Catalogue 2017-2018 [ARCHIVED CATALOG]
Anthropology Department
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Chair: 2016/17 Candice M. Lowe Swift,
2017/18 Thomas Porcello;
Professors: Colleen Ballerino Cohen, Martha Kaplanb, Thomas Porcello, David Tavárezab;
Associate Professor: Candice M. Lowe Swift;
Assistant Professors: April M. Beisaw, Zachary Cofran;
Visiting Assistant Professor: Louis Philippe Römer;
Adjunct Professor: Lucille Lewis Johnson;
Post-doctoral Fellow: Xiaobo Yuan.
b On leave 2017/18, second semester
ab On leave 2017/18
The field of anthropology seeks to promote a holistic understanding of social life by offering complex accounts of human histories, societies and cultures. Anthropologists undertake ethnographic, archival, and archaeological research on the varied aspects of individual and collective experience in all time periods and parts of the world. The Department of Anthropology offers a wide range of options for majors and for nonmajors in recognition of the broad interdisciplinary nature of the field. Nonmajors from all classes may choose courses at any level
with permission of the instructor and without introductory anthropology as a prerequisite.
NRO: One introductory course taken NRO may count towards the major if a letter grade is received. If a student receives a PA for an introductory course taken under the NRO option, that student must complete 13 courses for an anthropology major. No other required courses for the major may be taken NRO.
Recommendations: The field experience is essential to the discipline of anthropology. Therefore, majors are urged to take at least one fieldwork course, to engage in field research during the summer, and/or to undertake independent fieldwork under a study away program.
Anthropological Research Experience: The department also offers students the opportunity for independent fieldwork/research projects through several of its courses and in conjunction with on-going faculty research projects. Opportunities for laboratory research, which is also critical to anthropological inquiry, are available in our archaeology, biological anthropology, sound analysis, and digital video editing labs.
Advisers: The department.
Major
Correlate Sequence in Anthropology
Anthropology: I. Introductory
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ANTH 100 - Archaeology Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
Archaeologists use the material remains of past peoples and places to tell new stories of the past, present, and future. This course covers the basic methods and theories of American archaeology to show how that work is done. Then we survey the contributions that archaeologists are making to the social issues of our time such as sustainable cities, poverty and homelessness, and warfare and identity. Every social issue of today has historical roots, and earlier cases that can be examined through material remains. April Beisaw.
Two 75-minute periods. -
ANTH 120 - Human Origins Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
This course introduces current and historical debates in the study of human evolution. Primate studies, genetics, the fossil record and paleoecology are drawn upon to address such issues as the origins and nature of human cognition, sexuality, and population variation. Zachary Cofran.
Two 75-minute periods. -
ANTH 140 - Cultural Anthropology Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
An introduction to central concepts, methods, and findings in cultural anthropology, including culture, cultural difference, the interpretation of culture, and participant-observation. The course uses cross-cultural comparison to question scholarly and commonsense understandings of human nature. Topics may include sexuality, kinship, political and economic systems, myth, ritual and cosmology, and culturally varied ways of constructing race, gender, and ethnicity. Students undertake small research projects and explore different styles of ethnographic writing. Colleen Cohen, Candice Lowe Swift and Xiaobo Yuan.
Two 75-minute periods. -
ANTH 150 - Linguistics and Anthropology Semester Offered: Fall and Spring
1 unit(s)
This class introduces students to the multiple senses in which languages constitute “formal systems.” There is a focus on both theoretical discussions about, and practical exercises in, the phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics of human languages. We also consider the origins of natural languages in various ways: their ontogenesis, their relationship to non-human primate signaling systems, and their relationship to other, non-linguistic, human semiotic systems. Moreover, we examine the broader social and cultural contexts of natural languages, such as their consequences for socially patterned forms of thinking, and their relationship to ethnic, racial and regional variation. The course is intended both as the College’s general introduction to formal linguistics and as a foundation for advanced courses in related areas. Louis Römer and Thomas Porcello.
Two 75-minute periods. -
ANTH 170 - Topics in Anthropology Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
Introduction to anthropology through a focus on a particular issue or aspect of human experience. Topics vary, but may include Anthropology through Film, American Popular Culture, Extinctions, Peoples of the World. The department.
Topic for 2017/18a: Anthropology of Water. Many anthropologists study water as a focus of political contention and environmental impetus to action. But cultural anthropology’s special contribution to water studies may be its insights into how water is valued, socially and affectively, in culturally and historically different ways. Water is necessary for human life. But it is always, also, meaningful in a remarkable range of ways that do not necessarily begin with scarcity, nor end with any one universal goal, even health or profit. Focusing on the relation between drinking water and wider cultural systems, the course introduces three approaches to drinking water: (1) Semiotics of Bottled Water includes readings from the anthropology of food and beverage, consumer culture, and meaning-making in everyday life. (2) Water as Global Commodity considers water in the context of the anthropology of gifts and commodities. (3) Water Projects considers state, corporate, and activist discourses about water with attention to anthropological studies of social and environmental impacts. The course includes (group) projects on water in local cultural contexts. Martha Kaplan.
