Archives

Fall 2020

Last Hunters-First Farmers (ANTH-UA 608)

The transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture and animal husbandry is often called the Agricultural Revolution. This change in human subsistence strategies led to changes in many other aspects of human life, including settlement patterns, demography, social organization, and religious practices. It also provided the economic basis for the development of complex urban societies in many regions of the world. Examines the archaeological evidence for the transition from foraging to farming on a worldwide basis.

Anthropology (Undergraduate)
4 credits – 15 Weeks

Sections (Fall 2020)

ANTH-UA 608-000 (18677)09/02/2020 – 12/13/2020 Tue,Thu9:00 AM – 10:00 AM (Morning)at Washington SquareInstructed by Crabtree, Pam

Liberal Arts & Sciences - Electives Societies & the Social Sciences Undergraduate
Spring 2020

Religion and Media (ANTH-UA 220)

This course introduces the long-standing and complex connection between religious practices and various media. We’ll analyze how human hearing, vision, and the performing body have been used historically to express and maintain religious life through music, voice, images, words, and rituals. Time will then be spent on more recent electronic media such as radio, film, television, video, and the Internet. An anthropological/ historical perspective on studying religion is pursued.

Anthropology (Undergraduate)
4 credits – 15 Weeks

Sections (Spring 2020)

ANTH-UA 220-000 (20043)01/27/2020 – 05/11/2020 Tue,Thu11:00 AM – 12:00 AM (Morning)at Washington SquareInstructed by Zito, Angela · Momin, Shayan

Liberal Arts & Sciences - Electives Societies & the Social Sciences Undergraduate
Fall 2019

Prehistoric Hunters and Gatherers (ANTH-UA 210)

Although they are no longer the dominant form of human sociality or adaptation, hunter-gatherers continue to play a pivotal role in anthropological theory. But who are hunter-gatherers? Some argue that the problem with trying to pigeon-hole hunter-gatherers is that this taxonomic unit holds little practical or evolutionary legitimacy. Others contend that people have evidently lived off the land without agriculture or animal husbandry, so at some level, hunter-gatherer is a meaningful category. Yet, few of the qualities assigned to hunter-gatherers hold up to detailed cross-cultural investigation. For example, hunter-gatherer subsistence is not inherently linked to peaceful coexistence, affluence, small group sizes or settlement mobility. Moreover, hunter-gatherer populations commonly thought to be deeply entrenched in evolutionary time are now known to result from complex historical processes of globalization and colonial expansion. This course will explore the diversity of lifeways subsumed under the banner of the hunter-gatherer. Drawing on a wide range of cross-cultural datasets, the course will unpack hunter-gatherer behavioral variability across broad topics, not paradigms. We will examine variations in hunter-gatherer subsistence, mobility, social organization, belief systems, landscape use, and material culture. Finally, we will ask to what degree the concept of the hunter-gatherer and the study of modern hunter-gatherers can help anthropologists understand and explore human behavior in the deeper past.

Anthropology (Undergraduate)
4 credits – 14 Weeks

Sections (Fall 2019)

ANTH-UA 210-000 (19127)09/03/2019 – 12/13/2019 Mon,Wed9:00 AM – 10:00 AM (Morning)at Washington SquareInstructed by Pargeter, Justin

Liberal Arts & Sciences - Electives Societies & the Social Sciences Undergraduate
Fall 2019

Media, Culture, and Society (ANTH-UA 123)

This course examines the social and political life of media and how it makes a difference in the daily lives of people as a practice – in production, reception, or circulation. It is organized around the following key questions: What is media? What role do media play in producing or shaping our sense of reality? What is the relationship between media and culture? How are media implicated in social change? It provides an overview of the increasing theoretical attention paid to the mass media by anthropologists, and focuses on concrete ethnographic examples.

Anthropology (Undergraduate)
4 credits – 14 Weeks

Sections (Fall 2019)

ANTH-UA 123-000 (19130)09/03/2019 – 12/13/2019 Tue,Thu9:00 AM – 10:00 AM (Morning)at Washington SquareInstructed by Ganti, Tejaswini

Liberal Arts & Sciences - Electives Societies & the Social Sciences Undergraduate
Spring 2019

Topical Seminar in Biological Anthropology I (ANTH-UA 511)

Only open to majors in anthropology who have the permission of the director of undergraduate studies or the instructor. This seminar explores, theoretically and methodologically, selected key current issues and problems in biological anthropology. See the department?s internal catalog.

