Anthropology
Chair: Bruce Owens
Department home page: http://www.wheatoncollege.edu/Acad/Anthropology/
The anthropology major provides students with an understanding of human social behavior, social systems and cultures within a dynamic global context. It examines the social and cultural forces that operate within Asia, Africa, Latin America, Europe and the Pacific, as well as in American society.
Major
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The major in anthropology consists of 10 courses that must include the following four core courses:
Anth 102 Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
Anth 301 Seminar in Anthropological Theory
Anth 302 Research Methods
Anth 401 Senior Seminar
Six electives that must include:
At least one world culture area course from the following list:
Anth 225 Peoples and Cultures of Africa
Anth 235 Peoples and Cultures of Latin America
Anth 245 Indigenous Movements of Latin America
Anth 255 Women in Africa
Anth 275 Peoples and Cultures of the Himalaya
Anth 285 Peoples and Cultures of the Pacific
Anth 295 Peoples and Cultures of South Asia
And one 300-level elective
Anth 306 Infancy Across Cultures
Anth 333 Economic Anthropology
Anth 340 Seminar on Religion in Anthropological Perspective
Anth 350 Gender and Social Organization
Anth 357 Indigenous Religions
Anth 101 is highly recommended. Majors who have taken a first-year seminar with a member of the Anthropology Department faculty may petition to count the FYS towards credit for the major.
Minor
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The minor in anthropology consists of either Anth 101 or Anth 102, at least one 300-level course and at least one, but not more than two, world culture area courses for a total of five courses in anthropology.
Courses
101. Human Evolution
Discoveries related to human and cultural evolution are constantly changing our view of where we came from and how we got to be the way we are. This course considers the latest findings and controversies concerning evolutionary theory, our relationship to apes, our sexuality, bipedalism and capacity for language, the relevance of "race," our links to Neanderthals, the development of what we call civilization and other topics.
(Bruce Owens, Dean Alfredo Varela)
102. Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
This course explores cultural diversity in the contemporary world and introduces the analytical and methodological tools that anthropologists use to understand cultural similarities and differences in a global context. This course will acquaint students with the extraordinary range of human possibility that anthropologists have come to know, provide a means of better understanding the culturally unfamiliar and offer a new perspective through which to examine the cultures that they call their own.
(Donna O. Kerner, Bruce Owens, M. Gabriela Torres)
Connections:
Conx 20023 Global Music
210. Feast or Famine: The Ecology and Politics of Food
This course concerns how food is produced, distributed and consumed. Topics covered include: how culture shapes taste, cuisine, nutrition and food production systems, as well as the ecological, economic and political factors that cause famine and food shortage. Films, case studies, guest speakers, action/service fieldwork and modeling exercises provide opportunities to think creatively about policy and action to increase food security for the most vulnerable at home and abroad. Students are expected to meet the challenge of bringing these issues into a forum for discussion on the Wheaton campus.
(Donna O. Kerner)
Connections:
Conx 23002 Food
225. Peoples and Cultures of Africa
This course takes a topical/historical approach to the study of sub-Saharan African societies. The diversity of unique African cultural features (in kinship, economy, politics and ritual) will be considered against the backdrop of historical interactions with Europe, the Americas, the Middle East and Asia from the precolonial period to the present. Topics covered include: lineages and stateless societies, chiefdoms and long-distance trade, slavery, colonialism and underdevelopment, social movements and resistance, cosmology, warfare and stratification by ethnicity and gender.
(Donna O. Kerner)
Connections:
Conx 23001 African Worlds
226. Anthropology of Art
This course considers art as diverse as Maori canoe prows, Warhol's Pop, aboriginal sand drawings, gang graffiti, Tibetan tangkas, children's finger painting and Mapplethorpe's photographs from an anthropological perspective, asking: Why do humans make art? How and why does art affect us and those of other cultures? What are the relationships between art, artists and society? Artists are encouraged to participate.
(Bruce Owens)
230. Language and Culture
Linguistic anthropology is concerned with the many ways that language and communication make us what we are as human beings and affect our daily social and cultural lives. Topics covered include: evolution of language; how language and culture affect the way we know the world; language acquisition; and language and communicative behaviors associated with social classes, races and genders.
(Department)
235. Peoples and Cultures of Latin America
The course looks at the issues faced by peoples and cultures of Latin America primarily through the careful reading of ethnographies. The ethnographies, as well as the associated articles and films used in the course, highlight the social realities and history of Latin American region. In this course we focus on understanding the interconnectedness of the Americas, the relationship between gender and state development, multiple forms of violence (structural, gendered, political, symbolic and everyday), religious change, and the impact of migrations, as well as the legacies of historical constructions of race, gender and ethnicity.
