Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Erie-Behrend College · Courses
ANTH
104 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 100NAnthropology of Race and Racism3
Is "race" real? This course examines the concepts of race and racism from the perspective of four-field anthropology. Relying on ethnographic, biological, linguistic, and archaeological data, the course will introduce students to what anthropologists know about human diversity, as well as how the concept of "race" was developed to classify that diversity and justify social inequality. The course introduces students to basic concepts of anthropology by highlighting the variability of the race concept across time and space. Students will learn to understand race as a biocultural concept - one that is socially constructed, but that has very real biological and material consequences. In the first section of the course, students will learn why the concept of race does not reflect a natural or biological reality. In the second section of the course, students will gain an understanding of the cultural and interpersonal processes shaping racism and race. The third section explores how and why race and racism are so durable and pernicious in reinforcing structural social inequality. Students will learn how the persistence of racism, racialized structure, and race-thinking affect human well-being, including significant disparities in economic and health outcomes.
Museums today are a global phenomenon, as crucial for preserving local histories as they are for driving international tourism. More than 100,000,000 people will visit a museum each year; millions more will interact with museum collections via online programs and other forms of remote engagement. In the United States, museum attendance is particularly high, with 1 out of every 4 adults going to a museum at least once per year. As repositories of cultural as well as natural history, museums shape our knowledge of the past, our beliefs about the present, and our expectations for the future. Museums, in other words, contribute importantly to experiences of individual and collective identity. What is more, museums are key players in the global economy, as part of the tourism and entertainment industries as well as the international market for cultural artifacts and natural history specimens. Understanding of the history and current state of museums, therefore, enables unique insight into the interrelation of culture, politics, education, technology, mass entertainment, and global financial interests. This course introduces students to the history of museums, the ways museum collecting and exhibition practices have changed over time, the history of museum architecture, and the issues and debates currently shaping museums and the work of museum professionals.
This class compares the archaeological record of the first farming societies around the world. Beginning ca. 11,000 years ago, people started experimenting with various wild plants and animals in their surroundings through selective propagation and harvesting. These activities eventually resulted in genetically and morphologically distinctive species. Many human societies became dependent on these domesticates, and they still form the bulk of our subsistence today. These changes occurred independently in several regions under varying social, cultural, and environmental conditions. By looking at the archaeological record for the domestication and early farming societies in cross-cultural comparison, we can begin to understand the similarities and differences in the processes that resulted in the emergence and spread of food production. The course introduces students to archaeological and anthropological concepts by viewing cultural groups in ecological and social context, and highlighting the variability of human adaptations. To further illustrate the diversity of farming practices, examples from historic and contemporary ethnography will be studied. Students will gain an appreciation not only of the variety of subsistence adaptations involving domesticates, but also of the time, skill, knowledge, and labor required as a non-industrial food producer. Ethnographic examples also provide an avenue to address the cultural, ritual, and symbolic elements of food production and consumption that are often difficult to see in the archaeological record. Animal and plant husbandry are viewed as sources of food, raw materials, and wealth, and we will examine how farming practices help shape the economic, social, ecological and religious contexts of non-industrialized societies in the past and present. Finally, students will also explore the environmental impacts of different farming techniques and learn about the natural and cultural histories of the foods they eat. The earliest domesticates, such as wheat, rice, corn, potatoes, cows, pigs, chickens, sheep and goats, still provide the bulk of the world population¿s caloric consumption, and relatively few additional plant and animal species have been domesticated more recently. Industrial and globalized food production techniques have limited the genetic diversity of the modern food supply and created new environmental challenges in various parts of the world. This course provides students with an understanding of the origins of their daily foods as well as an appreciation for some of the contemporary challenges in food production.
This course will examine the "world" of chocolate throughout human history. First cultivated by the ancient peoples of the Americas and then manufactured by Europeans and Pennsylvanians alike, chocolate has played a privileged role as a luxury good. An interdomain course, "Chocolate Worlds" is interdisciplinary, taught by faculty in the departments of Plant Science, Anthropology, and History. As a team we investigate the how diverse societies have differentially interacted with this crop. Rather than be organized chronologically, this course will be divided into course Units, such as the history of cocoa uses and cultivation, cocoa plant science and farming issues, chocolate making and markets, and the state of the global chocolate industry. The course's lectures and assigned readings work in concert equally directed by scientific inquiry and the queries of the social sciences and humanities. Assignments will address real world questions relating to contemporary cocoa cultivation and production, and its role in international development and social justice. As a class we will take field trips to sites such as local chocolate manufacturing facilities and cocoa research sites and laboratories. The learning objectives of this course include students' broad knowledge of cacao production, its history, and ethnical issues surrounding its cultivation in today's global economy. Additionally, students will gain an historical appreciation for the role this crop his played in diverse human societies and a scientific understanding of its genetic structure.
