Mar 28, 2024  
2018-2019 Catalog 
    
2018-2019 Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Course Descriptions


 

Other Courses

  
  • HIS 470 - Global War on Terror: A History


    Instructor
    Waheed

    The US war in Afghanistan is now in its 17th year, the longest foreign war in American history. The Global War on Terror, however, has yet to be historicized. For the first time, this exploratory seminar does just that. It examines the history of the global war on terror by considering 9/11 and the era it inaugurated, while also consciously understanding it in relation to the forces of modern imperalism in the twentieth century. The seminar is structured as a “people’s history” of the global war on terror. It takes seriously the impact of global warfare from the standpoint of its victims. Topics include but are not limited to: definitions of terror and terrorism; European and Anglo-American histories of orientalism and Islamophobia; torture and torture legislation; drones, proxy wars, and war crimes; legislation and state led-initiatives of disapperances and entrapment; old and new formations of the national security state; how new technologies of violence and surveillance have reshaped domestic American policies; cold war politics in relation to contemporary conflagrations in Afghanistan and Pakistan; military occupations in relation to Palestine and Kashmir; refugees and displacement; suicide bombing; contemporary travel bans; and gender and feminist politics in relation to the war on terror. This seminar will involve weekly readings and discussion, films, documentaries, and one final paper.

    Satisfies a requirement in the History major and minor.
    Satisfies a requirement in the History and Geneologies Track of the Gender & Sexuality Studies major and minor.

  
  • LAT 288 - Transition to Empire


    Instructor
    Neumann

    The political upheaval of late 1st century BCE Rome remains one of the best-documented periods of Greco-Roman history.  Caesar gives us on side in de Bello Civili (49-48 BCE) while Cicero gives us glimpses of the other in his letters (62-43 BCE).  At the end of his life (14 CE), the Princeps (civil first citizen) and Imperator (military commander-in-chief Augustus had the Res Gestae– the definitive version of his accomplishments–engraved on bronze pillars in front of his mausoleum and distributed throughout the Roman Empire.  In between we can listen to the voices of the poets and tease out their relation to the changing regime. Were they complicit, subversive, or some more complicated version of the two?  This course will survey, in Latin with English supplements, the rich literature of Rome’s transition from dying republic to empire.

     

    Satisfies Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric requirement.


Africana Studies

  
  • AFR 101 - Introduction to Africana Studies


    Instructor
    Benson

    An introduction to the major issues and the different methodological and theoretical approaches to the study of people of African descent throughout the world.

    Satisfies the Liberal Studies requirement

       

  
  • AFR 120 - Afro-Latin America (= LAS 120)


    Instructor
    Benson

    From Mexico to Brazil and beyond, Africans and people of African descent have fought in wars of independence, forged mixed race national identities, and contributed politically and culturally to the making of the Americas.  Even though Latin America imported ten times as many slaves as the United States, only recently have scholars begun to highlight the role blacks and other people of African descent played in Latin American history.  This course will explore the experiences of Afro-Latin Americans from slavery to the present, with a particular focus on Haiti, Cuba, Mexico, Brazil, and Colombia.  In doing so, the course seeks to answer questions such as: What does it mean to be black in Latin America? Why has racism persisted in Latin America despite political revolutions claiming to eliminate discrimination? What are the links between blacks in Latin America and the United States? How have differing conceptions of “race” and “nation” caused the rise and decline of transnational black alliances between U.S. blacks and Afro-Latin Americans?  All course readings will be in English and will include memoirs, films, and first-hand historical documents in additional to scholarly books and articles.  

    Satisfies a requirement in the Africana Studies major (Geographic Region: Latin America/Caribbean).
    Satisfies a requirement in the Latin American Studies major or minor.
    Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.

  
  • AFR 235 - The 1959 Cuban Revolution (=HIS 362, =LAS 235)


    Instructor
    Benson  

    This course explores the historical underpinnings of the 1959 Cuban Revolution, U.S.-Cuban relations, and how Cubans have experienced the changes the island has undergone in the past 100 years. Particular attention is given to people of African descent who make up over a one-third of the island’s population. This Cuban narrative illuminates a variety of themes including the spread of U.S. imperialism, Cuba’s fight for sovereignty, and race relations in the Americas.  

    Satisfies a major requirement in Africana Studies (Geographic Region: Latin American/Caribbean).
    Satisfies a major or minor requirement in History.
    Satisfies a major or minor requirement in Latin American Studies.
    Satisfies the Historical Thought requirement.
    Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.

  
  • AFR 250 - Black Women in Contemporary Performance


    Instructor
    Amin

    This course considers the ways in which Black women have operationalized performance as a site for cultural criticism and social commentary. Centering the work of artists including Josephine Baker, Katherine Dunham and others, students will investigate how the use of dance, music, song, costume and other performance elements are leveraged to both stabilize and interrupt audience assumptions about the possibilities of performance beyond entertainment or the stimulation of pleasure. The course will consider how notions of race, gender and sexuality are repeated as consistent performative acts and how these categories are crafted and expressed through the artistic choices of select Black women performers working across theatrical genres from the 1920s to the present.

    Counts as an elective in the Cultural Production & Expression category of the Africana Studies major (Geographic Region = North America).
    Satisfies a requirement in the Literary & Cultural Representations track of the Gender & Sexuality Studies major and minor.
    Counts as an elective for the Dance minor.
    Satisfies the Visual and Performing Arts requirement.
    Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.

  
  • AFR 251 - Thugs, Jezebels, & Contemporary Politics


    Instructor
    Dennie

    In the months prior to the 2016 presidential election, race relations in the United States were propelled into the American public consciousness with great force, although race has continually exerted an omnipresent influence on contemporary politics. Beginning with Clarence Thomas’s 1991 Supreme Court confirmation hearings, this course will survey how discourse on black femininity, masculinity, sexuality, and class has impacted American politics from 1991 to the present. Topics for consideration include welfare reform, reproductive justice, mass incarceration, backlash to Barack Obama’s presidency, and white nationalist support for Donald Trump. Readings will also consider how black activists, lawyers, journalists, and politicians have responded to and resisted racism and sexism in contemporary politics.

    Fulfills a Social Thought & Institutions requirement for the Africana Studies major (Geographic region: North America).
    Fulfills a requirement in the History and Geneaologies track of the Gender & Sexuality Studies major and minor.
    Satisfies the Historical Thought requirement.
    Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.
     

  
  • AFR 266 - Africa Shoots Back, in transl. (=FRE 366)


    Instructor
    Fache

    Africa Shoots Back examines West African cinema from its beginnings in the early 1960s to today.  The selection of films exposes students to new voices, perspectives and representations of Francophone West Africa from a West African perspective.  We will discuss issues of decolonization and post-colonial cultural economy, as well as analyze traditional African narrative strategies and new and unconventional images.
     

    Fulfills a requirement in the Africana Studies major (Geographic Region: Africa).
    Fulfills a requirement in the Film & Media Studies interdisciplinary minor.
    Counts towards the French & Francophone Studies major and minor.
    Satisfies requirement in Visual and Performing Arts.

  
  • AFR 282 - African American Literature: 18th - 19th Century (=ENG 282)


    Instructor
    Bertholf

    African American Literature from the 18th and 19th centuries.

