ANTH 180 - FS: First-Year Seminar

Credits: 3-4
When Offered: Each first-year seminar topic is approved by the Dean of The College and The Committee on Courses and Degrees. Applicability to FDRs and other requirements varies.

ANTH 180: FS: The Wired Self: Communication Technologies, Society, and You (4). Prerequisite: First-year standing. First-year Seminar. This first-year discussion- and project-based seminar is an in-depth investigation into how new communication technologies – most specifically the mobile phone and the Internet – affect society and personhood, in a cross-cultural perspective. Students enrich their understanding of the personal, social, and global impact of the communication technologies that they use every day and usually take for granted. Students present readings in class and produce original ethnographic research on local use of mobile phones and the Internet. (SS4) Goluboff.

Offered Fall, 2009:

ANTH 180: FS: American Religions: Imported and Homegrown (3). This seminar provides anthropological and historical perspectives on both American religions that arrived from other parts of the world and those that originated on native soil. How did America become a country so rich in religious traditions? What are the central beliefs and practices of these traditions? What religious and cultural dilemmas did immigrants encounter and continue to face in their attempts to adjust to American society? How successful has the nation’s experiment with freedom been? What are some of the various ways in which the constitutionally mandated separation of church and state been interpreted and challenged? Finally, is it possible to speak of AN American religion as well as religions? (SS4) Markowitz