Sport is a quintessentially human behavior that dominates our culture and has deep evolutionary roots. The unique human body allows us to run, jump, and throw in ways that make sport possible and has enabled our ancestors to play sports for thousands of years. Archaeological evidence tells of the importance of competitive games in ancient societies, and anthropology shows the deeper connections between sports and cultural traditions such as hunting and spirituality. Competing in sports remains a top form of recreation across the world, with Americans watching over 4 hours of sports per week on average. Far from being a frivolous distraction, sports are at the center of many critical issues facing contemporary societies, and close study of this remarkable behavior helps us better understand what it means to be human. This course examines the ways that human evolutionary biology and culture have interacted throughout our species' history to create the uniquely human behavior of sport. In doing so, it touches on three major subfields of anthropology: biological, cultural, and archaeological. You will learn about human evolutionary biology, ecology and behavior in small-scale societies, sex and gender in sports, genetic ancestry and athletic performance, and evolutionary perspectives on exercise and health.
This class provides a lively tour around the world and through the millennia, telling the compelling story of humanity's quest for alcohol. Beginning about 10,000 years ago, humans in China and the Middle East became more sedentary and began to rely more on the food they grew than from hunting and gathering. The cereal grains these early societies relied upon, such as rice, wheat, and barley, soon formed the basis for the first alcoholic beverages. Relying on ethnographic, biological, linguistic, and archaeological data, the course will introduce students to what we now know about how humans created and currently use fermented beverages across cultures. The course introduces students to the basic concepts of anthropology by highlighting the variability of alcohol use through time and space. From the world's first beer in Henan, China in 7000 B.C. to modern breweries in Pennsylvania the class will explore the historical and societal impacts of alcohol production. From the ceremonial use of distilled sugarcane in southern Mexico to ritualized tailgating in the United States, students will be presented with the highly varied ways in which alcohol is consumed. Anthropology of Alcohol provides students with an understanding of the origins of one of the world's earliest and most utilized psychoactive drugs as well as an appreciation for some of the contemporary challenges of alcohol use on college campuses in the US.
This course is a review of the indigenous cultures of North America, located north of Mexico. It will cover the cultures that developed just prior to, during, and immediately after contact with non-indigenous explorers and pioneers. The primary themes include (1) the astonishing diversity of ways of life that developed across the North American continent; (2) the exploration of this diversity from the perspective of cultural ecology; and (3) trends of cultural change and continuity that contribute to present-day Native American cultures. Students will also explore the stereotypes that plague a richer understanding of and respect for Native American communities. The course will introduce students to cultures that differ from their own. ANTH 146 meets both United States cultures and International Cultures objectives. Approximately 50% of the course focuses on the indigenous cultures of North America prior to European contact and the later founding of the United States. The course will introduce students to the diversity of cultures that have existed in North America prior the founding of the United States and Canada. Students will develop an understanding of similarities and differences among these non-US cultures and between these indigenous cultures and the culture of the US. Approximately 50% of the course will examine the impact these indigenous cultures have had on the historic and present-day United States culture - such as plant domestication, technological achievements, linguistic influence, and stereotypes.
ANTH 150NHuman Nature: The Science of Extreme Altruism and Violence3
Why do humans so readily help strangers in some circumstances and not others? Why does our species have a tragic history of war, genocide, and violence? Just how flexible is our tendency for altruism and violence? Human Nature: The science of extreme altruism and violence surveys and synthesizes two of the most fascinating and unusual features of humans: our extremely high levels of altruism alongside our tragic propensity for violence. Treating humans as both biological and cultural creatures, we use the tools of anthropology, biology, and psychology to explore some of the most vexing questions in the social sciences and humanities. We will consider the role of the brain, hormones, genetics, social context, and evolution in producing the best and worst our species is capable of. While there are no prerequisites, you will gain a foundation in basic neurobiology and behavioral endocrinology alongside familiarity with leading theories of violence and altruism. We will use a combination of lectures, readings, and discussions to understand the science of altruism and violence. Throughout the course, we will use well-known current events and cross-culture case studies to anchor theory in real social contexts. By the end of this course, you will have the tools to evaluate behavior as the product of a complex interaction between biological, physiological, and social structures. You will never look at the world the same again!