    Satisfies a requirement in the Africana Studies major (Geographic Region: North America).
    Satisfies the diversity requirement of the English major.
    Counts as an elective in the Global Literary Theory interdisciplinary minor.
    Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric requirement.
    Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.

  
  • AFR 286 - African American Literature: 1900- (=ENG 286)


    Instructor
    Bertholf

    This course will introduce students to twentieth- and twenty-first century African American literature and literary criticism. It will bring together a wide range of readings from across genres and disciplines, attempting to sketch out the major aesthetic and political features of the black literary project. Authors will include Booker T. Washington, W. E. B. Du Bois, Alain Locke, Claude McKay, Zora Neale Hurston, Richard Wright, Ralph Ellison, James Baldwin, Amiri Baraka, Alice Walker, Toni Morrison, Samuel R. Delany, Octavia Butler, Teju Cole, Claudia Rankine, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Fred Moten, and Colson Whitehead to name a few.

    Satisfies the diversity requirement of the English major.
    Counts as a humanities elective in the Africana Studies major.
    Counts as an elective in the Global Literary Theory interdisciplinary minor.
    Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric requirement.
    Satisfies a cultural diversity requirement.

  
  • AFR 292 - “Fake News,” Journalism and Ethics


    Instructor
    Bailey

    Students will be taught how to use journalistic skills and ethics to better harness the power empathy adds to storytelling on extremely sensitive subjects such as race, politics, gender, etc. as well as learn how to navigate the world of political punditry and the growing fake news phenomenon.  The course will focus on how the media discourse marginalizes people of color, and African Americans in particular and how rhetorical shifts can lead to non-factual news reporting.

    Satisfies a requirement in the Africana Studies major (Geographic Region: North America).
    Satisfies a requirement in the English major.
    Satisfies a requirement in the Communication Studies interdisciplinary minor.
    Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community Requirement.


  
  • AFR 297 - Caribbean Literature (=ENG 297)


    Instructor
    Flanagan

    The Caribbean is key to any understanding of the New World. Caribbean Literature takes students beyond the islands’ popular music, food, and landscapes to an understanding of the formation of cultures from Europe, Africa, and India that have produced two Nobel Laureates. In novels such as Jean Rhys’ Wide Sargasso Sea, we see how love leads to the death of a young woman in the attic in Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre. We’ll understand, too, why and how Aime Cesaire rewrites Shakespeare’s The Tempest to allow for the resurrection of the spirit of Caliban’s mother, Sycorax. Students do not need to know theory to take this course.  

    Students may retake this course for credit when the topic/readings change with instructor’s permission.

    Satisfies the diversity requirement of the English major.
    Satisfies a requirement in the Africana Studies major (Geographic Region: Latin America/Caribbean).
    Satisfies a requirement in the Global Literary Theory interdisciplinary minor.
    Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric requirement.
    Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.

  
  • AFR 298 - Race and American Journalism


    Instructor
    Bailey

    We know the names Trayvon Martin, Sandra Bland and Tamir Rice. But we should also know the name Damon Kearns, a young black man born in Davidson who killed the only officer to die while on duty in the town - while being killed by the officer. This class will include an exhaustive look into the 20th anniversary of Kearns’ death as a way of exploring larger issues of race in American journalism.  This local case study will help to illumine a myriad of lessons for young journalists and social justice warriors on the intersection of race, media, crime and inequality in the 21st century, including many that are often misunderstood or overlooked.

    Satisfies a requirement in the Africana Studies major (Geographic Region: North America).
    Satisfies the Diversity requirement in the English major.
    Satisfies a requirement in the Communication Studies interdisciplinary minor.
    Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.


  
  • AFR 300 - Afro-Cuban Feminisms (=LAS 300)


    Instructor
    Benson

    Black and mulata women have participated in constructing Cubanidad (Cuban nationalism) since the beginning of the Cuban republic in 1902. However, the largely male-dominated national narrative that has made Che Guevara’s “New Man” famous since 1959 frequently overshadows their interventions. Despite this public silence, Afro-Cubanas (Afro-Cuban women) have consistently challenged narratives of exclusion and contributed to antiracist and antisexist movements in Cuba. As theater critic, Inés María Martiatu Terry explained in 2011 one of the goals of the Afrocubanas movement is to “feminize negritude and to blacken feminism.”  

    This course will analyze Afro-Cubana feminisms through a close reading of the work of four key black and mulata intellectuals and activists-Sara Gómez, Nancy Morejón, Daisy Rubiera, and Gloria Rolando. In doing so, it seeks to trace the legacy of the many black and mulata women who participated in revolutionary Cuba from the 1960s to the present. In particular, the course will examine how Afro-Cubanas have challenged negative stereotypes about black women, worked both inside and outside of Cuba’s state-sponsored women’s movement, and fought to create space for racial and sexual rights. All course readings will be in English and will include memoirs, films, and first-hand historical documents in additional to scholarly books and articles.

    Satisfies a major requirement in Africana Studies.
    Satisfies a major requirement in Latin American Studies.
    Satisfies the Histories and Genealogies major requirement in Gender and Sexuality Studies.

  
  • AFR 300-309 - Major Thinkers in Africana Studies


    Major Thinkers in Africana Studies courses expose students to classical and foundational figures whose works have helped to shape the disciplinary debates, theoretical contours, or methodological innovations of the field.  These seminars are designed to engage larger conceptual issues in Africana Studies through the close study of the written corpus of a major thinker in the discipline.   It is a topics course in intellectual history that enables students to gain competency in primary, secondary, biographical, theoretical, and/or literary works related to a single scholarly figure in Africana Studies.  Courses will draw upon notable scholars in both the African and African Diaspora intellectual traditions. 

  
  • AFR 300B - Black Esthetics & Performance


    Instructor
    Amin

    This course will examine the development of the Black Aesthetic from its genesis in the 1920s, through the Black Arts Movement and into the contemporary period.  Students will examine primary source documents and artistic/ creative expressions from a range of disciplines (including dance, music, literature and visual art) to identify Black performance/ expressive aesthetics and to engage art as a mechanism through which culture, politics and identity may speak.

     

  
  • AFR 301 - Major Thinkers in Africana Studies: Zora Neale Hurston


    Instructor
    Bowles

    Through the lens of Zora Neale Hurston’s life and work as an anthropologist, this course examines the following:  the politics of language and inequality, the perils and sanctity of segregation and the value of imagination in ethnographic writing.  Works to be examined during the course are Hurston’s biography, excerpts from her autobiography, plays, short stories, critical essays and one of her many novels.

    Satisfies a major requirement in Africana Studies (Geographical Region: North America).
    Satisfies a major and minor requirement in Anthropology.
    Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement.

     

  
  • AFR 302 - Black Aesthetics & Performance


    Instructor
    Amin

    This course will examine the development of the Black Aesthetic from its genesis in the 1920s, through the Black Arts Movement and into the contemporary period.  Students will examine primary source documents and artistic/creative expressions from a range of disciplines (including dance, music, literature and visual art) to identify Black performance/expressive aesthetics and to engage art as a mechanism through which culture, politics and identity may speak.

    Satisfies a requirement in the Africana Studies major (Geographic Region = North America).