Open only to first-year students; satisfies the college requirement for a First-Year Writing Seminar.
Two 75-minute periods.
Anthropology: II. Intermediate
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ANTH 201 - Anthropological Theory Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
In this course we explore the history of intellectual innovations that make anthropology distinctive among the social sciences. We seek to achieve an analytic perspective on the history of the discipline and also to consider the social and political contexts, and consequences, of anthropology’s theory. While the course is historical and chronological in organization, we read major theoretical and ethnographic works that form the background to debates and issues in contemporary anthropology. Louis Römer.
Prerequisite(s): ANTH 140 . Corequisite: ANTH 140 .
Two 75-minute periods. -
ANTH 225 - Anthropology of Islam Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
(Same as RELI 225 ) This course surveys contemporary global Islam through an anthropological lens. We read a selection of recent ethnographies of Muslim communities around the world, from countries including Indonesia, Morocco, Yemen, Lebanon, Senegal, Sudan, and India. As we move through these various worlds, we look for the shared questions and debates that connect Muslims around the globe. We investigate how anthropologists have tried to define Islam based on their observations of Muslim diversity. Through these sources, and through our own ethnographic exercises and visits to Muslim sites in the Hudson Valley, students also are introduced to the ethnography of religion as a practice, and its methodological, theoretical, and ethical challenges. Key themes include ritual and sacred text, politics and nation, gender & sexuality, legal pluralism, migration, postcolonialism, and violent conflict. Kirsten Wesselhoeft.
Two 75-minute periods. -
ANTH 231 - Topics in Archaeology Semester Offered: Fall and Spring
1 unit(s)
An examination of topics of interest in current archaeological analysis. We examine the anthropological reasons for such analyses, how analysis proceeds, what has been discovered to date through such analyses, and what the future of the topic seems to be. Possible topics include tools and human behavior, lithic technology, the archaeology of death, prehistoric settlement systems, origins of material culture.
May be repeated for credit if the topic has changed.
Topic for 2017/18a: Maps, Culture, and Archaeology. Maps are used to document relationships between peoples, places, and the spaces in between. This course examines both the practical and hegemonic uses of maps while providing students with hands-on experiences creating maps from archaeological and historical data. The central case study focuses on the megalithic monument of Stonehenge. This site seems quite mysterious when considered alone, but when it is placed within the landscapes of its past, the meaning(s) and purpose(s) become clearer. Stonehenge’s landscape is as important as the stone circle at its center. This has implications for the rights of local landowners, the obligations of heritage management and tourism, and the patrimony of cultures who consider Stonehenge as a sacred site. Additional case studies are explored. April Beisaw.
No prerequisites.
Topic for 2017/18b: Archaeological Lab Methods. Archaeological practice is about documenting material remains across space and time. Much of this work takes places in the laboratory, not in the field. Objects need to be counted, weighed, and described, then researched to understand when, where, and how they were manufactured, where else they have been used or found, and what they mean given the context of this site in particular and the other artifacts, ecofacts, and features they were found among. This project-based course provides students with hands-on experience analyzing artifacts, creating site distribution maps, and reaching data-driven conclusions. We analyze the data contained in other site reports and write our own site reports. April Beisaw.
Topic for 2017/18b: People in a New World. (Same as STS 231 ) Approximately 15,000 years ago, according to current scientific thought, humans expanded into the last large landmass left in the world without human inhabitants: The Americas. Who were these people? How did they get here and from where? What were the environmental and ecological conditions they faced, and how did they overcome them? What technologies did they bring with them, and what new technologies did they create in order to colonize these continents? This course examines the history of studies of the earliest Americans, what theories emerged about their origins over time, which have been discarded, and which still exist and compete with one another. Our current sources of information about the earliest immigrants – archaeology, biological anthropology, linguistics, ecology, genetics, geology, geophysics, chemistry among them – are examined to consider what leads they can produce and how they must be evaluated in coming to conclusions about what happened in the Americas 20-10,000 years ago. Lucy Johnson.
Prerequisite(s): ANTH 100 or ANTH 235 .
Two 75-minute periods. -
ANTH 232 - Topics in Biological Anthropology Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
This course covers topics within the broad field of biological (or physical) anthropology ranging from evolutionary theory to the human fossil record to the identification of human skeletal remains from crime scenes and accidents. Bioanthropology conceptualizes cultural behavior as an integral part of our behavior as a species. Topics covered in this course may include human evolution, primate behavior, population genetics, human demography and variation, or forensic anthropology.
