52 courses with the subject ANTH, each shown exactly as we captured it from the college's catalog, with every element we hold. Where the wording looks broken, that is our reading of the catalog, not the college's text.
ANTH 120The Human Animal: Intro to Biological Anthropology1
Humans occupy a small branch in the evolutionary tree of animal diversity, and biological anthropologists study the history and variation of life on this branch. This course introduces students to the wide world of biological (formerly “physical”) anthropology. We examine the biology and behavior of humans and our closest living (and extinct) relatives, in the context of evolutionary theory. Living primates and a vast fossil record provide important clues for understanding how and why humans vary today. Through lectures, discussions, and lab assignments, students learn the variety of questions asked and data examined by biological anthropologists. Zachary Cofran, Aviva Cormier. Two 75-minute periods. Course Format: CLS
Archaeologists study the material remains of humans across time and space. From the stone tools of the earliest humans to the landfills we are contributing to today, the study of things allows us to write histories of peoples and places that are often left out of official records. This course begins with a review of archaeological methods then uses them to investigate contemporary issues. Topics covered may include climate change, health and disease, urban infrastructure, poverty and homelessness, and conflict and war. Other topics may be substituted in order to respond to shifting social and campus issues. April Beisaw. Two 75-minute periods. Course Format: CLS
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. Two 75-minute periods. Course Format: CLS
This course provides an introduction to formal linguistics and linguistic anthropology. There is a focus on both theoretical discussions about, and practical exercises in, the phonetics, phonology, morphology, and syntax of human languages. Additional topics include the acquisition of linguistic and communicative competence and the cultural and social dimensions of language variation, including the study of regional and social dialects, code switching and mixing, speaking styles, registers, and idiolects. The course is intended both as the College’s general introduction to formal linguistics and as a foundation for advanced courses in related areas. David Tavárez. Two 75-minute periods. Course Format: CLS
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.
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. The Department.
ANTH 140 . Ordinarily open to sophomores and juniors only. First years and seniors will be considered on a case by case basis. Priority given to Anthropology and Geography-Anthropology Majors. Two 75-minute periods. Course Format: CLS
Offered
Spring
ANTH 211Virtual Anthropology0.5
The Digital Age opened exciting new possibilities for the study of human evolutionary anatomy. Imaging technologies such as laser scanning and computed tomography (CT) put high resolution physical data in a computer-based environment, allowing powerful visualizations and unprecedented analyses. This Intensive gives students experience with the types of questions, data and methods used in Virtual Anthropology. Students conduct hands-on research using virtual methods, learning the pros and cons of computer-based analysis of recent and fossil human anatomy. Intensive may be taken for up to two semesters. Zachary Cofran.
In this intensive, students collectively process any aspects of their identities in relation to their anticipated or completed study-abroad experience (or in relation to their studies in any socio-culturally unfamiliar place, including Vassar). Students engage in closely mentored, collaborative work, reviewing and framing their experiences abroad through related ethnographic studies. These ethnographic studies may be regionally or topically focused, and students may use this intensive to plan their study-abroad experience or to process a completed study-abroad experience in order to develop thinking for a thesis or gain increased familiarity with the area in which they will or have studied, for example. Engaging with each other, students in this intensive also consider what their cross-cultural encounters suggest regarding policy, global citizenship, ethical and epistemological issues surrounding how we know what we know. This intensive is open to all majors from any discipline. Students intending to use their study abroad experience as the basis for a senior thesis or for senior independent work are especially encouraged to participate.