  
  • AFR 303 - Major Thinkers in Africana Studies: W.E.B. Du Bois (=ENG 382)


    Instructor
    Bertholf

    This course will introduce students to the major works of William Edward Burghardt Du Bois. Readings will include (in chronological order): The Philadelphia Negro (1899); The Souls of Black Folk (1903); Dark Princess (1928); Black Reconstruction in America (1935); Color and Democracy (1945); and The World and Africa (1947) to name a few. They will be supplemented with secondary readings by: Booker T. Washington, Michael Rudolph West, Cheryl Townsend Gilkes, Hazel Carby, Paul Gilroy, Adolph Reed, Lewis Gordon, Marina Bilbija, C. L. R. James and others.

    Satisfies a requirement in Africana Studies.
    Satisfies a major requirement in English.
    Satisfies an interdisciplinary minor requirement in Global Literary Theory.
    Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement

  
  • AFR 320 - Growing up Jim Crow (= EDU 320, SOC 320)


    Spring 2019: This course is one of five interlinked Memory Studies Courses*

    Instructor
    Kelly

    Examines how a generation learned race and racism in the Age of Jim Crow. Through multiple and intersecting lenses, students will examine texts, such as oral histories, literary narratives, and visual representations of various topics.  Topics will include Jim Crow schooling, white supremacy, disenfranchisement, lynching, rape, resistance, interracial harmony, and desegregation.

    Satisfies a requirement in the Sociology major.
    Satisfies a requirement in the Africana Studies major (Geographic Region: North America).
    Satisfies a requirement in the Educational Studies minor.
    Satisfies the Historical Thought requirement.
    Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.

    *Interlinked Memory Studies Courses
    Five different courses that engage with phenomena of memory will link up once a week for common readings and discussions. Students will meet one day a week with their course instructor to engage in the discipline-specific study of memory. On the other day each week, students and faculty members in all five courses will meet together to compare and share different disciplinary and personal ideas about the study of memory; the creation and effects of memory; the representation of memory; and the social, cultural, and personal creative processes that make memory.  Participating courses are:

    AFR 320 / EDU 320 / SOC 320 (Kelly) Growing Up Jim Crow
    CIS 292 / PSY 292 (Multhaup) Collective Memory
    ENG 204 (Parker) Introduction to Writing Fiction
    GER 433 / HIS 433 (Denham) The Holocaust and Representation
    ​HIS 287 (Mortensen) Memory and Identity in the People’s Republic of China

  
  • AFR 329 - Women & Slavery in the Black Atlantic


    Instructor
    Dennie

    From the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries, over 12 million Africans were shipped to the New World. Of those who survived the Middle Passage, fewer than 500,000 arrived in the United States; the vast majority were dispersed throughout the Caribbean and South America. The experiences of enslaved women, as well as the relationships between free and enslaved women, are as diverse as the African diaspora. Given the broad geographical scope of Africans’ arrivals in the New World, this course will offer a comparative examination of women and slavery in the Black Atlantic. Topics for consideration include black women’s gendered experiences of slavery, white women’s roles in slave societies, and women abolitionists. The course will also examine how African and European conceptions of gender shaped the institution of slavery in the New World. Particular attention will be devoted to slavery in West Africa, Barbados, Cuba, Brazil, and the United States.

    Fulfills an Historical and Geographical Investigations requirement in the Africana Studies major (Geographic region: Latin America & the Caribbean).
    Fulfills a requirement in the History and Genealogies track of the Gender & Sexuality Studies major and minor.
    Fulfills a requirement in the History major and minor.
    Satisfies the Historical Thought requirement.
    Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.

  
  • AFR 330 - Gender & Development in Sub-Saharan Africa


    Instructor
    Harper-Shipman

    The purpose of this course is to continue a discussion on the debates, structures, and agents that inform international development in Africa but through the varied perspectives and experiences of African women. Their perspectives offer critical interventions into development discourses and practices traditionally viewed through masculine and Western lenses. In studying development from the African woman’s perspective, one is better able to engage both the successes and failures of this formal process we call “development” in Africa. By examining African women and their relationship to this process, we will also see the alternative frames of feminisms and knowledges that emerge from these realities. The core questions driving this course are: (i) what are the various development ideologies and processes that have shaped contemporary Africa? (ii) How have African women adopted, rejected, and/or creolized these ideologies and processes for the purposes of changing their cultural, political, and economic conditions? The course readings come predominantly from African women, although there are texts from non-African women and men that generally serve to highlight the larger discourses taking place around a particular topic. 

    Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement.
    Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.

  
  • AFR 360 - History of the Caribbean: Race, Nation, and Politics (= LAS 360, HIS 360)


    Instructor
    Benson

    This course explores the history of the Caribbean from pre-Colombian times to the present. The goal of the class is to trace the emergence of modern Caribbean nations beginning from their status as slave colonies of the not-so-distant past within an emphasis on the central role the Caribbean islands have played in global history.  Particular emphasis is given to the maintenance of European and North American imperial enterprises and the elaboration of racial ideologies growing out of the diversity that has characterized the island populations.  Issues to be addressed include colonialism, piracy, sugar revolution, slavery and emancipation, national independence, tourism, and Caribbean migrations. Cuba, Haiti, and Jamaica will be the main areas under consideration, although texts from other islands such as the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and Martinique are included.

    Satisfies a requirement in the Africana Studies major (Geographic Region: Latin America/Caribbean).
    Satisfies a requirement in Latin American Studies major and minor.
    Satisfies a requirement in the History major or minor.
    Satisfies the Historical Thought requirement.
    Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.

  
  • AFR 364 - Black Paris


    Instructor
    Fache

    Black Paris focuses on the deep engagement of peoples of African descent with the City of Light from Fredrick Douglass to Ta-Nehisi Coates. We will examine the full variety of black cultures that have taken shape in dialogue with Paris, including poetry, prose, journals and magazines, music, and film in English and French by African American (J. Baldwin, Richard Wright, etc.) as well as Francophone Caribbean (F. Fanon, A. Césaire) and African (A. Mabanckou, Manu Dibango) artists and intellectuals.

    Satisfies a requirement in Africana Studies major (Geographic Region: North America).
    Satisfies an interdisciplinary minor requirement in Global Literary Theory.
    Satisfies a
    Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric requirement.
    Satisfies a cultural diversity requirement.


  
  • AFR 371 - Critical Race Theory in Education (=EDU 371)


    Instructor
    Kelly

    This course introduces students to the development of critical race theory as a specific theoretical framework to explain or to investigate how race and racism are organized and operate within the United States.  The course will have a sociological focus with emphasis on critical race scholarship that includes, but is not limited to, an analysis of double consciousness, colorblindness, intersectionality, whiteness as property, racial microaggressions, and structures of power.  Students will also explore central tenets and key writings advanced in the 1990s primarily by African American, Latino/a, and Asian American scholars in law, education, and public policy.  The course is both reading intensive and extensive with a major writing assignment that addresses a theoretical problem that grows out of the course topics and discussions. 

    Satisfies a requirement in the Africana Studies major (Geographic Region: North America).
    Satisfies a minor requirement in Educational Studies.
    Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement.