May be repeated for credit if the topic has changed.
Topic for 2017/18b: Primate Behavior & Ecology. This class examines the social systems and behavior of our closest living relatives, the primates. This diverse group provides evolutionary background for understanding human society and behaviors. The course begins by outlining questions about primate behavior. In this section, the Order Primates is introduced by examining the biology and behavior of each of the major groups (Strepsirrhines, New and Old World monkeys, and apes). Next, several aspects of primate social systems including spacing, mating and grouping patterns are discussed. The course concludes by reviewing selected topics of primate behavior, such as vocal communication, cognition and conservation. In addition to the broad overview of Primates, a term paper intimately acquaints each student with a single species. Zachary Cofran.
Two 75-minute periods. -
ANTH 235 - Area Studies in Archaeology Semester Offered: Fall and Spring
1 unit(s)
This course is a detailed, intensive investigation of archaeological remains from a particular geographic region of the world. The area investigated varies from year to year and includes such areas as Eurasia, North America, and the native civilizations of Central and South America.
May be repeated for credit if the topic has changed.
Topic for 2017/18a: Central Asian Prehistory. Central Asia is at the crossroads of the East and West. Now comprised of the Former Soviet Union’s “-stans”, archaeology and ethnography reveal a deep antiquity with many unanswered questions. Who were the Andronovoans that buried horses and chariots here 2,000 years ago? How are they related to the Scythians, who are known for their elaborate tattoos? Who built the geometrically patterned earthworks and why? Starting with the earliest traces of human occupation in the region, possibly 1,000,000 years ago, this course assesses the evidence of early Central Asian populations. Linking past and present, the course also examines the role of prehistory in shaping identity of modern Central Asian states. Zachary Cofran.
Topic for 2017/18b: Historical Archaeology of North America. History tells us a version of the past that is knowable through written records. Historical archaeology provides alternative histories based on the things people left behind. This course begins with the archaeological record of colonial America and ends with the archaeology of today. Throughout, we focus on sites and artifacts of those who are often left out of American history books: the young, the poor, the working class, and a variety of marginalized groups. The remains of their lives help us to see how the past continues to function in the present. April Beisaw.
Prerequisite(s): previous coursework in Anthropology or permission of the instructor.
Two 75-minute periods. -
ANTH 240 - Cultural Localities Semester Offered: Fall and Spring
1 unit(s)
Detailed study of the cultures of people living in a particular area of the world, including their politics, economy, worldview, religion, expressive practices, and historical transformations. Included is a critical assessment of different approaches to the study of culture. Areas covered vary from year to year and may include Europe, Africa, North America, India and the Pacific.
May be repeated for credit if the topic has changed.
Topic for 2017/18a: China, Now: Perspectives on Post-Socialist Life. (Same as ASIA 240 ) Since the end of the Maoist era and the beginning of “Reform and Opening Up” (beginning in 1978), China has experienced staggering social changes, from transitioning to a market economy to re-entering the global political theater as an increasingly influential superpower. This course surveys how anthropological and sociological scholarship has taken stock of this dynamic time. How has China’s rapid economic and political development been represented in contemporary scholarship? To what extent is the present-day People’s Republic seen as a “post-Socialist” state, and in what ways do socialist and revolutionary legacies of the Maoist era still resonate? Incorporating scholarly monographs and articles, films, and fiction, we examine topics including the history and politics of “Reform and Opening Up”; urbanization, migration, and the division of labor in cities and countryside; shifts in mass consumption and mediated desire; the social reproduction of traditional concepts like “guanxi” and “face”; religion and ethics; and media landscapes in 21st-century China. Students develop a final research paper on a topic of their own choice. Knowledge of Chinese not required. Xiaobo Yuan.
Topic for 2017/18b: Atlantic World(s). (Same as AFRS 240 ) To speak of the Atlantic World is to speak of the peoples who inhabit the shores of the Atlantic Ocean and its marginal seas, and who are interconnected by histories of imperial expansion, enslavement, commerce, and migration. Imperial conquest led to the displacement and decimation of indigenous peoples, while slavery, indenture, and trade led and the creation of African, European, and Asian Diasporas in the Americas. These processes gave rise to the very idea of globalization, as well as the ideals of freedom, decolonization, and universal rights. This course introduces the diasporas, networks, and economic flows that integrate the Caribbean, Africa, the Americas, and Europe. Using ethnographies, histories, narratives, music, and film, we explore the processes of migration, imperial expansion, and economic integration that continue to shape the peoples, languages, and cultures of the Atlantic World. We also critically examine the strengths and limitations of concepts and theoretical frameworks used to produce knowledge about the peoples and histories of the Atlantic world. Topics include imperialism and its legacies, (de)colonization, capitalism, slavery, indenture, marronage, piracy, revolution, abolition, creolization, race, class, and gender. Louis Römer.
