Professors: Colleen Ballerino Cohen (Chair), Judith L. Goldstein,
Lucy Lewis Johnsonb; Associate Professors: Martha
Kaplan, Anne Pike–Taya; Assistant Professor: Thomas
Porcellob; Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in Visual Literacy:
Mark Lipton.
The field of anthropology seeks to promote a holistic understanding
of social life by offering complex accounts of human histories, societies
and cultures. Anthropologists undertake ethnographic, archival, and
archaeological research on the varied aspects of individual and collective
experience in all time periods and parts of the world. The Department
of Anthropology offers a wide range of options for majors and for nonmajors
in recognition of the broad interdisciplinary nature of the field. Nonmajors
from all classes may choose courses at any level with permission of
the instructor and without introductory anthropology as a prerequisite.
Requirements for Concentration: 12 units including Anthropology
140, 201, 301, and two additional 300–level seminars. It is required
that students take Anthropology 201 by the end of their junior year
and highly recommended that they take it in their sophomore year. Anthropology
140 is a prerequisite or co–requisite for Anthropology 201. Students
are required to take courses in at least three of the four fields of
anthropology; those being archaeology, biological anthropology, cultural
anthropology, and linguistics. Students are also required to achieve
familiarity with the peoples and cultures of at least two areas of the
world. This requirement can be met by taking any two courses in the
range from Anthropology 235–244 or other courses by petition. The
remaining courses are to be chosen from among the departmental offerings
in consultation with the adviser, in order to give the student both
a strong focus within anthropology and an overall understanding of the
field. With the consent of the adviser, students may petition the department
to take up to 2 of the 12 required units in courses outside the department
which are related to their focus. Once a course plan has been devised,
it must be approved by the department faculty.
NRO: One introductory course taken NRO may count towards the
major if a letter grade is received. If a student receives a PA for
an introductory course taken under the NRO option, that student must
complete 13 courses for an anthropology major. No other required courses
for the major may be taken NRO.
Requirements for a Correlate Sequence: 6 units to include 1
unit at the 100–level and 2 units at the 300–level. Courses
should be chosen in consultation with an anthropology department adviser
in order to a) complement the student's major and b) form a coherent
focus within anthropology. Possible concentrations include cultural
studies, field work, evolution, archaeology, language. One introductory
course taken NRO may count towards the correlate sequence if a letter
grade is received. If a student receives a PA for an introductory course
taken under the NRO option, that student must complete seven courses
for an anthropology correlate sequence. No other required courses for
the correlate sequence may be taken NRO.
Recommendations: The field experience is essential to the discipline
of anthropology. Therefore, majors are urged to take at least one fieldwork
course, to engage in field research during the summer, and/or to undertake
independent fieldwork under a JYA program.
Anthropological Research Experience: The department also offers
students the opportunity for independent fieldwork/research projects
through several of its courses and in conjunction with on–going
faculty research projects. Opportunities for laboratory research, which
is also critical to anthropological inquiry, are available in our archaeology,
biological anthropology, sound analysis, and digital video editing labs.
Advisers: The department.
I. Introductory
100a. Archaeology (1)
Archaeologists study the material evidence of past human cultures.
In this course students learn how archaeologists dig up physical remains,
tools, and houses and use these data to reconstruct and understand past
cultures. The methods and theory behind archaeological recovery, problem
solving and interpretation are learned through the use of selected site
reports, articles from all over the world, and hands on experimentation.
The department.
120b. Human Origins (1)
This course introduces current and historical debates in the study
of human evolution. Primate studies, genetics, the fossil record and
paleoecology are drawn upon to address such issues as the origins of
nature of human cognition, sexuality, and population variation. Ms. Pike–Tay.
140a or b. Cultural Anthropology (1)
An introduction to central concepts, methods, and findings in cultural
anthropology, including culture, cultural difference, the interpretation
of culture, and participant–observation. The course uses cross–cultural
comparison to question scholarly and commonsense understandings of human
nature. Topics may include sexuality, kinship, political and economic
systems, myth, ritual and cosmology, and culturally varied ways of constructing
race, gender, and ethnicity. Students undertake small research projects
and explore different styles of ethnographic writing. Ms. Kaplan,
Ms. Goldstein.