Anthropology (Undergraduate)
4 credits – 15 Weeks

Sections (Spring 2019)

ANTH-UA 511-000 (18726)01/28/2019 – 05/13/2019 Tue,Thu9:00 AM – 10:00 AM (Morning)at Washington SquareInstructed by

Liberal Arts & Sciences - Electives Societies & the Social Sciences Undergraduate
Spring 2019

Archaeology: Early Societies & Culture (ANTH-UA 3)

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.

Anthropology (Undergraduate)
4 credits – 15 Weeks

Sections (Spring 2019)

ANTH-UA 3-000 (7811)01/28/2019 – 05/13/2019 Mon,Wed11:00 AM – 12:00 AM (Morning)at Washington SquareInstructed by

ANTH-UA 3-000 (7812)01/28/2019 – 05/13/2019 Thu9:00 AM – 10:00 AM (Morning)at Washington SquareInstructed by

ANTH-UA 3-000 (7813)01/28/2019 – 05/13/2019 Thu11:00 AM – 12:00 AM (Morning)at Washington SquareInstructed by

Liberal Arts & Sciences - Electives Societies & the Social Sciences Undergraduate
Spring 2019

Human Ecology (ANTH-UA 90)

This course seeks to assess the degree to which variations in human biology and culture can be understood as adaptations to varying external conditions. We examine the relationship of human systems of action and the natural world in order to understand the various forms of human adaptation. Case studies of several living peoples, contemporary and past biological communities, and prehistoric cultures provide the material for interpretation and evaluation of theoretical positions.

Anthropology (Undergraduate)
4 credits – 15 Weeks

Sections (Spring 2019)

ANTH-UA 90-000 (22566)01/28/2019 – 05/13/2019 Tue,Thu3:00 PM – 4:00 PM (Late afternoon)at Washington SquareInstructed by

Liberal Arts & Sciences - Electives Societies & the Social Sciences Undergraduate
Fall 2022

Evolutionary Medicine (ANTH-UA 55)

Examines human health and disease within an ecological framework, exploring the interactions of environmental, genetic, physiological, and cultural factors in the expression and distribution of human diseases. Develops pathology profiles for nonhuman primates; prehistoric human populations; and hunting and gathering, agricultural, and industrial groups, with emphasis on the expression of infectious disease in human history and newly (re-) emerging diseases.

Anthropology (Undergraduate)
4 credits – 15 Weeks

Sections (Fall 2022)

ANTH-UA 55-000 (23015)09/01/2022 – 12/14/2022 Fri11:00 AM – 1:00 PM (Morning)at Washington SquareInstructed by DeCasien, Alex · Hernandez Burgos, Saine

Liberal Arts & Sciences - Electives Physical Science OR Life Science Societies & the Social Sciences Undergraduate
Spring 2022

Barbarian Europe (ANTH-UA 217)

Between the end of the Ice Age and the expansion of the Roman Empire, temperate Europe witnessed a series of social and economic transformations that represented a transition from a hunting and gathering way of life to urban chiefdoms. Along the way, these hunter-gatherers became agriculturalists and stockherders, learned to use metals, and developed social structures as complex as any found in Old World civilizations. Examines changes in later prehistoric Europe from about 8000 B.C. to the arrival of the Romans.

Anthropology (Undergraduate)
4 credits – 15 Weeks

Sections (Spring 2022)

ANTH-UA 217-000 (20428)01/24/2022 – 05/09/2022 Mon,Wed12:00 AM – 1:00 PM (Early afternoon)at Washington SquareInstructed by Crabtree, Pam

Liberal Arts & Sciences - Electives Societies & the Social Sciences Undergraduate
Spring 2022

Language, Culture, and Society (ANTH-UA 17)

Explores the role of language in culture and society by focusing on gender, ethnicity, social class, verbal genres, literacy, and worldview.