Two 75-minute periods. -
ANTH 241 - The Caribbean
1 unit(s)
An overview of the cultures of the Caribbean, tracing the impact of slavery and colonialism on contemporary experiences and expressions of Caribbean identity. Using ethnographies, historical accounts, literature, music, and film, the course explores the multiple meanings of ‘Caribbean,’ as described in historical travel accounts and contemporary tourist brochures, as experienced in daily social, political, and economic life, and as expressed through cultural events such as calypso contests and Festival, and cultural-political movements such as Rastafarianism. Although the course deals primarily with the English-speaking Caribbean, it also includes materials on the French and Spanish speaking Caribbean and on diasporic Caribbean communities in the U.S. and U.K. Colleen Cohen.
Prerequisite(s): previous coursework in Anthropology or permission of the instructor.
Not offered in 2017/18.
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ANTH 243 - Mesoamerican Worlds
1 unit(s)
(Same as LALS 243 ) A survey of the ethnography, history, and politics of indigenous societies with deep historical roots in regions now located in Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, and Honduras. This course explores the emergence of Mesoamerican states with a vivid cosmology tied to warfare and human sacrifice, the reconfiguration of these societies under the twin burdens of Christianity and colonial rule, and the strategies that some of these communities adopted in order to preserve local notions of identity and to cope with (or resist) incorporation into nation-states. After a consideration of urbanization, socio-religious hierarchies, and writing and calendrical systems in pre-contact Mesoamerica, we will focus on the adaptations within Mesoamerican communities resulting from their interaction with an evolving colonial order. The course also investigates the relations between native communities and the Mexican and Guatemalan nation-states, and examines current issues—such as indigenous identities in the national and global spheres, the rapport among environmental policies, globalization, and local agricultural practices, and indigenous autonomy in the wake of the EZLN rebellion. Work on Vassar’s Mesoamerican collection, and a final research paper and presentation is required; the use of primary sources (in Spanish or in translation) is encouraged. David Tavárez.
Not offered in 2017/18.
Two 75-minute periods. -
ANTH 244 - Indian Ocean
1 unit(s)
(Same as AFRS 244 ) This course re/introduces alternative modalities of belonging through a focus on multiple cultures and peoples interacting across the Indian Ocean. Using historical works, ethnographies, travel accounts, manuscript fragments, and film, we explore the complex networks and historical processes that have shaped the contemporary economies, cultures, and social problems of the region. We also critically examine how knowledge about the peoples and pasts of this region has been produced. Although the course concentrates on northern Africa, eastern Africa, southwest India, the Arabian Peninsula, and islands are included in our consideration of the region as a cultural, economic, and political sphere whose coastal societies were especially interconnected. Topics include: imperialism, globalization, temporality, cosmopolitanism, labor and trade migrations, religious identification, and gender. Candice Lowe Swift.
Not offered in 2017/18.
Two 75-minute periods. -
ANTH 245 - The Ethnographer’s Craft
1 unit(s)
(Same as URBS 245 ) This course introduces students to the methods employed in constructing and analyzing ethnographic materials through readings, classroom lectures, and discussions with regular field exercises. Students gain experience in participant-observation, fieldnote-taking, interviewing, survey sampling, symbolic analysis, the use of archival documents, and the use of contemporary media. Attention is also given to current concerns with interpretation and modes of representation. Throughout the semester, students practice skills they learn in the course as they design, carry out, and write up original ethnographic projects. Candice Lowe Swift.
Not offered in 2017/18.
Two 75-minute periods plus two 75-minute workshops outside of regular class hours. -
ANTH 247 - Modern Social Theory: Classical Traditions Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
(Same as SOCI 247 ) This course examines underlying assumptions and central concepts and arguments of European and American thinkers who contributed to the making of distinctly sociological perspectives. Readings include selections from Karl Marx, Emile Durheim, Max Weber, Georg Simmel, W.E.B. Du Bois and Erving Goffman. Thematic topics will vary from year to year. Diane Harriford.
Two 75-minute periods. -
ANTH 250 - Language, Culture, and Society Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
This course draws on a wide range of theoretical perspectives in exploring a particular problem, emphasizing the contribution of linguistics and linguistic anthropology to issues that bear on research in a number of disciplines. At issue in each selected course topic are the complex ways in which cultures, societies, and individuals are interrelated in the act of using language within and across particular speech communities.
May be repeated for credit if the topic has changed.
