Courses

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

• 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.
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  • Scientific Inquiry I
  • Social Inquiry I
• CAS AN 235: Introduction to the Primate Senses
  This course focuses on the major special senses of primates, and how they have evolved in an ecological context. Students study the major sensory systems including vision, hearing, smell, and taste from a morphological, neurological, behavioral, and evolutionary perspective. Effective Fall 2022, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Oral and/or Signed Communication, Scientific Inquiry I, Creativity/Innovation.
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  • Creativity/Innovation
  • Oral and/or Signed Communication
  • Scientific Inquiry I
• CAS AN 240: Legal Anthropology
  Introduction to legal anthropology that investigates the role of law and legal systems in a variety of historical and contemporary societies from a cross-cultural perspective. It examines how different societies generate and maintain mechanisms to deal with competition and conflict. (Counts towards the Minor in African American & Black Diaspora Studies.) Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry I, Ethical Reasoning.
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  • Ethical Reasoning
  • Social Inquiry I
• CAS AN 252: Ethnicity and Identity
  Explores anthropological approaches to community, belonging, and difference using case studies from Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Special attention paid to how contemporary economic and political changes impact the ways people think about and belong to communities. 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. Effective Fall 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: The Individual in Community, Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings
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  • The Individual in Community
  • Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings
• CAS AN 260: Sex and Gender in Anthropological Perspective
  Cross-cultural examination of gender roles, expectations, and practices. Focuses on economic, social, political, and ideological determinants that structure the hierarchy of power and privileges accorded the activities and experiences of women, men, and non-binary people in various societies. 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,
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  • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
  • Research and Information Literacy
  • Social Inquiry I
• CAS AN 262: The Evolution of Culture and Society
  Where do culture and society come from? Are there common patterns that underlie social diversity? This course explores the origins of human societies, from our hunter-gatherer ancestors to the development of contemporary industrial nations. Effective Fall 2022, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Social Inquiry I (SO1), Critical Thinking.
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  • Critical Thinking
  • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
  • Social Inquiry I
• 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.
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  • Critical Thinking
  • Scientific Inquiry I
  • Social Inquiry I
• CAS AN 272: Introduction to Evolutionary Medicine
  Why did natural selection leave us so vulnerable to illness? In this course, we explore how human evolution illuminates our susceptibility to illness and disease. Students apply principles of evolutionary biology to understanding physical and mental health. Effective Spring 2025, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Creativity/Innovation, Scientific Inquiry II.
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  • Creativity/Innovation
  • Scientific Inquiry I
• CAS AN 280: Eating and Drinking in the Ancient World
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., CASWR 100 or WR 120) or consent of instructor - Survey of the archaeological evidence of the diets of human societies, from earliest humans to the present. Emphasis on the remains of plants, animals, and humans and what they tell us about ancient food and drink within their social contexts. Effective Spring 2025, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry I, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Writing-Intensive Course.
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  • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
  • Social Inquiry I
  • Writing-Intensive Course
• CAS AN 283: North American Archaeology
  North American prehistory from initial peopling of continent to development of complex societies. Explores human entry into the New World; migration across North America; subsistence changes; human effects on landscape; encounters with Europeans; role of archaeology in contemporary Native cultures. Effective Fall 2023, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Social Inquiry I
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  • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
  • Social Inquiry I
• CAS AN 285: Africa Land and Lives
  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. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry 1.
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  • Historical Consciousness
  • Social Inquiry I
• CAS AN 287: Slavery and the In-Between
  Examines the space between freedom and enslavement known as recaptivity. Course discussions focus on conceptions of freedom and their relationship to recaptive status. Reviews recaptivity contexts in both the historical and archaeological record. Also examines the theme of return. Effective Fall 2024 fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Critical Thinking, Digital/Multimedia Expression, Historical Consciousness.
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  • Critical Thinking
  • Digital/Multimedia Expression
  • Historical Consciousness
• CAS AN 290: Children and Culture
  Cross-cultural exploration of caregiving and child development from infancy to adolescence. Topics include beliefs about infants and children; the acquisition of culture; gender socialization; moral development; and the influence of schooling, nation-making, and media on childhood. 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.
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  • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
  • Social Inquiry I
• CAS AN 291: Peoples of the Arctic
  People have lived in the Arctic for 40,000 years and continue to thrive in this challenging environment. We use archaeological, oral history, historic, and ethnographic data to examine this long history, and to address the ways in which themes from the past can be used to highlight contemporary issues in Arctic communities. Effective Spring 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU HUB areas Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry I.
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  • Historical Consciousness
  • Social Inquiry I
• CAS AN 301: African Diaspora Archaeology
  Introduction to the archaeology of the African diaspora, the global displacement of African people and their descendants. Reviews findings, methodology, and theory around key burial contexts. Emphasis on shifting dialogues, such as human remains stewardship, community engagement, and reburial. Effective Spring 2025, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas Critical Thinking, Ethical Reasoning, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy.
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  • Critical Thinking
  • Ethical Reasoning
  • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
• CAS AN 302: Transforming Life: Anthropology of Gender and Medical Technologies
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120). CASAN 101 and/or AN 210 recommended. - 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 reproductive and end-of- life 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 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, The Individual in Community, Writing-Intensive Course.
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  • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
  • The Individual in Community
  • 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 311: Culture and Biotech: Beyond the Nature/Culture Divide
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120). - The class explores some biotechnological innovations and the cultural variability around the ethical dilemmas those innovations provoke. It asks what this variability might mean for thinking about the supposedly fixed dichotomy between “nature” and “culture”? 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. Effective Fall 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU HUB areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Ethical Reasoning, Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings.
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  • Ethical Reasoning
  • Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings
  • Writing-Intensive Course
• 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. Effective Spring 2022, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, The Individual in Community, Research and Information Literacy.
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  • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
  • The Individual in Community
  • Research and Information Literacy
• CAS AN 314: Cultures of Latin America (area)
  From the effects of European colonization to the causes of transnational migration, anthropologists have found Latin America a rich place to study key themes for the discipline. Contemporary ethnography is used to trace the region's contribution to anthropological debates.