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 751 4 credits. Fall and Spring
Graduate Prerequisites: consent of instructor. - An in-depth exploration of current issues in the field of linguistic anthropology. Readings focus on theories and approaches to language as a form of action through which cultural forms, political ideologies, and social identities are constructed and enacted.
CAS AN 755 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. Cases drawn from North America and the Islamic Middle East, 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 760 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 761 4 credits. Fall and Spring
Discussion and analysis of major concepts, methods, and theories in social anthropology, using case studies in ritual, politics, leadership, social control, and kinship belief.
CAS AN 771 4 credits. Fall and Spring
Examines the concepts of political anthropology and applies them to the analysis of the origins and development of the modern political world. Special attention to nations and nationalism, the state and modern development, comparative political culture, and urban and agrarian political change.
CAS AN 772 4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: CAS AN 101 and/or CAS AN 210 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 775 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.
CAS AN 782 4 credits. Fall and Spring
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 784 4 credits. Fall and Spring
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. This course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry I.
CAS AN 791 4 credits.
BU Hub Learn More Critical Thinking Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy Social Inquiry II
Undergraduate Prerequisites: at least two archaeological studies courses at the 200 level or above, senior status, or consent of instructor. - Seminar dealing with the intellectual history of the discipline, research methods, concepts, and problems in archaeological theory, and the formulation of research designs. Effective Fall 2024 fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Critical Thinking, Global Citizenship, Social Inquiry II.
CAS AN 793 4 credits. Fall and Spring
Undergraduate Prerequisites: graduate standing or CAS AR 450. - This seminar takes an explicitly comparative approach to addressing questions concerning the origins of and variability in human culture viewed through a review of worldwide archaeological literature.
CAS AN 794 4 credits.
Undergraduate Prerequisites: CAS AR 307. Seminar exploring new ways of addressing archaeological questions through the application of scientific techniques, focusing on cutting-edge methodologies and the most recent literature in the field. Students pursue questions of individual interest through readings, discussions, presentations, and research papers.
CAS AN 797 4 credits. Fall and Spring
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.
CAS AN 840 4 credits.
FOLKSONG SOC HI
CAS AN 901 Var credits. Fall
DIR STUDY ANTHR
CAS AN 901S Var credits.
DIR STUDY ANTHR
CAS AN 902 Var credits. Spring
DIR STUDY ANTHR
CAS AN 981 0 credits. Fall
CERT FT STUDY
CAS AN 982 0 credits. Spring
CERT FT STUDY
CAS AN 984 0 credits. Spring
CONT STUDY PT
CAS AN 985 0 credits. Fall
CONT STUDY CFT
CAS AN 986 0 credits. Spring
CONT STUDY CFT