Anthropology

The study of pidgins and creoles emerged as a subfield of linguistics in the latter half of the 20th century. Its ideas have been borrowed, notably by anthropologists, to analyze the increased diversity and fusion we confront in a globalizing world. Where did such ideas come from? What are their (un)intended consequences? This course will trace the epistemological development of Creole studies and consider its historical and contemporary impacts.

Introduces the native languages of North America and the methods that linguists and anthropologists use to record and analyze them. Examines the use of grammars, texts and dictionaries of individual languages and affords insight into the diversity among the languages.

Introduction to peoples, languages, cultures and histories of the Middle East. Focuses on Israel/Palestine as a microcosm of important social processes-such as colonialism, nationalism, religious fundamentalism, and modernization-that affect the region as a whole. This course is cross-listed with MEST 3470. Prerequisite: Previous course in anthropology, linguistics, Middle East Studies or permission of instructor.

This course covers the basic principles of diachronic linguistics and discusses the uses of linguistic data in the reconstruction of prehistory.

Language and Thought

Topics to be announced prior to each semester, dealing with linguistics.

New course in the subject of Anthropology.

Topics to be announced prior to each semester, dealing with archaeology.

Topics to be announced prior to each semester, dealing with social and cultural anthropology.

This course teaches the importance of understanding cultural meanings when curating items, whether material or intangible, drawn from social worlds other than one's own. It provides a general introduction to collection, preservation, and display through study of a specific collection held by the instructor or by a local institution such as the Fralin Museum of Art.

This class studies the intersection of anthropology, art and material culture focusing on Australian Aboriginal art. We examine how Aboriginal art has moved from relative obscurity to global recognition over the past thirty years. Topics include the historical and cultural contexts of invention, production, marketing and appropriation of Aboriginal art. Students will conduct object-based research using the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection. Prerequisite: ANTH 1010 or instructor permission.

This course is an introduction to the prehistory/early history of the Middle East (Egypt, Mesopotamia, the Levant and southeast Anatolia) from 10,000 to 4,000 BP.

This course will review the history of South America from its earliest population to the Spanish Conquest. Emphasis will be placed on tracing the rise of civilization in the Andes. The Inka empire was only the last of a long sequence of states and empires. Comparison of the Inka state with earlier polities such as the Moche and Tiwanaku will reveal the unique and enduring traditions of Andean political organizations.

This course surveys transformations in the African past, from the Middle Stone Age emergence of modern humans, to the florescence of lifeways in the Late Stone Age, to the broad mosaic of small-, medium-, and large-scale Iron Age societies, to the archaeology of colonial encounters. We also consider how archaeological methods work to produce knowledge in combination with studies of genetics, climate and environment, and historical methods.

A survey of European archaeology beginning with the Neanderthal debate, and including interpretations of Upper Paleolithic cave painting, the spread village farming from the Near East, the role of megalithic monuments, the interaction of Rome and the `Barbarians', the growth of urban centers, the Iron Age, and the Viking expansion.

This course introduces students to research methodology in medical anthropology by participating in a faculty member's ongoing research project. It will include: formulating research questions, ethical review and IRB approval, partnering and collaboration, data collection, analysis, and presenting project findings. This practice-oriented course emphasizes learning by doing and mentored reflection. The topic and methodological approach will vary according to faculty interests. 

Survey of modern schools of linguistics, both American and European, discussing each approach in terms of historical and intellectual context, analytical goals, assumptions about the nature of language, and relation between theory and methodology.

The majors seminars in anthropology offer majors and minors an opportunity to engage deeply with a topic of anthropological concern. Through these courses anthropology students gain experience in doing an independent research project on a topic they care about and produce a significant paper or other major work. Enrollment for majors and minors is preferred.

Independent study conducted by the student under the supervision of an instructor of his or her choice.

Independent research, under the supervision of the faculty DMP thesis readers, toward the DMP thesis. Prerequisite: Admission to the Distinguished Majors Program in Anthropology.

Writing of a thesis of approximately 50 pages, under the supervision of the faculty DMP thesis readers. Prerequisite: ANTH 4998.

This graduate seminar, also open to advanced undergraduates, engages interdisciplinary theory, case material, and intersecting knowledge production networks to approach indigenous landscapes as spaces of cultural production, land rights advocacy, and environmental care. It challenges students to examine their assumptions about how dominant values and stories are inscribed in landscapes, as well as the locations and perspectives from which these processes are experienced, narrated, and theorized.

Examines the ways in which the forms of kinship have been reconfigured in contemporary societies, and the ways in which traditional kinship studies have been reconfigured by their intersection with culture theory, feminist theory, gender studies, postmodern theory, gay and lesbian studies, and cultural studies of science and medicine. Prerequisite: ANTH 5200 or instructor permission.

Considers Western economic theories and their relevance to non-Western societies. Includes a comparative analysis of different forms of production, consumption, and circulation.

This course is an introduction to legal anthropology for graduate students or advanced undergraduates. This course investigates law systems, legal argumentation, and people's interactions with these thoughts and forms. Rather than taking as given the hegemonic power that legal structures might hold over people's lives and thought, this course questions how people use, abuse, subvert, and leverage legal structures in which they find themselves.