150a. Linguistics and Anthropology (1)
This course provides the student with a practical introduction to structuralist
methods of linguistic analysis. There is a focus on both theoretical
discussions about, and practical exercises in, the phonology, morphology,
syntax, and semantics of natural human languages. Additional topics
include: the acquisition of linguistic and communicative competence;
the relationship between human language and other animal communication
systems; and cultural and social dimensions of language variation (including
the study of regional and social dialects, code switching and mixing,
speaking styles, registers, and idiolects). The course is intended both
as the College's general introduction to formal linguistics and as a
foundation for more advanced courses in related areas. Mr. Porcello.
181a. Caribbean Through Film (1)
This course provides an introductory survey of Caribbean societies
through the medium of film. Supplemented by creative and ethnographic
literatures, film screenings are designed to provoke analysis of differential
forms of expression and representation, both indigenous and foreign
in origin. Topics discussed include colonialism and neocolonialism,
witchcraft and the supernatural, and issues of class, color and gender.
Mr. Mantz. Two 75-minute meetings as well as film screenings.
II. Intermediate
201b. Anthropological Theory (1)
In this course we explore the history of intellectual innovations that
make anthropology distinctive among the social sciences. We seek to
achieve an analytic perspective on the history of the discipline and
also to consider the social and political contexts, and consequences,
of anthropology's theory. While the course is historical and chronological
in organization, we read major theoretical and ethnographic works that
form the background to debates and issues in contemporary anthropology.
Ms. Kaplan.
Prerequisite or Co–requisite: Anthropology 140.
[212. World Musics] (1)
(Same as Music 212)
Not offered in 2001/02.
231a or b. Topics in Archaeology (1)
An examination of topics of interest in current archaeological analysis.
We examine the anthropological reasons for such analyses, how analysis
proceeds, what has been discovered to date through such analyses, and
what the future of the topic seems to be. Possible topics include tools
and human behavior, lithic technology, the archaeology of death, prehistoric
settlement systems, origins of material culture.
May be repeated for credit if the topic has changed.
Topic for 2001/02a: Field Archaeology. (Same as American Culture
231a and Environmental Studies 231a) Designed to introduce basic techniques
of archaeological fieldwork. The class includes, in addition to classroom
instruction, the excavation of a local archaeological site. In 2001
we conduct our archaeological fieldwork at Matthew Vassar's estate,
Springside. Ms. Johnson.
Prerequisite: Anthropology 297 or Anthropology 100.
Two 75–minute periods, plus 4 hour lab.
Topic for 2001/02b: The Archaeology of Death. Skeletal remains
of past populations have been a focus of interest for physical anthropologists,
archaeologists, and medical practitioners since the nineteenth century.
This course introduces students to (1) biomedical archaeology: the study
of health and disease, and the demographic, genetic, and environmental
[natural, cultural and social] factors that affect a population's risk
for specific diseases; (2) forensic anthropology: the study of identifying
the dead and the cause of death; (3) paleopathology: the study of injury
and disease in ancient skeletons; and (4) cross–cultural attitudes
toward death, including such things as issues of grave goods and monuments,
and controversies that arise between archaeologists and communities
when the spiritual value of ancestral bones is pitted against their
scientific value. Ms. Pike–Tay.
Prerequisite: Anthropology 100 or by permission of instructor.
[232a or b. Topics in Biological Anthropology] (1)
This course covers topics within the broad field of biological (or
physical) anthropology ranging from evolutionary theory to the human
fossil record to the identification of human skeletal remains from crime
scenes and accidents. Bioanthropology conceptualizes cultural behavior
as an integral part of our behavior as a species. Topics covered in
this course may include human evolution, primate behavior, population
genetics, human demography and variation, or forensic anthropology.
May be repeated for credit if the topic has changed.
Not offered in 2001/02.