ANTH 150QHuman Nature: The Science of Extreme Altruism and Violence3
Why do humans so readily help strangers in some circumstances and not others? Why does our species have a tragic history of war, genocide, and violence? Just how flexible is our tendency for altruism and violence? Human Nature: The science of extreme altruism and violence surveys and synthesizes two of the most fascinating and unusual features of humans: our extremely high levels of altruism alongside our tragic propensity for violence. Treating humans as both biological and cultural creatures, we use the tools of anthropology, biology, and psychology to explore some of the most vexing questions in the social sciences and humanities. We will consider the role of the brain, hormones, genetics, social context, and evolution in producing the best and worst our species is capable of. While there are no prerequisites, you will gain a foundation in basic neurobiology and behavioral endocrinology alongside familiarity with leading theories of violence and altruism. We will use a combination of lectures, readings, and discussions to understand the science of altruism and violence. Throughout the course, we will use well-known current events and cross-culture case studies to anchor theory in real social contexts. By the end of this course, you will have the tools to evaluate behavior as the product of a complex interaction between biological, physiological, and social structures. You will never look at the world the same again!
Anthropology, Ancestry, and You will integrate anthropology and genetics through the exploration of the students' own genealogies and genomic ancestries. Engaging students in the investigation of their own origins will promote learning of science and social science. Instead of a textbook, students will have the opportunity to purchase a commercially available genetic ancestry test after receiving training on the potential risks and benefits of participating in personal genetic testing. This interdomain course will provide an opportunity for students from any major to explore topics including, ethical considerations of genetics research, human evolution and adaptation, DNA and inheritance, race, and identity.
This course introduces students to evolutionary theory and explores its relevance to the anthropological study of human sexuality and sex differences. In doing so, the course draws from in integrates findings from a wide array of disciplines, including evolutionary biology, genetics, neuroscience, endocrinology, behavioral ecology, anthropology, and psychology. After honing their evolutionary skills by investigating reproduction in other species, students will apply evolutionary principles to understanding human mating. Why do we prefer certain characteristics in a mate? How do these preferences differ between and within the sexes, and why? How do mating behaviors vary across cultures, and why are some behaviors more culturally variable than others? Other topics covered include infidelity, sexual jealousy, concealed ovulation, sexual conflict and rape, orgasm, parental care and abuse, and menopause. In understanding the evolutionary basis for a trait, it is helpful to understand its development. Thus, this course also covers the basics of sexual differentiation and investigates how variation in these processes might lead to variation in sexual orientation and gender identity. Students should take away not only a better understanding of human sexuality but also a way of thinking that helps them understand all living things.
ANTH 219NSpillover: The Anthropology of Emerging Infectious Diseases3
We live in a world of increasing global awareness and public anxiety of emerging zoonotic diseases. Why do infections continue to spillover from wildlife to humans? What will the next outbreak be? Where will it emerge? Will it become a pandemic threat? Answering these questions requires exploring how our biology interacts with social, cultural, ecological, and climatic processes to influence the spillover of infections from animals to humans. This course begins with an introduction to human determinants of infectious disease that have persisted since the origins of agriculture, including: changing modes of subsistence and human settlement patterns, environmental transformation, and social inequalities. We will then explore how these processes shape contemporary pathways of zoonotic spillover and have led to the characterization and mapping of infectious disease "hotspots." The course will continue with an overview of emerging zoonoses of global health significance from a biocultural perspective. We will then narrow in on the most salient hosts and transmission pathways, focusing on evolutionary constraints and sociocultural risk factors that shape pathogen host switching. From these examples, we will look critically at the conceptual trends that have shaped our understanding of spillover events as a public health concern, with special attention to synergies and mismatches between locally and publicly perceived health risks. This course emphasizes the value of anthropological approaches in building more holistic and equitable solutions to emerging human health threats, including opportunities for applied anthropology within human health.
