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 339 4 credits.
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.
CAS AN 344 4 credits. Fall
BU Hub Learn More Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy Historical Consciousness Writing-Intensive Course
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.
CAS AN 345 4 credits. Fall and Spring
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colonialists, missionaries, women explorers reveal meanings of boundaries and movement through their journals and historical documents, amplified through anthropological studies of tourism and travel.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 345S 4 credits. Summer
The movement of people across national boundaries as a cultural, economic, and political phenomenon. Examines voluntary border-crossing in its various cultural and historical meanings as well as in the representations of journals and contemporary accounts. Boston is the home base for this course on tourism, and there are several field trips planned to examine touristic locales as constructions of place'historical, ethnic, and commercial. On these trips, students will be responsible for paying their own meals.
CAS AN 347 4 credits.
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.
CAS AN 348 4 credits. Fall and Spring
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.
CAS AN 348S 4 credits. Summer
Ethnographic and historical investigation of globalization. Special attention to the impact of global capitalism on indigenous communities; popular culture and consumerism; transnational populations; women and work; and relationships 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.
CAS AN 349 4 credits.
BU Hub Learn More Critical Thinking Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy Social Inquiry I
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.
CAS AN 350 4 credits. Fall and Spring
A cultural history of Asian immigrants in the United States from the 1850s to the present, focusing on family structure, gender, generational differences, religion, and education. The implications of the Asian experience for understanding mainstream America.
CAS AN 351 4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More The Individual in Community Research and Information Literacy Social Inquiry I
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.
CAS AN 355 4 credits.
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.
CAS AN 357 4 credits. Spring
Introduction to the study of human remains in bioarchaeological contexts. Course reviews key theoretical frameworks and methodologies in interpreting valuable information about demography, gender differences, social identities and the daily lives of past peoples, as well as ongoing ethical concerns in bioarchaeological practice. Effective Spring 2025, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU HUB areas: Ethical Reasoning, Social Inquiry I.
CAS AN 360 4 credits. Fall and Spring
Ethnographic and historical examination of nomads in Africa and Eurasia. Focus on the ecology of pastoralism, nomadic social organization, political relations between nomads and states, the rise and fall of steppe empires, and the future of nomads.
CAS AN 362 4 credits. Fall and Spring
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.
CAS AN 362S 4 credits.
Examines how the social construction of environment, nature, and culture varies cross-culturally and historically as well as how it influences economic change, environmental movements, international politics, and public policy. Primary examples include several African countries, Papua New Guinea, and the United States; as well as contemporary global climate change.
CAS AN 363 4 credits.
BU Hub Learn More Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy Social Inquiry II Teamwork/Collaboration
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.
CAS AN 369 4 credits.
BU Hub Learn More Critical Thinking Ethical Reasoning Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
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.
CAS AN 371 4 credits. Fall and Spring
Examines the concepts of political anthropology and applies them to the development of the modern world order. Special attention to new social movements, nationalism, citizenship-across-cultures, comparative democratization, and ongoing trends in gender and sexuality.
CAS AN 372 4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., CASWR 100 or WR 120), CASAN 101 and/or CASAN 210 are recommended. - Seminar-like, discussion-driven cross-cultural examination of psychological anthropology studies of care, personhood, emotions, gender and the body/mind, medicine, ethics, justice, politics, and the social relations between individuals and their communities or institutions. Effective Spring 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Teamwork/Collaboration, Writing-Intensive Course.
CAS AN 375 4 credits.
BU Hub Learn More Aesthetic Exploration Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
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.