Students have to have recently studied abroad or plan to study abroad next semester. Second six-week course. One 2-hour period. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: INT
ANTH 213Indigenous Environmental Activism0.5
(Same as ANST 213 and ENST 213 ) This intensive seeks to foster a community of students dedicated to learning about Indigenous environmental activism. We read publications, watch films, and listen to interviews that highlight the work of Indigenous activists, scholars, and scientists. Students must be willing and able to invest 3-5 hours a week on this intensive. An hour of that time is spent monitoring news sources for recent events and discussing them with others in this learning community. This is not a traditional course, so students with existing knowledge of Indigenous activism or ways of knowing are best prepared for this intensive. April Beisaw. One 2-hour period. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: INT
For students considering a scholarly or research future, this Intensive opens a window onto activities of scholarship including proposal writing, workshopping , scholarly communication and sharing research findings, peer review, and critique. This is a supportive group for sophomores, juniors and seniors in Anthropology and related departments and programs to write grant, fellowship applications (for example, Cornelison, Fulbright, Luce, Marshall, Watson) and graduate school applications (for MA and PhD programs) and/or to submit proposals and craft posters and papers for participation in scholarly conferences (for example, American Anthropological Association or New York Conference on Asian Studies). Classes alternate between “Works and Lives” discussions of the nature and goals of scholarship and the potential for Academia to contribute to social change, and “Practical Sessions” providing supported time for each student to work on the applications of their choice. Participants become familiar with a range of summer and post-graduate fellowships, conference opportunities and graduate programs and read examples of successful proposals. Panels of Vassar alums share insights about their fellowship and graduate applications. Faculty and administrators with experience as grant and fellowship reviewers provide group and individualized consultation. Martha Kaplan.
Recommended for Sophomores, Juniors and Seniors. First six-week course. One 75-minute period and individual conferences with the instructor. Course Format: INT
Offered
Spring
ANTH 215Global Indigenous Film0.5
(Same as ANST 215 and MEDS 215 ) This intensive acquaints students with some of the documentary, experimental, and narrative films/videos of indigenous filmmakers from North America, Australia, and New Zealand. Screenings include films by Rachel Perkins, Tracey Moffatt, Sherman Alexie, Victor Masayesva, Alanis Obamsawin, and Zacharias Kunuk. Discussions of films engage the notion of visual sovereignty, and the use of film/video to document indigenous lives and concerns, and to reframe stories told about them and to tell new stories. Colleen Cohen. First six-week course. One 2-hour period plus outside screenings. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: INT
(Same as ANST 216 and LALS 216 ) This Intensive focuses on language revitalization and documentation efforts of endangered languages, and also of languages that are undervalued or discriminated against by majority populations. Students can develop their own project, or work with the instructor in an ongoing digital humanities project that focuses on Mesoamerican languages. David Tavárez.
Permission of the instructor. One 90-minute period. Course Format: INT
Offered
Spring
ANTH 217Land Use History: Vassar Preserve1
(Same as ENST 217 ) This project-based intensive contributes new data to our understanding of the Vassar Farm and Ecological Preserve’s land use history. Students work as a team every Friday morning and sometimes supervise volunteer contributors. Activities might include archival land deeds research, reviewing historic aerial photographs and maps, hiking with global positioning systems (GPS) to record surface ruins, structures, and artifacts, soil survey using a small bore corer, archaeological excavation of shovel test pits, soil and artifact analyses, animal bone identification, interviewing informants, reading and summarizing reports, querying and updating a geographic information system (GIS). The results of each semester’s projects are presented to the Preserve’s oversight committee and used as a starting point for the next semester’s projects. This is a graded intensive with mandatory attendance and participation every week. Fieldwork sometimes takes place in less than ideal conditions (rain, wind, heat, cold) and students need to protect themselves against ticks, poison ivy, and other natural hazards. Four students are accepted into this intensive after applications are reviewed by the instructors. To apply, interested students must send an email to both instructors that explains their interest in the Preserve and outlines how their existing skill set would benefit the land use history project. Previous coursework in one or more of the following is essential: archaeology, public history, geography, field biology, or field geology. Any potential scheduling conflicts that might limit the student’s full participation in this intensive should be disclosed at the application stage. Applications are due by the end of the first week of pre-registration. The instructors select the four applicants who would create an excellent team for that semester’s project goals. April Beisaw.
