Anthropology

• 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.
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  • 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.
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  • 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.
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  • 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.
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  • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
  • Historical Consciousness
  • Writing-Intensive Course
• CAS AN 347: Afghanistan (area)
  Ethnographic and historical examination of Afghanistan's traditional social organization, ecology and economy, political organization, and ethnic groups. What has happened to this complex world through 50 years of domestic political turmoil and foreign interventions? Whither Afghanistan today? Effective Fall 2023, this course fulfills a single unit in the following Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy.
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  • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
• CAS AN 348: Investigating Contemporary Globalization
  Historical and contemporary ethnographic investigation of globalization. Special attention to impact of global capitalism on indigenous communities; identity and reflexivity; transnational populations; women and work; cultural authenticity, 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.
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  • 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.
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  • 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.
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  • 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.
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  • 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.
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  • 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.
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  • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
  • Social Inquiry II
  • Teamwork/Collaboration
• CAS AN 369: Indigenous Archaeology
  Introduction to Indigenous archaeology, which seeks to realize a more ethical engagement with Indigenous communities by conducting research "with, for, and by" Indigenous descendant communities. Reviews key theoretical frameworks (e.g., traditional knowledge systems, collaboration, repatriation) and explores the ways this approach is being put into action through case studies. Effective Spring 2023, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub area: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Ethical Reasoning, Critical Thinking.
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  • Critical Thinking
  • Ethical Reasoning
  • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
• CAS AN 372: Psychological Anthropology
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: CAS AN 101 and/or CAS AN 210 recommended. - A cross-cultural, discussion-drive examination of psychological anthropology studies of the practices and meanings of care, including how these relate to cultural conceptualizations of gendered mind-bodies, medicine, ethics, justice, politics, and the social relations between individuals and their communities and institutions. Effective Spring 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Teamwork/Collaboration, Writing-Intensive Course.
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  • Teamwork/Collaboration
  • Writing-Intensive Course
• CAS AN 375: Culture, Society, and Religion in South Asia
  Ethnographic and historical introduction to the Indian subcontinent with a focus on the impact of religion on cultural practices and social institutions. Effective Spring 2023, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Aesthetic Exploration.
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  • Aesthetic Exploration
  • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
• CAS AN 379: China: Tradition and Transformation (area)
  Examines daily life in China and Taiwan, tracing how opposed economic and political paths transformed a common tradition. Topics include capitalism and socialism; politics and social control; dissidence; gender relations; religion, arts, and literature; and pollution. 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, Research and Information Literacy.
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  • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
  • Research and Information Literacy
  • Social Inquiry II
• CAS AN 382: Wealth, Poverty, and Culture
  Explores vital cultural dimensions of production, exchange, and consumption in varied settings. Asks how social ties relate to property, wealth, and poverty. Examines how people classify, control, and allocate resources, and how resources in turn influence people.
• CAS AN 384: Anthropology of Religion
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASAN101) or consent of instructor. - Introduction to the anthropological study of myth, ritual, and religious experience across cultures. Special attention to the problem of religious symbolism and meaning, religious conversion and revitalization, contrasts between traditional and world religions, and the relation of religious knowledge to science, magic, and ideology. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry I.
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  • Historical Consciousness
  • Social Inquiry I
• CAS AN 390: Topics in Anthropology
  May be repeated for credit as topics vary. Topic for Fall 2023: Slavery and the In-Between. Examines the space between freedom and enslavement known as recaptivity. Course discussions focus on historical and social conceptions of freedom, and how these conceptions relate to recaptive status. Reviews recaptivity contexts documented in both the historical and archaeological record. Also examines the theme of return in recaptives' journeys and the contemporary journeys of Afro-descendants to the African continent. This course complements anthropological training in topics of race/racism and identity and coursework in African American & Black Diaspora Studies, but it is open to undergraduate students in any field.
• CAS AN 397: Anthropology and Film: Ways of Seeing
  Considers the history and development of anthropological, ethnographic, and transcultural filmmaking. In- depth examination of important anthropological films in terms of methodologies, techniques, and strategies of expression; story, editing, narration, themes, style, content, art, and aesthetics. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Historical Consciousness.
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  • Aesthetic Exploration
  • Historical Consciousness
• CAS AN 401: Honors Research in Anthropology 1
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: approval of an Honors Committee. - Directed studies for seniors doing honors thesis work.