAX: 20[ANT 385] / 80[GHCS 102] Brown
Content: This introductory core course to the minor in Global Health, Culture, and Society draws on perspectives from anthropology, social epidemiology, and related social and health sciences to provide the broadest framework for understanding global health challenges and their solutions. Students will be introduced to basic concepts and methods in epidemiology and population health and will learn about past, current, and future global health issues. The course will emphasizes the interconnections between health problems in developed and developing countries and the need for an interdisciplinary approach to understand and mitigate threats to health. Topics to be covered include infectious diseases, diseases of under and over nutrition, mental health, reproductive health, refugee and immigrant health, and human rights.
Texts: TBA.
Particulars: TBA.
MWF 12:50-1:40 MAX: 35 K. Barrett
Content: This course aims to engage students in critical thinking and discussion concerning child maltreatment cross-culturally. Using the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child as our baseline, we will examine whether a child’s “right to culture” (Article 8) conflicts with his/her “right to protection from maltreatment” (Article 19). In so doing, we will explore the intersections between growth and development, child-rearing philosophies, and changing political economies as we assess whether certain practices constitute “maltreatment” and how (or whether) to intervene in such cases. We will use case studies from the United States as well as other communities, and include historical materials when relevant. The overall course objective is for students to acquire a more nuanced understanding of the challenges and opportunities involved in helping children to have full, productive lives within their local and global communities.
Texts: TBA.
Particulars: TBA.
TTH 4:00-5:15 MAX: 7[ANT 385S] / 7[GHCS 300S] / 6[WS 385S] Foster
Content: Birth is a universal event, but how it is experienced by women varies greatly. In this seminar we will examine birth in the context of global health. First, we will explore the meanings of pregnancy and themes of joy, fear, and pain in childbirth, in different times and cultural contexts. Then we will frame birth as the lens through which we discuss urgent issues in contemporary global health, such as reproductive health, rights, equity, access, and quality of healthcare. We will also explore the work of nurses and midwives who attend birth, in both previous and contemporary historical periods.
Texts: TBA.
Particulars: TBA.
MW 5:00-5:50 MAX: 35 Barlett
Content:Come be part of making possible the third Emory Sustainable Food Fair and Farmers Market. A student-led tradition, the Fair will be held again at the end of September, 2008, and students in this one-credit class will learn the backstage skills and strategies to put on this highly-acclaimed event. Students will read one book together, contact farmers, chefs, and other vendors, create a lively event with music and street layout, design publicity materials, and develop educational experiences for Fair attendees.
The class will meet Mondays and Wednesdays at 5:00 for only one month. Students will practice presenting information on sustainable food and will work cooperatively with the Office of Sustainability Initiatives and Emory Dining to put on the event.
Texts: Michael Pollan, The Omnivore’s Dilemma.
Particulars: TBA.
MAX: 999 Faculty
Content: TBA.
Texts: TBA.
Particulars: By permission only. Please obtain form in Room 207 Anthropology.
MAX: 999 Gouzoules
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.
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. This course is limited to Anthropology graduate students.
T 1:00-4:00 MAX: 15 Worthman
Content: The course provides a comprehensive overview of human biology as practiced in anthropology. It applies ecological and adaptationist perspectives to examine the interactions of social and biological factors in determining the causes and consequences of human variation, particularly in the production of differential well-being and experience. The perspective is used as a lens to examine human development, reproduction, energetics, stress and disease, and social change and health.
Texts: E.P. Widmaier, H. Raff, K.T. Strang. Vander’s Human Physiology. New York: McGraw Hill.
Weekly articles from multiple primary and secondary sources.
Particulars: Classes follow a seminar format, including some structured input from the instructor. Requirements for the course include short (5-7 pp.) analytic papers on 4 of 6 course segments, or a single final paper; and a take-home final.
By permission only. Please obtain form in Room 207 Anthropology. All enrollments are processed through Anthropology.
TH 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; “naturalizing” processes; 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: Required and suggested:
Particulars:Requirements include class presentations, weekly response papers, a mid-term paper, and a final paper. By permission only. Please obtain form in Room 207 Anthropology. All enrollments are processed through Anthropology.
