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.

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  • CAS AN 210: Introduction to Medical Anthropology
    This lecture and discussion-driven course uses ethnographic case materials and active learning strategies to introduce students to socio-cultural anthropological modes of understanding and analyzing health-related experiences and institutions, including political and ethical dimensions of illness and suffering around the globe. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Ethical Reasoning, Research and Information Literacy.
    • Ethical Reasoning
    • Social Inquiry II
    • Research and Information Literacy
  • CAS AN 211: Humans Among Animals
    Examines how humans understand (other) animals and their thought, feeling, and communication, and ways we humans in varied cultures and societies use animals for interaction and self-understanding. Interdisciplinary approach that considers language, aesthetics, ideology, practice, and regulation. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills units in the following BU Hub areas: Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings, Ethical Reasoning, and Critical Thinking.
    • Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings
    • Ethical Reasoning
    • Critical Thinking
  • CAS AN 220: Urban Anthropology
    An introduction to classic and contemporary definitions of the city and ethnographic approaches to the study of urban life. Examines urban inequalities and the stratification of space by immigration, gender, racialization, and poverty. Participants conduct mini- ethnographic projects in the city of Boston. 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 233: The Evolutionary Biology of Human Variation
    Addresses human biological variation. An introduction to the fundamentals of comparative biology, evolutionary theory, and genetics and considers how research in these fields informs some of our most culturally-engaged identities: race, sex, gender, sexuality, and body type. Carries natural sciences divisional credit (without lab) in CAS. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Scientific Inquiry I, Ethical Reasoning, Critical Thinking.
    • Scientific Inquiry I
    • Ethical Reasoning
    • Critical Thinking
  • CAS AN 234: Evolutionary Psychology
    Can evolutionary theory shed light on human psychology and behavior? This introductory course explores the evolution of mind: emotion and expression, learning and cognition, sex and reproduction, parenthood and family, cooperation and coalitions, aggression and warfare, mental health, and more. 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. Carries social science divisional credit in CAS. (Counts towards African Studies minor.) 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. 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 practices. 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 as an elective in Biology with a Specialization in Behavioral Biology. Counts towards the minor in Women's, Gender, & Sexuality Studies.) (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 Spring 2019, 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)
    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 Gender and 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. Effective Fall 2019, 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 307: Turkey and Middle East in Comparative Perspective (area)
    Explores the social and cultural diversity of the modern Middle East with particular attention to Turkey. Focus on State power, minority governance, gender, and the interplay of sociopolitical change and different articulations of tradition and modernity.
  • CAS AN 308: Food in Place(s): Identity, Location, and the Cultures of Taste
    Explores foodways, culinary history, personal, social, and cultural identity, as well as sensory experiences of taste. Special attention given to communities in the Boston area as locations of cultural and culinary diversity. 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 309: Boston: An Ethnographic Approach (area)
    Using the tools of ethnographic practice, explores Boston's multiple identities. Boston's patterns of immigration and demographic change are mapped through fieldwork and historical documentation. On site observations will help students understand local meanings of place and community.
  • 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 312: Peoples and Cultures of Africa (area)
    Explores the ethnolinguistic diversity of Africa, traditions of the Akan, Joola, Wolof, Yoruba, and other African ethnolinguistic groups, the coexistence between Muslims and non-Muslims in Africa, and the historical events and figures that have shaped the continent.
  • CAS AN 318: Southeast Asia: Tradition and Modernity (area)
    Provides an in-depth introduction to the culture, politics, religions, and gender realities of modern Southeast Asia. Using both literature and film media, pays particular attention to the forces that have made Southeast Asia the dynamic and deeply plural region it is today. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Social Inquiry I.
    • Social Inquiry I
    • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
  • 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

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