 |
Anthropology Courses
Anthropology (ANTH) courses satisfy Area 2 of the Breadth of Study Requirements.
For additional offerings, see the catalogs of Pitzer and
Scripps colleges.
51. Social Anthropology.
Mr. Gladney 2009; Ms. Mahdavi 2010. Study of the structure and dynamics of human culture and social
institutions from a comparative perspective. Diversity in ways of life and patterns of social organization explored through ethnographic
materials from societies around the world. Each fall.
52. Human Sexuality. Mr. Bolton. Survey of knowledge about human sexual and reproductive behavior,
attitudes, concepts and values, with attention to the biological, psychological
and sociocultural dimensions of sexuality. Special consideration of “safer sex” and AIDS
prevention, and an examination of controversial issues surrounding sexuality in contemporary America. Each spring.
53. Language, Thought and Culture.
Mr. Thomas. Explorations of proposals that language
either determines or constrains thought, shapes perception or experience; reasoning and
discourse; language and information processing; cross-cultural study; attention to universals. Fall 2009;
Fall 2010.
54. Human Interactions with the Pre-industrial Environment.
Ms. Perry. Prehistory
and history of human interactions with the environment from global colonization to the
industrial revolution. Examines how humans have manipulated and been shaped by their
environment. Emphasis on the environmental, historical and cultural contexts of the agricultural
revolution and later developments, and their relevance to contemporary problems
and solutions. Spring 2011; offered alternate years.
55. Power, Politics & Culture.
Mr. Thomas. Is it possible to create a more just world or are
humans inherently competitive, violent and hierarchical? Do nation states reduce conflict
or produce it? How do different cultural systems influence politics? Examines political
arrangements in different settings, including those in the U.S.; it gives attention to new social
movements that have arisen to challenge the dominance of states. Spring 2010;
Spring 2011.
59. Archaeology. Ms. Perry. Anthropology of material culture. Introduction to the archaeological
study of prehistoric and historic societies. The relevance of the past to understanding
contemporary issues, including how and why humans differentiate themselves.
Examples are drawn from a variety of contexts including foraging societies, chiefdoms, and
states throughout the world. Spring 2010; Fall 2010.
102. Applied Anthropology.
Ms. Mahdavi. This course is designed to give an over view of
the field of applied anthropology. Introduction to the history, theory and methodology;
uses of anthropology to solve social, economic, health and development problems domestically
and internationally. Students will conduct their own fieldwork on an applied issue of
their choice. Fall 2012.
105. Methods in Anthropological Inquiry.
Ms. Mahdavi. Introduction to ethnography,
the major mode of investigation in anthropology. Emphasis on systematic inquiry and inference.
The vicissitudes of fieldwork and what it means to learn about human ways of life
using the “technology” anthropologists have developed to gather, record and use data.
Spring 2011.
107. Medical Anthropology.
Ms. Mahdavi. History, theory, methodology and application of
anthropology in various health settings. Concepts of health, illness and healing in diverse
cultural contexts. Critical assessment of conventional biomedical assumptions. Use of anthropology
to solve health problems. Spring 2011.
109. Theory in Anthropology.
Mr. Thomas. The history of anthropology in the context
of the emergence of the social sciences and the division between the sciences and the humanities.
Exercises in theory construction and evaluation. To be
announced.
110. Archaeological Methods.
Ms. Perry. Archaeological field and laboratory methods.
Formulating research designs. Consideration of archaeological theories and other relevant approaches
and techniques. Training in archaeological survey, site documentation and excavation through field
trips to the Channel Islands. Field safety, research ethics, indigenous concerns and government
legislation are also addressed. May be repeated once for credit. Prerequisite: 59 or 001PZ.
Spring 2011.
120. Altered States of Consciousness.
Ms. Perry. Throughout time and space, humans
have used deprivation, meditation, trance and psychotropic substances to produce altered
states of consciousness. This course explores how altered states are achieved, in what contexts,
and by whom; what purposes such mindsets are believed to serve; and how these practices are manifested in
art, ritual performance and other media. Fall 2009; offered alternate years.