Special permission (students have to apply) One 4-hour period. Course Format: INT
Offered
Fall
ANTH 223Primate Behavior and Ecology1
This class examines biology, social systems, and behavior of our closest living relatives, the primates. This diverse group provides evolutionary background for understanding human society and behaviors. The first part of the course focuses on the evolution, anatomy, and diversity of modern primates, including an examination of how different primates have served as models for human evolution. In the second part of the course, we examine reasons for variation in primate social behavior including spacing, mating and grouping patterns. The course concludes by reviewing selected topics of primate behavior, such as vocal communication, cognition and conservation. Students gain first-hand experience by conducting an original behavioral study on primates at the Bronx Zoo. Zachary Cofran. Two 75-minute periods. Course Format: CLS
This course examines the nature of human variation, in the contexts of genetics, anatomy, history, and society. The course begins with an historical overview of the study of human biological variation, and what Dr. Dorothy Roberts has called the “fatal invention” of the concept of race. We then move on to survey biological variation, both adaptive and selectively neutral, in humans. Moving from biology and genetics, we examine psychological and historical origins of racial thinking in the United States. This history provides a context for critique of how racial categories are used in modern arenas such as biomedicine and ancestry testing. Through the framework of the developmental origins of health and disease, we review the biological mechanisms whereby social inequality results in health disparity. Over the course of the semester, students learn about why humans vary, what this variation does and does not tell us about people, and the ways in which the social reality of race becomes manifest in biology. Zachary Cofran. Two 75-minute periods. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: CLS
A central question all humans grapple with at some point in their lives is, “Why are we here?” Fossil and archaeological data—a rich but fragmentary record scattered across the globe—provide direct evidence about our origins and evolution over the past several million years. Integrating this evidence to uncover humanity’s shared history helps us understand our place on Earth and our relationships with one another today. In this course, we focus on the fossils but also examine archaeological and genetic evidence that illustrate how, out of an ancient diversity of apes walking across a changing planet, Homo sapiens emerged as a single species that uses culture to extract energy from the environment. Through readings, lectures, and assignments, students develop a strong understanding of evolutionary theory, musculoskeletal anatomy, and the interactions between science and society. Zachary Cofran. Two 75-minute periods. Course Format: CLS
This six-week lecture course develops knowledge of human skeletal anatomy for both anthropologists and biologists. The skeletal anatomy of select non-human mammals provides context for demonstrating the functional morphology of each bone. At the end of this course, students are able to identify individual bones (complete and fragmentary), identify bone landmarks, describe normal and abnormal bone growth processes (including common mutations), and assess bones for signs of pathology at the macroscopic level. Both first and second six-week course. Two 75-minute periods. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: CLS
(Same as ANST 233 ) Collecting Native American objects and human remains was once justified as a way to preserve vanishing cultures. Instead of vanishing, Native Americans organized and asked that their ancestors be returned, along with their sacred objects. Initially, museums fought against the loss of collections and scientists fought against the loss of data. Governments stepped in and wrote regulations to manage claims, dictating the rights of all parties. Thirty years after the passage of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) repatriation remains a controversial issue and few are satisfied with the process. This course examines the development of American museums and the ethics of collecting cultures to anchor our study of repatriation. Perspectives of anthropology, art, history, law, museum studies, Native American studies, philosophy, and religion are considered. Recent U.S. cases are contrasted with repatriation cases in other parts of the world, for repatriation is not just a Native American issue. April Beisaw. Two 75-minute periods. Course Format: CLS
ANTH 234Forensic Anthropology: Anatomy, Crime, and Humanity1
This full-semester course is divided into two sections and includes a 2-hour lab throughout its entirety. The first six weeks are dedicated to learning the anatomy and physiology of the human skeleton, with students gaining exposure to (1) identifying individual bones (complete and fragmentary), (2) identifying bone landmarks, (3) describing normal and abnormal bone growth processes (including common mutations), and (4) assessing bones for signs of pathology at the macroscopic level. Replica human bones are used and supplemented with real non-human bone as appropriate. The popular press book Written in Bone: Hidden Stories in What We Leave Behind is supplemented with technical readings as students develop fluency with Latin names of bones and landmarks. The second half of the course covers the basic methods of forensic anthropology, focusing on how age, sex, race, and height of an individual can be determined from their bones. Students also gain an understanding of how forensic anthropologists function within the legal framework of crime investigation and prosecution. Finally, students explore current debates in forensic anthropology, such as the ethics of race and gender classification and the repatriation of remains. Grading includes practical exams that require memorization, skillful application of techniques, and interpretation of quantitative and qualitative results. Previous coursework in archaeology or biological anthropology is necessary to be successful in this course. April Beisaw.