Topic for 2017/18a: The Anthropology of Human Rights. Part of the appeal of human rights as an idea is the attempt to set universal standards for justice. In practice, these universalist aspirations are often in tension with efforts to secure national sovereignty and protect local ways of life. This course offers a survey of an anthropological approach to human rights as a practice that straddles local demands and global imperatives. The course also focuses on the tension between the universalist claims and particular realities that shape human rights work. The first unit of the course provides an overview of the history of human rights and the emergence of human rights institutions after World War II. In the second unit, students examine theoretical debates on universalism versus relativism and its impact on anthropological theory and methodology. The third unit of the course focuses on how human rights institutions and human rights activism work in practice. In the final unit, the course examines current topics within human rights such as transitional justice, indigenous rights, gender violence, human trafficking, and human rights-based justifications for military intervention. Throughout we read ethnographic accounts of human rights institutions and workers, as well as historical and theoretical sources. Upon finishing this course, students come away with a more complex understanding of cultural difference, global interconnection, and the bases for transnational solidarity. Louis Römer.
Two 75-minute periods. -
ANTH 255 - Language, Gender, and Media Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
This course offers a systematic survey of anthropological and linguistic approaches to the ways in which gender identities are implicated in language use, ideas about language, and the dynamic relationship between language and various forms of power and dominance. It is organized as a cross-cultural and cross-ethnic exploration of approaches that range from ground-breaking feminist linguistic anthropology and the study of gender, hegemony, and class, to contemporary debates on gender as performance and on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual/transgender identities. An important topic is the representation of gender identities in various forms of media. However, we also investigate the multiple rapports among gender identities, socialization, language use in private and public spheres, forms of authority, and class and ethnic identities. Students learn about transcription and analysis methods used in linguistic anthropology, and complete two projects, one based on spontaneous conversations, and another that focuses on mass media. Thomas Porcello.
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ANTH 259 - Soundscapes: Anthropology of Music Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
(Same as MUSI 259 ) This course investigates a series of questions about the relationship between music and the individuals and societies that perform and listen to it. In other words, music is examined and appreciated as a form of human expression existing within and across specific cultural contexts. The course takes an interdisciplinary approach to the social life of music, addressing historical themes and debates within multiple academic fields via readings, recordings, and films. Justin Patch.
Recommended: but not required that students have one unit of the following: Music, Anthropology, Sociology, or Media Studies.
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ANTH 260 - Current Themes in Anthropological Theory and Method Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
The focus is upon particular cultural sub-systems and their study in cross-cultural perspective. The sub-system selected varies from year to year. Examples include: kinship systems, political organizations, religious beliefs and practices, verbal and nonverbal communication.
May be repeated for credit if the topic has changed.
Topic for 2017/18b: Anthropological Approaches to Community Engaged Research. In this course, utilizing tools from community engaged and participatory action research methods, and using Vassar College as a case study, students learn to assess a social organization. The course is aimed at generating knowledge that leads to cultural and organizational change, as students learn more about where and how institutional efforts at creating the conditions for inclusion and belonging succeed, and how they might be improved. Students read about research ethics and methodologies, conduct archival research, and formulate research topics to pursue throughout the term. They are then guided through the processes of information gathering, social analysis, and textual and oral representations of their observations and findings. As students use applied social scientific research to understand and transform challenges faced by members of the Vassar community, they gain a critical perspective on how to conduct research on social organizations. Such knowledge can inform how scholars link research to action in institutional settings. Wendy Maragh Taylor, Candice Lowe Swift.
Two 75-minute periods. -
ANTH 262 - Anthropological Approaches to Myth, Ritual and Symbol Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
What is the place of myth, ritual and symbol in human social life? Do symbols reflect reality, or create it? This course considers answers to these questions in social theory (Marx, Freud and Durkheim) and in major anthropological approaches (functionalism, structuralism, and symbolic anthropology). It then reviews current debates in interpretive anthropology about order and change, power and resistance, the enchantments of capitalism, and the role of ritual in the making of history. Ethnographic and historical studies may include Fiji, Italy, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, the Seneca, and the U.S. Martha Kaplan.
Prerequisite(s): previous coursework in Anthropology or permission of the instructor.
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ANTH 263 - Anthropology Goes to the Movies: Film, Video, and Ethnography
1 unit(s)
(Same as MEDS 263 ) This course examines how film and video are used in ethnography as tools for study and as means of ethnographic documentary and representation. Topics covered include history and theory of visual anthropology, issues of representation and audience, indigenous film, and contemporary ethnographic approaches to popular media. Colleen Cohen.
Prerequisite(s): previous coursework in Anthropology or Film or Media Studies or permission of the instructor.
Not offered in 2017/18.