This course examines anthropological approaches to the study of art works, their production, and function in diverse human societies, both past and present. ANTH 220 Anthropology and Art/ifacts (3) (IL)(BA) This course meets the Bachelor of Arts degree requirements. This course examines the ways in which the discipline of anthropology has used art and artistic production as an interpretive lens, as a means to understand past human action, cultural behaviors and ancient societies as a whole. To take up this topic, the course is divided into five distinct units allowing a thematic and comparative analysis of a variety of human societies. We will critique the conceptual divide between 'art' and 'artifact' focusing on long-standing assumptions about philosophies of aesthetics, derived primarily from early modern European (Renaissance) notions of 'art'. Geographically, the course content has a global reach, but primarily focuses on the artistic production of the Americas, Africa and Oceania, challenging the label of 'primitive' that has historically been applied by modern Western approaches. During the course of the term, we will conduct analyses aimed at elucidating how scholars have used the interpretation of art objects to better understand the complexity of human experience, specifically in regards to categories such as gender, kinship, social hierarchy and cosmology. Each class meeting will consist of a lecture and also a discussion component, primarily focusing on the assigned readings to ensure complete comprehension and relevancy. Students will be evaluated on essays and exams. This course will satisfy general education requirements and provide a base for other courses in anthropology, art history, museum studies and history.
The Ancient Maya: Sacred Blood and Conjured Serpent. ANTH 221N Ancient Maya Civilization (3) (GS;GH;IL)(BA) This course meets the Bachelor of Arts degree requirements. Great civilizations emerged independently in several parts of the world beginning about 5500 years ago. Most students have had some exposure to the great Old World civilizations (Mesopotamia, Egypt, China), but know comparatively little about their counterparts in the New World. Among these, the Classic Maya (AD 250-900) are the most familiar, and are heavily featured in popular culture. Many students have (or will) visit Maya sites as tourists, and be impressed by the flamboyant archaeological remains of these ancient people. Despite their visibility, the Maya are widely misunderstood and heavily sensationalized. ANTH 221N traces the development of ancient Maya culture from about 10000 BC through its eventual conquest by the Spaniards in the 16th century. The primary focus will be on the Classic period, when Maya civilization achieved unparalleled heights in architecture, art, astronomy, mathematics, and writing. The course content makes extensive use of images of sites, artifacts, and artwork to introduce and immerse students to the particularities of the Ancient Maya worldview. The Maya were participants in a much wider tradition of complex civilization in the region archaeologists call Mesoamerica, and several lectures will place them in this more general context. A good amount of content in this course will come from research done by members of the Penn State Anthropology Dept., which has a long tradition of Mesoamerican/Maya research since the early 1960s, and has heavily influenced both the study of Mesoamerican societies and complex cultures in general. Content and topics in the course will also situate Maya peoples, both ancient and modern, in relation to important topics in the contemporary world such as environmental sustainability and degradation, ethnic identity, and state formation. This course will fulfill basic BA and GenEd requirements (GS, GH, IL). It may also be used to fulfill an ANTH BA or ANTHS BS additional course requirement.
ANTH 222Archaeology of Domesticated Animals. This course meets
the Bachelor of Arts degree requirements. Animals were domesticated in a variety of places throughout the world beginning about 12,000 years ago, fundamentally shifting human-animal relationships. Most students have had some exposure to domesticated animals, particularly family pets such as dogs or cats, and some farm animals commonly found in the US. Yet few students know much about the biological, ecological, and cultural history of these animals, the contexts and timing of their domestication, the changing economic and cultural significance of individual species through time, nor economically and culturally important animals in other parts of the world. ANTH 222 will trace the history of domestication of key species: sheep, goat, cow, water buffalo, yak, pig, llama, alpaca, guinea pig, chicken, dog, cat, elephant, camel, horse, donkey, and mule. Emphasis is placed on the biology (genetics, morphology, wild progenitors, ecological niche, breeds) in concert with the cultural contexts in which domestication occurred. Furthermore, students will explore a range of human-animal relationships in regard to these domesticates with examples from archaeology, ethnography, modern US society, and history. This class discusses animals as food, raw materials, wealth, labor, and companions, as well as their economic, social, religious, and environmental impacts in different cultural and ecological settings. Bachelor of Arts: Natural Sciences Bachelor of Arts: Social and Behavioral Sciences
Biological, ecological and cultural history of animal domestication. ANTH 222 Archaeology of Domesticated Animals. This course meets the Bachelor of Arts degree requirements. Animals were domesticated in a variety of places throughout the world beginning about 12,000 years ago, fundamentally shifting human-animal relationships. Most students have had some exposure to domesticated animals, particularly family pets such as dogs or cats, and some farm animals commonly found in the US. Yet few students know much about the biological, ecological, and cultural history of these animals, the contexts and timing of their domestication, the changing economic and cultural significance of individual species through time, nor economically and culturally important animals in other parts of the world. ANTH 222 will trace the history of domestication of key species: sheep, goat, cow, water buffalo, yak, pig, llama, alpaca, guinea pig, chicken, dog, cat, elephant, camel, horse, donkey, and mule. Emphasis is placed on the biology (genetics, morphology, wild progenitors, ecological niche, breeds) in concert with the cultural contexts in which domestication occurred. Furthermore, students will explore a range of human-animal relationships in regard to these domesticates with examples from archaeology, ethnography, modern US society, and history. This class discusses animals as food, raw materials, wealth, labor, and companions, as well as their economic, social, religious, and environmental impacts in different cultural and ecological settings.