235a. Area Studies in Prehistory (1)
Archaeology of Early African America
This course serves as an
introduction to the archaeology of early African-American sites and
as an overview of the material evidence for life as an African in America,
both enslaved and free. Topics covered include the history and development
of African-American archaeology as a concentration of historical archaeology
from the Civil Rights Movement to the present; its definitions and theoretical
perspectives through time; the material remains of living conditions,
status differences, dominance and resistance, and cultural expression;
and power relations. Students gain a familiarity with the history of
American slavery and the Triangle Trade, and with the archaeological
manifestations of cultural contact, change, and exchange- in short,
of the creation of an African-American culture; separate both from its
African roots and American surroundings. Ms. Chan. Two 75-minute meetings.
May be repeated for credit if the topic has changed.
240a or b. Cultural Localities (1)
Detailed study of the cultures of people living in a particular area
of the world, including their politics, economy, world view, religion,
expressive practices, and historical transformations. Included is a
critical assessment of different approaches to the study of culture.
Areas covered vary from year to year and may include Europe, Africa,
North America, and India. The Department.
May be repeated for credit if the topic has changed.
Prerequisite: Previous coursework in Anthropology or by permission
of instructor.
Topic for 2001/02b: Introduction to New World Historical Archaeology.
This course serves as an introduction to the field of historical
archaeology and gives an overview of the kinds of archaeological evidence
used to reconstruct life in the Americas in the Colonial and Post-colonial
periods. Topics covered are the intellectual history and development
of historical archaeology as a sub-field or archaeology; the dominant
theoretical perspectives that have defined and guided the discipline;
earliest contact and settlement; the archaeology of groups; consumer
behavior; historical archaeology in global perspective; and historical
gardens and landscape. Students become familiar with the processes of
colonization, creolization, ethnogenesis, and cultural development through
the material remains found at American colonial and post-colonial sites.
Ms. Chan
Additional topic for 2001/02b: Ethnography of China. (same as
Asian Studies 240-52) This course introduces central aspects of Chinese
culture and society, and considers two related anthropological issues:
the relationship between continuity and change of social forms; and
the ethnography of large, complex societies. Drawing on ethnographic
studies, films, and other forms of cultural representation, we explore
areas of Chinese social life, including kinship and family, gender identities
and relations, communities and the state, religion and ideology, social
categories and social mobility, as well as popular culture. This examination
highlights cultural transformations in these areas as they are impacted
by the implementation and dismantling of national sociopolitical agendas
in modern Chinese history. While focusing primarily on mainland China,
this course also investigates variations and connections in other Chinese
communities and diasporas. Mr. Jing
Two 75–minute periods.
[241b. The Caribbean (1)]
An overview of the cultures of the Caribbean, tracing the impact of
slavery and colonialism on contemporary experiences and expressions
of Caribbean identity. Using ethnographies, historical accounts, literature,
music, and film, the course explores the multiple meanings of 'Caribbean,'
as described in historical travel accounts and contemporary tourist
brochures, as experienced in daily social, political, and economic life,
and as expressed through cultural events such as calypso contests and
Festival and cultural–political movements such as rastafarianism.
Although the course deals primarily with the English–speaking Caribbean,
it also includes materials on the French and Spanish speaking Caribbean
and on diasporic Caribbean communities in the U.S. and U.K. Ms. Cohen.
Prerequisite: Previous coursework in Anthropology or by permission
of instructor.
Alternate years: Offered in 2001/02.
[242. The Frozen North] (1)
Characterized by extreme cold, a dearth of plants, and rich fauna on
the land and in the seas, the polar and sub–polar regions called
forth unique biological and cultural adaptations from their human inhabitants.
This course concentrates on peoples of the far north, looking at the
myriad adjustments in technology, material culture, social structure,
and ideology necessary to survive and thrive in this extreme environment.
It also examines the northern people's interactions with the Europeans
who invaded the area over the past millennium. Ms. Johnson.
Prerequisite: Previous coursework in Anthropology or by permission
of instructor.
Alternate years: Not offered in 2001/02.
