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AnthropologyCOURSES Introductory Courses Open to first year students 101 GENERAL ANTHROPOLOGY An introduction to the discipline of anthropology as a whole. It presents students with a theoretical grounding in the four major subfields: archaeology, biological anthropology, cultural anthropology, and linguistics. The emphasis is on the holistic nature of the discipline. Students will be challenged with some of the countless links between the systems of biology and culture. They will explore key questions about human diversity in the past, present, and future. Every year. (4 credits) 111 CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY The cultural perspective on human behavior including case studies, often illustrated by ethnographic films and other media, of non-Western and American cultures. May include some field interviewing. Includes the cross cultural treatment of economic, legal, political, social and religious institutions and a survey of major approaches to the explanation of cultural variety and human social organization. Every semester. (4 credits) 112 ARCHAEOLOGY AND HUMAN EVOLUTION The origin and development of prehistoric peoples and cultures. The concepts, methods, and theories of prehistoric archaeology, human paleontology, and human biology as a framework for examining the fossils and artifacts left by humans. Course includes films and the use of casts and slides to illustrate concepts. Alternate years. (4 credits) 115 BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY A broad survey covering topics such as genetics, evolutionary mechanisms, adaptation, primate studies, the human fossil record, and human variation. All of these areas will be placed within the framework of the interaction of humans within their environment. The course is divided into three sections: human genetics, human ecology and primatology, human evolution and adaptation. Every year. (4 credits) 123 INTRODUCTION TO ARCHAEOLOGY (Same as Classics 123) This course introduces students to archaeology, the study of the material remains of human culture. Students will explore the history of the discipline and profession, its basic methods and theories, and the political and ethical dimensions of modern archaeological practice. Students learn to examine and interpret evidence using specific examples, from artifacts to sites to regions. Alternate years. (4 credits) The following courses are open only to students who have taken Anthropology 101 or 111 unless otherwise indicated. Intermediate Courses 230 ETHNOGRAPHIC INTERVIEWING An introduction to ethnographic field interviewing learned in the context of individually run student field projects. Focuses on the anthropologist-informant field relationship and the discovery of cultural knowledge through participant observation and ethnosemantic interviewing techniques. Permission of the instructor required. Every semester. (4 credits) 239 MEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY This course examines issues of health, illness, and healing from a variety of anthropological perspectives. From a cross-cultural perspective, we will examine the diversity of beliefs about human health and sickness, and a variety of healing practices by which people treat them. From the perspective of critical epidemiology, we will wrestle with recurrent problems of socioeconomic inequalities, ecological disruptions, and their impact upon the differential distribution, prevention, and treatment of human diseases. Previous courses in anthropology are recommended but not required. Alternate years. (4 credits) 240 HUMAN OSTEOLOGY AND PALEOPATHOLOGY The study of the human skeletal system is basic to the disciplines of biological anthropology, forensic science, medicine and even archaeology. This class will examine the fundamentals of osteology. It will also explore numerous pathological conditions associated with both infectious and non-infectious diseases in addition to those caused by traumatic events. Students will learn to identify and analyze human bone and pathological conditions of the skeleton to aid in the reconstruction of life histories from human remains. (4 credits) 241 DEATH AND DYING This course examines the dying process and the ways that humans beings come to terms with their mortality in different societies. We will learn how people die in major illnesses and critically analyze controversial issues regarding brain death, suicide, and euthanasia. We will survey funerary traditions from a variety of cultures and compare the social, spiritual, and psychological roles that these rituals play for both the living and the dying. We will examine cultural attitudes towards death; and how the denial and awareness of human mortality can shape social practices and institutions. Finally, we will consider issues regarding the quality of life, the opportunities and challenges of caregiving, and hospice traditions around the world. Offered alternate years. (4 credits) 243 PSYCHOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY (Same as Psychology 243) This course explores the relationship between self, culture and society. We will examine and discuss critically the broad array of methods and theories anthropologists use to analyze personality, socialization, mental illness and cognition in different societies. Our aim is to address questions related to the cultural patterning of personality, the self and emotions and to understand how culture might shape ideas of what a person is. We will also seek to understand how cultures define behavior as abnormal, pathological or insane, and how they make sense of trauma and suffering. Alternate years. (4 credits) 246 REFUGEES AND HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE This course provides an overview of issues related to refugees and humanitarian response in U.S. and international