(M. Gabriela Torres)
Connections:
Conx 23003 Modern Latin America
240. Urban Anthropology
The 20th century has been characterized by massive urban growth throughout the world. Ethnographic studies serve as a basis for studying the causes, processes and consequences of urban migration and urbanization, as well as cross-cultural similarities and variations in urban ways of life. This course examines how people negotiate urban life as a particular sociocultural world. We develop an anthropological view of cities by surveying rural-urban influences, neighborhoods, ethnicities, subcultures, social networks and stratification to understand how social relations are constructed and how cultural knowledge is distributed in cities, including the metropolitan area.
(Department)
245. Indigenous Movements of Latin America
This course takes a topical approach to contemporary challenges facing indigenous peoples in Latin America. The course uses recent ethnographic accounts to give us an in-depth understanding of the struggles, achievements and meaning-making practices of indigenous peoples in Latin America. We focus on identity-making practices of indigenous ethnic groups in their struggles within the states of Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Guatemala and Mexico.
(M. Gabriela Torres)
250. Political Anthropology
What is power and what are the many forms in which we can see it being exercised? This course starts by exploring the evolution of political structures from stateless societies to advanced civilizations. We will analyze some classic anthropological studies of local political systems in different parts of the world and then shift our focus to how changes in the global economy affect citizens in such areas as employment, immigration, health and human rights.
(Donna O. Kerner)
255. Women in Africa
What contributions have women made to the societies of Africa prior to colonialism? How and why did colonialism affect men and women differently? What are the implications of gender inequality for economic development in Africa today? These questions are considered from ethnographic, autobiographical and fictional accounts. Gender, class and cultural identity will be focal points.
(Donna O. Kerner)
Connections:
Conx 23001 African Worlds
260. Women and Development
Without a consideration of women's lives in the Third World, our understanding of worldwide problems such as poverty, famine and AIDS is seriously deficient. This course is concerned with the impact of conquest, colonialism and postcolonial dependency on women in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The approach is anthropological, entering the subject "from the bottom up." Through the use of life histories, novels and films, we will have the privilege of hearing the voices of Third World women as they recount their strategies for coping with the difficult circumstances of their daily lives and their dreams for the future.
(Donna O. Kerner)
270. Psychological Anthropology
Shamanic cures, ecstatic trance, spirit possession, dream interpretation, identity negotiation and other psychological phenomena that pose challenges for anthropological explanation are examined in order to better understand the relationship between sociocultural context and individual experience and thought. Case studies from diverse cultural settings are bases for exploring contemporary issues and topics in this field.
(Bruce Owens)
275. Peoples and Cultures of the Himalaya
The Himalayan region provides extraordinary opportunities for pursuing fascinating issues that interest anthropologists everywhere, including the relationship between ecology and culture, the politics of gender, negotiating ethnic identity, religious diversity and interaction, and globalization. This region is also home to some of the most widely known fantasies about the ideal society, usually called Shangrila. This course uses intimate, detailed portraits of cultures and societies that the best of anthropology provides in order to examine these issues (and fantasies) in Himalayan contexts, while at the same time providing a broad overview of the enormous diversity to be found in the region and the challenges that those who live there share.
(Bruce Owens)
285. Peoples and Cultures of the Pacific
The island cultures of the Pacific respresent a dazzling array of social, political and economic styles, as well as a set of puzzling questions as they undergo rapid social changes in the 21st century. Some of the classic debates in anthropological scholarship will be considered, including: the origins of the inhabitants, the reasons for local warfare, ritual cannibalism, institutionalized homosexuality and exchange without money. We will also examine current debates about economic development, migration, environmental threats, political movements for integration and independence, the impact of tourism and the Western media, new religious movements, and language revivalism.
(Donna O. Kerner)
295. Peoples and Cultures of South Asia
Religious and ethnic diversity and conflict, ritual performance and festivity, caste, colonialism, cultural heritage, nationalism and modern struggles over sovereignty and development schemes are all features of South Asia that anthropologists find particularly interesting. This course explores the extraordinary cultural diversity of this region, which extends from the Himalayas to Sri Lanka and Pakistan to Bhutan in order to better understand the differences and commonalities that divide and unite its peoples.
(Bruce Owens)
Connections:
Conx 20032 Cultural Flows in South Asia
298. Experimental Courses
Reading and Mapping Landscapes: Tools from Environmental Sciences, History and Archaeology
This course will give students basic skills for "reading" the dynamic history of places and landscapes. Through readings, discussions and local field trips, students will learn approaches for investigating and analyzing historical landscapes anywhere in the world. Methods include GPS, landscape archeology, building archaeology, archival research and scientific techniques relevant to landscape analysis. Weekly labs will utilize Geographic Information Systems. Appropriate for future artists, architects, engineers, policy-makers and lawyers as well as those in history, anthropology and the environmental fields.