Two 75-minute periods, plus 3-hour preview laboratory. -
ANTH 266 - Indigenous and Oppositional Media
1 unit(s)
(Same as MEDS 266 ) As audiovisual and digital media technologies proliferate and become more accessible globally, they become important tools for indigenous peoples and activist groups in struggles for recognition and self-determination, for articulating community concerns and for furthering social and political transformations. This course explores the media practices of indigenous peoples and activist groups, and through this exploration achieves a more nuanced and intricate understanding of the relation of the local to the global. In addition to looking at the films, videos, radio and television productions, and Internet interventions of indigenous media makers and activists around the world, the course looks at oppositional practices employed in the consumption and distribution of media. Course readings are augmented by weekly screenings and demonstrations of media studied, and students explore key theoretical concepts through their own interventions, making use of audiovisual and digital technologies. Colleen Cohen.
Not offered in 2017/18.
Two 75-minute periods, plus one 3-hour preview lab. -
ANTH 268 - Religion, Repression, and Resistance in Latin America
1 unit(s)
(Same as HIST 268 and LALS 268 ) What was it like to live in a society where crimes of thought and religious transgressions were prosecuted and punished? How did various populations confront and resist inquisitorial activities? What is the legacy of the Inquisition in the Americas? This course addresses these and other questions through a focus on the Latin American Inquisition and Extirpation (ecclesiastic attempts to reform or destroy Precolumbian indigenous religions). The course tracks the emergence of Inquisition tribunals in Mexico City, Lima, and Cartagena after 1571, and the Catholic Church’s prosecution of indigenous idolatry and sorcery. It focuses both on trends in prosecution, torture, and punishment, and on the dynamic responses of those who were either targets or collaborators: indigenous peoples, Jews, Africans, female healers, people of mixed descent, and Protestants. Towards the end of the course, based on students’ interests, we also review other select case studies of religious control and resistance in Latin America. Students proficient in Spanish or Portuguese are encouraged to work with primary sources. David Tavárez.
Not offered in 2017/18.
Two 75-minute periods. -
ANTH 290 - Field Work Semester Offered: Fall or Spring
0.5 to 1.5 unit(s)
Individual or group field projects or internships. May be elected during the college year or during the summer. Open to all students. The department.
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ANTH 298 - Independent Work Semester Offered: Fall or Spring
0.5 to 1 unit(s)
Individual or group project of reading or research. May be elected during the college year or during the summer. The department.
Anthropology: III. Advanced
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ANTH 300 - Senior Thesis Semester Offered: Fall or Spring
1 unit(s)
The department.
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ANTH 301 - Senior Seminar Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
A close examination of current theory in anthropology, oriented around a topic of general interest, such as history and anthropology, the writing of ethnography, or the theory of practice. Students write a substantial paper applying one or more of the theories discussed in class. Readings change from year to year. Colleen Cohen.
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ANTH 305 - Topics in Advanced Biological Anthropology Semester Offered: Fall and Spring
1 unit(s)
An examination of such topics as primate structure and behavior, the Plio-Pleistocene hominids, the final evolution of Homo sapiens sapiens, forensic anthropology, and human biological diversity.
May be repeated for credit if the topic has changed.
Topic for 2017/18a: Human Evolutionary Developmental Biology. What literally makes us human? This class examines how growth and development were modified over the course of human evolution, to create the animals that we are today. Human anatomy is placed in an evolutionary context by comparison with living primates and the human fossil record. The first half of the course focuses on theory, namely evolution, genetics and life history. The second half examines evidence for the development and evolution of specific parts of the body, from head to toe. Through lab activities and a term project, students draw on different types of data to test hypotheses about evolution and development. Zachary Cofran.
Topic for 2017/18b: Forensic Anthropology. Forensic anthropology is the application of physical anthropology to medical or legal issues, such as crimes. This course introduces students to the basic methods of forensic anthropology, including how age, sex, race, and height of an individual can be determined from their bones. Recognition of skeletal anomalies can also reveal past health conditions and the cause and manner of death. Students gain experience in applying these methods by working with real and synthetic human bones. Special attention is given to the accuracy of each method and how to develop a biological profile that would stand up in a court of law. April Beisaw.
One 3-hour period. -
ANTH 331 - Topics in Archaeological Theory and Method
1 unit(s)
The theoretical underpinnings of anthropological archaeology and the use of theory in studying particular bodies of data. The focus ranges from examination of published data covering topics such as architecture and society, the origin of complex society, the relationship between technology and ecology to more laboratory-oriented examination of such topics as archaeometry, archaeozoology, or lithic technology. April Beisaw.
May be repeated for credit if the topic has changed.
Prerequisites: previous coursework in Anthropology or Environmental Studies, or permission of the instructor.
Not offered in 2017/18.