settings. Students explore the meaning of “humanitarian” and inherent issues of power, ethics, and human rights in responses to conflict by examining the roles of those who engage in humanitarian work. Alternate years. (4 credits) 248 MAGIC, WITCHCRAFT AND RELIGION An introduction to anthropological approaches to the study of religious beliefs and practices, the idea of syncretism, witchcraft, sorcery, shamanism and the practice of magic, the role of religion in bringing about social change and the social and cultural theories that have been put forward to explain religious phenomena. Alternate years. (4 credits) 254 PEOPLES AND CULTURES OF NATIVE AMERICA (Same as American Studies 254) A survey of the traditional cultural areas of the Americas and of selected topics related to American Indians. The course introduces the peoples, languages, subsistence patterns, and social organizations in America at the time of European contact, and traces selected patterns of change that have come to these areas. Alternate years. (4 credits) 255 PEOPLE AND CULTURES OF LATIN AMERICA (Same as Latin American Studies 255) An introduction to the cultural diversity and complexity of Latin America, the course examines regional differences from an anthropological perspective and discusses how social institutions and cultural practices and traditions have been shaped, and how they have dealt with continuity and change. Ethnographic case studies explore topics related to ethnicity, social stratification, gift-giving/reciprocity, kinship, rural/urban relationships, cosmology and religion, and gender. These topics are examined within the context of particular histories, considering the legacy of colonialism, the formation of the nation-state, the emergence of social movements, post-colonial nationalism, the impact of migration and urbanization, and the effects of neo-liberalism and globalization. We will conclude with a critical examination of forms of representation of Latin America, which involve notions such as indigenismo. Alternate years. (4 credits) 256 PEOPLES AND CULTURES OF SOUTH ASIA (Same as Asian Languages and Cultures 256) Introduces students to anthropological knowledge of the peoples and cultures of South Asia and to the ways in which Western knowledge of that region has been constructed. The course examines the historical and social processes that have shaped the culture and lifeways of the people who live on the subcontinent and that link the modern states of South Asia to the world beyond their frontiers. Alternate years. (4 credits) 258 PEOPLES AND CULTURES OF AFRICA This course will present an overview of African cultures and societies as documented in the anthropological literature. Classic and contemporary ethnographies will be used to illustrate the social transformations which are occurring in Africa. Alternate years. (4 credits) 280 TOPICS IN LINGUISTIC ANTHROPOLOGY (Same as Linguistics 280) Introduces students to linguistic anthropology, one of the four major subfields of the discipline of anthropology. Students will focus on particular topics within linguistic anthropology including: gender, race, sexuality, and identity. May involve fieldwork in the Twin Cities area. Focus will be announced at registration. Offered occasionally. (4 credits) 285 SEMINAR IN WORLD ETHNOGRAPHY A hallmark of anthropology is the cross cultural perspective supported by first hand ethnographic accounts of hundreds of different cultures. In this course students will read, discuss, and compare ethnographies representing diverse cultures as well as a wide range of ethnographic theories and methods. Offered occasionally. (4 credits) 340 PALEOANTHROPOLOGY An exploration of the interaction between ecology, morphology, and culture in human evolution. Topics include the evolutionary adaptation of non-human primates and hominins to their various ecological and social environments, taxonomic classification systems, and techniques used in the analysis of primate fossils to help determine both their geological age and phylogenetic placement. Prerequisites: Anthropology 112 or 115 or permission of the instructor. Alternate years. (4 credits) 358 ANTHROPOLOGY OF VIOLENCE An examination of approaches to the meaning of violence as a social and cultural phenomenon, this course interrogates the slippery concept of violence in the light of theoretical approaches from different disciplines. The course begins with a discussion of how anthropologists have reexamined the concept of violence within the context of complex and large-scale societies. It then addresses the preponderate weight that the concept of the state has played within the social sciences in interpretations of violence, followed by a consideration of how notions of community and cultural difference figure prominently in the ideology of conflict. Alternate years. (4 credits) 360 THE ANTHROPOLOGY OF TOURISM This course examines the impact of different kinds of tourism (mass tourism, ecotourism, sand-sea-sun-sex tourism, ethnic tourism) on local peoples, environments and economies. It looks at the historical development of tourism and its links to both travel as a leisure pursuit in the colonial period and to economic developments in industrializing Europe. The course examines the tourist encounter and the models used to analyze it. Issues discussed include cultural mediation, the politics of cultural representation, and the problems of commoditization of culture. Offered occasionally. (4 credits) 362 CULTURE AND GLOBALIZATION (Same as International Studies 362) The world is far more interconnected today than ever before, but what does this mean in terms of culture? This course looks at the impact of globalization on cultures and at examples of global cultures such as immigrants, media and popular cultures, world cities, and transnational intellectuals, ethnicities and ideologies. It also looks at the way cultures interact at geographic borders and in the margins of society. Alternate years.