Anthropology (Undergraduate)
4 credits – 15 Weeks

Sections (Spring 2022)

ANTH-UA 17-000 (7778)01/24/2022 – 05/09/2022 Mon,Wed9:00 AM – 10:00 AM (Morning)at Washington SquareInstructed by Das, Sonia

ANTH-UA 17-000 (9543)01/24/2022 – 05/09/2022 Wed12:00 AM – 1:00 PM (Early afternoon)at Washington SquareInstructed by Li, Shuting

ANTH-UA 17-000 (7779)01/24/2022 – 05/09/2022 Wed3:00 PM – 4:00 PM (Late afternoon)at Washington SquareInstructed by Li, Shuting

ANTH-UA 17-000 (24440)01/24/2022 – 05/09/2022 Fri2:00 PM – 3:00 PM (Early afternoon)at Washington SquareInstructed by Franco, Pedro

Liberal Arts & Sciences - Electives Societies & the Social Sciences Undergraduate
Fall 2021

Introduction to Forensic Anthropology (ANTH-UA 326)

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 Oklahoma City bombings), in investigating homicides (such as identifying the Russian tsar?s family), and in distinguishing cause of death. We examine how forensic anthropologists approach modern and historic crimes in the laboratory and the field. Students are introduced to the underlying theory and the applied techniques that forensic anthropologists use to recover and identify individuals and assess cause of death.

Anthropology (Undergraduate)
4 credits – 15 Weeks

Sections (Fall 2021)

ANTH-UA 326-000 (9746)09/02/2021 – 12/14/2021 Fri2:00 PM – 4:00 PM (Early afternoon)at Washington SquareInstructed by Ortiz, Alejandra · Hernandez, Jasmine

Liberal Arts & Sciences - Electives Societies & the Social Sciences Undergraduate
Fall 2021

Primate Communication (ANTH-UA 59)

Examines how primates communicate and why their communication takes the forms it does. Discusses general issues associated with the study of animal communication: potential functions of communication, different modalities by which communicative signals can be transmitted, types of information that can be conveyed via each of these modalities, and ways in which researchers go about studying animal communication systems. Examines ways environmental and sociological factors influence the evolution of forms of communication.

Anthropology (Undergraduate)
4 credits – 15 Weeks

Sections (Fall 2021)

ANTH-UA 59-000 (20885)09/02/2021 – 12/14/2021 Mon4:00 PM – 7:00 PM (Late afternoon)at Washington SquareInstructed by Lawrence, Jenna

Liberal Arts & Sciences - Electives Societies & the Social Sciences Undergraduate
Fall 2021

Language, Power, Identity (ANTH-UA 16)

Explores how identity is a process of “becoming” rather than a mode of “being” by examining how speakers enact their gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, and socioeconomic class through everyday conversations, narratives, performances, literacy activities, and public debates. Also explores the moral and political consequences of people’s identification strategies by examining how their beliefs about language reinforce or contest normative power structures. Readings on the relationship between bilingual education and accent discrimination, multilingualism and youth counterculture, migration and code-switching, media and religious publics, linguistic nationalism and xenophobia, and literacy and neo/liberalism in different areas of the world.

Anthropology (Undergraduate)
4 credits – 15 Weeks

Sections (Fall 2021)

ANTH-UA 16-000 (20883)09/02/2021 – 12/14/2021 Wed11:00 AM – 1:00 PM (Morning)at Washington SquareInstructed by Das, Sonia · Franco, Pedro

Liberal Arts & Sciences - Electives Societies & the Social Sciences Undergraduate
Fall 2021

Culture, Power, Society (ANTH-UA 1)

What does it mean to think anthropologically? This course considers historically foundational practices of anthropological thought, its core method, fieldwork, and its most influential product, the ethnography, in order to think practically and creatively along the lines of what constitutes cultures, societies, translation, and difference. A central goal is to advance the concept of culture, with its attendant solidarities, hierarchies, and exclusions, in order to better understand continually changing systems of collective identifications.

Anthropology (Undergraduate)
4 credits – 15 Weeks

Sections (Fall 2021)

ANTH-UA 1-000 (7762)09/02/2021 – 12/14/2021 Tue,Thu11:00 AM – 12:00 AM (Morning)at Washington SquareInstructed by Zhang, Amy

ANTH-UA 1-000 (7763)09/02/2021 – 12/14/2021 Fri8:00 AM – 9:00 AM (Morning)at Washington SquareInstructed by Jaramillo, Alejandro

ANTH-UA 1-000 (7764)09/02/2021 – 12/14/2021 Fri8:00 AM – 9:00 AM (Morning)at Washington SquareInstructed by Sengupta, Rohan