243a. The Pacific (1)
An introduction to the cultures and histories of peoples of the Pacific,
and to important anthropological issues that have resulted from research
in the Pacific. Using historical and ethnographic documents and films,
the course explores the variety of Pacific societies, from the chiefly
kingdoms of Polynesia to the egalitarian societies of Papua New Guinea
with some attention as well to Asian labor–diaspora communities
in Hawaii and Fiji. The course analyzes the European cultural fascination
with the "exotic" Pacific as well as Pacific islanders' own
visions and versions of their history and goals in the encounter with
European colonialism and Christianity, and in the post–colonial
present. Ms. Kaplan.
Prerequisite: Previous coursework in Anthropology or by permission
of instructor.
Alternate years: Offered in 2001/02.
245b. The Ethnographer's Craft (1)
(Same as Urban Studies 245) This course introduces students to the
methods employed in constructing and analyzing ethnographic materials
by combining readings, classroom lectures, and discussions with regular
field exercises. Students gain experience in participant–observation,
fieldnote–taking, interviewing, survey sampling, domain analysis,
symbolic analysis, quantitative analysis, the use of archival documents
and contemporary media in ethnographic work, and how to formulate field
probleMs. Attention is also given to current concerns with interpretation
and modes of representation. The department.
247a. Modern Social Theory: Marx, Durkheim, and Weber (1)
(Same as Sociology 247a)
250b. Language, Culture, and Society (1)
This course draws on a wide range of theoretical perspectives in exploring
a particular problem, emphasizing the contribution of linguistics and
linguistic anthropology to issues that bear on research in a number
of disciplines. At issue in each selected course topic are the complex
ways in which cultures, societies, and individuals are interrelated
in the act of using language within and across particular speech communities.
May be repeated for credit if the topic has changed.
Prerequisite: Previous coursework in Anthropology or by permission
of instructor.
Topic for 2001/02b: Semiotics of the Body: Sex/Science/Culture.
This course engages semiotic theory to analyze representations of
the body in a variety of discourses. It examines the operation of explicit
imagery within a complex web of attitudes and cultural practices. Ideologies
of gender, the privatization of sexual activity, and the political uses
of language are emphasized as influencing viewer–text interactions.
Critical scholarship on the history of science and sex(ual construction)
is utilized to investigate semiotic conventions deployed in speech about
topics such as body politics, sexological imperatives, the cinematic
body, erotic imagination, the proliferation of deviance, and intersecting
structures on sex, gender, sexual orientation, race and class. This
semester addresses: 1) linguistic and non–linguistic representations
of sexualities in mainstream and subcultural imagery, including pornography;
2) medical surveillance of women and persons with AIDS; and 3) technological/semiotic
constructions of the body, including cosmetic and sex–change surgery.
Finally, the course considers how its selected film and video texts
contribute to and/or resist dominant regulatory discourses. Mr. Lipton.
255a. Language and Gender (1)
This course focuses on language as a cultural means of communication.
Gender is approached both as a grammatical category and as a social
category of person linked to different kinds of language use. The course
explores the way in which language use and ideologies about language
use both inform and are informed by gender. The investigation of language
and gender and of gender–related social movements are explored
from a cross–cultural perspective. Mr. Porcello.
260b. Current Themes in Anthropological Theory and Method (1)
The focus is upon particular cultural sub–systems and their study
in cross–cultural perspective. The sub–system selected varies
from year to year. Examples include: kinship systems, political organizations,
religious beliefs and practices, verbal and nonverbal communication.
May be repeated for credit if the topic has changed.
Prerequisite: Previous coursework in Anthropology or by permission
of instructor.
Topic for 2001/02b: Native Detectives: The Ethnographic Mystery
in Context. The course studies detective fiction from its beginnings
in the nineteenth century classical detective story to its most recent
forms, focusing in particular on novels in which indigenous detectives
solve mysteries through their knowledge of their cultures. We explore
the detective genre and relevant ethnographies to place these stories
in their historic, literary, and ethnographic contexts. An overarching
theme of the course is the acquisition of knowledge in social science
and in detective fiction. Ms. Goldstein.
[261. Culture, Power, History] (1)
This course examines the turn to historical questions in current anthropology.