(4 credits) 363 ANTHROPOLOGY OF DEVELOPMENT The goal of this course is to develop an anthropological understanding and critique of development. It aims to examine both the discourse of development and its practice. The course focuses on the construction of the Third World as an “underdeveloped” area, and discusses the dominant theoretical paradigms of development and modernization. It assesses the reasons for the general failure of development programs based on these models to bring about meaningful and substantive change in societies in Asia, Africa and Latin America, and discusses possible alternatives to “development” as it is currently practiced. Alternate years. (4 credits) 364 POLITICAL ANTHROPOLOGY (Same as Political Science 243) An analysis of various political structures and activities in diverse world societies. Emphasis is placed on pre-literate cultures, but the societies examined vary from hunting and gathering bands through agricultural tribes to the industrial state. Alternate years. (4 credits) 365 ENVIRONMENTAL ANTHROPOLOGY (Same as Environmental Studies 365) This course examines how the concept of culture can contribute to our understanding of environmental issues, in terms of how human beings adapt to their environment and the way in which they understand and give meaning to the world they live in. It aims to develop an anthropological understanding of the environment and to understand the way the “environmental crisis”—of resource scarcity and ecological degradation—is the outcome of particular structures of power, economic relations and consumption. Alternate years. (4 credits) 368 LIFE HISTORIES, CULTURES, SELVES This seminar focuses on the relationship between individuals and their culture. Students will record, edit, and analyze personal documents such as diaries, letters, interview transcriptions, and autobiographies. Analysis of life events such as childhood play activities, family meals, kinship relations, and modes of communication, will lead to the identification of cultural themes. Alternate years. (4 credits) 380 ADVANCED MEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY This course provides an in-depth focus on a major topic in medical anthropology as it pertains to human health, illness, and/or healing. Specific topics vary from year to year, ranging from traditional healing systems, to health related stigma and social inequalities. Students will learn to apply social theories to important health issues, and will critically read, analyze, and discuss the clinical, epidemiological, and social science literature pertaining to the most recent discussions and debates about the topic. Prerequisite: Anthropology 239. Alternate years. (4 credits) 381 EMERGING INFECTIOUS DISEASES This course examines the human determinants of infectious diseases from the Paleolithic to the present day using the combined frameworks of evolution, human ecology, critical history, and social epidemiology. We will consider the co-evolution of culture and disease: the ways that human subsistence, ecological disruptions, social inequalities, and demographic changes have created selective conditions for new infections, re-emerging infections, and antibiotic resistance. We will also address the social dynamics of current epidemics, and major controversies over biosecurity and bioterrorism. Alternate years. (4 credits) Advanced Courses Recommended for juniors and seniors. Students should have at least two courses in anthropology including Anthropology 101 or 111, or the permission of the instructor. 487 THEORY IN ANTHROPOLOGY Introduces students to the broad range of explanations for social and cultural phenomena used by anthropologists since the emergence of the discipline in the 19th century and to the intellectual history of the discipline. Topics covered include evolutionism, functionalism, structuralism, and interpretive, post-modern, cognitive and psychological approaches and praxis theory among others. Every Fall. (4 credits) 490 SENIOR SEMINAR The senior seminar is for anthropology majors who are working on their senior capstone project and is designed to help students develop that project for presentation. The seminar will also include reading of anthropological works, guest speakers and discussion of current controversies in the discipline. Prerequisite: Anthropology 487. Every Spring. (4 credits) 604 TUTORIAL Closely supervised individual (or very small group) study with a faculty member in which a student may explore, by way of readings, short writings, etc., an area of knowledge not available through the regular catalog offerings. Every semester. (4 credits) 614 INDEPENDENT PROJECT Independent project in anthropology. Projects might include intensive ethnographic research, the analysis of ethnographic data, or a variety of other projects. Every semester. 624 INTERNSHIP Work that involves the student in practical (usually off campus) experience. Students may intern in any of the variety of internships listed by the college or arrange their own internships. Students will be expected to produce an ethnographic paper for the instructor in addition to approximately 10 hours per week at the internship site. Only one internship may count towards an anthropology major. The department views internships as a valuable experience in which the student has an opportunity to “study” a job. Offered as S/D/NC grading only, but may be included on Anthropology major plans. Every semester. (4 credits) 634 PRECEPTORSHIP Work in assisting faculty in the planning and teaching of a course, precepting or tutoring. Every semester. (4 credits) 644 HONORS INDEPENDENT Independent research, writing, or other preparation leading to the culmination of the senior honors project. Every semester. (1–4 credits)
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