One 2-hour period plus one 4-hour lab. -
ANTH 351 - Language and Expressive Culture Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
This seminar provides the advanced student with an intensive investigation of theoretical and practical problems in specific areas of research that relate language and linguistics to expressive activity. Although emphasizing linguistic modes of analysis and argumentation, the course is situated at the intersection of important intellectual crosscurrents in the arts, humanities, and social sciences that focus on how culture is produced and projected through not only verbal, but also musical, material, kinaesthetic, and dramatic arts. Each topic culminates in independent research projects.
May be repeated for credit if the topic has changed.
Topic for 2017/18a: Sound. This seminar centers on the examination of acoustic, perceptual, and cultural dimensions of aural phenomena. Linguistics is one focal area of the course, in which we pursue both qualitative and quantitative analyses of paralinguistic and prosodic features (pitch, intonation, rhythm, timbre, formants), acoustic phonetics, and especially issues of sound symbolism (onomatopoeia, iconicity, metaphor, and synaesthesia). Additional topics of discussion include relationships between sound structure and social structure as investigated by anthropologists and ethnomusicologists, the cultural history of sound (as encoded in regulatory practices such as public noise ordinances, as well as in architectural and technological designs). Thomas Porcello.
Prerequisite(s): ANTH 150 or ANTH 250 or permission of the instructor.
One 3-hour period. -
ANTH 352 - Indigenous Literatures of the Americas
1 unit(s)
(Same as AMST 352 and LALS 352 ) This course addresses a selection of creation narratives, historical accounts, poems, and other genres produced by indigenous authors from Pre-Columbian times to the present, using historical, linguistic and ethnographic approaches. We examine the use of non-alphabetic and alphabetic writing systems, study poetic and rhetorical devices, and examine indigenous historical consciousness and sociopolitical and gender dynamics through the vantage point of these works. Other topics include language revitalization, translation issues, and the rapport between linguistic structure and literary form. The languages and specific works to be examined are selected in consultation with course participants. They may include English or Spanish translations of works in Nahuatl, Zapotec, Yucatec and K’iche’ Maya, Quechua, Tupi, Aymara, and other indigenous languages of Latin America. David Tavárez.
Not offered in 2017/18.
One 2-hour period. -
ANTH 360 - Problems in Cultural Analysis
1 unit(s)
Covers a variety of current issues in modern anthropology in terms of ongoing discussion among scholars of diverse opinions rather than a rigid body of fact and theory. The department.
May be repeated for credit if topic has changed.
Topic for 2017/18b: The Passions and Interests, a Seminar in the Anthropology of Politics. This seminar critically interrogates the dichotomy between reason and emotion as it frames the study of political processes, through the engagement with foundational texts as well as recent research in political anthropology. The course begins with strategies for the pursuit of power and prestige, and then moves to social relations and the sentiments that construct politically efficacious affiliations, solidarities, alliances, and enmities. The final third of the course focuses on recent work on the role of emotion, rhetoric, and narrative in political processes. Through a succession of case studies from small-scale communities in the Caribbean, Africa, and South-East Asia, as well as planetary imperial formations, students gain an understanding of how anthropologists conceptualize the interaction of political processes at multiple scales. Upon completion of this seminar, students should have a command of the theories, ongoing debates, and open questions that emerge out of political anthropology, and gain an understanding of the interplay between language, emotion, and reason in the unfolding of political processes at interpersonal as well as broader, (trans)national scales. Louis Römer.
Topic for 2017/18b: The State as Anthropological Object. How is “the state” constituted as an object of study for anthropologists? Where is “the state” — with its institutional features, boundaries, functions, and affects — located in social life? If we do not take the state’s monolithic existence for granted, what sorts of knowledge about “the state” as an ensemble of institutions and practices might otherwise be produced? This course examines the development of methodologies for studying and thinking about the state anthropologically. The first part of the course examines how social theorists have conceptualized and problematized the state, including Weber, Gramsci, Foucault, Bourdieu, and others. Through a close engagement with theories of bureaucracy, hegemony, and governmentality, this part of the course considers how certain familiar categories — like civil society, nation-state, sovereignty, etc. – have been attached to understandings of the state. We consider how anthropologists have drawn on critical scholarship (Abrams, Trouillot, Mitchell, Rose) to develop methodologies for re-thinking the relationship between states, transnational institutions, global capitalism, and everyday life. In the second half of the course, we read recent monographs on aspects of the state. These readings touch on issues ranging from bureaucratic regimes of paperwork (Hull), policing (Dutton), conditions of “statelessness” (Conklin), indigenous sovereignty (Simpson), and the national security state (Masco). These readings are guided by the following questions: Where do scholars locate “the state” in their empirical work? What methods and types of inquiries do they employ, and how does “the state” become visible and legible (or not) in their work? Xiaobo Yuan.
Prerequisite(s): previous coursework in Anthropology or International Studies, or permission of the instructor.