ANTH 240NLivelihoods and Ecosystems: Anthropological Approaches to Human-Environment Interaction3
This course provides an anthropological understanding of the relationship between human subsistence and environment. The impacts of environmental change on human societies, and the roles those societies play in ecological modification, have deep roots in human evolution. This class focuses on providing students with tools to understand the foundations and cross-cultural expressions of resource use, environmental transformation, and their ecological interactions. The class has three goals: 1) introduce students to ways of thinking about ecological and social factors that shape variability in how humans define, use, and consume resources, 2) provide students the opportunity to explore archaeological, ethnographic, and ecological evidence of the interaction between human livelihoods and habitats across the entirety of the human experience, 3) utilize those concepts and evidence to investigate variability in contemporary livelihoods, socio-ecological systems, and the dilemmas we all face in natural resource use and sustainability. Regarding the first goal, students are introduced to the natural science of conservation biology and community ecology, along with influential concepts in the social science of decision-making and cultural institutions of resource management. We review key models of ecosystem dynamics and social interaction from evolutionary ecology, disturbance ecology, niche construction, common property theory, and political ecology to approach questions about consumption, complex socio-ecological systems, and the role of humans in food webs and trophic interactions. The course then investigates archaeological and paleo-ecological evidence concerning the evolution of human subsistence systems, global settlement, intensification, and their implications for understanding environmental change over the last two million years. We take the broadest possible anthropological approach: we explore the diversity of ways that humans have made a living in the past, and investigate a wide variety of contemporary systems of resource use. We begin with the emergence of subsistence regimes among the earliest members of our genus and variability in environmental conditions through the Pleistocene. We then discuss the spread of modern humans and arguments concerning the ecological impact of people in the New Worlds as humans first colonized Australia, the Americas, and islands of Pacific and Indian Oceans. Finally, students investigate contemporary Indigenous systems of resource use and food production, exploring interactions between people and culturally constructed environments, commensal relationships between humans and non-human plants and animals, processes of intensification, and ecosystem function. The course incorporates these concepts with studies of inequality into new ways of understanding global issues of conservation, economics, and policy impinging on environmental change.
In Anth 290: Impact Anthropology, students learn what they can do with anthropology and how to do it. From interactive coursework and guest speakers, students learn how to translate key anthropological skills to research, community engagement, and outreach, across sectors like academia, government, industry, and nonprofits. Students also learn by doing, collaborating with organizations in research and applications. By the end of the semester, students will have gained real-world research, community-engagement, and outreach experience, created and built up their resumes, networked with experts and collaborators, and learned how to translate their anthropological skills, manage a team, and deliver a product.
