This course is an introduction to the politics of heritage. Heritage sites, monuments and museums are frequently sites of controversy, as various groups with different and often conflicting experiences contest interpretations of the past. We will focus on the major themes, ideas and debates shaping the theoretical and methodological frameworks for studying cultural heritage. We will learn the ways in which colonialism, nationalism, apartheid, conflict and independence and impact cultural heritage.

The last twenty years have witnessed a resurgence in political and economic cooperation among the developing nations of the South. This course examines recent changes in the international economy, with a special focus on South-South relations. Some questions we will consider are: What will be the impact of the rise of Third World Capitalism on the global economy? What will the global economy look like when we emerge from the current financial crises?

Lions and Maasai, elephants and Bushmen, camels and Tuareg - Africa is seen as the continent of colorful cultures, picturesque people and thatched huts. This course introduces students to some of the key themes and debates in the anthropology of tourism, exploring the commodification of culture and nature in Africa as objects with marketable value. In this class, we ask: What is a tourist? How do hosts feel about tourists? Why do people travel for leisure to Africa? Does tourism help or hinder African development?

This course examines the often contradictory impacts of the process of economic development on gender relations in developing countries and asks: what challenges do global economic trends pose for gender equality and equity in developing countries? To answer this question, we will begin with an introduction to alternative approaches to economics and to economic development, focusing on the differences between neoclassical and feminist economics. We will then go on to examine and critique the theoretical frameworks that have shaped the gender perspective in economic development.

This course explores the intended and unintended consequences of cross-border economic transactions. How are people and national economies affected by trade, foreign debt, migrant labor contracting, cross-border monopolies over seeds and medicines, and corporate tax avoidance using tax havens? We examine the role of transnational firms (TNFs), asking who wins and who loses from such firms' activities, and from the rules governing them. How and why have such rules evolved? How powerful are TNFs over people and governments in the countries that host them, and why?

Many people have learned and are accustomed to thinking of history as an authoritative account of the past, based on indisputable facts. Scholars of history, by contrast, understand history as a matter of contested and evolving interpretation: debate. And they argue not just over the interpretation of facts, but even over what constitutes a relevant fact. This course will use some representative debates to show how dynamic the historical field is. Topics may include: Did women have a Renaissance? How did people in early modern France understand identity?

Life and death are central to our everyday experience -- our thoughts, our emotions, our conversations, our creations and our inquiries. It is therefore not surprising that there are many lenses through which one can study life and death. The goal of this class is to study various phenomena, each through a distinct lens, in which life and death are central.

This course uses historical analysis to enrich our understanding of anthropogenic climate change. We begin with the premises that our present climate crisis is a political project of globalization, and that its causes and consequences can only be understood by examining the historical trajectories of carbon-based economic and political systems in the 19th and 20th centuries. We trace the intellectual genealogy of modern climate science, the history of international climate agreements, and the politics of natural disaster response.

In this course we will explore communal modes of life through a theoretical and practical lens. We will engage several communitarian theorists and we will also study some of the recent pragmatic work that has been done to reclaim common space, common practices, and community as such.

From the success of the Oscar-winning film Moonlight to the global popularity of hip-hop stars Chance the Rapper and Kendrick Lamar, America indulges in the cultural work that young black men and boys create to express their unique experiences at the intersections of race, youth, and masculinity in film and music. Yet, when black boys and young men are not on stage or the screen performing to entertain spectators, they are oftentimes perceived as threats and violently policed, incarcerated, and killed.