124. The Seacoast in Prehistory.
Ms. Perry. Prehistory and history of humans in coastal
settings. Climate change, migration, and colonization; population growth and resource stress;
trade, exchange, and boat technology; and wealth and status. Complexity among coastal
hunter-gatherer and agricultural societies. Regions of focus vary, but include the Arctic,
Pacific Northwest, Polynesia, and the Caribbean. Spring 2010; offered alternate years.
129. Native California.
Ms. Perry. Through archaeology, ethnohistory and ethnography, this
course examines the diversity of indigenous cultures and societies in California between
15,000 and 100 years ago. Cultural continuity and change, land-use patterns, subsistence
and technology, political and economic systems, religion and how people related to their
specific regional environments. Fall 2010.
130. Sexuality and Sexual Politics of the Middle East.
Ms. Mahdavi. Looks at emerging
and changing sexual cultures and how they affect and are affected by changes in politics,
culture, tradition and the question of modernity in the Middle East. Examines questions of
gender, sexuality, health and human rights amongst peoples of the Middle East from an
anthropological lens. Fall 2010; offered alternate years.
135. The Social Life of Media.
Mr. Thomas. Social and cultural nature of media.
Special attention to problems of value and influence is
aesthetic, moral, and political terms, in news reporting and
commentary, sitcoms and movies, advertising uses of media in
education. Fall 2010.
150. Understanding Religion.
Mr. Thomas. Religious experience in differing societies.
Questions about religious practices in relation to practitioners' thoughts, feelings, values
and social circumstances: development of approaches helpful in exploring religious life;
attention to world-view, myth, ritual, witchcraft, taboo, shamanism and pollution; special
attention to new, revitalizing and politicizing religious movements.
Spring 2010; Spring 2011.
151. Gender in Prehistory.
Ms. Perry. Gender ideology and dynamics in different
sociocultural contexts in the past. Origins of gender-based
division of labor. Definitions and categories of gender in
traditional societies. Matriarchal and matrilineal
societies. Examples will be drawn from a variety of contexts
ranging from the earliest humans to indigenous societies to
historic empires. Fall 2009; offered alternate years.
152. Ethnic Nationalism.
Mr. Gladney. Contemporary theories of ethnic and cultural
nationalism from social science perspectives. Issues of nation-states, power hierarchies,
modernity and identity in contemporary societies. Spring 2012;
offered alternate years.
153. Comparative Muslim Societies in Asia.
Mr. Gladney. Course surveys and analyzes
the wide diversity found among Muslim communities and Islamic societies. Issues of the
requirement of the pilgrimage, the centrality of the Mosques, the finding of Muslim mates
in many non-Muslim areas, and the religio-political movements. Spring 2011; offered alternate years.
155. Globalization. Mr. Thomas. The nature of globalization and of claims made about it;
examination of neoliberalism; transnational labor, media, tourism and youth culture; regional
and world systems historically and cross-culturally; opposition movements; impacts
on local communities. Fall 2009; offered alternate years.
162. Andean Cultures. Mr. Bolton.
Focusing on highland South America, this course explores cultural continuities and changes in contemporary Andean communities, with special
emphasis on the Lake Titicaca region of the Peruvian Altiplano. Ethnographic readings
and lectures will cover religion, gender, subsistence, health, environment, politics, tourism
and ethnohistory. Spring 2011; offered alternate years.
168. Seminar: Gay and Lesbian Ethnography.
Mr. Bolton. There has been an explosion of
anthropological and sociological writings on the lives of gay men and lesbians in diverse
cultures. Examines ethnographic and historic perspectives on homosexualities in the
United States and other societies. Spring 2010; offered alternate years.
191. Senior Thesis. Staff. May be taken for half-course in both semesters of the last year, or
as full course in either semester of the senior year.
192. Senior Project. Staff. Course or half-course. May be taken for half-course in both
semesters of the last year, or as full course in either semester of the senior year.
99/199. Reading and Research in Anthropology.
Staff. Prerequisite: permission of
instructor or department chair. 99, lower-level; 199, advanced work. Course or half-course.
May be repeated. Each semester. (Summer Reading and Research taken as 98/198.)
|