  
  • AFR 374 - Contemporary Race Theory (=SOC 374)


    Instructor
    Ewoodzie

    (Cross-listed with SOC 374.) Race, along with class and gender (and sexuality), continues to be one of the central themes in sociological research.  In most of the subfields of the discipline, researchers of all stripes believe race to be an explanatory variable.  This, however, does not mean that sociologists have one theory of race.  In fact, there are raging debates about exactly what they mean when they evoke the term.  In this class, we will engage with some of the most recent theories about race.  Because some of the debates are built on those of decades past, we will spend the first third of the course establishing the foundational terms of the conversations.  The second third will be organized around a handful of provocateurs.  We will read portions of their original offerings and then read responses from their critics.  The final third will focus on two topics that are proving to have significant impact on theorizing race: immigration and genomics.

     

    Satisfies a requirement in the Sociology major.
    Satisfies a requirement in the Africana Studies major (Geographical region: North America).

  
  • AFR 383 - Black Literary Theory (=ENG 483)


    Instructor
    Bertholf

    (Cross-listed with ENG 483)

    This course will bring together readings both literary and critical/theoretical, beginning with Frantz Fanon’s seminal Black Skin, White Masks (1952). Taking Fanon as its point of departure, then, this course will necessarily turn to a discussion of the recent discourse on Afro-pessimism and black optimism, attempting to introduce students to important issues and questions of race, race relations, anti-black racism, black sociality, the universality of whiteness, the fungibility of the black body, and of the vulnerability and precarity of black life; and together we will think more closely about how the complex and “unthinkable” histories of slavery, colonialism, and the Middle Passage, for examples, continue to challenge the representational limits and potentialities of traditional literary genres and modes of emplotment. In addition to Fanon, authors will include Orlando Patterson, Toni Morrison, Hortense Spillers, Saidiya Hartman, Frank Wilderson, Jared Sexton, and Fred Moten.

    Counts as a humanities elective for the Africana Studies major.
    Counts as a senior seminar and fulfills the diversity requirement for the English major.
    Counts as a literature elective for the Global Literary Theory interdisciplinary minor.
    Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.


  
  • AFR 395 - Seminar in Africana Studies


    Seminar in advanced Africana Studies

  
  • AFR 400 - Research Methods in Africana Studies


    Instructor
    Harper-Shipman

    This course will introduce students to the unique methodological questions raised by Africana studies. We will explore the methodological problems inherent in Africana studies research-what are the challenges to answering the questions raised by Africana scholars? More importantly, this course engages the different frameworks for conducting Africana scholarship that are derived from the experiences of people in the African diaspora.

  
  • AFR 495 - Africana Studies Capstone


    Instructor
    Harper-Shipman

    Advanced Seminar in Africana Studies.

  
  • AFR 498 - Advanced Independent Study


    Africana Studies: Advanced Independent Study

  
  • AFR 499 - Honors Thesis


    Africana Studies: Honors Thesis


Anthropology

  
  • ANT 101 - Introductory Cultural Anthropology


    Instructor
    Staff

    Cross-cultural study of systems of knowledge and belief, social and political institutions, economic behavior, and human ecological adaptation. Anthropological approaches to traditional tribal and peasant societies as well as complex contemporary societies.

    Required course for the major in Anthropology.

    Satisfies a requirement for the minor in Anthropology.

    Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    (Fall and Spring)

  
  • ANT 102 - Humankind Evolving


    Instructor
    Cho

    Introduction to humanity’s biological heritage. Topics include introductory evolutionary theory, population genetics, primate biology and behavior, and the primate fossil record. Principal emphasis upon the fossil evidence for human evolution, with particular focus on biological adaptations and the emergence of culture.

    Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.

    Satisfies the Liberal Studies requirement.
    .

    Prerequisites & Notes
    (Not offered 2016-2017; offered in alternating years.)

  
  • ANT 108 - Introduction to Archaeology


    Instructor
    Ringle

    Introduction to how archaeologists reconstruct the past. Methods of dating, artifact analysis, excavation, and interpretation, using examples drawn from prehistory. Contributions of archaeology to anthropology, as well as the use of other disciplines by archaeologists.

    Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.

    Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    (Fall; offered in alternating years.)

  
  • ANT 205 - Ethnic Relations and Social Media


    Instructor
    Bowles

    Comparative and historical study of social processes related to ethnic differences in modern complex societies. Readings in theoretical and descriptive literature, focusing on issues of unequal distribution of power and privilege, racism, and ethnic prejudice.

    Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.
    Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement.
    Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    (Offered in alternating years.)

  
  • ANT 207 - Foragers, Farmers, and Chiefs of the Ancient World


    Instructor
    Ringle

    The development of human society from the late Ice Age through complex agricultural communities. Topics include hunting and gathering, post-glacial adaptation, world colonization, causes and consequences of agriculture, and the rise of social inequality. Examples include the Near East, Europe, North America, and Polynesia.

    Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.

    Satisfies the Historical Thought requirement.

    Satisfies depth and breadth course requirement in the Social Science track of the Environmental Studies major or interdisciplinary minor.
     

    Prerequisites & Notes
    (Spring; offered in alternating years.)

  
  • ANT 208 - Early Cities and States


    Instructor
    Ringle

    Archaeology of prehistoric and early historic complex societies. Early chiefdoms and states of South America, Egypt, and Asia. Anthropological theories of state formation, including the roles of ecology, ideology, technology, warfare, and economic organization.

    Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.

    Satisfies the Historical Thought requirement.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    (Offered in alternating years.)

  
  • ANT 219 - Reproduction and Childrearing: Biology and Culture


    An overview of the anthropology of pregnancy, childbirth, and childrearing. Topics addressed include fertility and infertility (female and male), maternal and child healthcare systems, infant feeding, and motherhood, fatherhood, and childhood in cross-cultural and historical perspective. ​

    Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.

    Satisfies a requirement in Social-Scientific Thought

    Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Gender and Sexuality Studies

    Meets the cultural diversity graduation requirement

    Prerequisites & Notes
    (Not offered 2016-2017)

  
  • ANT 220 - Religion, Society, and Culture


    Instructor 
    Samson

    Social and cross-cultural aspects of religious belief and practice in local and global context.  Special emphasis on ritual behavior and collective identity in ethnographic perspective, religious revitalization, new religious groups, and the shifting global religious landscape.

    Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.

    Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    (Fall; offered in alternating years.)

  
  • ANT 227 - Environment and Culture in Latin America


    Instructor
    Samson

    This course addresses human-environment relations in Latin America from the standpoint of environmental history and ethnographic case studies in the region. Issues such as biodiversity, land use and agriculture, transnational flows of natural and food resources, ethnoecology, and social mobilization around environmental issues are examined using theoretical perspectives from cultural and political ecology.  Particular attention is given to the relationship between indigenous peoples and the environment and to alternative models of “development” in Mesoamerica, the Andes, and Brazil.

    Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.

    Satisfies the Liberal Studies requirement.

    Satisfies depth and breadth course requirement in the Social Science track of the Environmental Studies major or interdisciplinary minor.
     

    Prerequisites & Notes
    (Spring; offered alternating years.)

  
  • ANT 231 - Health and Healing in Ghana


    Instructor
    Bowles

    Sickness in Ghana has traditionally been viewed as an illness that affects a person’s entire being, including the spiritual and the supernatural realms. It takes more than just treatment of physical systems to restore health.  In Ghana, herbal medicine remains a prevalent method of health care, and the World Health Organization estimates that at least 60% of Ghanaians rely on herbal medicines.   A traditional healer, defined as a person who is recognized by his/her community as a competent healthcare provider, uses herbs, animal as well as mineral substances for patient care. Traditional methods are based on social, cultural, and religious principles, including knowledge, attitudes and beliefs regarding the physical, mental and social well-being a community. 

