Courses
Anthropology
ANTH-152 Public Culture
This course is an anthropological introduction to public culture in the U.S. It takes public cultureto be: a public circulation of sensibilities,identities, dreams, styles, discourses, and forms of power; and a way of life enacted and given formin the practices of everyday life and ininstitutions, laws, social movements, physical andsocial spaces, and expressive forms. Students willbe introduced to key terms and theories in contemporary anthropology and their application inthe study of representation; historical imagination; gender, sexuality, and identity politics; and nationalism, citizenship, and globalization.
ANTH-162 Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
Students learn about the major themes and analyticapproaches of cultural anthropology. Topics covered include: the culture concept; cultural relativism; ethnography; ritual; religion; sexuality; gender; race; class; ethnicity; kinship; political economy; and globalization and transnationalism. World regions studied vary and may include: Asia, the Middle East, Africa, North America, South America, and Europe.
ANTH-200 Topics in Anthropology
Intermediate study of selected topics. Topics vary and depend on student and instructor interest. Possibilities include the anthropology of modernity, cross-cultural perspectives on gender and sexuality, and drugs and culture.
ANTH-220 Magic, Witchcraft & Religion
Examines anthropological concepts of magic, witchcraft, and religion in a cross-cultural context. Drawing on ethnography, anthropological theory, history, and film, the class explores the nature of magic, witchcraft, and religion; the relations among them; and the ways in which they interact with other social formations, for examplegender, politics, and economics. Countries studiedhave included South Africa, India, Haiti, and the U.S.
ANTH-222 Life During Wartime
This course will explore key understandings and discourses about war and the intersection of anthropology and violent conflict. It will begin with an introduction to anthropological theory andmethods, examine the role of anthropology in both understanding and responding to war and violent conflict, and will then turn its attention toliterature and materials drawn or arising from current wars and violent conflicts, includingtexts, journal and magazine articles, documentary and thenographic films, television and popular films, and newspapers. The course will seek to understand how we understand war and what role it plays in cultural practice.
ANTH-227 Native America North of Mexico
This course is an interdisciplinary introduction to the histories and cultures of the indigenous peoples north of Mexico. Topics to be considered include cultural diversity, colonial history and federal Indian policy, land use patterns, identityand ethnicity, myth and ritual, contemporary issues, representations of Native Americans in thedominant culture, and the role of cultural revitalization and innovation in the negotiation of contemporary community survival. Course readings represent a variety of perspectives,including historical, ethnographic, ecological, and literary.
ANTH-237 Museums and Anthropology
This course is an interdisciplinary exploration ofkey interrelationships between museums, anthropology, and the practices of representation.Students will be introduced to the history ofmuseums and will also be given the analyticaltools to read museums and exhibitions as cultural texts. The course focuses on the production and meanings of public museums and other exhibitionaryspaces. We will pay close attention to issues of representation in anthropological and other arenas, to how museums communicate information about cultural-historical processes and events, and to the formation of ethnographic and other subjects. While anthropology and museum studies are the course's focus, we will not restrict our readings to those disciplines and modes of representation alone but will consider other disciplinary perspectives and offerings.
ANTH-310 National, Transnational Communities
Considers the nature of belonging in the world today. Who is "at home?" Who is displaced/out of place? Begins with theories of the nation andanthropological research on national communities and nation-building, then turns to a considerationof those considered outsiders to the nation-state,i.e., diasporic, transnational, and refugee communities. Addresses culture as it is formed by the globalization of capital, commodities, media, literacy, and international political and religious movements. Topics covered may include Jewish, Palestinian, African, and Chinese diasporas, refugees in Tanzania and in Europe, andIndian intellectuals in the U.S.
ANTH-312 History & Culture of Jewish Cuisines
Examines the meanings and uses of various Jewish cuisines as they developed in diverse regions and historical periods. Will consider the laws ofkashrut and their modern interpretations, thesocial history of traditional Jewish foods, the literary development of Jewish cookbooks, andliterary and cinematic representations of Jewish cuisines and dining.
ANTH-322 Visual Anthropology
Explores key interrelationships between image-making and ethnographic discovery and representation. Students will be introduced to thehistory of ethnographic film and photography, and will also be given the analytical tools to read popular films and photographs as cultural texts. The course focuses on the production, representation and use of images to communicate information about cultural-historical processes, events, and subjects.
