courses to come in the future
Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
Cultural anthropology is the study of human ways of life in the broadest possible comparative perspective. Cultural anthropologists are interested in all types of societies, from hunting and gathering bands to modern industrial states. The aim of cultural anthropology is to document the full range of human cultural adaptations and achievements and to discern in this great diversity the underlying covariations among and changes in human ecology, institutions and ideologies. (TOPICAL) Dist: SOC or INT; WCult: NW.
First-Year Seminar in Anthropology
Companion animals are commonly treated as “members of the family,” and we have become increasingly concerned about the welfare of other animals, such as those used in experimental lab settings. Still, these concerns are predicated on contradictory philosophies of human/non-human difference. In this course we consider the diverse ways animals are a part of our lives – for instance, as symbols, commodities, and workers. In the process, we begin to formulate new approaches to multi multispecies ethics and reconsider what we mean by “human.”
Trends suggest that the human experience is increasingly an urban one, with urbanization transforming social and ecological worlds at a rapid pace. With these changes comes a growing urgency to enhance the sustainability of cities. In this course we compare past and present forms of urbanization, with an emphasis on understanding specific challenges and solutions to sustainability. In doing so, we think about how urbanization is embedded in broader socio-ecological processes that transform rural lands and livelihoods. Pending Faculty Approval.
Latin American Environmental Politics
While environmental concerns are on the rise worldwide, Latin America offers a compelling lens for exploring the ways local and global practices of governance shape environmental change, conservation strategies, and social activism. In this course, we will explore the role of neoliberal conservation strategies, such as “green grabbing,” the cultural politics of indigenous claims to territory, and the changing role of the state on local economies and land use. Ethnographic readings include examples from Chile, Ecuador, Mexico, and Venezuela. Pending Faculty Approval. Ogden. (Identical to LACS 46)
Environment, Culture and Sustainability
Environmental issues and problems cannot be understood without reference to the cultural values that shape the way people perceive and interact with their environment. This course examines the ways in which different cultures conceptualize and interact with their environment, but with special emphasis on American cultures and values. We will examine how the American experience has shaped the ways in which Americans imagine and interact with the environment and how this has been exported to the rest of the world. We will pay close attention to issues of consumption and conservation and how they have impacted ecologies and human livelihoods in different parts of the world (TOPICAL). Dist: SOC or INT; WCult: W.
Main Currents in Anthropology
This course examines the theoretical concerns that define anthropology as a discipline. These include the nature and extent of human social and cultural variation; the relationship of institutional arrangements in society to systems of meaning; the material and moral determinants of human social life; the dynamics of change within and between ways of life otherwise taken by their practitioners as given; the place of power in maintaining, challenging, and representing meaningfully constituted human orders. Readings by major theorists past and present will be treated as neither canonical texts nor dead-letter formulations but as part of an ongoing inquiry into the myriad dimensions-and possibilities-of being human. (TOPICAL) Dist: SOC.