ANTH 303Race and Gender in the Americas: Latin American and Caribbean Cultures3
Utilizing a theoretical framework of intersectionality, this course examines historical and cultural constructions of race and gender in Latin America and the Caribbean. AFAM 303 / ANTH 303 / WMNST 303 Race and Gender in the Americas: Latin American and Caribbean Cultures (3) (GS;IL) Utilizing a theoretical framework of interesectionaly this course examines how racial, gender, sexual, and class identities are constructed in Latin American/Caribbean societies. The course applies an anthropological perspective to a wide range of countries in the region to reflect on how historical events such as the conquest, colonization, slavery, and independence movements are relevant to understanding the region today, as well as how race, gender, and sexuality inform contemporary themes of empire, nation-building, imperialism, neo-colonialism, revolution, violence, militarization, social movements, religion, neoliberalism, U.S. involvement/relations, and popular culture. The course addresses issues of power, culture, racial formation, and citizenship by incorporating interdisciplinary material beyond ethnography such as newspapers, grassroots media, biographies, films, music, novels, personal testimonies, etc. Rooted in feminist anthropological scholarship, this course emphasizes how power (from above and below) and culture mediate relationships between individual/community agency and institutions/structures. As an effort to encourage students to think about Anthropology and culture beyond superficial or romanticizing celebrations of multiculturalism, food, and music, the course stresses the theoretical importance of situating power and privilege amidst difference. We conceptualize culture not only as socially transmitted patterns of behavior and ideas/meanings, but as a complex and dynamic process/medium grounded in unequal relations in which power is constituted and resisted. The ethnographic emphasis of the course centers on the complex lived realities and voices of people, encouraging students to learn, understand, and respect cultural difference. The course offers students a broad sense of how power is central in the production of knowledge (particularly within the disciplines of Anthropology and History). Students will critically engage an array of topical issues in Latin America beyond dichotomous thinking. Discussion of course material includes contemplating issues of ethics, subjectivity, bias, and privilege. Conversations regarding processes of "Othering" and traditional "us vs. them" debates that often occur when discussing developing countries will prompt students to situate their own power/privilege and challenge our assumptions and preconceived notions of Latin America. Moreover, this course teaches Latin American Cultures within a global context of racialization. As such it also stresses the historical and contemporary social, economic, cultural and political significance of the U.S. in Latin America, to demonstrate how we are connected and responsible to what happens "over there."; In order to promote service learning, a core tenant of feminist pedagogy, this course also offers students the opportunity to participate in an optional embedded program entitled "Cuba: Identity, Diversity and Popular Culture". This two week course in Havana, Cuba promotes interactive learning in and outside the classroom with international study. This course component successfully combines academic classes, hands-on activities, and service learning.
Nonhuman primate origins, evolution, comparative physical and behavioral characteristics, ecological context, phylogeny and taxonomy; and their importance in anthropology.
Analysis of demographic studies in traditional and very small populations. ANTH 408 Anthropological Demography (3)(BA) This course meets the Bachelor of Arts degree requirements. This course examines population-related problems from an anthropological perspective. Special emphasis is placed on ecological and economic approaches to the study of population dynamics in small-scale, preindustrial societies. This is an advanced undergraduate course that builds upon introductory anthropology and leads the student into more difficult demographic problems that are linked with economics, politics, religion and other cultural factors that shape population and population change. While the course is designed to introduce any of the basic analytical methods of demography, attention is focused primarily on fundamental theoretical issues concerning population growth, resources, fertility, mortality, age structure, and household demography in traditional societies. Data is drawn from ethnographic studies of living populations, from historical demography, and from paleodemography (the reconstruction of population patterns from skeletal samples). There will be three take-home problem sets. These will be a mixture of short essay questions and simple numerical exercises that can be solved on a pocket calculator or a spreadsheet. This course fulfills a 3 credit 400-level requirement for the Anthropology major and minor.
Introduction to the systematic study of the human skeleton from an evolutionary developmental biological perspective. ANTH 410 Osteology (4) This course introduces students to the aspects of the human skeleton and dentition that are of anatomical, archaeological, forensic, and developmental significance. Topics include the identification of skeletal and dental structures; the distinction between normal and pathological bone; the estimation of age, sex, and stature from skeletons; bone metabolism; growth and development; and the functional aspects of musculoskeletal and dental systems. Up to one-half of the course is spent on bone identification and skeletal anatomy. Lectures are supplemented by labs that provide practical experience in the identification of individual bones and anatomical structures, age and sex estimation, and the differentiation of abnormal from normal bony structures. It is absolutely essential for students to attend labs to familiarize themselves with bone specimens and casts. At the close of this course, students are expected to be able to recognize human bones and be familiar with anatomical terms, the bony landmarks that define their shape, and the relation of those bones with various soft-tissue structures. Students will have a basic grasp of bone growth and development, as well as how to identify an individual's general characteristics from the skeleton, such as age, sex, and prior life-history events including disease and trauma. The course fulfills a 400-level elective for the Anthropology (BA) major and minor, as well as the Archaeological Science and Biological Anthropology (BS) degree programs.