TTH 2:30-4:00 MAX: 6[ANT 513] / 6[WS 513] Peletz
Content: This course provides anthropological and feminist perspectives on gender and sexual diversity in a broad range of human societies located in a number of different world areas. One of the primary objectives of the course is to develop an ethnographically grounded understanding of the vicissitudes of femininity, masculinity, transgenderism, “third sexes”, and “third genders”, as well as same-sex relations, heterosexuality, and heteronormativity. A second objective of the course is to develop a critical understanding of the types of theories, methods, and data that are relevant to the study of gender and sexuality -- and scholarly production bearing on these domains -- in anthropology (and related fields). The emphasis throughout the course will be on ethnographic and theoretical works that deal with gender and sexuality as culturally constructed, historically variable, and politically contested categories bearing on practice and desire, rather than immutable biological “givens”.
Texts: Required texts will most likely include the following nine books (all of which are available in paperback).
Particulars: Twenty to twenty-five percent of your course grade will be based on the quality of your class participation. The remainder of your grade will be based on your written work, which will most likely consist of two papers over the course of the semester (totaling approximately 25-30 pages).
By permission only. Please obtain form in Room 207 Anthropology. All enrollments are processed through Anthropology.
T 2:00-5:00, MAX: 6 [RLSR 780]/ 6 [JS 730R]/ 6 [ANT 585] Seeman
Content: "Experience" is an under-theorized concept in both anthropology and the study of religion. This course asks how both disciplines can be transformed through the ethnographic study of religious experience in its lived contexts. What constitutes experience, and how can it be described cross-culturally? What are the strengths and limitations of ethnography as a research methodology in the study of religion? What are the theoretical as well as practical and stylistic tools needed to fashion compelling ethnographies that get to the heart of what it means to be human in different social and religious settings, from spirit possession in Northern Sudan to charismatic healing in Catholic America? What is at stake for people in these settings?
This seminar is a critical introduction to theory and methodology in the anthropology of religion. We will read full-length ethnographies that focus on a variety of religious settings, as well as William James, Clifford Geertz and at least one work of fiction. How does ethnography ask and answer questions differently than any other methodology in the study of religion? What are its strengths and limitations? And how do recent trends in the anthropology of human experience promise to transform both anthropology and the study of religion as academic disciplines? Case studies that include the ethnography of Charismatic Christian healers in America, Muslim women in Sudan and Ethiopian Jewish immigrants to Israel will be read alongside ethnographies of Haitian spiritualists and African diviners. Films will be shown four times during the semester at an additional meeting. Students will write a critical book review of two or more books and will conduct their own mini-ethnography.
Texts:
Texts Available in Class:
Particulars: This course will be run in seminar format. Students will be expected to participate in class discussions and to take turns presenting material and leading class discussions. We will average one full ethnography per week. There will be one short paper (possibly a mini-ethnography or interview assignment) and one longer paper (possibly a critical book review). Students who are currently conducting ethnographic research projects may petition to write about their own ethnography.
TH 10:00-1:00 MAX: 15 Kingston
Content: During the last decade, our perceptions of the course of human evolution have been dramatically altered by a series of new discoveries as well as shifting interpretational frameworks. Current fossil evidence suggests much greater diversity, biogeographic distribution, and antiquity for the human lineage than previously suspected. The course will review recent empirical data from the hominin fossil and archeological record relevant to these changing perspectives and assess the validity of some of these claims. Basic principles of systematics, functional morphology, genetics, paleoecology, and evolutionary theory will be explored to provide a framework for discussions of the human fossil record. Analyses of the origin of the human lineage requires a review of the fossil record of apes in the Old World and their relevance for issues surrounding our notion of the last common ancestor we shared with African apes. From there we will look at the diversification of bipedal hominins, the apparent adaptive radiation of hominins at about 2.5 Ma coincident with encephalization and earliest stone tool manufacture, and ultimately the major steps forward to the origin of anatomically modern humans and their spread and diversification throughout the Old and New Worlds.
Texts: TBA.
