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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.

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  • CAS AN 316: Contemporary European Ethnography
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: CASAN 101 and First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., CASWR 100 or WR 120) - What and where is Europe? Who is European? As authoritarianism rises, this class asks what is happening to belonging across Europe? Are old forms of racism and xenophobia returning? Or are new modes of exclusion appearing? 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 317: Power and Society in the Middle East (area)
    Peoples and cultures of the Middle East from Afghanistan to Morocco and from the Caucasus to Yemen. Focuses on social organization, family structure, the relationship between the sexes, and the development and maintenance of authority.
  • CAS AN 318: Southeast Asia: Tradition and Modernity (area)
    Examines the dynamics of politics, religion, class, and gender across Southeast Asia today. Using both literature and film media, pays particular attention to the forces that have made Southeast Asia one of the most dynamic regions in the world 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.
    • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
    • Social Inquiry I
  • CAS AN 319: Anthropology of Muslim Cultures and Politics (area)
    Examines the history and contemporary dynamics of religion and politics across the entire Muslim-majority world. Special attention to the changing nature of religious observance and authority, and its implications for citizenship, democracy, youth culture, and gender relations. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy.
    • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
    • Historical Consciousness
  • CAS AN 320: 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: Social Inquiry I, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Research and Information Literacy.
    • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
    • Research and Information Literacy
    • Social Inquiry I
  • CAS AN 321: Cognition and Culture
    This class explores the relationship between culture and cognition. We place emphasis on the mechanisms of cultural change and how these affect features of human cognition. In turn, culture itself is shaped and constrained by human cognition. Effective Fall 2022, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry I, Critical Thinking.
    • Critical Thinking
    • Historical Consciousness
    • Social Inquiry I
  • CAS AN 327: Islam in Africa
    Examines the Islamization of Africa and the processes of adaptation of Islam in the continent. It examines 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.
    • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
    • Historical Consciousness
    • Research and Information Literacy
  • CAS AN 328: Magic, Witchcraft, and the Supernatural: The evolutionary origins of extraordinary beliefs
    This course examines extraordinary human beliefs—psychic surgery, UFO abductions, witchcraft, shamanism, and more—through cultural evolution, cognitive science, and evolutionary anthropology. Students analyze why rational minds adopt seemingly implausible beliefs and why such beliefs persist across societies, including our own.
  • CAS AN 330: From Conception to Death: The Evolution of Human Life History
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASAN102 OR CASBI107) - 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.
    • Research and Information Literacy
    • Scientific Inquiry II
  • CAS AN 331: Human Origins
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASAN102 OR CASAR101 OR CASBI107) or equivalent. - 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.
    • Critical Thinking
    • Historical Consciousness
    • Scientific Inquiry I
  • CAS AN 333: Human Population Genetics
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CAS AN102 OR AN233 OR CAS BI108 AND either BI206 OR BI216). - 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.
    • Quantitative Reasoning II
    • Research and Information Literacy
    • Scientific Inquiry II
  • CAS AN 335: The Ape Within: Great Apes and the Evolution of Human Behavior
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASAN102 OR CASBI107 OR CASBI119) or consent of instructor. - 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.
    • Quantitative Reasoning I
    • Research and Information Literacy
    • Scientific Inquiry II
  • CAS AN 336: Primate Evolutionary Ecology
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASAN102) - 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.
    • Creativity/Innovation
    • Quantitative Reasoning I
    • Scientific Inquiry II
  • CAS AN 339: Primate Biomechanics
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASAN102 OR CASBI107) or consent of instructor. First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120) - 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)
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120) - 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.
    • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
    • Historical Consciousness
    • Writing-Intensive Course
  • CAS AN 347: Afghanistan (area)
    Ethnographic and historical examination of Afghanistan's traditional social, political and economic organization as a basis for understanding an era of political turmoil, civil wars and foreign interventions in that country over the past 50 years and the country’s future. Effective Fall 2023, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU HUB area: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy.
    • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
  • CAS AN 348: Investigating Contemporary Globalization
    Contemporary ethnographic investigation of globalization. Special attention to the impact of global capitalism on local communities, identity and reflexivity, transnational populations, women and work, cultural authenticity, tourism, and the relationship between social media and changing cultural norms and experiences. 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.
    • Critical Thinking
    • The Individual in Community
    • Social Inquiry I
  • CAS AN 349: Challenging Xenophobia: Perception, Prejudice, Performance
    Examines imaginings and stereotypes of savagery in change, comparing and contrasting them with real humans. Treats African, Native American, and European civilizations and their interrelations of perception, prejudice, and performance. Links history and human geography; connects culture, society, and psychology. 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, Critical Thinking.
    • Critical Thinking
    • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
    • Social Inquiry I
  • 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.
    • The Individual in Community
    • Research and Information Literacy
    • Social Inquiry I
  • 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 [should be "anti-rationalist". Cases drawn from North America and the Islamic world, 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.
    • The Individual in Community

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