An introduction to anthropological forensic science with an emphasis on what can be learned from human skeletons and archaeological recovery methods. ANTH 411 Skeletal Forensic Anthropology (3) This course is a survey of forensic anthropology focusing on human skeletal remains and archaeological recovery methods. Emphasis is placed on field methods used to collect human remains from surface and buried contexts; taphonomic processes; estimating age, sex, stature, and ancestry from human skeletons; recognizing signs of trauma and scavenger damage; and identifying individuals from skeletons. Lectures are accompanied by class discussions and complemented by practical lab sections closely tied to lecture materials. There will be two exams, a midterm and a final, and students are responsible for preparing a poster and presenting a semester-long research project. This course is related to existing ANTH 410, Human Osteology, and proposed course ANTH 413, Molecular Forensic Anthropology. It fulfills a 400-level requirement for the anthropology major or minor, as well as the university's Forensic Science major.
Examination of the demography and ecology of human settlement systems in the preindustrial past. ANTH 412 Settlement Demography (3)This seminar will examine the population dynamics of human settlement systems in preindustrial societies, living, historic, and prehistoric. The focus will be on subsistence-level agrarian settlements, but some attention will also be paid to settlement patterns in hunter-gatherers, in market economics, and in complex societies. After reviewing basic assumptions and problems of working with spatial data, the course will examine processes determining settlement size, composition, and location on the micro-level (i.e. that of individual households, farmsteads, hamlets, and villages) and then pass on to regional patterns of transport, migration, and defense. The processes of site colonization, settlement expansion and contraction, site abandonment, and re-colonization will all be considered in detail. Since human settlements are always non-randomly distributed across spatially-heterogeneous landscapes, some basic landscape ecology will be presented in the course. Some fundamentals of geostatistical analysis will also be taught, although the course is not intended to be a survey of quantitative geography or spatial analysis. Rather, it is designed to be a more specialized follow-up to ANTH 408 (Anthropological Demography); the new course builds upon the basic explored in ANTH 408 by extending them into the spatial domain. During the last quarter of the semester, students will split into 2-3 teams, each of which will re-analyze settlement data from a region and time period of its choice for presentation to the rest of the class. The proposed course will provide 3 elective credits toward the undergraduate major and minor, and will be open to graduate students as well. The overall aim is to produce scholars who can think in creative ways about the dynamics of settlement systems in their own reading and research. The course should be of interest to archaeologists, anthropological demographers, ethnologists, and other students interested in human population science, especially as it relates to preindustrial society.
An introduction to the field of the application of DNA methods to estimating forensically useful phenotypes. ANTH 413 Molecular Forensic Anthropology (3) This course is a survey of forensic anthropology focusing on human genetic methods. Emphasis is placed on laboratory methods for analyzing DNA variation, the genomic and geographical distributions of genetic variation, estimating genetic ancestry, sex, pigmentation, facial features, and other traits. Lectures are accompanied by class discussions and complemented by practical lab sections closely tied to lecture materials. There will be three exams and students are responsible for preparing a poster and presenting a semester-long research project. This course is related to existing ANTH 411, Skeletal Forensic Anthropology. It fulfills a 400-level requirement for the anthropology major or minor, as well as the university's new Forensic Science major.
The human body contains more microorganisms than it does its own cells, yet these complex communities of microorganisms are largely absent from Anthropology textbooks. This course investigates the interplay between microbiology and anthropology, exploring the roles that microbes play in human evolution, adaptation, health, and culture. We will first review basic concepts in microbiology (what are microbes?) and microbiome science (how is DNA useful?) and apply this understanding to core concepts in anthropology, including those that guide our understanding of living, ancient, and extinct humans. For example, what human activities or practices influenced the origins of disease, both infectious and non-infectious? How are microbes shared or transmitted during human interactions? Can microbes provide information about past human behavior or culture? How do microbes help or hinder human adaptation to new environments? This examination will be done through lectures and in-class discussions based on primary literature from different scientific fields of study. This understanding will be used to apply new interdisciplinary research approaches and see anthropology in a new light.
The Evolution of Human Mating is a science course designed to familiarize students with the primary literature on the evolution and development of human mating behavior and sex differences.
This course provides an introduction to the field of medical anthropology from an ecological, biocultural, and economic perspective. Drawing on readings and ethnographic sources, students will examine how anthropology and the social sciences have addressed issues of health in a global context. Students will begin the semester with an introduction to the study of health in anthropology. After discussing the basic theoretical frameworks, students will consider topics of nutrition, the life cycle, reproduction, and infectious disease. In the final portion of the course, students will focus on the health consequences of stress and culture change. One of the primary aims of this course is to illustrate how medical anthropology can be applied in real world settings, including during outbreak investigations, and in understanding patterns in population health.
