This course is a general introduction to anthropological analysis of politics and the political. Through a broad survey of anthropological texts and theories, we explore what an ethnographic perspective can offer to our understandings of power and government. Special emphasis is placed on the role of culture, symbols and social networks in the political life of local communities.

This course introduces students to the variety of methods of inquiry used for research in anthropology. Throughout the semester, students are introduced to methods of locating and analyzing information and sources, developing research questions and writing. Normally taken in the spring of the sophomore or junior year. Prerequisite: ANT 130. Enrollment limited to 20. ANT Majors only. Instructor permission required.

This course explores the similarities and differences in the cultural patterning of human experience, compares economic, political, religious and family structures in Africa, the Americas, Asia and Oceania and analyzes the impact of the modern world on traditional societies. Several ethnographic films are viewed in coordination with descriptive case studies. Limited to first-year students and sophomores. Enrollment limited to 25.

This course explores the similarities and differences in the cultural patterning of human experience, compares economic, political, religious and family structures in Africa, the Americas, Asia and Oceania and analyzes the impact of the modern world on traditional societies. Several ethnographic films are viewed in coordination with descriptive case studies. Limited to first-year students and sophomores. Enrollment limited to 25.

This course explores the similarities and differences in the cultural patterning of human experience, compares economic, political, religious and family structures in Africa, the Americas, Asia and Oceania and analyzes the impact of the modern world on traditional societies. Several ethnographic films are viewed in coordination with descriptive case studies. Limited to first-year students and sophomores. Enrollment limited to 25.

This seminar combines historical, theoretical, and material cultural sources about housing justice, and housing injustice, in the United States. A significant component of the course involves teaching students how to build a tiny house, while critically considering scholarly and popular cultural sources engaging the present, past, and (potential) future roles of small homes in America.

This is a creative nonfiction writing workshop, wherein we will improve our writing using photography as muse, guide, foil, and inspiration. Our aim is to write long, creative non fiction pieces about current issues in American life, using photography as a method for inspiring, analyzing and improving our prose. We will be taking some photos, and doing a lot of reporting and writing, applying principles of photography such as point of view, depth of field, focus, flatness and timing to help us grapple with the essentials of narrative prose.

Comedy has been a primary site for enacting and contesting citizenship in the United States. This course presents a history of comedy from the nineteenth century to the present to analyze the role of humor in shaping racial and gender stereotypes, as well as expressions of solidarity, resistance, and joy among marginalized groups. Case studies include blackface minstrelsy, stand up comedy, sit-coms, satirical news, social media posts, and cancel culture debates.

A seventeenth-century engraving imagines an encounter between two men wearing feathers and holding onto the same string of shells: depending on your perspective, this image looks like a scene of trade or one of theft at knife-point. In understanding moments from the past, representation and perspective shape not just interpretation, but sources themselves. Seeing moments as both trade and theft opens them to tellings and analyses from multiple perspectives, exposing overlooked elements and revealing the ways in which histories are made.

What do Americans want? What do they fear? What is an American? How do we draw the line between those who belong and those who do not? How do we define citizenship, its rights and responsibilities? How do race, gender, class and other differences affect the drawing of these boundaries, and the contents of consciousness? This course introduces some of the exciting and innovative approaches to cultural analysis that have emerged over the last three decades.