    Although biomedicine is the most popular medical system in the world due to globalization and Western hegemony, this experiential learning course introduces students to an array of conceptualizations of health, wellness, and illness in the Ghanaian context as well as the epidemiology of diseases that are prevalent in Ghana. Through lectures, discussions and shadowing, this course explores the socioeconomic and political ecological factors in the prevalence of diseases like malaria, typhoid, and yellow fever, health policy and implementation within biomedical settings, and traditional Ghanaian healing practices such as bone setting, plant-based medicines and sorcery/shamanism and its illness etiologies, and diagnostic and treatment methodologies. Faculty at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Technology and Science (KNUST) will also discuss case studies on traditional practices, allied health, and the challenges and efficacy of both biomedical and traditional medicines in Ghana.

     

    Satisfies major requirements in Anthropology, Africana Studies as well as Health and Human Values (discussed in consultation with Patrick Baron).

    Counts as 200-level elective requirements for Anthropology and the Social Thought and Institutions category of the Africana major

    Satisfies elective requirement for Anthropology minor.

    Satisfies elective requirement for the Health and Human Values Interdisciplinary minor.

    Satisfies Social-Scientific Thought requirement

    Prerequisites & Notes
    This course is part of the summer 2019 Davidson in Ghana Program.

  
  • ANT 232 - Contemporary Ghanaian Society and Culture


    Instructor
    Staff

    Examination of Ghanaian family structure, gender roles, religious beliefs, social stratification, political economy, and inter-ethnic relations. Special emphasis is placed on understanding the legacy of colonialism and efforts to develop a national culture.

    Fulfills a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.
    Fufills a requirement in the Africana Studies major (Geographic Region: Africa).
    Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    Offered in alternating years as part of the Davidson in Ghana summer program.

  
  • ANT 233 - Performance in West Africa


    Instructor
    Amin

    This course will examine performance aesthetics and traditions from various West African Cultures and contexts.  Special consideration will be given to how these approaches to music and dance shape in particular inform the diasporic cultural practices of Afro-descended people in the US and Caribbean.

    Satisfies a requirement in the Anthropology major and minor.
    Satisfies a requirement in the Africana Studies major (Geographic Region: Africa).
    Satisfies the Visual and Performing Arts requirement.
    Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement

  
  • ANT 234 - African Popular Culture


    Instructor
    Bowles

    Though ethnographic texts, this course explores the intersections of gender, ethnicity and class in African societies in the 20th and 21st centuries. This course also examines representations of Africa within the nation-state and transnationally. Topics of discussion include tourism, national identity and ethnicity, popular culture, the dichotomies of urban and rural Africa and the cultural politics of development and the state.

    Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.
    Satifies a cultural production and expressions requirement in the Africana Studies major (Geographic Region: Africa).
    Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement.

  
  • ANT 238 - Global Masculinities


    Instructor
    Cho

    An introduction to the interdisciplinary field of Men’s Studies based on texts from anthropology, sociology, and film and cultural studies. This course will spotlight the diversity of men’s lives across the globe, by focusing on various masculinities, including “nerds,” “jocks,” “gay men,” “drag queens,” “butch lesbians,” “trans-men,” and “soldiers.” In so doing, it will highlight how masculinity intersects with race, class, age, language, sexuality, religion, and nationality to create various models of hegemonic and subordinate masculinities that co-exist and compete with one another within a global capitalist system of homosocial bonding and rivalry.

    Counts as a 200-level elective in the Anthropology major and minor.
    Counts in the Society and Politics track of the Gender & Sexuality Studies major and minor.
    Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement.
    Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.

     

  
  • ANT 239 - Love, Sex and Globalization


    Instructor
    S. Cho

    How do people experience globalization in their intimate lives?  Too often, people understand it simply in terms of the corporate domination of the world by US elites and multinational companies. Missing have been complex accounts of how political-economic and technological transformations shape-and are shaped by-love, sex, and intimacy. Using the interdisciplinary lens of anthropology, cultural studies, sociology, international relations, literature, and film and media studies, this course will seek to unravel the binaries of global/local, economic/intimate, and proximate/distant by which we understand globalization. Among the topics of discussion will be gay marriage, mail-order brides, transnational adoption, international sex work, militarism, and social media.

    Satisfies a requirement in the Gender & Sexuality Studies major and minor (Society & Politics Track).

  
  • ANT 251 - Mesoamerican Civilizations


    Instructor
    Ringle

    Origins and development of the major civilizations of Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize from the earliest times to the Spanish conquest. Emphasis upon the Olmecs, Mayas, Toltecs, and Aztecs. Examination of social and political organization, economic systems, ecological adaptations, major artistic achievements, and writing systems.

    Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.

    Satisfies the Historical Thought requirement.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    (Offered in alternating years.)

  
  • ANT 253 - Latin American Society and Culture Today


    Instructor
    Samson

    Overview of Latin American culture from an anthropological perspective.  An ethnographic focus demonstrates linkages between life in local communities and forces of cultural, social, and political change at the level of the nation-state.

    Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.
    Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement.
    Satisfies one of the introductory course requirements in Latin American Studies.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    (Offered in alternating years.)

  
  • ANT 257 - African Roots, American Soils


    Instructor
    Bowles

    This course introduces the African Diaspora as a theoretical framework within anthropology for investigation of the dispersal of people of African descent throughout the world. This course examines African cultural influences that inform a diaspora connected through migrations, both voluntary and involuntary, as well as colonization and the globalization of capitalism. Topics of discussion include the cultural production of blackness, roots tourism, resistance to oppression, revolutions, rebellions and maroon communities.

    Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.
    Fulfills a requirement in the Africana Studies major (Geographic Region: Africa).
    Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement.

  
  • ANT 261 - Science, Policy, and Society


    Instructor
    Lozada

    How do scientific theories and methodologies, religious beliefs and practices, and technological innovations affect the way we perceive the world around us? This course, an introduction to Science, Technology and Society (STS), is designed to be an inquiry into questions that involve the production and cultural meanings of scientific knowledge and technological change. This course will compare the function and rhetoric of scientific “truths” to other modes of truth-production and consider the ways in which science is culturally produced and in turn reproductive of cultural norms in Western society, including the adoption of Western scientific practices and institutions by non-Western societies and the management of science and technology in social and economic practices.

    Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.
    Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement.
    Satisfies depth and breadth course requirement in the Social Science track of the Environmental Studies major or interdisciplinary minor.
     

  
  • ANT 263 - Social Change


    Instructor
    Ruhlen

    This course examines issues in social activism from both a theoretical and ethnographic perspective. How do social activists think about and make social change happen? By examining theories and issues in social justice, from macro-level issues in the international arena to local mobilization for community issues, this course will introduce students to social movement and civil society theory. This course will study social movements, community activism, and the cultural practices of community groups.

    Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.

    Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    (Not offered 2016-2017.)

  
  • ANT 265 - Contemporary Chinese Society and Culture


    Instructor
    Lozada

    Examines Chinese society from the bottom up, with an emphasis on the structure of everyday life. The periods under examination include pre-revolutionary China (including Taiwan and Hong Kong), socialist China, and post-socialist China. Topics include marriage and reproductive strategies, lineage organization, inheritance patterns, gender roles, and religion and life cycle rituals.

    Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.

    Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    (Spring 2017; offered in alternating years.)

  
  • ANT 267 - Food and Culture


    Instructor
    Lozada

    This course introduces the ways in which food practices shape societies and cultures throughout the world. Food ways will be examined from an anthropological perspective for their social and cultural implications; this is not a survey of nutritional or dietetic sciences. Topics to be covered include: the use of food in social contexts, the symbolism of food, and the political economy of food.

    Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.

    Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement.

    Satisfies depth and breadth course requirement in the Social Science track of the Environmental Studies major or interdisciplinary minor.
     

    Prerequisites & Notes
    (Not offered 2016-2017; offered in alternating years.)

  
  • ANT 271 - Human Ecology


    Instructor
    Cho

    Human biological variation among and within living populations. Evolutionary, genetic, ecological, demographic, and especially cultural factors that contribute to biological variation are explored. Topics include biological adaptations to hot/cold climates, high altitudes, and lactose intolerance, among others.

    Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.

    Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement.

    Satisfies depth and breadth course requirement in the Social Science track of the Environmental Studies major or interdisciplinary minor.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    (Offered in alternating years.)

  
  • ANT 272 - Forensic Anthropology


    Instructor
    Cho

    The application of the techniques used in biological anthropology to the law. Various topics and methodologies related to the identification of human skeletal remains, including the excavation of human remains, estimation of age-at-death and sex, trauma analysis, cause and manner of death, and mass disasters are introduced.


    Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.

    Satisfies the Liberal Studies requirement.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    (Not offered 2016-2017; offered in alternating years.)

  
  • ANT 273 - Bioarchaeology


    Instructor
    Cho

    The study of human and non-human remains from archaeological sites to reconstruct past human behavior and biology, and their environmental and cultural conditions. Topics include human skeletal indicators of diet, activity level, and disease, and faunal skeletal indicators of ancient human behavior, such as hunting and paleoecology.

    Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.

    Satisfies the Historical Thought requirement.

    Satisfies depth (not breadth) course requirement in the Natural Science and Social Science tracks of the Environment Studies major.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    (Spring; offered in alternating years.)

  
  • ANT 275 - Monkeys, Apes, Humans


    Instructor
    Cho

    Examination of the anatomy and social behavior of living primates. To better understand the human species, we will examine topics such as infanticide, mating systems, intelligence, locomotion, concealed ovulation, menopause, and extensive culture.

    Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.

    Satisfies the Liberal Studies requirement.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    (Offered in alternating years.)

  
  • ANT 290 - Ethnographic East Asia


    Instructor
    Ruhlen

    This course introduces students to the major themes in the anthropology of China, Japan, South Korea, and North Korea. Through studying recent transformations in kinship, political economy, constructions of gender, and national identities, students will also gain a basic grounding in the geography and twentieth-century history of the region as a whole.

    Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.

    Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement.

     

    Prerequisites & Notes
    (Fall)

  
  • ANT 291 - Social Networks & Social Media


    Instructor
    Lozada

    This course introduces students to the theories and methods necessary for doing research in digital anthropology. Digital anthropology is the study of the impact of information technology on social relationships and human culture. Because of advancements in information and communication technology (as well as globalization), the everyday life of the people and communities that we study are increasingly being shaped by cyberspace, digital media and communication, and online social groups. Throughout the semester, students will conduct fieldwork, communicate, and write commentary on the internet, including social media, websites, and digital media production. Emphasis is placed on developing the critical and methodological skills needed for doing fieldwork virtually, but no previous computer programming is expected or required.

    Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.
    Satisfies a requirement in the Data Science interdisciplinary minor.
    Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    (Offered in alternating years)

  
  • ANT 299 - Special Topic in Anthropology


    Instructor
    Staff

    Topic TBA

  
  • ANT 310 - Politics, Society, and Culture


    Instructor
    Ruhlen

    Examines authority, organization, power, and legitimization of authority using a comparative perspective. Community-based learning model facilitates exploration of environmental justice and grassroots change with an emphasis on the symbolic aspects of power, structural inequity, and social movements.

    Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.

    Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement.

    Satisfies depth and breadth course requirement in the Social Science track of the Environmental Studies major or interdisciplinary minor.
     

    Prerequisites & Notes
    (Offered in alternating years.)

  
  • ANT 315 - Queer Enthnographies


    Instructor
    S. Cho

    This course will look at the growing body of queer ethnographies about non-normative genders and sexualities in Western and non-Western countries. Beginning with classic monographs on same-sex sexuality such as Esther Newton’s Mother Camp: Female Impersonators in America (1972), we will move onto examine contemporary ethnographies of nonnormative sexualities in United States and around the world, including C.J. Pascoe’s Dude, You’re a Fag: Masculinity and Sexuality in High School (2011) and Margot Weiss’ Techniques of Pleasure: BDSM and the Circuits of Sexuality (2011). By interrogating ethnography’s generative but contentious relationship with LGBT Studies and feminist, queer, post-structuralist, and postcolonial theories, we will assess how applicable Western queer theory is to the non-Western world.

    Satisfies a requirement in the Gender & Sexuality Studies major and minor (Society & Politics Track).

  
  • ANT 319 - Contradictions in Contemporary Motherhood: Culture, Biomedicine, Political Economy


    Instructor
    Ruhlen

    Contemporary mothering happens at the crossroads of conflicting forces and discourses. This seminar frames motherhood as a window on women’s changing rights and status, and as a fruitful topic for feminist theorizing. Readings will situate the topic in its historical, rhetorical, and cross-cultural contexts and will also explore the globalized networks of migration that increasingly affect motherhood.

    Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.

    Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    (Spring)

  
  • ANT 321 - Borderlands, Identity, and Rights


    Instructor

    Samson

    Advanced study of how borders and borderland regions shape social, religious, political, and economic relationships in Latin America, and examination of the tensions created when people and resources cross cultural and political borders. Particular emphasis on Mexico and Central America, as well as the Latino experience in the United States.

    Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.
    Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement.

  
  • ANT 323 - Human Rights in Latin America


    Instructor
    Samson

    Anthropological perspectives on human rights agendas in Latin America. Case studies examine the tension between universal and culturally relative conceptions of human rights in relation to issues such as state violence, violence directed toward minorities, and social justice movements.

    Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.
    Satisfies a requirement in the Africana Studies major (Geographic Region: Latin America/Caribbean).
    Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement.
    Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    (Fall; offered in alternating years.)

  
  • ANT 325 - Environment, Economy, & Culture


    Instructor
    Samson

    Cultural perspectives on human-environment relations and linkages between the environment and the global economy. Special emphasis on the integration of current knowledge in ecological anthropology, economic production, and the impact of human activity on the environment. Environmental justice issues and proposals for sustainable development are included.

    Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.

    Satisfies the Social-Scientific requirement.

    Satisfies depth and breadth course requirement in the Social Science track of the Environmental Studies major or interdisciplinary minor.
     

    Prerequisites & Notes
    (Not offered 2016-2017; offered in alternating years.)