ANTH-341 Family and Kinship
A comparative study of family and kinship. Covers the structures and functions of family and kinshipin different cultures. Emphasizes historical and contemporary changes in knowledge and practice focused on family, marriage, procreation, andkinship in the US and the consequences of those changes for society.
ANTH-360 Religious Fundamentalisms Modern World
This course examines religious beliefs, practices,and ways of life that have come to be labled "fundamentalist." We will attend in particular totheir emergence in the modern world and the ways in which they critically engage secular convictions about morality, aesthetics, and epistemology. We will focus on Protestant Fundamentalism and the Islamic Revival, but, depending on student interest, may also consider ultra-orthodox Judaism or Hindu nationalism.
ANTH-400 History Anthropological Theory
Surveys major anthropological theories (e.g.,evolutionism, functionalism, structuralism, symbolism, and post-modernism) and theorists (e.g., Malinowski, Radcliffe-Brown,L233vi-Strauss, Geertz, and Clifford). Examines how ideas about culture have changed over time. Takes a critical perspective by locating boththeories and theorists within national and historical frameworks.
ANTH-413 Race, Ethnicity & Minorities
Focuses on race and ethnic relations in contemporary society, and popular understandings of race and ethnicity in the US. Explores theboundaries and markers for membership in an ethnic, racial, or minority group. Specifically, this course regards race as a social construct that has significance for structural opportunities, experiences, world-views, and conceptions of self and others. Strategies used bydominant groups to maintain their power and privilege, and those used by subordinate groups tocreate and preserve their cultural identity and toresist their subordination also are examined.
ANTH-500 Seminar
Seminars are offered on selected topics of the instructor's interest.
Sociology
SOCI-101 Principles of Sociology
Methods and approaches of scientific analysis applied to contemporary cultures and societies. Includes socialization, individual and group interaction, major social institutions, social organizations, social change, and collective behavior.
SOCI-102 Social Problems
Basic concepts and principles of sociology appliedto significant social problems. Examines social disorganization, cultural conflicts, and personal deviations associated with the stress ofindustrialization, urban life, and bureaucracy.
SOCI-200 Topics in Sociology
Intermediate study of selected topics. Topics varyand depend on student and instructor interest. Possibilities include social policy analysis,sociology of dissent, juvenile delinquency, and sex roles. Prerequisite: SOCI-101, ANTH-162, or permission of the instructor.
SOCI-202 Black Feminism I
Black feminisim is the study of how gender, race, and class issues are inextricably linked to oppression. Black feminisim goes beyondmainstream feminism and sees itself as acollective social movement. This course is primarily an activist response to intersecting oppressions that subordinate black women and others in terms of race, gender, class, sexuality,nation, and the need for autonomy in the face of the privileged. Politics not only concerns personal experiences, however challenging andcourageous, but must address larger agendas that go beyond individual temperament, choices, and placement. There are no formal prerequisites for this course.
SOCI-206 Gendered Bodies and Social Control
Gendered roled are delineated by the norms and behviors that an individual is expected to performin society. Such roles change over time. This course combines the social construction of gender,the mechanisms through which society controls"gendered" bodies, and how gender intersects with race, ethnicity, class, disability, sexuality, age, and other dimensions of identity. Normative behavior and performance, group sexual misconduct,sexual politics, and living with apparant contradiction in regards to gender are key topics.
SOCI-210 Caribbean Culture and Society
This course considers the history, politics, economics, and culture of the people of the Caribbean area. It focuses on issues of self-identity and expression within the context ofhegemonic European values and institutions.
SOCI-220 Research Methods
This course introduces students to research designs and qualitative and quantitativetechniques for social sciences. Topics include therelationship between theory and research, techniques of literature review, survey research, questionnaire design, interviewing techniques, observations, content analysis, case studies, and experimental designs.
SOCI-230 Social Psychology
The study of how individuals are influenced by social interactions. Examines social phenomena such as attitude change, conformity, impression formation, stereotyping, aggression, and helping. Includes research methods and results, explanatorytheories, and application to practical problems.
SOCI-240 Gerontology
Examines the importance of age as a variable influencing human behavior and social organization. Emphasizes health, housing, socioeconomic status, personal adjustments, retirement, and social participation.
SOCI-253 Crime and Delinquency
An examination of the nature, extent, and causes of crime and delinquency. Includes the analysis ofthe various types of criminal and delinquent behavior along with their respective behaviorsystems. Also addresses major current issues in crime and delinquency.