One 3-hour period. -
ANTH 363 - Nations, Globalization, and Post-Coloniality
1 unit(s)
(Same as INTL 363 ) How do conditions of globalization and dilemmas of post-coloniality challenge the nation-state? Do they also reinforce and reinvent it? This course engages three related topics and literatures; recent anthropology of the nation-state; the anthropology of colonial and post-colonial societies; and the anthropology of global institutions and global flows. Martha Kaplan.
Prerequisite(s): previous coursework in Anthropology or permission of the instructor.
Not offered in 2017/18.
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ANTH 364 - Travelers and Tourists
1 unit(s)
The seminar explores tourism in the context of a Western tradition of travel and as a complex cultural, economic and political phenomenon with profound impacts locally and globally. Using contemporary tourism theory, ethnographic studies of tourist locales, contemporary and historical travel narratives, travelogues, works of fiction, post cards and travel brochures, we consider tourism as a historically specific cultural practice whose meaning and relation to structures of power varies over time and context; as a performance; as one of many global mobilities; as embodied activity; as it is informed by mythic and iconic representations and embedded in Western notions of self and other. We also address issues pertaining to the culture of contemporary tourism, the commoditization of culture, the relation between tourism development and national identity and the prospects for an environmentally and culturally sustainable tourism. Colleen Cohen.
Prerequisite(s): previous coursework in Anthropology or permission of the instructor.
Not offered in 2017/18.
One 3-hour period. -
ANTH 365 - Imagining Asia and the Island Pacific Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
(Same as ASIA 365 ) Does “the Orient” exist? Is the Pacific really a Paradise? On the other hand, does the “West” exist? If it does, is it the opposite of Paradise? Asia is often imagined as an ancient, complex challenger and the Pacific is often imagined as a simple, idyllic paradise. This course explores Western scholarly images of Asia (East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia) and of the island Pacific. It also traces the impact of Asian and Pacific ideas and institutions on the West. Each time offered, the seminar has at least three foci, on topics such as: Asia, the Pacific and capitalism; Asia, the Pacific and the concept of culture; Asia, the Pacific and the nation-state; Asia, the Pacific and feminism; Asia, the Pacific and knowledge. Martha Kaplan.
Prerequisite(s): previous coursework in Asian Studies/Anthropology or permission of the instructor.
One 2-hour period. -
ANTH 382 - Methods in Participatory Action Research Semester Offered: Fall
0.5 unit(s)
Participatory Action Research (PAR) is aimed at generating knowledge in order to promote social and organizational change. This course engages students in PAR specifically around the topic of inclusion and thriving at Vassar College, in order to learn more about where and how institutional efforts at inclusion succeed, and how they might be improved. Students select from a range of research topics, and then are guided through the processes of information gathering, social analysis, and representation of their observations and findings. The overarching aim is for students to gain a critical perspective on how to conduct research on social organizations, the knowledge of which can inform how scholars link research to action. Candice Lowe Swift and Wendy Maragh Taylor.
One 2-hour period. -
ANTH 384 - Native Religions of the Americas
1 unit(s)
(Same as AMST 384 and LALS 384 ) The conquest of the Americas was accompanied by various intellectual and sociopolitical projects devised to translate, implant, or impose Christian beliefs in Amerindian societies. This course examines modes of resistance and accommodation, among other indigenous responses, to the introduction of Christianity as part of larger colonial projects. Through a succession of case studies from North America, Mesoamerica, the Caribbean, the Andes, and Paraguay, we analyze the impact of Christian colonial and postcolonial evangelization projects on indigenous languages, religious practices, literary genres, social organization and gender roles, and examine contemporary indigenous religious practices. David Tavárez.
Prerequisite(s): prior coursework in Anthropology, American Studies or Latin American Latino/a Studies or permission of the instructor.
Not offered in 2017/18.
One 2-hour period. -
ANTH 389 - Identities and Historical Consciousness in Latin America
1 unit(s)
(Same as LALS 389 ) This seminar explores in a strategic fashion the emergence and constant renovation of historical narratives that have supported various beliefs and claims about local, regional, national and transnational identities in Latin America and Latinx societies since the rise of the Mexica and Inca empires until the present. An important focus is the study of racial discourses and classifications, and of identities based on cultural practices and territorial origin. Through anthropological and historical approaches, we examine indigenous forms of historical consciousness and new identity discourses under colonial rule, their permutations after the emergence of independent nation-states, and crucial shifts in national, racial, and ethnic identity claims that preceded and followed revolutions and social movements. Students complete an original research project, and the use of original sources in Spanish or Portuguese is encouraged. David Tavárez.
Not offered in 2017/18.
One 2-hour period. -
ANTH 399 - Senior Independent Work Semester Offered: Fall or Spring
0.5 to 1 unit(s)
Individual or group project of reading or research. May be elected during the college year or during the summer. The department
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