  
  • ANT 327 - Religious Pluralism in Twenty-first Century Latin America


    Instructor
    Samson

    The emphasis in this course is on the contemporary religious pluralism that has resulted from the encounter of the Old World with the New. Religious change in Latin America since Vatican II and the advent of liberation theology is examined alongside the burgeoning presence of Protestantism in the region during the last quarter of the twentieth century. Particular attention is given to indigenous and Afro-Latin American traditions. Case studies in the course are selected for their use of ethnographic methods, and the geographic focus centers on the Andean region, Mesoamerica, Brazil, and the Caribbean.


    Satisfies the World Religion, History of Religions, Religion and Culture requirement of the Religious Studies major.

    Satisfies a requirement in the Latin American Studies major.

    Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives requirement.

  
  • ANT 335 - Debunking Race


    Instructor
    Cho

    Examines the concept of race from a biocultural perspective, deconstructing race by exploring evidence from population genetics and human origins. Contemporary racial issues such as classification of racial/ethnic groups, and evaluating intelligence and achievement on the basis of race/ethnicity are explored.

    Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.
    Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought  requirement.
    Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    (Spring; offered in alternating years.)

  
  • ANT 340 - Medical Anthropology


    Instructor
    Cho

    Cross-cultural study of belief systems concerning health and illness, practices of diagnosis and treatment, and roles of patients and practitioners. Western biomedicine and non-Western health care systems are examined. The interaction of ecological and cultural factors that influence disease manifestations, and the bio-cultural context of sickness and therapy are explored.

    Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.
    Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    Offered in alternating years.

  
  • ANT 341 - Globalization


    Instructor
    Lozada

    Explores globalization and the social and cultural processes transforming local life throughout the world. Introduction to the impact of global capitalism, transnational culture and political flows, and the role of global non-government organizations in different regions. Topics include global capitalism, state power and sovereignty, diaspora ethnicity and migration, and the localization of transnational culture.

    Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.

    Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    (Fall; offered in alternating years.)

  
  • ANT 343 - Feminist Anthropology


    Instructor
    Bowles

    Explores how gender ideologies shape the exercise of power upon men and women in different societies and cultures. Topics include the construction of masculinity and femininity, commodification and consumption of gender, social position, agency, and the political economy of gender. Emphasis on developing an understanding of different theoretical perspectives in the cross-cultural study of gender.

    Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.

    Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Gender and Sexuality Studies

    Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    (Offered in alternating years.)

  
  • ANT 351 - The Senses and Sensualities


    Instructor
    Bowles

    Guided by the premise that the body mediates human understanding about the world, this seminar examines anthropological investigations about the cultural production of the senses (sight, touch, taste, hearing and smell). The readings for the course focus on the diverse ways the senses are organized across cultures and shaped by context, language, identity and society. Students will have an opportunity engage in various sensory related projects through the semester.

    Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.
    Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement.

  
  • ANT 354 - Art and Writing of the Ancient Maya


    Instructor
    Ringle

    The sculpture and painting of the ancient Maya, including an introduction to hieroglyphic decipherments concerning Maya dynastic history, warfare, and political organization. Other topics include Maya myth, ritual, and astronomical knowledge.

    Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.

    Satisfies the Visual and Performing Arts requirement.
    Satisfies the Cultural Diversity requirement.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    (Offered in alternating years.)

  
  • ANT 356 - Art, Myth, and History of Ancient Central Mexico


    Instructor
    Ringle

    Study of Aztec and Mixtec religion, ritual, and philosophy as exemplified in works of art, architecture, civic planning, cosmology, literary works, and painted books (codices). Case studies include the Aztec Great Temple, the Codex Borgia, and the Codex Mendoza, as well as the art of the ancestral city of Teotihuacan.

    Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.

    Satisfies the Historical Thought requirement.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    (Fall; offered in alternating years.)

  
  • ANT 357 - Language Before History


    Instructor
    Ringle

    This course considers three questions concerning the early history of language: 1) at what stage of human evolution did language appear; 2) what were the reasons behind the spread of the major language families; 3) when and where did literacy first develop and under what circumstances.

    Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.

    Satisfies the Liberal Studies requirement.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    (Not offered 2016-2017; offered in alternating years.)

  
  • ANT 360 - Anthropology of Development and Environmental Sustainability


    Instructor
    Samson

    Issues of development and sustainability from the standpoint of environmental anthropology and anthropological approaches to development theory. Considers the human face of development, including local and global scales of analysis, environmental justice, and discourses of community sustainability.

    Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.

    Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement.

    Satisfies depth and breadth course requirement in the Social Science track of the Environmental Studies major or interdisciplinary minor.
     

    Prerequisites & Notes
    (Not offered 2016-2017; offered in alternating years.)

  
  • ANT 370 - Theory in Anthropology


    Instructor
    Samson

    Theoretical and interpretive perspectives in modern cultural anthropology. Issues include functionalism, historical analysis, cultural evolution, ecology, cultural materialism, structuralism, and symbolic analysis. Writings of major thinkers, including Radcliffe-Brown, Harris, Levi-Strauss, Douglas, Geertz, Turner, Godelier, and Sahlins.

    One of the courses satisfying the Theory requirement for the major in Anthropology.

    Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    ANT 101 or permission of the instructor. (Fall)

  
  • ANT 371 - Ethnographic Writing and Research


    Instructor
    Bowles

    Approaches to ethnographic and ethnohistorical research and analysis in cultural anthropology. Examination of selected studies that demonstrate a variety of approaches to the study of single cultures and to cross-cultural comparisons. Students design and complete research projects. With advance departmental approval, an off-campus ethnographic field school course may be substituted for credit toward the major.

    One of the courses satisfying the Methods requirement for the major and minor in Anthropology.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    ANT 101 or permission of the instructor. (Spring)

  
  • ANT 372 - Visualizing Anthropology


    Instructor
    Lozada

    Introduction to the theories and methods necessary for making ethnographic films. Students will conduct fieldwork and make a documentary film on a particular aspect of social and cultural behavior. Emphasis is placed on developing the critical skills needed for resolving some of the ethical, technical, and aesthetic problems that may emerge during the documentation of social and cultural behavior.

    One of the courses satisfying the Methods requirement for the major and minor in Anthropology.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    (Offered in alternating years.)

  
  • ANT 373 - Decolonizing Anthropology Theory


    Instructor

    Bowles

    This course examines the theoretical and interpretive perspectives of contemporary anthropologists outside of the US and Europe. Disciplinary issues such as the “crises of representation” alongside the decolonization of the Global South will be explored. Writings that explore the tensions between the universal and particular, theory and practice, power and knowledge and the limits of objectivity and subjectivity will also be discussed.

    One of the courses satisfying the Theory requirement for the major in Anthropology.
    Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement.
    Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    ANT 101 or permission of the instructor.

  
  • ANT 374 - Methods in Forensic Anthropology


    Instructor
    Cho

    This course concerns forensic taphonomy, the study of postmortem and postdepositional processes that occur in human and non-human animals in the medicolegal context. Students will design research projects on the decomposition process in piglets, and learn to collect, analyze, interpret, and present data.

    One of the courses satisfying the Methods requirement for the major and minor in Anthropology.

    Satisfies the Liberal Studies requirement.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    (Offered in alternating years.)

  
  • ANT 375 - Human Osteology


    Instructor
    Cho

    Identification of bones in the human skeleton and basic skeletal biology. Osteological methods and analyses applicable to bioarchaelogy and forensic anthropology are introduced.

    One of the courses satisfying the Methods requirement for the major and minor in Anthropology.

