Anthropology

The biological nature of humans and the changes that have occurred from prehistoric times to the present. The place of humans in nature, primates, fossil evidence for human antiquity, individual and population genetics, mechanisms of evolution, and modern human variation.

Laboratory course designed to accompany Anthropology 1. It includes hands-on study of human and primate skeletal materials and replica fossils, primate behavior and taxonomy, and human variation. Application of the scientific method and evolutionary theory are also included.

Overview of contemporary archaeological methods of survey, excavation, analysis, and interpretation. Discussion of various theoretical approaches used to explain past human behavior. Thematic discussion of the major events in prehistory from human origins to appearance of agriculture and cities.

An introduction to the central concepts, theories, and techniques employed by cultural anthropologists to explore the social and cultural dimensions of human experience. Major topics include cross-cultural comparisons of subsistence patterns, economic and political organization, kinship and marriage, language and symbolism, religion and belief systems, artistic expression, colonialism and globalization, gender, sexuality, and race.

Introduces cultural anthropology through the focus on cultures in the United States. The course also investigates aspects of the sociocultural structures of the United States such as inequality, power, race/ethnicity, kinship, gender, and globalization. Ethnographic studies, history, literature, film, and music are used to illustrate the ways that people living in the United States negotiate cultural values and confront social conflict.

The study of language, including its general nature and its cognitive, biological, and social bases. Analysis of how languages reflect the distinct cultural realities of different societies.

A cross-cultural exploration of supernatural belief systems focusing on small-scale cultures; the history, theory, and methods of the anthropology of religion; the dynamics of myth, superstition, possession, altered states of consciousness, witchcraft, magic, rituals, taboos, cults, and sects.

Comprehensive and critical analysis of the cultures and traditions of the peoples in Latin America. Critical in-depth study of contemporary society and political systems, inter-ethnic relations, traditional medicinal healing, religions, and sorcery. Analysis of the history and development of Latin American cultures and the impact of state forms of social organization on its traditional societies.

The indigenous peoples of North America are described in terms of their precontact adaptation to the natural environment. Language, kinship, religion, and other aspects of culture are studied.

An introduction to the peoples and cultures of the Philippines, the impacts and influences of different colonial (and neo-colonial) powers on the country's development, and the ethnolinguistic diversity found in the archipelago. The course examines the way in which the Filipinos in the diaspora maintain strong ties to the Philippines through the re-invention of various cultural and social practices.

A sub-discipline of socio-cultural anthropology that focuses on contexts of difference in sexuality from the (presumed) norms of sexual and gender variation within social systems, practices, and ideologies. Queer anthropology utilizes intersectional studies of sex, race, ethnicity, gender, gender expression, religion, colonialism, and globalization.

This course explores how gender and sexuality are expressed in various cultures around the world. Focuses on gender in non-Western cultures such as Native American, African and Asian societies. Discusses relationship of gender to aspects of culture such as kinship, economics, politics, and religion.

This course examines anthropological perspectives of human cannabis use through time. Topics include the archaeological evidence of cannabis use, cross-cultural and symbolic meanings of cannabis, institutional ideologies, and ethnographic studies of cannabis related behaviors.