ANTH 120 or ANTH 130 or ANTH 229 . Two 75-minute periods and one 2-hour lab. Course Format: CLS
Offered
Spring
ANTH 235Region Studies in Archaeology1
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. Two 75-minute periods. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: CLS
Subject
ANTH
Credits (min)
1
Credits (max)
1
Credit unit
unit(s)
Type
course
Repeatable
May be repeated for credit if the topic has changed.
(Same as ANST 236 ) Native Americans have been in North America for at least the last 10,000 years. From the earliest archaeological record we can see how they farmed in the scorching desert, hunted in the frozen tundra, and traded resources over thousands of miles. From the more recent record, we can see how homelands relate to reservation lands and how lifeways changed but culture persists. Now, indigenous archaeologists and community archaeology programs are changing how archaeology is done, who it is done by and for, and what questions are asked of the past. This course surveys the archaeology of two distinct geographical culture areas, the Southwest and the Northeast. This contrast allows us to examine how knowledge of the past is constructed by archaeologists, museum professionals, descendant communities, and public interest. April Beisaw. Two 75-minute periods. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: CLS
(Same as GRST 237 ) In this project-based course, students undertake research inspired both by recent advances in the field and by the needs of local communities. Skills covered include landscape studies using geographic information systems, field surveys which combine hiking and mapping, artifact analysis and curation. Regions studied include North America, Bronze Age Europe, and Ancient Egypt. Students who have already completed the introductory course, ANTH 130-Archaeology: Lessons From the Past , are well-prepared for this course but it is not a prerequisite. Some project work takes place outside of the regularly scheduled class times and students are expected to attend those work sessions. April Beisaw. Two 75-minute periods. Course Format: CLS
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.
Subject
ANTH
Credits (min)
1
Credits (max)
1
Credit unit
unit(s)
Type
course
Repeatable
May be repeated for credit if the topic has changed.
(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. Two 75-minute periods. Course Format: CLS
(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. Two 75-minute periods. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: CLS
(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. Kaushik Ghosh. Two 75-minute periods. Course Format: CLS
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.
Subject
ANTH
Credits (min)
1
Credits (max)
1
Credit unit
unit(s)
Type
course
Repeatable
May be repeated for credit if the topic has changed.