SOCI-254 Criminal Justice
Delineation and examination of the criminal justice system. Emphasizes the concepts of criminal law and criminal justice along with the functioning of the police, the courts, and corrections. Also considered is the examination ofmajor controversies and issues of the criminal justice system.
SOCI-300 Black Feminism II
Black Feminism II is an advanced-level interrogation of black feminism -- its theory, discourse, and practical application. It is the continued study of how gender, race, and class issues are inextricably linked to oppression,power, and privilege. The course focuses on individual, institutional, and activist responses to intersecting oppressions that subordinate blackwomen and others in terms of race, gender, class, sexuality, nation, and self-definitions.
SOCI-310 Political Psychology
Examines the political thinking and politicalactions of American citizens, with a special focuson citizens' roles and responsibilities in a democratic political system. Theories and findingsfrom political science and social psychology are used to explore topics including public opinion, voting, judicial behavior, and the thinking and actions of political leaders.
SOCI-311 Sociological Theory
Western social theory from Comte to the present with emphasis on recent developments. Considers major schools, including positivism, conflicttheory, symbolic interactionism, functionalism, social exchange theory, critical theory,phenomenological theory, and postmodernism.
SOCI-315 Social Stratification
This course examines factors that contribute to social stratification in contemporary society. Specifically, the course looks at three dimensionsof social stratification, namely the economic, political, and ideological dimensions and interaction of race, class, and gender in this process. Topics include theories of social stratification, occupational prestige and mobility, segregation, corporate welfare, social welfare, and the ideology of legitimization.
SOCI-316 Social Justice
Social Justice is a team-taught course that recognizes that oppression occurs in multipleforms in any given society. The distribution of advantages and disadvantages can be affected by capitalistic systems, greed, personal intention, social and/or political agendas, and even compromise. We will study the changing dynamics of oppression, earned and unearned privileges, andcompeting theories of social justice that areinfluenced by race, ethnicity, nationality, ability, gender, class, and sexuality. Students will engage in social justice projects that engagethem and others in understanding startegies for social transformation in areas as diverse as access to technology, globalization, and ethics.
SOCI-331 Social Control and Deviance
Processes, agencies, and methods that influence members of groups to conform to social norms.Includes factors producing deviant behavior patterns. Covers individual socialization andinstitutional and personality patterns affecting internal and external control processes. Examines power, class and status, formal and informal groupsanctions, and ideological forces of social control.
SOCI-333 Development, Globalization & Society
A study of the relationship between economic development paradigms, institutions, and groups insociety. It focuses on international economicrelationships, world order, and the resultantsocial and political conflict. More specifically, this course examines how global economicdevelopment policy since the 1960s has influenced relations between states, major institutions,organizations, and social groupings both in the developed and developing world.
SOCI-341 Family and Kinship
A comparative study of the family as a universal human group. Covers the structures and functions of families in different cultures. Emphasizeshistorical and contemporary changes in the American family and the consequences of thosechanges for society.
SOCI-374 Social Work
Introduces and exposes students to the various aspects of social work and social welfare. Includes examples of casework, group work, community organizations, and a combination ofcurrent practices. Explores how society provides services to meet human needs through public, voluntary and combined efforts.
SOCI-410 Economic Sociology
This course provides an introduction to sociological analyses of the economy, economic processes, and economic institutions. The centralgoal of this course is to understand how economic activities are both enabled and constrained by social relations and social institutions includingpolitics and culture. The course will focus on key theories and concepts developed in the subfield of "economic" sociology" as well as empirical applications of these ideas toreal-world economic phenomena.
SOCI-413 Race, Ethnicity & Minorities
Focuses on race and ethnic relations in contemporary society. Explores the boundaries and markers for being a member of an ethnic, racial, or minority group. Specifically, this course regards race as a social construct that has significance for structural opportunities, experiences, world-views, and conceptions of self and others. Strategies used by dominant groups to maintain their power and privilege, and those usedby subordinate groups to create and preserve theircultural identity and to resist their subordination also are examined.
SOCI-500 Seminar
One or more seminars are offered annually on selected topics of the instructor's interest.
SOCI-570 Practicum
Supervised field work in selected social workagencies. Students will keep a log, meet with a faculty member to discuss work, and write a paper.
SOCI-571 Practicum
Supervised field work in selected social workagencies. Students will keep a log, meet with a faculty member to discuss work, and write a paper.
