The following courses are offered within the anthropology department. Please see the BU Bulletin for the most up-to-date information regarding course offerings, meeting times, and locations.
CAS AN 311 4 credits.
BU Hub Learn More Ethical Reasoning Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings Writing-Intensive Course
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.
CAS AN 312 4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy The Individual in Community Research and Information Literacy
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.
CAS AN 314 4 credits. Fall and Spring
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.
CAS AN 315 4 credits. Fall and Spring
The Indian image in literature and historical accounts; conquerors and Latinos in Indian ritual and mythology. Indian communities and the reality of being an Indian in present-day Latin America: exploitation, discrimination, and class. Indian rebellions and pressure groups. Colonization and lowland Indians.
CAS AN 316 4 credits.
BU Hub Learn More Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy Social Inquiry II Writing-Intensive Course
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.
CAS AN 317 4 credits. Fall and Spring
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 317S 4 credits. Summer
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CAS AN 318 4 credits. Fall and Spring
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.
CAS AN 319 4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy Historical Consciousness
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.
CAS AN 319S 4 credits.
BU Hub Learn More Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy Historical Consciousness
Prereq: (CAS AN 101) or other anthropology course. 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.
CAS AN 320 4 credits.
BU Hub Learn More Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy Research and Information Literacy Social Inquiry I
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.
CAS AN 321 4 credits. Fall and Spring
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.
CAS AN 323 4 credits. Fall and Spring
Explores East Africa and its people's ways of understanding time, space, and social order. Topics include issues such as settlement order, birth order, inter-generational relations, ritual and ceremony -- as challenged, upheld, and reformed -- and questions of power, authority, belief, and ethics. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry I.
CAS AN 325 4 credits.
A comparative examination of family, concentrating on marriage, reproduction, power, and relations with kin. Three Asian societies are treated: Japan, India, and the People's Republic of China. Ethnographic materials are used, and lectures provide a theoretical focus.
CAS AN 326 4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASAN101) - 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 4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy Historical Consciousness Research and Information Literacy
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.
CAS AN 330 4 credits. Fall and Spring
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.
CAS AN 331 4 credits. Fall and Spring
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.
CAS AN 332S 4 credits.
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASAN102 OR (CASBI107 & (CASBI119 OR CASBI302))) - Prereq: CAS AN 102; or CAS BI 107 and one of CAS BI 119 or CAS BI 302; or consent of instructor. Introduction to behavioral biology of the primates. Topics include social behavior, grouping, and activity patterns; reproduction; feeding ecology; locomotion; life history; conservation issues; geographic distribution; and evolution.
CAS AN 333 4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More Quantitative Reasoning II Research and Information Literacy Scientific Inquiry II
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.
CAS AN 335 4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More Quantitative Reasoning I Research and Information Literacy Scientific Inquiry II
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.
CAS AN 335S 4 credits.
BU Hub Learn More Quantitative Reasoning I Research and Information Literacy Scientific Inquiry II
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASAN102 OR CASBI107 OR CASBI119) or consent of instructor. - 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.
CAS AN 336 4 credits.
BU Hub Learn More Creativity/Innovation Quantitative Reasoning I Scientific Inquiry II
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.
CAS AN 337 4 credits.
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.