(Same as MEDS 251 ) How can the study of language and its use enhance our understanding of power and political action? This course explores how language is essential for the distribution and exercise of power through the discussion of readings that focus on language, mass media, and the public sphere. Readings on political campaigns examine the impact of poetics, framing, metaphor on social movements, political influence, and public opinion. Readings on the speech of politicians, activists, and pundits examine the use of language for the performance of (in)civility, as well as the covert mobilization of class, racial, gender, and ethnic stereotypes for political gain. Finally, readings on public relations campaigns, populist discourse, and democracy promotion campaigns in post-colonial settings explore the role of language in affirming or contesting liberal and secular ideals of democracy. Students apply methodological and theoretical tools of linguistic anthropology to analyze the poetic features and the political effects of real-world examples of satire, scandal, and political oratory. Louis Römer. Two 75-minute periods. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: CLS
This course offers a systematic survey of anthropological and linguistic approaches to the entwining of gender identities and language, and the dynamic relationship between language and various forms of power and dominance. It is organized as a cross-cultural, 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, transsexual/transgender, and other gender identities. We investigate the representation of gender identities in media, as well as the multiple rapports among gender identities, socialization, language use in private and public spheres, authority, ethnicity, and class. Students learn about linguistic anthropology transcription and analysis methods, and complete one or more substantial conversation analysis projects. David Tavárez. Two 75-minute periods. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: CLS
(Same as INTL 257 and LALS 257 ) How have early global (colonial) and late global (post- or neo-colonial) states formulated language policies, and to what degree have their subjects conformed to or resisted these attempts? How does language use relate to the notion of belonging to colonial, national, local and/or globalized domains? This course offers a survey of anthropological, historical, and linguistic approaches to these questions through a consideration of language contact in colonial and neo-colonial situations, a comparison of linguistic policies upheld by empires, nation-states and transnational processes, and the conflict between language policy and local linguistic ideologies. The course addresses case studies from the Americas, Europe, and Asia that cover the range between institutional language reform and individual strategies of accommodation and resistance as they relate to early and contemporary forms of global expansion from the sixteenth century onwards. David Tavárez. Two 75-minute periods. Course Format: CLS
ANTH 260Current Themes in Anthropological Theory and Method1
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.
Subject
ANTH
Credits (min)
1
Credits (max)
1
Credit unit
unit(s)
Type
course
Repeatable
May be repeated for credit if the topic has changed.
ANTH 262Anthropological Approaches to Myth, Ritual and Symbol1
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 Anth (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, Japan and the U.S. Martha Kaplan. Two 75-minute periods. Course Format: CLS
Many anthropologists study water as a focus of precarity, 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. Focusing on the relation between drinking water and wider cultural systems, in urban and rural contexts, the course takes three approaches to drinking water: (1) Semiotics of Bottled Water includes readings from the anthropology of food and beverage, contrasts consumer culture and productivist world views, and considers meaning-making in everyday life. (2) Water as Global Commodity considers water in the context of colonial and nation-state histories and the anthropology of gifts and commodities. (3) Water Projects considers state, corporate, and activist discourses about water, especially in socialist and urban situations. with attention to anthropological studies of social and environmental impacts. The course includes (group) projects on water in local cultural contexts. Martha Kaplan. Two 75-minute periods. Course Format: CLS
ANTH 268Religion, Repression, and Resistance in Latin America1
(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. Two 75-minute periods. Course Format: CLS
ANTH 271Contemporary Arab Studies: Culture, Religion, Politics1
(Same as RELI 271 ) This course introduces students to the study of the contemporary Arab world and its many diasporic communities. In addition to Arab-majority societies, we consider the experiences of minoritized populations such as Amazigh, Kurds, Armenians, and others, as well as how neighboring regions—including Turkey, Iran, Central Asia, the Balkans, and the Sahel—have co-constituted Arab politics, cultures, and imaginaries. Moving beyond headlines and monolithic portrayals, we explore the region’s internal diversity and historical complexity through a cultural studies lens. Our approach includes close engagement with ethnography, history, visual art, film, poetry, and literature, with attention to religious life throughout these genres—all as prisms through which to understand politics, identity, and everyday life differently. The course provides students with tools to rigorously analyze and contest Orientalist stereotypes while situating key geopolitical debates in their broader social and historical contexts. Key themes include gender and sexuality, protest and revolution, labor and leisure, multiple forms of piety and spirituality, and music and popular culture. Taking a transdisciplinary approach, the course is taught by faculty from various fields who bring distinct methodological perspectives. Guest lectures and at least one field trip in the greater NYC/Hudson Valley area deepen our collective inquiry. Ultimately, this course not only recasts reductive views of the Arab region and its diasporas, but offers a critical vantage point from which to think anew about the shared conditions of our contemporary world. China Sajadian, Kirsten Wesselhoeft. Two 75-minute periods. Course Format: CLS
0.5 to 1.0 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. Course Format: INT
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. Course Format: INT
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.