What are the implications of cultural difference for an understanding
of history, and of history for an understanding of culture? Recent works
which propose new ways of thinking about western and non–western
peoples and the power to make history are read. Theoretical positions
include structure and history, world system, hegemony and resistance,
globalization theory, and discourse approaches. Historical/ ethnographic
situations range from New Guinea cargo cults to the English industrial
revolution, from the history of sugar as a commodity to the colonizing
of Egypt, from debates about the sexuality of women and Hindu gods in
Fiji to the role of spirit mediums in the struggle for Zimbabwe. Ms. Kaplan.
Prerequisite: Previous coursework in Anthropology or by permission
of instructor.
Alternate years: Not offered in 2001/02.
[262. Anthropological Approaches to Myth, Ritual and Symbol] (1)
What is the place of myth, ritual and symbol in human social life?
Do symbols reflect reality, or create it? This course considers answers
to these questions in social theory (Marx, Freud and Durkheim) and in
major anthropological approaches (functionalism, structuralism and symbolic
anthropology). It then reviews current debates in interpretive anthropology
about order and change, power and resistance, and the role of ritual
in the making of history. Ethnographic studies include Fiji, Indonesia,
Papua New Guinea, sixteenth century Italy, the Seneca, and the U.S.
Ms. Kaplan.
Prerequisite: Previous coursework in Anthropology or by permission
of instructor.
Alternate years: Not offered in 2001/02.
263b. Anthropology Goes to the Movies: Film, Video, and Ethnography
(1)
This course examines how film and video are used in ethnography as
tools for study and as means of ethnographic documentary and representation.
Topics covered include history and theory of visual anthropology, issues
of representation and audience, indigenous film, and contemporary ethnographic
approaches to popular media. Ms. Cohen.
Prerequisite: Previous coursework in Anthropology or Film or by permission
of instructor.
Two 75–minute class periods, plus 3–hour preview lab.
[264a. Anthropology of Art] (1)
This course develops a cultural framework for the investigation of
artistic expression drawing upon anthropological approaches, semiotics
and aesthetics to examine art and culture. Topics such as the origins
of art and symbolic expression in human prehistory; Western representations
of non–Western art; connoisseurship; the market economy; and the
categories of "fine art," "tourist art," and "graffiti
art" are addressed. Ms. Pike–Tay.
Prerequisite: Previous coursework in Anthropology or by permission
of instructor.
Not offered in 2001/02.
[265. Soundscapes: Anthropology of Music] (1)
This course investigates a series of questions about the relationship
between music and the individuals and societies that perform and listen
to it. In other words, music is examined and appreciated as a form of
human expression existing within and across specific cultural contexts.
How does music create and express social identity, value, and difference?
How is music used to include or exclude individuals from group membership?
How is group solidaritystylistic, ethnic, nationalisticlinked to patterns
of musical production and consumption? How do we make sense of our lives
through making, and listening to music? Where do musicians draw their
creativity from? How do we listen? Why do we perform? The course takes
an interdisciplinary approach to the social life of music, addressing
historical themes and debates within multiple academic fields (anthropology,
ethnomusicology, sociology, linguistics, philosophical aesthetics, cultural
and media studies) via readings, recordings, and filMs. Mr. Porcello.
Prerequisite: Previous coursework in Anthropology or by permission
of instructor.
Not offered in 2001/02.
290a or b. Field Work (1/2 or 1)
Individual or group field projects or internships. May be elected during
the college year or during the summer. Open to all students. The department.
297a or b. Reading Course in Archaeological Field Methods (1/2)
Ms. Johnson.
298a or b. Independent Work (1/2 or 1)
Individual or group project of reading or research. May be elected
during the college year or during the summer. The department.
III. Advanced
300a or b. Senior Thesis (1)
The department.
301a. Senior Seminar (1)
A close examination of current theory in anthropology, oriented around
a topic of general interest, such as history and anthropology, the writing
of ethnography, or the theory of practice. Students write a substantial
paper applying one or more of the theories discussed in class. Readings
change from year to year. Ms. Goldstein.
