Chair and Adviser: Vincent H. Stefan (Davis Hall, Room 411/421-A)
Department Faculty and Staff: Professors: Eric Delson, Anthony L. LaRuffa; Associate Professors: Louis Flam, Christa Salamandra, Victoria Sanford, Vincent H. Stefan ; Assistant Professors: William E.H. Harcourt-Smith, Ryan Raaum, Stephanie Rupp; Senior College Laboratory Technician: Salah Noueihed
The Department of Anthropology offers courses of interest to people with bachelor's degrees who are pursuing a variety of careers, including teaching, the health professions, museum work, and business.
*Courses preceded by an asterisk are not expected to be offered in 2009-2011.
*ANT 501: Principles of Anthropology. 3 hours, 3 credits. (For students who have had no previous course work in cultural anthropology.) General introduction to the various fields of anthropology. Discussion of basic anthropological concepts. Comparative study of cultural and societal components, such as the economy, kinship, social groupings, political organization, religion, and ideology.
*ANT (SOC) 510: Culture and Education. 3 hours, 3 credits. Education and child training in selected societies. The bearing of the principles of social anthropology on contemporary problems of education.
*ANT (SOC) 520: Interculture Relations. 3 hours, 3 credits. Analysis of diverse cultural patterns; nature of culture change, directed and nondirected; critical examination of case studies.
ANT 525, 530, 535, 540, 545, and 555: Ethnology of Selected Areas. Each 3 hours, 3 credits. The comparative study of cultures and societies. Analysis of ecological, economic, sociopolitical, and ideological systems.
North America
Latin America
Africa
Middle East
India
Southeast Asia
ANT (PRS) 550: Comparative Study of Puerto Rican Cultures. 3 hours, 3 credits. Ethnographic analysis of modern communities in Puerto Rico; effects of urbanization, industrialization, and tourism. Comparative analysis of Puerto Rican culture in New York, and evaluation of the educational process in each culture.
ANT 560: Introduction to Museology. 3 hours, 3 credits, plus museum work to be arranged. Study of the museum field, including the concept and functions of the neighborhood museum; restoring and preserving material; assembling, planning, installing, and labeling exhibits; and training in gallery talks and lectures.
ANT 570: Human Evolution. 3 hours, 3 credits. Origin and development of the order Primates, with special emphasis on hominid evolution.
ANT 580: Ethnographic Field Methods. 3 hours, 3 credits. Training in the techniques of ethnography, including observation and interviewing, through classroom and individual projects. PREREQ: ANT 501 or undergraduate course in introductory anthropology.
*ANT 630: Culture Change. 3 hours, 3 credits. Anthropological analysis of rapidly changing sociocultural conditions in selected societies.
ANT 650: Language, Culture, and Society. 3 hours, 3 credits. The anthropological study of language. Study of the situational, social, and cultural meanings of messages and message forms. The ethnography of communication. PREREQ: ANT 501 or permission of instructor.
ANT 651: The Anthropology of Literacy. 3 hours, 3 credits. Examination from an anthropological perspective of the origins and development of writing systems and of literacy practices in Western and non-Western societies. Topics include: oral vs. literate societies; debate over the social, cultural, and cognitive consequences of literacy; ethnographic approaches to literacy acquisition and development. PREREQ: ANT 501 or permission of instructor.