Particulars: By permission only. Please obtain form in Room 207 Anthropology. All enrollments are processed through Anthropology.
W 10:00-1:00 MAX: 7[ANT 585] / 5 [RLAR 701] Flueckiger
Content: The primary purposes of this course are 1) to introduce a certain data field of textual and nontextual performative religious traditions of West and south Asian through recent ethnographic and performative studies and 2) to examine ways in which ethnographic and performance studies contribute to the study of religion. By expanding the kinds of sources we look at in the study of religion, such as oral expressive culture (song, tale, life history) and material culture (ritual art, weaving, dress), as well as the ritual and performative ways in which written texts are used, we also shift the representation of whose voices are heard. Frequently these voices articulate alternative, innovative, protesting, and/or co-existing ideologies to that of the dominant, textual ideology of a particular religious tradition. The course will also introduce theoretical frameworks and analytic tools from performance studies and anthropology with which to analyze both the specific traditions under consideration and the ethnographic enterprise of fieldwork and writing.
We will read each ethnographic study from several perspectives, asking: 1) what does this study contribute to methodologies for the study of religion; how (or does it) expand the boundaries of what "counts" in the study of religion? 2) what and how does performance "create"? what analytic frameworks and tools are used to understand the performative and expressive traditions under consideration? and finally, 3) how are fieldwork and ethnographic writing "performed" (with the implication that performance creates) in each of our texts?
We will consider the different kinds of significance and place of ethnography in the study and teaching of Hinduism and Islam, asking why the two fields have developed differently in this regard (welcoming the comparison to Christianity and other traditions as well).
Texts:
Particulars: By permission only. Please obtain form in Room 207 Anthropology. All enrollments are processed through Anthropology.
W 1:00-4:00 MAX: 3[ANT 585] / 6[ILA 782] / 3[HIST 585] / 3[SPAN 797] Kratz/ Karp
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: This 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. Please obtain form in Room 207 Anthropology. All enrollments are processed through Anthropology.
T 1:00-4:00 MAX: 6 [HIST 562R]/3 [ANT 585]/ 3 [ILA 790] Lesser
Content: Designed to provide course participants with the full sweep of Latin American history and historiography, this seminar will explore a series of thematic themes, arranged chronologically, spanning the region’s colonial and modern periods (1492-present). The themes will have been chosen to achieve two goals: to expose course participants to the basic narrative of Latin American history and to capture both old and new approaches to the region’s rich past. Analytical concerns revolve around the relationship between methodology and empirical conclusions and how scholars’ shifting intellectual and political agendas have led them to integrate different disciplinary approaches into the study of history.
Texts: We will read a combination of “canonical” and newer works in the field, generally at the rate of two monographs per week.
Particulars: By permission only. Please obtain form in Room 207 Anthropology. All enrollments are processed through Anthropology.
MAX: 999 Faculty
Content: TBA.
Texts: TBA.
Particulars: By permission only. Please obtain form in Room 207 Anthropology. All enrollments are processed through Anthropology.
MAX: 999 Faculty
Content: TBA.
Texts: TBA.
Particulars:By permission only. Please obtain form in Room 207 Anthropology. All enrollments are processed through Anthropology.
MAX: 999 Faculty
Content: TBA.
Texts: TBA.
Particulars: By permission only. Please obtain form in Room 207 Anthropology. All enrollments are processed through Anthropology.
MAX: 999 Faculty
Content: TBA.
Texts: TBA.
Particulars:By permission only. Please obtain form in Room 207 Anthropology. All enrollments are processed through Anthropology.
MAX: 999 Faculty
Content: TBA.
Texts: TBA.
Particulars: By permission only. Please obtain form in Room 207 Anthropology. All enrollments are processed through Anthropology.
MAX: 999 Faculty
Content: TBA.
Texts: TBA.
Particulars: By permission only. Please obtain form in Room 207 Anthropology. All enrollments are processed through Anthropology.
MAX: 999 Faculty
Content: TBA.
Texts: TBA.
Particulars: By permission only, and for students admitted to Doctoral Candidacy. Please obtain form in Room 207 Anthropology. All enrollments are processed through Anthropology.