305a. Topics in Advanced Biological Anthropology (1)
An examination of such topics as primate structure and behavior, the
Plio–Pleistocene hominids, the final evolution of Homo sapiens
sapiens, forensic anthropology, and human biological diversity.
May be repeated for credit if the topic has changed.
Prerequisite: Anthropology 232 or by permission of the instructor.
Topic for 2001/02a: The Plio–Pleistocene Hominids. At some
point during the Pliocene Epoch, the hominoids split into branches which
became today's humans, chimpanzees, and gorillas. We begin by examining
the early hominoids and the paleoecological and behavioral factors which
influenced this evolutionary event and then move to examining the subsequent
evolutionary path of the hominids. Major focus is on the australopithecines
and early hominines, the theoretical and political bases and ramifications
of various taxonomic schemes and the technicalities of hominid phylogeny.
Ms. Johnson.
331b. Seminar in Archaeological Method and Theory (1)
The theoretical underpinnings of anthropological archaeology and the
use of theory in studying particular bodies of data. The focus ranges
from examination of published datacovering topics such as architecture
and society, the origin of complex society, the relationship between
technology and ecologyto more laboratory–oriented examination of
such topics as archaeometry, archaeozoology, or lithic technology.
Prerequisites: 200–level work in archaeology or by permission
of instructor.
May be repeated for credit if the topic has changed.
Topic for 2001/02b: Archaeozoology. This course reviews the
methods and techniques used to analyze faunal evidence from archaeological
sites. It focuses on the importance of animal bones for assessing prehistoric
human subsistence strategies, including the social and technological
aspects of hunting, scavenging, and animal domestication. Topics include
faunal identification, techniques for assessing age and sex of skeletal
remains, taphonomy, and the contribution of faunal analysis to studies
of humanly–induced animal extinctions, settlement patterns, trade,
social status, and ethnicity. Ms. PikeTay.
Additional topic for 2001/02b:Critical Readings form a Post-Modernist
Perspective. We explore various aspects of contemporary theory in
archaeology while surveying the developments of archaeological method,
theory and practice in the 20th century. The course focuses in particular
on the post-modernist critiques of the discipline that have arisen in
the last twenty years. We look at material that is often new and controversial
because it challenges the status quo and more recent developments. By
engaging in constructive criticism of the readings, students develop
and refine their own perspectives. The course culminates in a round-robin
review and critique of research proposals developed over the semester
by the seminar participants. Ms. Chan
One 3–hour period.
350a. Language and Expressive Culture (1)
This seminar provides the advanced student with an intensive investigation
of theoretical and practical problems in specific areas of research
that relate language and linguistics to expressive activity. Although
emphasizing linguistic modes of analysis and argumentation, the course
is situated at the intersection of important intellectual crosscurrents
in the arts, humanities, and social sciences that focus on how culture
is produced and projected through not only verbal, but also musical,
material, kinaesthetic, and dramatic arts. Each topic culminates in
independent research projects. Mr. Porcello.
May be repeated for credit if the topic has changed.
Prerequisite: Previous coursework in linguistics or by permission of
instructor.
Topic for 2001/02a: Language, Discourse, Music. This course
considers an ethnographically discourse–centered approach to the
intersection of language and music in various styles and genres from
disparate parts of the world. The course highlights problems concerning
speech/song boundaries, including the role of musical parameters (such
as prosody, intonation, pitch, meter) in verbal arts such as preaching,
oratory, poetics; and the role of language in song, chant, ritual wailing,
rap, and other composed and improvised genres. Additional subjects of
inquiry include media discourses about music, musical semiosis, and
linguistic and musical cognitive processes.
360b. Problems in Cultural Analysis (1)
(Same as Geography 360) Covers a variety of current issues in modem
anthropology in terms of ongoing discussion among scholars of diverse
opinions rather than a rigid body of fact and theory.
May be repeated for credit if topic has changed.
Prerequisites: Previous coursework in Anthropology or by permission
of instructor.
