Courses

The listing of a course description here does not guarantee a course’s being offered in a particular semester. Please refer to the published schedule of classes on the Student Link for confirmation a class is actually being taught and for specific course meeting dates and times.

The listing below reflects the Hub units fulfilled by courses in the 2019/2020 academic year.

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  • CAS AN 234: Evolutionary Psychology
    Critical analysis of human behavior from an evolutionary perspective. Emphasis placed on viewing humans as products of biological evolution. Topics include evolution of language and intelligence, cultural evolution, sex and reproduction, kinship and family dynamics, cooperation, aggression, warfare, and status. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Scientific Inquiry I, Social Inquiry I.
    • Scientific Inquiry I
    • Social Inquiry I
  • CAS AN 240: Legal Anthropology
    An introduction to the anthropologist's approaches to law. Investigation of the relationship among society, culture, and law focuses on how different societies generate and structure competition and conflict. Examines the range of social and symbolic mechanisms for regulating dispute. (Counts towards African Studies minor.) Carries social science divisional credit in CAS. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry I, Ethical Reasoning.
    • Social Inquiry I
    • Ethical Reasoning
  • CAS AN 243: Shamans and Shamanism
    Shamans in global and theoretical perspectives. The origins and construction of the category of shamanism. Modern theories and debates about the category and the appropriateness of applying it cross-culturally. Also offered as CAS RN 243. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry I.
    • Historical Consciousness
    • Social Inquiry I
  • CAS AN 252: Ethnicity and Identity
    Explores anthropological approaches to community, belonging, and difference using case studies from the South Pacific, Europe, North America, and Africa. Special attention paid to how contemporary economic and political changes impact the ways people think about and belong to communities. Carries social science divisional credit in CAS. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: The Individual in Community, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy.
    • The Individual in Community
    • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
  • CAS AN 260: Sex and Gender in Anthropological Perspective
    Cross-cultural examination of changing gender roles, expectations, and activities. Focuses on economic, social, political, and ideological determinants that structure the hierarchy of power and privileges accorded the thoughts, activities, and experiences of women and men in various societies. Carries social science divisional credit in CAS. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry I, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Research and Information Literacy.
    • Social Inquiry I
    • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
    • Research and Information Literacy
  • CAS AN 263: The Behavioral Biology of Women
    An exploration of female behavioral biology focusing on evolutionary, physiological, and biosocial aspects of women's lives from puberty through pregnancy, birth, lactation, menopause, and aging. Examples are drawn from traditional and industrialized societies, and data from nonhuman primates are considered. (Counts for Natural Science credit; as a Biology - Specialization in Behavioral Biology - elective; and towards the Women's, Gender, & Sexuality Studies minor.) Carries natural science divisional credit in CAS. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Scientific Inquiry I, Social Inquiry I, Critical Thinking.
    • Scientific Inquiry I
    • Social Inquiry I
    • Critical Thinking
  • CAS AN 285: Coping with Crisis in Contemporary Africa (area)
    CAS AN 285 Coping with Crisis in Contemporary Africa (area) Prereq: consent of instructor Explores the ways ordinary Africans are coping with problems of security, environmental degradation, forced migration, economic decline, and disease. Readings and lectures contrast outsiders' interpretations of these "crises" with the way they are experienced by those they affect. Staff. 4 cr. Either sem. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry I.
    • Historical Consciousness
    • Social Inquiry I
  • CAS AN 290: Children and Culture
    Explores the way cultures shape the social development and caregiving of children. Topics include cultural concepts of childhood; the acquisition of culture; socialization and moral development; childhood cognition, emotion, and behavior; children's language and play; and the cultural shaping of gender and personality. Carries social science divisional credit in CAS. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry I, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy.
    • Social Inquiry I
    • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
  • CAS AN 302: Transforming Life: Anthropology of New Medical Technologies
    Seminar anthropologically compares the role of science and medicine in society and troubles what is natural and moral, e.g., about gender, personhood, kinship, and community, using case studies of new reproductive technologies in Asia, the Middle East, and North America. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Ethical Reasoning, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Writing- Intensive Course.
    • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
    • Ethical Reasoning
    • Writing-Intensive Course
  • CAS AN 308: Food, Culture, and Society
    Study of foodways, culinary social history, and 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. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Writing-Intensive Course.
    • Aesthetic Exploration
    • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
    • Writing-Intensive Course
  • CAS AN 310: Studies in North American Ethnography (area)
    A survey including an appreciation of the traditional background and heritage of native North Americans, analysis of the history and contact with Europeans and governmental policies, and an examination and evaluation of the contemporary situation. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry I, Critical Thinking.
    • Historical Consciousness
    • Social Inquiry I
    • Critical Thinking
  • CAS AN 311: Culture and Biotech: Beyond the Nature/Culture Divide
    Organ transplants have blurred the boundaries between individual bodies and selves, making it possible for transplant recipients to talk about living "with" their donors. Quick and cheap genetic tests make it possible for people to discover "family" ties that they never knew they had. Biotechnology seems to be radically challenging the boundaries between what is "natural" and what is "man made," what is "given" and what is "cultured." This class explores some of these innovations, their associated ethical dilemmas, and how they are part of "culture" and "nature" making in different contexts. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Ethical Reasoning, Writing-Intensive Course.
    • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
    • Ethical Reasoning
    • Writing-Intensive Course
  • CAS AN 316: Contemporary European Ethnography
    What is Europe's "problem" with migrants? Are old forms of racism and xenophobia returning? Or are contemporary Islamophobia and anti-Semitism new modes of exclusion? What and where is Europe anyway? And what exactly might it mean to be European today? Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Writing-intensive Course.
    • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
    • Social Inquiry II
    • Writing-Intensive Course
  • CAS AN 319: Anthropology of Muslim Cultures and Politics (area)
    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.
    • Historical Consciousness
    • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
  • CAS AN 330: 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 fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Scientific Inquiry II, Research and Information Literacy.
    • Scientific Inquiry II
    • Research and Information Literacy
  • CAS AN 335: The Ape Within: Great Apes and the Evolution of Human Behavior
    Introduction to primate social behavior, focusing on the apes. Examines how great ape behavior helps understand what is unique about human behavior and how we evolved. Topics include diet, social relationships, sexual behavior, aggression, culture, and cognition. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Scientific Inquiry II, Quantitative Reasoning I, Research and Information Literacy.
    • Scientific Inquiry II
    • Quantitative Reasoning I
    • Research and Information Literacy
  • CAS AN 337: Creation and Evolution
    A critical survey of the creation/evolution dispute in historical and intellectual context. By discussing key texts and issues, participants will gain understanding of the history of science, its relationship to ethical and religious ideas, and the polarization of American society. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Scientific Inquiry I, Critical Thinking.
    • Historical Consciousness
    • Scientific Inquiry I
    • Critical Thinking
  • CAS AN 348: Contemporary Globalization: An Anthropological Perspective
    Ethnographic and historical investigation of globalization. Special attention to impact of global capitalism on indigenous communities; popular culture and consumerism; transnational populations; women and work; and relationship between novel forms of communication (i.e., Facebook and email) and changing cultural norms. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry I, The Individual in Community, Critical Thinking.
    • Social Inquiry I
    • The Individual in Community
    • Critical Thinking
  • CAS AN 351: Language, Culture, and Society
    Introduction to basic concepts, problems, and methods used by anthropologists in the investigation of relationships among language, culture, and society. Topics include language and conceptual systems, language and role, language and social context, and language and thought. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry I, The Individual in Community, Research and Information Literacy.
    • Social Inquiry I
    • The Individual in Community
    • Research and Information Literacy
  • CAS AN 368: Introduction to Australia
    This course has a major focus on Australia's global and national development as a multicultural nation with European roots, traditional western alliances and an imagined future in the Asia-Pacific region. The themes of continuity and change in relation to the Aboriginal population are explored in some detail. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Research and Information Literacy.
    • Historical Consciousness
    • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
    • Research and Information Literacy

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