What literally makes us human? This seminar 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. Advanced readings and classical papers provide the bases for in-class discussion and activities. Through lab activities and a term project, students may draw on different types of data to test hypotheses about evolution and development. Zachary Cofran.
ANTH 120 or ANTH 223 or 224 . Two 75-minute periods. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: CLS
ANTH 323Is the Human Brain Special?1
The human brain is six times larger than expected for a mammal of our body size, an excess surely related to our unique biocultural niche. Nevertheless, whether and how our big brains make us special compared to other animals has eluded scientists in biological anthropology and other disciplines for generations. This course uses principles of evolution and development to frame the broad question, “Is the human brain special?” This question then serves as the basis for examining both comparative brain anatomy of primates and the human fossil record. In-class discussions and original research projects allow students to contribute to this interdisciplinary conversation about how exactly our brains make us human. Zachary Cofran.
ANTH 120 or ANTH 220 or ANTH 223 or ANTH 224 or ANTH 229 or ANTH 239 ) One 2-hour period. Course Format: CLS
Offered
Spring
ANTH 331Community and Indigenous Archaeology1
With passage of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) in 1966 and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, archaeology became a profession of cultural preservation and environmental compliance that is vastly different from the treasure hunting caricature that dominates media portrayals. Passage of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) in 1990 shifted archaeology even more towards community heritage work and that approach is now standard within the profession. Archaeologists no longer dig first nor do they celebrate specific finds. Instead archaeologists are embedded within communities and work collaboratively to document and protect places and objects that are meaningful to them. In this archaeology seminar students read and discuss case studies but also are active participants in community and Indigenous archaeology as service work. Field, lab, and community engagement opportunities arise during the semester but vary from year to year. April Beisaw.
Previous coursework in ANTH or ENST. One 3-hour period. Course Format: CLS
Offered
Fall
ANTH 332Ruins and Haunting Heritage1
Landscapes hold the tangible remains of cultural heritage in preserved buildings, erected monuments, and documented archaeological sites. But the ignored places are often those with the most interesting stories to tell. To an archaeologist, ruins are places where the past permeates into the present and asks to be remembered. Every town has its own ruins, whether it be the abandoned buildings of a once-bustling downtown or industrial district, an overgrown cemetery, or a road that simply ends. Such places may hold the more subversive histories of a place, This course considers the sanctioned and unsanctioned histories of places through intentionally preserved sites, persistent ruins, local lore, and ghost tourism. We use the National Register of Historic Places criteria of significance to evaluate such heritage sites within the Hudson Valley. April Beisaw.
ANTH 130 or ANTH 233 or ANTH 236 . One 3-hour period. Course Format: CLS
Offered
Spring
ANTH 350Seminar in Linguistic Anthropology1
A set of offerings that prepares students for advanced, self-directed research in linguistic anthropology, sociolinguistics, and historical linguistics. Topics range from language and culture, language and colonialism, language and gender, or linguistic documentation and revitalization to religious and ritual linguistic practices, language and political order, historical linguistics, language and media, or an intensive focus on the languages spoken in a specific region. May be repeated for credit if the topic has changed.
Subject
ANTH
Credits (min)
1
Credits (max)
1
Credit unit
unit(s)
Type
course
Repeatable
May be repeated for credit if the topic has changed.
