CULTURAL AND LINGUISTIC ANTHROPOLOGY

Human Society and Culture - V14.0001.001, Siu
Section 002, Monday 8:00-9:15
Section 003, Monday 9:30-10:45
Section 004, Tuesday 11:00-12:15
Section 005, Tuesday 2:00-3:15
Section 006, Thursday 2:00-3:15
Section 007, Wednesday 4:55-6:10
Section 008, Friday 11:00-12:15
Section 009, Friday 2:00-3:15
This course introduces anthropology as a project of studying, knowing and representing human cultural differences, beliefs and variously organized forms of social practice. In the first half of the semester, classic and contemporary models concerning human difference that have been offered by economics, biology, and psychology, for example, will be examined in light of anthropology's history of ethnographic research and theory. What do theories about human nature presume and assert, and what makes them persuasive? How have ideas about human nature been ingredients in historical processes, such as Western science, colonialism and capitalism? In the second half of the semester, we will examine how the idea of "culture" affects our understanding of contemporary globalization, and in turn, how present world circumstances have revised our classic definitions of culture. By reflecting on anthropology's changing models of what is natural and invariable and what is cultural and changeable, we will consider the possibilities of using anthropological knowledge and techniques for addressing ethical and political issues.

Anthropology of Religion - V14.0030, Zito
We will examine in lectures and readings the relation of religion and society. The category of religion itself will be discussed. We will emphasize the relationship between belief and action; ritual performance; symbolism, myth and space; and how religion contributes to the social creation of the gendered self. We will read articles and ethnographies on the practice of religion in the everyday context of non-Western and Western societies. Students will observe a public religious ritual in an assigned location.

Cultural Symbols - V14.0048, Beidelman, Prerequisite V14.0001
Surveys the various symbolic systems employed by the world's people, considering their use in myth, ritual, literature and art and the kinds of anthropological theories applied to explain their power and forms. Approaches theory through case studies, providing a diverse view of world cultures. Utilizes materials from all continents; emphasizes non-Western, nonliterate societies though some material from the west is also used.

Anthropology of Gender and Sexuality ? V14.0112, Kulick, Prerequisite V14.0001
This course will examine theoretical and anthropological approaches to gender and sexuality. How have anthropologists examined gender and sexuality? What topics are the focus of attention and debate today? We will begin by building a solid understanding of how to think about gender and sexuality. We will read classic feminist texts, as well as classic anthropological works, such as The Sexual Lives of Savages and Coming of Age in Samoa. We will discuss the relationship between biology and gender, and explore gender and sexuality as discursive formations, through both theoretical writings (e.g. by Foucault), and ethnographic studies. Topics to be discussed include body modifications, prostitution, transgenderism, socialization, queer theory, reproductive technologies and sexual citizenship.

Language and Law - V14.0329, Schieffelin, Prerequisite V14.0001
We will as a group make 1 or 2 trips to Lower Manhattan?s small claims court early in the semester. At that time class members will tape record arbitration cases or cases heard before a judge. Each person will chose a case, or if the case in lengthy (more than 15 minutes), two people can work on a case together. Cases will be transcribed and analyzed using several different approaches to discourse analysis.

Senior Seminar: Drugs, Politics, and Culture - V14.0800, Martin, Prerequisite V14.0001 and permission of the instructor

ARCHAEOLOGY AND PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY

Human Evolution - V14.0002, Di Fiore
Lab section 002, Monday 9:30-10:45
Lab section 003, Monday 11:00-12:15
Lab section 004, Wednesday 11:00-12:15
Lab section 005, Wednesday 3:30-4:45
Investigates the evolutionary origins of humans. The study of human evolution is a multidisciplinary endeavor, involving a synthesis of concepts, techniques and research findings from a variety of different scientific fields, including evolutionary biology, paleontology, primatology, comparative anatomy, genetics, molecular biology, geology and archaeology. Explores the different contributions that scientists have made towards understanding human origins and provides a detailed survey of the evidence used to reconstruct the evolutionary history of our own species. Students must register for one of the recitations/laboratories scheduled for this class.

Archaeology: Early Societies and Cultures - V14.0003, Crabtree
Lab section 002, Tuesday 9:30-10:45
Lab section 003, Tuesday 11:00-12:15
Lab section 004, Monday 3:30-4:45
Lab section 005, Wednesday 12:30-1:45
Introduces contemporary archaeology, its theories, practices and early societies and cultures. Examines current methodological and theoretical viewpoints of archaeological scholarship within the discipline of anthropology. Focuses on key transformations in cultural evolution, such as the origins of modern humans, the emergence of food production, and the development of complex societies, urbanism, and early states. Explores gender roles, landscapes and settlements, technologies, art, cognitive systems, urbanism and state formation. Students must register for one of the recitations/laboratories scheduled for this class.

