Courses in anthropology help students develop all six essential capacities outlined by BU’s Hub program. Browse our courses by Hub essential capacity below. To learn more about Hub requirements for anthropology students, visit our Hub Resources page here .
Philosophical, Aesthetic, and Historical Interpretation
CAS AN 252 4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More The Individual in Community Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings
Explores anthropological approaches to community, belonging, and difference using case studies from Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Special attention paid to how contemporary economic and political changes impact the ways people think about and belong to communities. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: The Individual in Community, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy. Effective Fall 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: The Individual in Community, Philosophical Inquiry and Life¿s Meanings
CAS AN 252S 4 credits.
BU Hub Learn More The Individual in Community Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings
Explores anthropological approaches to community, belonging, and difference using case studies from Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Special attention paid to how contemporary economic and political changes impact the ways people think about and belong to communities. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: The Individual in Community, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy. Effective Fall 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: The Individual in Community, Philosophical Inquiry and Life¿s Meanings.
CAS AN 285 4 credits. Fall and Spring
Explores the ways ordinary Africans are coping with problems of security, environmental degradation, forced migration, economic decline, and disease. Readings and lectures contrast outsiders' interpretations of these "crises" with the way they are experienced by those they affect. Staff. 4 cr. Either sem. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry I.
CAS AN 287 4 credits. Fall
BU Hub Learn More Critical Thinking Digital/Multimedia Expression Historical Consciousness
Examines the space between freedom and enslavement known as recaptivity. Course discussions focus on conceptions of freedom and their relationship to recaptive status. Reviews recaptivity contexts in both the historical and archaeological record. Also examines the theme of return. Effective Fall 2024 fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Critical Thinking, Digital/Multimedia Expression, Historical Consciousness.
CAS AN 291 4 credits. Fall and Spring
People have lived in the Arctic for 40,000 years and continue to thrive in this challenging environment. We use archaeological, oral history, historic, and ethnographic data to examine this long history, and to address the ways in which themes from the past can be used to highlight contemporary issues in Arctic communities. Effective Spring 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU HUB areas Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry I.
Scientific and Social Inquiry
CAS AN 201 4 credits. Fall and Spring
An introduction to the archaeology and Indigenous peoples civilizations of the Americas, with a focus on the precolonial era. Topics progress chronologically as well as comparatively, with cases drawn from Native American cultures of the North America, Mesoamerica, and South America. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry I, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy. Effective Fall 2023, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Scientific Inquiry I.
CAS AN 220 4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More The Individual in Community Research and Information Literacy Social Inquiry I
An introduction to classic and contemporary definitions of the city and ethnographic approaches to the study of urban life. Examines urban inequalities and the stratification of space by immigration, gender, racialization, and poverty. Participants conduct mini- ethnographic projects in the city of Boston. 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 233 4 credits. Fall and Spring
Addresses human biological variation. An introduction to the fundamentals of comparative biology, evolutionary theory, and genetics and considers how research in these fields informs some of our most culturally-engaged identities: race, sex, gender, sexuality, and body type. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Scientific Inquiry I, Ethical Reasoning, Critical Thinking.
CAS AN 234 4 credits.
Can evolutionary theory shed light on human psychology and behavior' This introductory course explores the evolution of mind: emotion and expression, learning and cognition, sex and reproduction, parenthood and family, cooperation and coalitions, aggression and warfare, mental health, and more. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Scientific Inquiry I, Social Inquiry I.
CAS AN 234S 4 credits.
Online offering. Can evolutionary theory shed light on human psychology and behavior' This introductory course explores the evolution of mind: emotion and expression, learning and cognition, sex and reproduction, parenthood and family, cooperation and coalitions,aggression and warfare, mental health, and more. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Scientific Inquiry I, Social Inquiry I.
Quantative Reasoning
CAS AN 519 4 credits.
BU Hub Learn More Quantitative Reasoning II Scientific Inquiry II Teamwork/Collaboration
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASAR307) - Problem-based course where students apply quantitative methods across archaeological datasets to address complex problems of human-environmental relationships rooted in deep time. Through teamwork-based research projects students develop marketable skills in research design, theory integration, and data analysis and visualization. Effective Spring 2023, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Scientific Inquiry II, Quantitative Reasoning II, Teamwork/Collaboration.
CAS AN 588 4 credits.
BU Hub Learn More Quantitative Reasoning II Scientific Inquiry II Teamwork/Collaboration
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASAN102 OR CASBI107 OR CASBI108 OR CASAR101) or consent of instructor. - This seminar teaches students project design and statistics using R and Rstudio. Students will become competent in coding, version control, data reports and commenting code, and implement both basic and advanced statistics to be used in student research projects. Effective Fall 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Quantitative Reasoning II, Scientific Inquiry II, Teamwork/Collaboration.
CAS AN 595 4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More Quantitative Reasoning II Scientific Inquiry II Teamwork/Collaboration
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASAN102 OR CASBI107 OR CASBI108) or consent of instructor. - An exploration of field and laboratory methods used in biological anthropology, with students participating in hands-on exercises. Topics include health assessment, body composition, diet, energetics, morphological adaptations, reproductive status, habitat composition, spatial movements, and conservation. Professional skills are also developed. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Quantitative Reasoning II, Scientific Inquiry II, Teamwork/Collaboration.
Diversity, Civic Engagement, and Global Citizenship
CAS AN 210S 4 credits.
BU Hub Learn More Ethical Reasoning Research and Information Literacy Social Inquiry II
This lecture and discussion-driven course uses ethnographic case materials and active learning strategies to introduce students to socio-cultural anthropological modes of understanding and analyzing health-related experiences and institutions, including political and ethical dimensions of illness and suffering around the globe. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Ethical Reasoning, Research and Information Literacy.
CAS AN 211 4 credits.
BU Hub Learn More Critical Thinking Ethical Reasoning Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings
Examines how humans understand (other) animals and their thought, feeling, and communication and the ways we humans in varied cultures and societies use animals for interaction and self-understanding. Interdisciplinary approach that considers language, aesthetics, ideology, practice, and regulation. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills units in the following BU Hub areas: Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings, Ethical Reasoning, and Critical Thinking.
CAS AN 220 4 credits. Fall and Spring
BU Hub Learn More The Individual in Community Research and Information Literacy Social Inquiry I
An introduction to classic and contemporary definitions of the city and ethnographic approaches to the study of urban life. Examines urban inequalities and the stratification of space by immigration, gender, racialization, and poverty. Participants conduct mini- ethnographic projects in the city of Boston. 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 233 4 credits. Fall and Spring
Addresses human biological variation. An introduction to the fundamentals of comparative biology, evolutionary theory, and genetics and considers how research in these fields informs some of our most culturally-engaged identities: race, sex, gender, sexuality, and body type. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Scientific Inquiry I, Ethical Reasoning, Critical Thinking.
CAS AN 240 4 credits. Fall and Spring
Introduction to legal anthropology that investigates the role of law and legal systems in a variety of historical and contemporary societies from a cross-cultural perspective. It examines how different societies generate and maintain mechanisms to deal with competition and conflict. (Counts towards the Minor in African American & Black Diaspora Studies.) Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry I, Ethical Reasoning.
Communication
CAS AN 309S 4 credits.
Undergraduate Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120) - An ethnographic approach to the city of Boston. Explores Boston as a set of ideas surrounding identity, ethnicity, race, class, religion, and politics. Topics for lecture and discussion include Boston's peculiar patterns of geographical development, industrialization, and immigration. The tools of anthropological observation and ethnography will provide students with the capacity to understand community, diversity, and the human geography of Boston.
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 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.