(Same as ANST 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. One 2-hour period. Not offered in 2026/27. Course Format: CLS
(Same as AFRS 353 ) This course focuses on creole languages and the communities who speak them as a window to understand how historical processes—imperial expansion, the trans-Atlantic slave trade, racist domination, the plantation system, anti-colonial resistance, and post-colonial nation-building—impact language genesis, change, and shift. This course also traces how colonial legacies continue to inform dominant attitudes about language in the current global political economy. Themes include multilingualism, language revitalization, the relationship between language and ethnonationalism, the role of language in anti-imperialist social movements, the aesthetics and politics of creolization, the role of language in the upholding and challenging racism, as well as the role of language in creating cosmopolitan and diasporic communities and identities. Louis Römer. One 3-hour period. Course Format: CLS
(Same as AFRS 354 and MEDS 354 ) Much recent critical work on digital media and society has scrutinized how organizational, cultural, and ideological blindspots of tech companies in and around Silicon Valley have led to technologies that entrench existing racial biases, strengthen the dominance of English over other languages, and magnify both state and corporate power at the expense of democracy and civil liberties. This course explores the communities of engineers, content creators, entrepreneurs, hackers, digital nomads, and activists who inhabit seemingly peripheral locales that challenge our prevailing views of the digital media technology industry. These far-flung locales include Pacific or Caribbean island tax havens that, despite their smallness, play an outsize role in the global technology industry, and also cities such as Hyderabad, India, and Medellín, Colombia, which host thriving communities of tech developers and hackers. This course introduces concepts such as raciolinguistics, decoloniality, and racial capitalism to examine the role of digital technology industries in perpetuating or contesting racism and linguistic imperialism. Meanwhile, reading and discussing ethnographic research on technology in the so-called global peripheries unsettle prevailing US-and-Eurocentric notions of technology and digital media. This course concludes with a research capstone that surveys a community of tech workers or content creators interested in addressing the inequities produced through digital media technologies. One 3-hour period. Course Format: CLS
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. May be repeated for credit if topic has changed.
ANTH 363Anthropology of Displacement, Migration, and Transnationalism1
(Same as INTL 363 ) It has become a basic truism to say that we are living in an age of “migration crisis.” But what exactly does it mean to be displaced? How have certain forms of migration come to be labeled “illegal”? Why are some forms of migration deemed “voluntary” in contrast to others? Where do these distinctions come from and how do they matter in everyday life? This advanced seminar sets out to address such questions, among many others, by introducing students to the anthropological study of displacement, migration, and transnationalism. Through scholarly texts, film, and literature across a wide range of regional contexts, we pursue two interrelated tracks of inquiry, as students develop semester-long independent writing projects. One track is historical : we examine imperial legacies of the native-migrant divide, the postcolonial partition of nation-states, the uneven development of a globalized division of labor across the world, and how these fraught histories endure within the present. Our second line of inquiry is primarily ethnographic : it concerns the paradoxes of displacement in everyday human experiences, such as waiting in transit, making a home in exile, and the striking capacity of borders to appear invisible or real to the point of being deadly, depending on who or what crosses them, and how. Taken together, the course offers advanced students a multidisciplinary and multidimensional understanding of how human (im)mobilities are governed, contested, and experienced across the world – and how these conditions shape the possibilities and limits of transnational solidarity today. China Sajadian. Recommended Previous coursework in Anthropology or International Studies. One 3-hour period. Course Format: CLS
(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.
Previous coursework in Asian Studies/Anthropology or permission of the instructor. One 3-hour period. Course Format: CLS
Offered
Fall
ANTH 385Africans in Asia: Agency, Entanglements, Accommodations1
(Same as AFRS 385 ) This course contributes to studies of black diasporas by centering the historical and contemporary involvement of Africans in Asia. We also consider Afro-Asian lifeways in and between Eastern Africa and Asia. Among topics/issues we address are: how Africans have experienced and influenced different parts of Asia, including the Middle East, Persia, South Asia, and China; how encounters with Asians have influenced African cultures and ways of life; how systems of servitude, including slavery and indenture in the Indian Ocean might be distinguished from Transatlantic enslavement; how Africans interacted historically with Asians as traders, servants, political figures, artisans, military personnel, ordinary peoples, and in some cases, governors. Expanding the diversity and complexity of our questions about African diasporas, students draw on historical texts, ethnography, fiction, film, and other media to inform their studies of African diasporans east and north of the continent. As we explore topics that are situated within particular places, the course simultaneously challenges easy understandings of region, place, people, and culture. Candice Lowe Swift. One 2-hour period. Course Format: CLS
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 Course Format: INT
