This is a broad introductory course covering race, language, and culture, both as intellectual concepts and as political realities. Topics include race and culture as explanations of human affairs, the …
The course introduces medical anthropology, and contextualizes bodies, suffering, healing and health. It is organized thematically around a critical humanist approach, along with perspectives from political economy and social constructionism. …
This course explores anthropological writings on development and humanitarianism to better understand the historical context and contemporary practice of these distinct modes of world saving. We will attend to critiques …
Introduces the interrelationships of linguistic, cultural, and social phenomena with emphasis on the importance of these interrelationships in interpreting human behavior. No prior knowledge of linguistics is required.
Reviews key findings in the study of language variation. Explores the use of language to express identity and social difference.
Examines the evolution of our capacity for language along with the development of human ways of cooperating in engaged social interaction. Course integrates cognitive, cultural, social, and biological aspects of …
Topics include alternative theories of prehistoric culture change, dating methods, excavation and survey techniques, and the reconstruction of the economy, social organization, and religion of prehistoric societies.
Overview of the major theoretical positions which have structured anthropological thought over the past century.
Ethnographies of Amazonian Peoples and the new anthropological theories about their way of life.
The scientific and administrative focus on life and the centrality of technology to it have become defining features of the contemporary condition. This course will explore various theoretical approaches for …
What is distinctive about being human in a capitalist economy? This course considers the broad experience of living in a particular economic moment, with a focus on understanding what 'kinds' …
Disabled people are considered the "world's largest minority," but does a shared disability experience exist? In this course we examine the diverse ways disability is understood in different social contexts. …
Introduces the native languages of North America and the methods that linguists and anthropologists use to record and analyze them. Examines the use of grammars, texts and dictionaries of individual …
This course covers the basic principles of diachronic linguistics and discusses the uses of linguistic data in the reconstruction of prehistory.
Topics to be announced prior to each semester, dealing with archaeology.
Topics to be announced prior to each semester, dealing with social and cultural anthropology.
This course teaches the importance of understanding cultural meanings when curating items, whether material or intangible, drawn from social worlds other than one's own. It provides a general introduction to …
This course surveys transformations in the African past, from the Middle Stone Age emergence of modern humans, to the florescence of lifeways in the Late Stone Age, to the broad …
The majors seminars in anthropology offer majors and minors an opportunity to engage deeply with a topic of anthropological concern. Through these courses anthropology students gain experience in doing an …
Independent study conducted by the student under the supervision of an instructor of his or her choice.