ANTH-UA 1-000 (7765)09/02/2021 – 12/14/2021 Fri9:00 AM – 10:00 AM (Morning)at Washington SquareInstructed by Peckham, Moira

ANTH-UA 1-000 (7766)09/02/2021 – 12/14/2021 Fri9:00 AM – 10:00 AM (Morning)at Washington SquareInstructed by Jaramillo, Alejandro

ANTH-UA 1-000 (9371)09/02/2021 – 12/14/2021 Thu4:00 PM – 6:00 PM (Late afternoon)at Washington SquareInstructed by Martinez, Katrina

ANTH-UA 1-000 (9372)09/02/2021 – 12/14/2021 Thu4:00 PM – 6:00 PM (Late afternoon)at Washington SquareInstructed by Thomas, Sujit

ANTH-UA 1-000 (10568)09/02/2021 – 12/14/2021 Thu6:00 PM – 7:00 PM (Evening)at Washington SquareInstructed by Thomas, Sujit

ANTH-UA 1-000 (10569)09/02/2021 – 12/14/2021 Thu6:00 PM – 7:00 PM (Evening)at Washington SquareInstructed by Sengupta, Rohan

ANTH-UA 1-000 (26334)09/02/2021 – 12/14/2021 Thu2:00 PM – 3:00 PM (Early afternoon)at Washington SquareInstructed by Martinez, Katrina

Liberal Arts & Sciences - Electives Societies & the Social Sciences Undergraduate
Fall 2023 Spring 2020

Animal Minds (ANST-UA 410)

This course examines the philosophy of cognitive ethology and comparative psychology. We begin by discussing the nature of animal minds. Are animals conscious? Do they experience pain? Do they have beliefs? Do they use language? Are they self-conscious? How can we know? This involves applying concepts from metaphysics and epistemology to research in cognitive ethology and comparative psychology. We then discuss more general questions like: Are animals agents? Do they have free will? Do they live meaningful lives? Do they have moral rights? This involves applying concepts from ethics, existentialism, and other areas of philosophy to our conclusions about animal minds. Finally, we also ask, along the way, how research on animal minds can affect our philosophical theories. For example, should we revise our theories of consciousness, language, agency, morality, and so on if they seem to have implausible implications about animals?

Animal Studies (Undergraduate)
4 credits – 14 Weeks

Sections (Fall 2023)

ANST-UA 410-000 (23049)09/05/2023 – 12/15/2023 Wed4:00 PM – 7:00 PM (Late afternoon)at Washington SquareInstructed by Franks, Becca

Liberal Arts & Sciences - Electives Societies & the Social Sciences Undergraduate
Fall 2021

Literature and the Environment (ANST-UA 475)

This class explores the role of literature in creating empathy – how can it help us imagine the lives of “others” & that of animals? By querying the politics of meat mainly through contemporary literature, we put three similar (yet often disconnected) disciplines in conversation with each other: food studies, environmental studies, and animal studies. Two key questions we will address are: 1. What relationship – if any – is there between what we eat and who we are? 2. How are the intimate spaces of both human and nonhuman bodies – and their cultivation – related to notions of ecological violence?

Animal Studies (Undergraduate)
4 credits – 15 Weeks

Sections (Fall 2021)

ANST-UA 475-000 (21118)09/02/2021 – 12/14/2021 Tue11:00 AM – 1:00 PM (Morning)at Washington SquareInstructed by Athanassakis, Yanoula

Liberal Arts & Sciences - Electives Undergraduate
Spring 2019

History and the Novel (AHSEM-UA 235)

What can novels based on historic events tell us? What sorts of insights can they provide that journalism and works of pure history cannot? How much imaginative leeway should the author of a historic novel be allowed – and how closely should she stick to “true” events? In this course we’ll read a wide range of novels-looking at them both as literature and as keys to history-on topics that include slavery in the U.S., post-apartheid South Africa, McCarthyism, the 9/11 terror attacks, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Advanced Honors Seminars (Undergraduate)
4 credits – 15 Weeks

Sections (Spring 2019)

AHSEM-UA 235-000 (24462)01/28/2019 – 05/13/2019 Wed3:00 PM – 6:00 PM (Late afternoon)at Washington SquareInstructed by

Liberal Arts & Sciences - Electives Undergraduate