    Satisfies the Liberal Studies requirement.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    (Spring; offered in alternating years.)

  
  • ANT 376 - Comparative Skeletal Anatomy and Function


    Inxtructor
    Cho

    A comparative study of animals in various taxa, including humans, and the reconstruction of diet, locomotion, and evolutionary history from skeletal anatomy. Applications in paleoanthropology, primatology, zoology, and biomechanics.

    One of the courses satisfying the Methods requirement for the major and minor in Anthropology.

    Satisfies the Liberal Studies requirement.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    (Not offered 2016-2017; offered in alternating years.)

  
  • ANT 377 - Imaging the Earth


    Instructor
    Ringle

    The use of geographical information systems (GIS) to analyze, model, and present spatial relationships in the biological and social sciences, supplemented by other packages such as Google Earth. Field collection of spatial data with GPS units. Course is computer-based and emphasizes individual research projects.

    Satisfies the Methods requirement for the major and minor in Anthropology.
    Counts as an elective in the Data Science interdisciplinary minor.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    (Offered in alternating years.)

  
  • ANT 380-9 - Seminars in Anthropology


    Instructor
    Staff

    One-time seminars in selected topics in anthropology. Topics announced in advance.

    Satisfies a major requirement in Anthropology
     

    Prerequisites & Notes
    Not open to first-year students.

  
  • ANT 381 - Seminar in Anthropology: Traditional Asian Medical Systems


    Instructor
    Cho

    Although biomedicine is the most popular medical system in the world due to globalization, modernization, and Western cultural and political hegemony, aspects of Asian medical systems will continue to influence and gain popularity in developed nations. Acupuncture, herbal medicine, shamans, chi, Buddhist monks, and holistic care are common conceptions of Asian medical systems. However, the geographic area regarded as Asia is vast and diverse, as are its peoples and their practices. This course explores the various medical systems in the Asian continent and the health and illness etiology, and diagnostic and treatment methodologies within each system and within the context of other social institutions and history. The format of the course is mainly class discussion.

  
  • ANT 382 - Seminars in Anthropology: Renewable Natural Resources: Science & Policy (= BIO 366, ENV 366)


    Instructors
    Lozada, Paradise

    This interdisciplinary seminar course focuses on developing a scientific understanding of renewable natural resources such as fisheries and forests and how resources are then used, overused, managed, and conserved by humans.  The course primarily consider smodern methods of resource management, including adaptive and ecosystem-based management.  The course builds upon knowledge gained in the foundation courses of Anthropology, Biology, or Environmental Studies.  It addresses natural resource and environmental issues from ecosystem and policy perspectives.  Through case studies, readings, class discussions, and knowledge construction, students gain deep knowledge of ecosystem ecology and management policies and approaches.  Students then apply their knowledge to identify management principles that are consistent with a more holistic ecosystem approach and develop a case study of one natural resource and how it is managed.

    Satisfies depth or breadth course requirement in Natural or Social Science track of the Environmental Studies major or interdisciplinary minor or the breadth requirement of the Humanities track.

    Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    Successful completion of BIO 112/114, ANT 101, ENV 201, or ENV 202 is required.

  
  • ANT 386 - Seminars in Anthropology: Feminist Anthropology


    Instructor
    Staff

    Feminist Anthropology

    Satisfies a major or minor requirement in Anthropology.
    Satisfies a requirement in the Gender and Sexuality Studies major or minor.
     

  
  • ANT 388 - Stuffology: The Anthropology of Material Culture


    Instructor
    Ringle

    A seminar-format overview of how culture is constituted by material objects and practices. Topics may include the semiotics of objects, exchange and commodification, the evolution of material culture, dress & fashion, material spaces, material culture & ideology, museums and/or the display of material culture.

    Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.
     

    Prerequisites & Notes
    (Spring)

  
  • ANT 396 - Independent Research in Anthropology


    Instructor
    Staff

    Independent research under the direction of a faculty member who reviews and approves the topic(s) of the research and determines the means of evaluation.

    Satisfies a major requirement in Anthropology
     

    Prerequisites & Notes
    Two previous courses in anthropology. Limited to sophomores and juniors. (Spring)

  
  • ANT 490 - Senior Colloquium in Anthropology


    Instructor
    Staff

    Advanced seminar required of all senior majors, exploring in depth an anthropological issue of critical importance. Students choose a topic related to this issue and prepare seminar presentations and a major research paper.

    Required course for the major in Anthropology.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    Limited to senior majors and minors. (Fall)

  
  • ANT 495 - Independent Study


    Instructor
    Staff

    Independent Study in Anthropology

    Prerequisites & Notes
    (Fall)

  
  • ANT 496 - Independent Study


    Instructor
    Staff

    Independent Study in Anthropology.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    (Spring)

  
  • ANT 498 - Honors Research


    Instructor
    Staff

    Proposal formulation, research and writing of the honors thesis. ANT 498 is taken in the fall semester by qualifying senior majors and is graded in P/F mode. ANT 499 follows in the spring semester. Both courses are required for the granting of honors.

    Required for honors but does not count as a course satisfying the anthropology requirements.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    Departmental permission required. (Fall)

  
  • ANT 499 - Honors Thesis


    Instructor
    Staff

    Research and writing of the honor thesis. Concludes with a departmental oral examination. Open to qualifying senior majors.

    Required for honors and may be counted as one of the upper-level seminar requirements for the anthropology major.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    Departmental permission required. (Spring)


Arabic

  
  • ARB 101 - Elementary Arabic I (Sections A & B)


    Instructor
    Botros, Joubin, Khedher

    Elementary Arabic I, the fall semester of a year-long intensive course in first year Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), is designed for students with no previous exposure to the language. From the first semester of the course, there is a focus on gaining a strong foundation in the communicative skills of listening and speaking, as well as reading and writing. While the concentration is on Classical Arabic, there will be exposure to dialect through proverbs and music. Student participation and group activities encouraging conversation are vital to the course. Attendance at two AT (drill) sessions each week is required.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    (Fall)

  
  • ARB 102 - Elementary Arabic II (Sections A & B)


    Instructor
    Joubin or Khedher

    In Elementary Arabic II, a continuation of Elementary Arabic I, we continue to develop the communicative skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Students are further introduced to authentic texts from the Arab world. Presentations and group activities encouraging conversation are essential to the course. The course is conducted entirely in Arabic. Attendance at two AT (drill) sessions each week is required.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    ARB 101 at Davidson or passing placement exam. (Spring)

  
  • ARB 201 - Intermediate Arabic I


    Instructor
    Botros, Khedher

    Intermediate Arabic 201, the fall semester of a year-long intensive intermediate course in Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), is designed for students who have had one year of Arabic at the college level. Authentic supplementary reading material is introduced, with a focus on popular stories filled with wise sayings known throughout the Arab world. Discussion and presentations are centered on this material, which exposes students to important cultural elements of the Arab world. The course is conducted entirely in Arabic. Attendance at two AT (drill) sessions each week is required.

    Prerequisites & Notes
    ARB 102 or placement.  (Fall)

  
  • ARB 202 - Intermediate Arabic II


    Instructor
    Khedher

    Continuation of Intermediate Arabic I. 

    Prerequisites & Notes
    ARB 201 or placement.  (Spring)

 

Page: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11Forward 10 -> 16