ANTH 290 - Special Topics in Anthropology

Credits: 3
Planned Offering: Offered when interest is expressed and departmental resources permit.

Topics for Winter 2011: 

ANTH 290A: How Islands Explain the World: Archaeology of the Pacific Islands (3). No prerequisites. In this class, we learn about the diverse and fascinating cultures of the islands of Oceania, a region stretching from Australia in the southwest to Hawaii in the Northeast, and encompassing all of the islands in-between. The course examines exploration, anthropology, and archaeology in the region. We look at the insights that the landscapes and material culture of past peoples have provided for scholars studying this unique region. As one scholar remarked about one of the areas we study, “Within a time frame of 600 years, Polynesians had colonized an oceanic environment that was 995 parts water to 5 parts land”. It is this story of colonization and local developments that we explore, while also considering the lessons that islands can teach the wider world about human social dynamics and the relationship between people and the environments in which they live. Flexner. 

ANTH 290B: Medical Anthropology (3). No prerequisites. Despite radical differences in theory and procedure, the diagnosis and treatment of diseases are human cultural universals. This seminar first examines the beliefs and practices that comprise the medical systems found among a wide variety of non-western peoples. It then investigates the responses of a number of non-Western communities to the introduction of Western, biomedical practices. Lastly, we consider such ethical issues as whether or not non-Western peoples who supply Western doctors and pharmacologists with knowledge of curing agents should be accorded intellectual property rights over this information; in what situations, if any, should Western medical personnel impose biomedical treatments on populations; and the flap caused by Napoleon Chagnon’s use of Yanomami Indians as medical subjects. Markowitz.

Topics for Fall 2010:

ANTH 290A: Economic Anthropology (3). No prerequisites. This course presents a cross-cultural survey of economic practices throughout time and around the world. Using classic and contemporary anthropological studies, we seek to understand how people have organized production, exchange, and consumption, and how these processes articulate with community dynamics such as religious beliefs, ethical codes, social networks, and gender roles. With case studies ranging from prehistoric foragers to early-modern farmers and 19th-century mariners, we investigate culturally diverse and socially embedded understandings of commodities, gifts, property, success, and wealth. Bell.

ANTH 290B: Seminar in American Indian Ethnohistory (3). No prerequisites. One of the major goals of modern ethnohistory is to use historical and anthropological methods to uncover the understandings that non-western peoples have of their own histories. This seminar introduces students to the theoretical and methodological principles of ethnohistorical research and their application to North American Indian peoples. Participants first study American Indian conceptions of time and their relationship to the criteria by which tribal communities selected and comprehended the events comprising their histories. The seminar then examines how Indian tribes from different parts of North America, including the Southwest, Northeast, Southeast, and Plains interpreted, evaluated, and responded to their encounters with colonial and the United States governments. Markowitz.