Topic for 2001/02b: Asian Diasporas. Focusing on Asian diasporas,
this course engages the current surge of interest in diaspora studies
from both anthropological and geographical perspectives. Attention is
given to issues of colonial and post colonial struggles, formation and
transformation of ethnic identities, roles of middlemen minorities,
and nationalism and transnationalism of Asian diasporas. The principal
cases are drawn from East Asian and South Asian communities in Southeast
Asia, the Pacific Islands, and the U.S. Ms. Kaplan, Ms. Zhou.
361b. Consumer Culture (1)
An examination of classic and recent work on the culture of consumption.
Among the topics we study are gender and consumption, the creation of
value, commodity fetishism, the history of the department store, and
the effect of Western goods on non–Western societies. Ms. Goldstein.
Prerequisite: Previous coursework in Anthropology or by permission
of instructor.
[362b. Male and Female in Anthropological Perspective] (1)
The course begins with an overview of the position of men and women
according to recent anthropological theory, and in so doing examines
how including women affects mainstream anthropological theory. The course
compares the classification of sex differences and images of men and
women with their social roles. Representations of women in popular culture
are studied.
Not offered in 2001/02.
[363. Nations, Globalization, and Post–Coloniality] (1)
How do conditions of globalization and dilemmas of post–coloniality
challenge the nation–state? Do they also reinforce and reinvent
it? This course engages three related topics and literatures; recent
anthropology of the nation–state; the anthropology of colonial
and post–colonial societies; and the anthropology of global institutions
and global flows. Ms. Kaplan.
Prerequisite: Previous coursework in Anthropology or by permission
of instructor.
Not offered in 2001/02.
364a. Tourism (1)
Recreational travel to distant places to experience other cultures
is becoming big business as tourism achieves the status of one of the
leading growth industries world–wide. This course explores this
trend, emphasizing the history of tourism, the role played by and the
impact of tourism in the process of development, the relationship between
tourism and constructions of national and cultural identities and negotiations
for power, and the concept "tourist" as it applies to the
experience of recreational travelers and ethnographic study and representation
alike. Students use ethnographic case studies, novels, essays, historical
travel journals, travel brochures, advertisements, and personal narratives,
to prepare in–depth analyses and accounts of tourism. Ms. Cohen.
Prerequisite: Previous coursework in Anthropology or by permission
of instructor.
387 Reciprocity (1)
This course explores the relationship between things and people in
different cultures, focusing on social interactions and relations generated
and defined by the giving and receiving of gifts. The strong connection
established in classic anthropology between types of exchange and types
of social formation are interrogated by examining recent ethnographic
studies of the persistence and permutations of gift exchange in a number
of rapidly changing contemporary societies, as well as in various local
contexts of globalization. Among the topics we study are gifts and commodities;
cultural, moral and political discourses on "corruption" and "bribery;"
gift exchange and gender identities; and relations between economic
and symbolic values in different arenas of social life. The department.
Prerequisite: Previous coursework in Anthropology or by permission
of instructor.
One 3–hour period.
388 Voodoo Economics (1)
The discipline and practice of Western economies is analyzed from the
standpoint of non-Western perspectives, both in a metaphorical and culturally
real sense. In the initial weeks, we examine how economies, and their
modalities of progress, accumulation, and development, emerged in conjunction
with a culturally specific philosophical orientation and worldview.
Shifting our scrutiny to the power of that value system and its institutional
pervasiveness, we examine ways in which capitalist exchange, money lending,
accumulation, development, etc. have been interpreted in non-Western
rationalities as practices that are supernatural, occult, Satanic, or
otherwise incommensurable with locally defined moralities. By centering
our investigation within the context of non-Western social and economy
discourses, this course suggests that such phenomena as witchcraft,
cannibalism, cults, and the global market for body parts can be understood
not as oppositional to Western conceptions of civility and progress,
but as culturally and historically specific struggles to rationalize
foreign economic ideas and practices into local philosophical frameworks.
Mr. Mantz
Prerequisite: Previous coursework in Anthropology or by permission
of instructor.
One 3–hour period.
399a or b. Senior Independent Work (1/2 or
1)
Individual or group project of reading or research. May be elected
during the college year or during the summer. The department.