Anthropology

• GRS AN 701: Cross-Cutting Perspectives in Anthropology
  An examination of current and historical perspectives across sub-disciplines of Anthropology: Social Anthropology, Biological Anthropology, and Archaeology. Explores how methodologies, theories and interpretations have changed as disciplines have developed. Emphasizes group learning to facilitate exchange of ideas across the sub-disciplines.
• GRS AN 703: History of Theory and Practice in Anthropology
  An intensive introduction to the foundations of the discipline focusing on classic works from the mid-19th to mid-20th centuries. A critical analysis of the development of the discipline of anthropology, its subfields, literature, history, and contemporary research problems.
• GRS AN 704: Proseminar: Contemporary Anthropological Theory
  Examination of major theoretical trends and debates in anthropological theory from the 1960s to present.
• GRS AN 705: Graduate Proseminar in Anthropology: the Biological and Historical Past
  Examination of major contributions and debates in biological anthropology focusing on humanity's place in the natural world. Topics include evolutionary theory, fossil and living primates, human evolution, historical demography, human life histories, and the relationship between biology and culture.
• GRS AN 707: Turkey & Middle East Perspective (Area)
  Social and cultural diversity of the modern Middle East with particular attention to Turkey. Focus on the interplay of traditions and socio-economic changes that have occurred during the 20th century and their implications for the future.
• GRS AN 708: Food, Culture, and Society
  Study of foodways, culinary social history, diet and food ecology with special attention to Asian societies and Boston's food culture. Examines the use of food and cuisine as a focus for identity, national development, and social change.
• GRS AN 709: Boston: An Ethnographic Approach
  An anthropological study of Boston using the city as a site of recovery and discovery as students develop ethnographic skills and an understanding of the interplay between geography, history, and demography in the social mapping of urban spaces.
• GRS AN 710: Studies in North American Ethnography
  A survey including an appreciation of the traditional background and heritage of native North Americans, an analysis of the history and contact with Europeans and governmental policies, and an examination and evaluation of the contemporary situation.
• GRS AN 715: Being Indian in Latin America
  The Indian image in literature and historical accounts; conquerors and Latinos in Indian ritual and mythology. Indian communities and the reality of being an Indian in present-day Latin America: exploitation, discrimination, and class. Indian rebellions and pressure groups. Colonization and lowland Indians.
• GRS AN 718: Southeast Asia: Tradition and Development
  Provides an in-depth introduction to the cultural traditions and contemporary development of Southeast Asia. Examines the contemporary society and culture through the optic of political and cultural history, so as to understand the "imaginative revolutions" that have shaped this region and are transforming it still today.
• GRS AN 719: Anthropology of Muslim Cultures and Politics
  Examines Muslim societies' ongoing struggle over the forms and meanings of Muslim culture and politics, as well as its implications for religious authority, gender ideals, and new notions of citizenship, civil society, and democracy. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy.
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  • Historical Consciousness
  • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
• GRS AN 720: Women in the Muslim World
  A cross-cultural approach to the diversity and complexity of women's lives in the Muslim world, including the United States. Looks at issues such as gender equality, civil society and democracy, sex segregation and sexual politics, kinship and marriage, and veiling. Effective Spring 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Social Inquiry I, Research and Information Literacy.
• GRS AN 730: From Conception to Death: The Evolution of Human Life History
  Why do we grow? Why do we die? How do patterns in the lifespan inform our understanding of human evolution? This course answers these questions and more by examining human life history from an evolutionary perspective. Effective Fall 2018, this course carries a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Scientific Inquiry II, Research and Information Literacy.
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  • Scientific Inquiry II
  • Research and Information Literacy
• GRS AN 731: Human Origins
  Introduction to human paleontology and methods for reconstructing the ancestry, structure, diet and behavior of fossil primates and humans. Survey of primate and hominid fossils, priimate comparative anatomy, radioactive dating, modlecular and structural phylogenies, climactic analyses, and comparative behavioral ecology.
• GRS AN 733: Human Population Biology
  Meets with AN 333. Human popultion biology and ecological adaptations: Human demography, life history patterns, population genetics and physiological adaptability. Topics: Population dynamics of human societies, mortality and fertility schedules, evolution and genetics of human life history traits, physiological adaptability, and ecological correlates.
• GRS AN 735: The Ape Within: Chimpanzees and the Evolution of Human Behavior
  Introduction to primate social behavior, focusing on the apes. Examines how chimpanzee behavior can be used to understand human behavior. What is unique about humans, and how did we evolve? Topics include diet, social relationships, sexual behavior, aggression, culture, cognition.
• GRS AN 739: Primate Biomechanics
  An introduction to the physical principles and anatomies underlying primate behavior, especially locomotion. Topics include mechanics, skeletal anatomy, primate locomotion, and the primate fossil record. Emphasis on bone biology and human bipedalism.
• GRS AN 744: Modern Japanese Society: Family, School, and Workplace (Area)
  Meets with AN 344. Approaches contemporary japanese society through a focus on family, school and workplace. the readings and lectures treat these institutions historically and in terms of the contexts they provide for the individual.
• GRS AN 747: Afghanistan
  Ethnographic and historical examination of Afghanistan's traditional social and political organization, ecology and economy, and relationship among ethnic groups. Civil wars and foreign interventions over the last thirty years, the current situation in Afghanistan, and prospects for the country's future.
• GRS AN 751: Seminar in Linguistic Anthropology
  An in-depth exploration of current issues in the field of linguistic anthropology. Readings focus on theories and approaches to language as a form of action through which cultural forms, political ideologies, and social identities are constructed and enacted.

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