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 326: Oral Traditions as Verbal Art
    Exploration of religious and secular poetry worldwide with emphasis on the ethnography of communication. A focus on performance in oral tradition and its consequences for literary form, as well as the impact of mass media and literacy on orality.
  • CAS AN 327: Islam in Africa
    Examines the Islamization of Africa and the processes of adaptation of Islam in the continent. Course explores the religious beliefs, cultures, and histories of Muslim communities in Morocco, Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda, Ethiopia, Senegal, and the Sudan, among others. Effective Spring 2022, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Historical Consciousness, Research and Information Literacy.
  • CAS AN 330: From Conception to Death: The Evolution of Human Life History
    Life History is the story of the human lifespan. This course uses an evolutionary and comparative framework to understand fundamental features of the human life course, such as birth, growth, sexual maturity, and death. 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 331: 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, primate comparative anatomy, radioactive dating, molecular and structural phylogenies, climactic analyses, and comparative behavioral ecology. Effective Spring 2022, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Scientific Inquiry I, Critical Thinking.
  • CAS AN 333: Human Population Genetics
    This course uses human genomic variation as a framework for better understanding our evolutionary history. Using hands-on population genetic analyses, we will analyze real human genomic data from the 1000 Genomes Project to investigate the evolutionary patterns underlying human diversity. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Quantitative Reasoning II, Scientific Inquiry II, Research and Information Literacy.
    • Scientific Inquiry II
    • Quantitative Reasoning 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 us understand what is unique about human behavior and how we evolved. Topics include diet, juvenile development, 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 336: Primate Evolutionary Ecology
    Introduction to the various theoretical approaches to understanding the diversity and evolutionary ecology of wild non-human primates. Using lemurs, marmosets, chimpanzees and more, this course delves into behavioral ecology, genetic approaches to mating systems, foraging theory, community ecology, and conservation. Effective Fall 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Quantitative Reasoning I, Scientific Inquiry I, Creativity/Innovation.
    • Scientific Inquiry II
    • Quantitative Reasoning I
    • Creativity/Innovation
  • 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 339: 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. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Critical Thinking.
    • Critical Thinking
    • Writing-Intensive Course
  • CAS AN 344: Culture and Social Change in Japan (area)
    Contemporary Japanese society examined through social institutions such as family, school and workplace. Looking at social and historical change through critical moments in Japan's modern history, we examine the experiences of individuals through social class, gender, and the impact of globalization. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Historical Consciousness.
    • Historical Consciousness
    • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
    • Writing-Intensive Course
  • CAS AN 345: Moving Experiences: The Anthropology of Travel and Tourism
    Movement of people carries cultural, personal and political meaning. Ancient Chinese travelers, medieval pilgrims, colonialists, missionaries, women explorers reveal meanings of boundaries and movement through their journals and historical documents, amplified through anthropological studies of tourism and travel.
  • CAS AN 347: Afghanistan (area)
    Ethnographic and historical examination of Afghanistan's traditional social and political organization, ecology and economy, and relationship among ethnic groups. Also addresses civil wars and foreign interventions over the last thirty years, the current situation in Afghanistan, and prospects for the country's future.
  • CAS AN 348: Investigating Contemporary Globalization
    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
    Examines the ways that language both reflects and shapes thought, culture, and relations of power. Particular emphasis is placed on three broad topical areas: language, ethnicity and race; language and the performance of gender; and the linguistic performance of youth identities. 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 355: Religious Fundamentalism in Anthropological Perspective
    Anthropological study of the global phenomenon of religious fundamentalism. A product of the modern world, fundamentalism is perceived as counter- cultural and anti-nationalist. Cases drawn from North America and the Islamic Middle East, with special attention to women's interpretation of religion. Effective Spring 2022, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: The Individual in Community.
  • CAS AN 362: Culture and Environment
    Examines mutually transformative relations between human societies and their environments. Shows how social constructions of environment, nature, and culture vary cross-culturally. Topics include: political ecology, environmental conservation, agriculture, climate, bioprospecting, relations with other animals, pollution. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Ethical Reasoning, Social Inquiry II.
    • Ethical Reasoning
    • Social Inquiry II
  • CAS AN 363: Food and Water: Critical Perspectives on Global Crises
    Examines how people, past and present, have interacted with food and water. Explores multiple causes and consequences of global food and water inequities. Considers the cultural politics of food/water production, consumption, and distribution in different parts of the world. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Social Inquiry II, Teamwork/Collaboration.
    • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
    • Social Inquiry II
    • Teamwork/Collaboration
  • CAS AN 371: Political Anthropology of the Modern World
    Examines the concepts of political anthropology and applies them to the analysis of the origins and development of the modern political world. Special attention to nations and nationalism, the state and modern development, comparative political culture, and urban and agrarian political change.
  • CAS AN 372: Psychological Anthropology
    Introduces students to some key theoretical perspectives and controversies in the cross- cultural study of psychology. Readings from classic texts and contemporary cross-cultural and case studies of emotion, child-rearing, personhood, care, consciousness, experience, gender, power, and mental health.
  • CAS AN 375: Culture, Society, and Religion in South Asia (area)
    Ethnographic and historical introduction to the Indian subcontinent with a focus on the impact of religion on cultural practices and social institutions. (Counts towards the East Asian Studies minor.)

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