Evolution and Biology of Human Behavior - V14.0052, Jolly, Prerequisite V14.0002
The course is topically oriented towards the evolution of human dietary, locomotor and social behavior. The course provides both breadth and depth to the student by introducing the different subfields of anthropology, and draws examples from a number of social and natural science disciplines. The methods and problem of reconstructing hominid behavior in the past, and its relevance for understanding the unique behavior of modern man, are treated throughout the course from many different perspectives. The course surveys the fossil and archeological evidence for dietary behavior, with critical attention being focused on "women the gatherer", "man the hunter" and hunting versus scavenging as models for hominid behavioral evolution. The origin of bipedalism, the evolution of the hand, the significance of fire in human evolution, the evolution of human life-history and the development of the human brain and speech will be reviewed in some detail. The course will also examine sociobiology, human and comparative ethology, aggression, cooperation, and sociality in an evolutionary and adaptive framework. Hominid adaptation to the environment is an ongoing theme, from the tropical rainforests in the Miocene to the Savanna in the Plio-Pleistocene and the glacial cold of the Holarctic Pleistocene.

First Cities and States - V14.0211, Wright, Prerequisite V14.0003
This course explores the evolution of human culture from the end of the Pleistocene up through the development of complex societies. Topics to be discussed include the origins of agriculture and its effects on human society, the origins of agriculture and its effects on human society, the origins of cities, and of the first civilizations in the Old and New World. The course will also focus on the differing ways that archaeologists have explained the long record of human achievement.

Barbarian Europe - V14.0217, Crabtree, Prerequisite V14.0003
When Julius Caesar described the customs of the native inhabitants of Gaul in his account of his campaigns, he was writing of a land where agriculture had been practiced for nearly 5000 years with out the emergence of the societal organization of the state. During these 5000 years, however, the lands of temperate Europe had witnessed a remarkable series of social and economic transformations that represented a transition from a hunting and gathering way of life to urban chiefdom. Along the way, these hunter-gatherers became agriculturalists and stockherders, learned to use metals, and developed social structures as complex as any found in other Old World civilizations. The goal of this course is to examine these changes in prehistoric Europe from about 8000 B.C. to the arrival of the Romans.

Introduction to Forensic Anthropology ? V14.0326, Antón, Prerequisite V14.0002
Biological anthropology examines the evolutionary history and adaptability of humans and our ancestors. Forensic anthropology is an applied subfield of biological anthropology that provides expert analysis of the skeleton in a medicolegal setting by utilizing methods developed in skeletal biology, archaeology, and the forensic sciences. Forensic anthropologists play critical roles in identifying victims of mass fatalities (such as World Trade Center and Kansas City bombings), homicides (such as identifying the Russian Tsar?s family) and distinguishing cause of death. We will examine how forensic anthropologists approach modern and historic crimes in the laboratory and the field. Students will be introduced to the underlying theory and the applied techniques that forensic anthropologists use to recover and identify individuals and assess cause of death. Course grades are based on two written midterms and a final, and a written critique of a popular fictional forensic anthropology account or popular case study account with a skeletal theme.

Topical Seminar: Discovering Archaeology in NYC - V14.0511.001
Wright, Prerequisite V14.0003
Discovering archaeology in New York City explores local and global cultural heritages in the city's neighborhoods and its major museums. It includes the archaeology of New York city embedded in its neighborhoods, museums devoted to Native American cultures and global outreach, including major collections renowned throughout the world. Our focus will be on understanding these pasts at first hand, critiquing the views presented, and raising various ethical questions regarding cultural heritage, marketing antiquities and looting, and responsibilities to descendant communities and foreign governments.
Our first discoveries will be in New York City, where we will trace the human and environmental changes that have transformed its landscape from a forager's paradise to an urban mecca. Site visits will include prehistoric places in Staten Island and Inwood Park and locations of historical interest in Greenwich Village and Lower Manhattan. Our global explorations will take us to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and its Near Eastern and Egyptian collections and the American Museum of Natural History, where we will study its collections from the New World, including North America, Mesoamerica and South America. Our last stop will be the Museum of the American Indian, where important collections and recent acquisitions are displayed.
Most of this course will take place outside of the classroom, since we will be making group site visits to various parts of the City, although some will be carried out on your own. Students will need flexibility in their schedules in order to be available for these field trips.

Honors Seminar: Topics in Archaeological Research - V14.0511.002 White, Prerequisite V14.0003 and permission of the instructor

Topical Seminar II: Biology of the Living Primates - V14.0512, Jolly, Prerequisite V14.0002

Human Osteology ? G14.1516, Antón, Prerequisite V14.0002, open to advanced undergraduates with permission of the instructor
This course provides an intensive introduction to the human skeleton emphasizing the identification of fragmentary human remains. There will be weekly practical quizzes, two practical midterms, and a practical final. This knowledge forms the underpinning for advanced study in forensic anthropology, paleoanthropology, and human osteology. The courses consist of three hours of class time per week, and independent student laboratory time. You should anticipate at least 15 hours per week of independent laboratory study time. There is a notebook due at the end of the term.

CULTURAL MAP COURSES

World Cultures: Africa ? V55.0505
Beidelman

World Cultures: Latin America ? V55.0515
Abercrombie

Nicole Hughes
Undergraduate Secretary

Professor Todd Disotell
Director of Undergraduate Studies