Courses

• CAS AN 524: Seminar: Language and Culture Contacts in Contemporary Africa
  Focuses on language variation and change in Africa. Provides students with a foundation in the scholarship on contact linguistics, language variation and change, and the relationships between language variation and gender, ethnicity, religion, and youth culture.
• CAS AN 525: Ritual and Political Identity
  Provides a conceptual foundation for interpreting and understanding ritual and its role in shaping political and social identity and worldview. Focus on cases drawn from the contemporary Muslim world.
• CAS AN 541: Modernity Seminar I
  This seminar looks at the phenomenon of modernity from a multidisciplinary point of view. Discussed are the cultural foundations of modernity, specifically and primarily nationalism but also Romanticism, science, and major political ideologies. Also analyzed are modernization and development as studied by the social sciences, modernism, and postmodernism in literary and cultural studies; and the nature of man and society in the perspectives of modern philosophy. Also offered as CAS SO 541. Either or both of AN 541 and AN 543 may be taken for credit.
• CAS AN 543: Modernity Seminar II
  This seminar looks at the phenomenon of modernity from a multidisciplinary point of view. Discussed are the cultural foundations of modernity, specifically and primarily nationalism but also Romanticism, science, and major political ideologies. Also analyzed are modernization and development as studied by the social sciences, modernism, and postmodernism in literary and cultural studies; and the nature of man and society in the perspectives of modern philosophy. May be taken either or both semesters. Also offered as CAS SO 543. Either or both of AN 541 and AN 543 may be taken for credit.
• CAS AN 548: Muslim Societies: An Interdisciplinary History
  Examines the states, empires, faiths, and ideologies of the Muslim world over a 1500-year period, including states from North and West Africa, through the Middle East, to Turkey, Iran, and then to Central and Southeast Asia. Also offered as CAS AH 539, HI 596, and RN 563.
• CAS AN 550: Human Skeleton
  Function, development, variation, and pathologies of the human musculoskeletal system, emphasizing issues of human evolution. Basic processes of bone biology and how they are affected by use, age, sex, diet, and disease. Meetings are predominantly lab oriented.
• CAS AN 552: Primate Evolution and Anatomy
  The evolutionary history of the primate radiation--particularly that of monkeys, apes, and humans--is examined through investigation of the musculoskeletal anatomy of living and fossil primates. Comparative and biomechanical approaches are used to reconstruct the behavior of extinct species.
• CAS AN 554: Human Reproductive Ecology
  Considers ecological perspective on human reproduction Provides a basic understanding of human reproductive biology and discusses current issues about reproduction from a biocultural perspective. Topics: biocultural aspects of sexual behavior, sexually transmitted diseases, and cultural knowledge and practices surrounding reproduction.
• CAS AN 558: Human Sex Differences: Behavior, Biology, and Ecology
  Why are men and women different? Adopts an evolutionary, adaptive approach to investigate sex differences in human behavior, physiology, and cognition from developmental, mechanistic, and phylogenetic perspectives. Topics include sex differences in aggression, mate choice, parenting, affiliation, and cognition.
• CAS AN 563: Public Religion and Politics Across Cultures
  The contested role of religion in modern politics and its implications for civil life. Begins with the West and includes Islam in the Middle East and SE Asia. Evangelicalism in Latin American and Africa, Hindu nationalism, and Buddhism in China. Also offered as CAS IR 563.
• CAS AN 568: Symbol, Myth, and Rite
  Historical overview of ritual behavior, the role of symbolism in the study of culture, and the narrative quality of worldview and belief. Emphasis on verbal performance and public display events in specific cultural contexts.
• CAS AN 570: Lovers and Leaders: The Anthropology of Romance and Charisma
  A comparison of theories of charismatic leadership and romantic love from sociology and psychology. Case studies from literature are discussed for illustration and comparison.
• CAS AN 573: The Ethnography of China and Taiwan
  Reading of major ethnographies and modern histories as a basis for examining changing Taiwanese and Chinese culture and society. Attention to ethnography as a genre, as well as to the dramatic changes of the past century.
• CAS AN 585: Seminar: Advanced Readings in African Ethnography
  Detailed examination of classic and contemporary anthropological writings about Africa. Explores ecological adaptation, kinship, social organization, religious thought and practice, and creative expression. Focus on the history of theory, method, and narrative style in the construction of ethnographies about Africa.
• CAS AN 590: Seminar: Theory, Method, and Techniques in Fieldwork
  Traditional and modern methods of ethnographic field research: data collection, research design, and analyses.
• CAS AN 593: Seminar: Topics in Cultural Anthropology
  Selected issues and debates in current anthropology. Topic for Fall 2009: TBA.
• CAS AN 594: Seminar: Topics in Cultural Anthropology
  Selected issues and debates in current anthropology. Three topics are offered during the Spring 2008 semester. Students may take one, two or three for credit. Section A1: Humans Among Animals. Section B1: Social Movements. Section C1: Culture and Emotions. Considers how anthropology has contributed to the understanding of emotions in humans and where its contributions fit in an interdisciplinary field increasingly dominated by neuroscience.
• CAS AN 595: Methods in Biological Anthropology
  An exploration of field and laboratory methods used in biological anthropology, with students participating in hands-on exercises. Topics include health assessment, body composition, diet, energetics, morphological adaptations, reproductive status, habitat composition, spatial movements, and conservation. Professional skills are also developed.
• CAS AN 597: Seminar: Special Topics in Biological Anthropology
  Special issues and debates in current biological anthropology. Topic for Fall 2011: The Evolution of the Human Family. An exploration of the shared features of human family structure central to social and life history evolution. Topics include the behavioral diversity of mothers, fathers, grandparents, siblings, and alloparents in contributing to shared resources and the needs of dependent offspring.
• CAS AN 598: Seminar: Special Issues in Biological Anthropology
  Special issues and debates in current biological anthropology. Topic for Spring 2011: TBA.

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