(Ninian R. Stein, Jenni Lund)
Environmental Anthropology
Clean air, clean water and food are environmental factors that underlie all of our lives. Our cultural backgrounds influence how we understand and perceive where we live and the natural resources around us as well as our ties to more distant environments. Natural resources from land to oil and water are at the heart of recent and historical conflicts as well as many international agreements. In this class, we will use the tools of anthropology to ask questions about society and environment. Topics may include landscapes, development, disasters, indigenous knowledge, activism, gender and sustainability.
Connections:
Conx 23009 The Environment
Native North America
This course introduces students to the major themes that have shaped the lives and experiences of Native American groups north of Mexico. We will explore the social, economic, ethical and legal issues confronting Native communities today such as concerns for sovereignty, repatriation, health, wealth and poverty, race and public representation. The course is interdisciplinary and draws from the fields of archeology, history, cultural anthropology, art, literature, film/media studies, law, and public policy. Prior knowledge of anthropology, Native American cultures, or Native American history is not a prerequisite.
301. Seminar in Anthropological Theory
This seminar provides a selective survey of the past one hundred years of anthropological theory, with a particular focus on the contributions of American, British and French theorists in the development of anthropological paradigms that are now most important in the discipline. These include evolutionary, functionalist, historical particularist, culture and personality, structuralist, symbolic/interpretive, ecological materialist, Marxist world systems, feminist, poststructuralist, practice and postmodernist theory, which will all receive major attention. Readings may include primary theoretical texts, classic and contemporary ethnographies and biographical materials on a number of influential anthropologists.
(Donna O. Kerner, Bruce Owens)
302. Research Methods
In this seminar, students learn how to develop a testable hypothesis, conduct a review of research literature, define an appropriate sample and employ a range of ethnographic methodologies in one or more research sites. The course culminates in the design of a pilot project and proposal.
(Previously Anth 280)
(Donna O. Kerner)
306. Infancy Across Cultures
(See Psy 306.)
311. Violance against Women
This seminar explores the nature of violence against women, focusing on current research on woman battering, rape, child sexual abuse and pornography. Students will compare theoretical approaches and will critically examine empirical research. The impact of race, ethnicity and class on the abuse experience are considered. A major part of the seminar involves original research by students on an issue of their choice. The semester will culminate in a symposium on violence against women organized by seminar members.
(M. Gabriela Torres)
333. Economic Anthropology
The seminar explores capitalism and alternative forms of economic organization, challenging students to reconceptualize "economy" as a cultural system. Students compare nonmonetized economic relations in different societies and interactions between economic cores and peripheries. This reconceptualization informs a critical understanding of the implications for participation in the global economic system and its impact on the rest of the world.
(Department)
340. Seminar on Religion in Anthropological Perspective
In various places throughout the world, people are killing themselves and others in the name of error --- [#glossPatch Religion|Catalog/REL/Index.html|] or "religious beliefs." Attempts to make sense of these and other phenomena (such as trance, fundamentalism and ecstatic worship) that we call religious often reveal deep-seated prejudices and unfounded assumptions. This seminar examines how anthropologists have sought to understand such phenomena from the perspectives of practitioners in order to develop conceptual frameworks that facilitate cross-cultural understanding.
(Bruce Owens)
350. Gender and Social Organization
A unified analysis of gender and kinship is considered essential to an understanding of social organization. This course starts from the premise that cultural conceptions of gender are not "natural" categories. In this course we will consider how marriage, family and household organization both reflect and structure cultural definitions of gender and sex-role behavior and the dynamic interaction of public and private domains in the production of culture. We will be comparing small-scale societies to more complex forms (peasant and industrial economies) and we will also consider the differences among those societies that organize descent bilaterally, matrilineally and patrilineally. Seminar participants are responsible for preparing and presenting the readings and conducting two small fieldwork projects.
(Donna O. Kerner)
Connections:
Conx 23006 Sexuality
357. Indigenous Religions
(See Rel 357 for course description.)
398. Experimental Courses
401. Senior Seminar
A semester of directed research in which students explore topics of their own choice through their own original research. Students meet regularly in a seminar setting, which provides a framework in which to discuss the many stages of the research process and offer collaborative support for fellow students pursuing their individual projects. Students will be expected to produce a completed thesis in February as their capstone to the major.
(Donna O. Kerner, Bruce Owens, M. Gabriela Torres)
500. Individual Research
Open to majors at the invitation of the department.