Anthropology Courses
SUMMER 2013 SPECIAL COURSE OFFERINGS:
ANTH 391 The Ancient Greeks (Dr. Kathryn Lafrenz Samuels, class# 15283, DCE online):
ANTH 491/690 Cultures of Science & Technology (Dr. Kathryn Lafrenz Samuels)
REGULAR COURSES:
ANTH 111 Introduction to Anthropology: Introductory overview of the major divisions of anthropology: cultural and physical anthropology, archaeology, and linguistics.
ANTH 204 Archaeology and Prehistory: Introduction to archaeological methods, followed by a survey of world prehistory.
ANTH 205 Human Origins: Examination of the evolution of humans through the investigation of fundamental principles of evolution, human variation, comparative primate behavior, and the fossil record.
ANTH 206 Introduction to Cultural Anthropology: Peoples of the World: Core concepts, theories, and practices in cultural anthropology and anthropological knowledge application in a globalizing world. Through rich, engaging ethnographic texts and case studies, focuses on selected societies and culture change in deep sociohistorical contexts. (Pre-req ANTH 111)
ANTH 332 Medical Anthropology: Examines cultural conceptions, beliefs, and practices regarding health, illness, disease, and treatment through a cross-cultural and historical perspective. The course includes theoretical, methodological, and case study perspectives from physical anthropology, archaeology, and cultural anthropology. (DCE/online only)
ANTH 432/632 Human Osteology: The analysis of human bones. Areas of study include skeletal anatomy, human biological individualization and interpretation of archaeological and paleontological skeletal material.
ANTH 441/641 Death and Dying: Examination of research, theories, and case studies on the sociocultural dimensions of death and dying across time and societies. Topics include suicide, funerals, hospice practice, disasters, afterlife beliefs, grief, bereavement and memory, organ donation, death in popular culture, end-of-life issues, cemeteries and body disposition, euthanasia, art, film, music and literature, genocide, and war. (Cross-listed with SOC)
ANTH 443/643 Peoples and Cultures of the Middle East & North Africa: Survey of ethnographic research on the Middle East and North Africa region. Topics include Islam, colonialism, nation-state, civil society, gender, rights, globalization, economic development, immigration, indigenous peoples, terrorism, youth culture, and revolution. Pre-req ANTH 111.
ANTH 444/644 Peoples of the Pacific Islands: General survey of cultures, past and present, in Melanesia, Polynesia, and Micronesia.
ANTH 446/646 Peoples of Latin America & Caribbean: Gender, Afro-Latino/as, Indigeneity: Exploration of Latin America and the Caribbean’s diverse societies historically and culturally by focusing on gender, indigenous groups, and Afro-Latin Americans. Includes case studies covering social justice movements, political and economic processes, indigenous rights, religion.
ANTH 453/653 Magic and Religion: Comparative religion, religious concepts, practices, and practitioners. In-depth study of selected religious systems with a focus on shamanic religions. Prereq: Anth 111 or departmental approval. Cross-listed with RelS.
ANTH 455/655 Language and Expressive Culture: Examines sociolinguistic and semiotic theories and analysis methods for discourse-centered approaches to communicative culture. Explores the ways in which humans construct and express meaning through written/spoken language, song, folklore, ritual, performance, images, clothing, and food.
ANTH 459/659 Global Cultural Heritage: Examines the global relevance of cultural heritage and international cultural resource management. Topics include cultural property, antiquities, UNESCO World Heritage, intangible heritage, landscapes, indigenous peoples, repatriation, rights, conflict, memory, identity, tourism, development. Pre-req ANTH 111.
ANTH 462/662 Anthropology and the Environment: The environment as understood through anthropological research. Focus is on ethnographic texts that confront global environmental issues through specific contexts of place, culture and history and human-environment interactions as shaped by political, economic and social relations. Pre-req ANTH 111.
ANTH 464/664 Disaster and Culture: Examines human-made and natural disasters through a cross-cultural and historical perspective. Addresses cultural variation across and within relevant communities including those of disaster victims, emergency management systems, and a broad public. Pre-req: junior, senior or graduate standing. (Cross-listed with EMGT)
ANTH 480/680 Development of Anthropological Theory: Focus on major theoretical orientations in anthropology. Emphasis on the ways in which anthropological theories are used to generate explanations for multicultural phenomena. Prereq: Anth 111 or departmental approval.
ANTH 481/681 Qualitative Methods in Cultural Anthropology: Focuses on qualitative research methods utilized in cultural anthropology and other social sciences. Instruction and application of ethnographic, discourse-centered, visual anthropology, interview/focus group, extended case study, and other qualitative survey methods and forms of analysis. Covers the ethics of human participant research with training and Institutional Review Board applications. Prereq 450: Anth 111 and junior or senior status; 650: graduate status.
ANTH 491/690 Seminar: Special topics seminars offered in faculty specializations. Past, present, and future topics include:
- Analysis and Interpretation in Archaeology
- Computer Applications in Human Heritage
- Dakota Tribal Culture
- Mind and Culture
- New World Civilizations
- North American Archaeology
- Old World Civilizations
- Origins and Spread of Agriculture
- Prehistory through Virtual Archaeology
- Methods in Archaeology
- Visualization in Anthropology