Is there a true distinction between human health, the health of animals, and the health of the environments we share? Or is there only "one health"? This course examines the interconnectedness between human, animal and environmental health that have shaped our evolutionary history and modern-day health challenges. The course will start by exploring the ways by which human-animal-environment interactions have changed over evolutionary timescales, and in response climate, landscape, and population changes. The course will focus on how these changes manifest in modern environments to contribute to the transmission and spread of pre-existing and new zoonotic diseases between animals and humans. We will also explore interactions between infectious diseases and other One Health issues, including food security, livelihoods, and biodiversity conservation. Through this course, students will be introduced to relevant anthropological theories and methods within the One Health framework. Equipped with a strong theoretical background, students will critically examine the conceptual trends that have shaped anthropological contributions to One Health. Students will engage with primary literature to learn how anthropology and social science are applied to modern day issues in global settings. This course assumes that anthropological engagement within One Health and related fields is not yet fully realized, and in turn, encourages students to explore new connections. The course thereby provides a forum for students in anthropology and other One Health related fields (e.g. biology, ecology, public health, human and veterinary medicine, sociology, geography, nutrition, and others) to engage in interdisciplinary thinking within One Health.
ANTH 422Meso-American Archaeology and Ethnography3
Survey of ethnohistorical and ethnographic patterns of Meso-American society; origin and development of ancient civilization in Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras.
Cultures of the Andes from earliest settlements to Inka Empire; includes discussion of life in modern Andean communities. ANTH 424 Andean Ethnology and Archaeology (3)(BA) This course meets the Bachelor of Arts degree requirements. When the Spanish conquistadors arrived in the Andes in 1532, they were astonished by the complexity and grandeur of the Inca Empire, which stretched along western South America incorporating a multitude of different societies that occupied a seemingly inhospitable landscape with coastal deserts, rugged mountain chains, and dense jungles. This course traces out the history and development of Andean cultures from the earliest peopling of the continent to the rise and fall of the Inca Empire. Using archaeological, historical, and ethnographic sources, students will learn about the relationship between Andean societies and their environments and landscapes, as well as the economic, social, and political changes that transformed small egalitarian communities through time into large, stratified states. Through the course, students will not only gain a strong background in pre-Columbian Andean history but will also hone their skills in the use of different lines of evidence to reconstruct the past while learning to critically evaluate existing interpretations. All students are expected to participate actively in discussions. Lectures will be supplemented by illustrations (slides, handouts, videos), and students will learn how societal dynamics are expressed in material culture and in the organization of architecture and settlements. Grades will be based on the results of three exams, a short paper, and participation in discussions. The course complements existing courses at the same (400) level on the archaeology of Mesoamerica (ANTH 422) and North America (ANTH 423). It continues the discussion (at a higher level) of some of the themes covered in ANTH 008 (Incas, Aztecs, Mayas). It fulfills the archaeology credits requirement for the major and is one of the 400-level courses that can be used for the minor. For students outside the major, it may be used to meet the Other Cultures or the Social Sciences requirement in Bachelor of Arts programs.
Scientific laboratory methods used in the analysis of ceramic and lithic artifacts. ANTH 426W Archaeological Laboratory Analysis (3) This course, Archaeological Laboratory Analysis, employs experiential learning to teach students how to ask and answer archaeological questions using real data. While students learn the fundamentals of interpretation in other courses using already processed computer (and internet) assembled data sets, this is not how archaeological data are analyzed. Archaeological data emerge from the ground covered with dirt and the analyst must learn how to identify and measure their important attributes, and interpret what they mean. This class will provide a hands-on learning experience where students learn how to examine and use physical remains to reconstruct and interpret human behavior.Students in the Anthropology program currently learn this critical step on anad hocbasis by working with faculty on individual research projects. This approach, while effective, is neither systematic nor comprehensive. This is a course on analytical systematics. It provides students with an introduction to problem formulation, artifact processing, artifact cataloging, attribute identification, artifact classification, analysis, data illustration and photography. At the same time, students will be introduced to two separate and distinct approaches to interpretation: 1) morphological/diacritical analysis, and 2) direct experimentation and replication.Students will be graded on the completion of nine laboratory exercises. These exercises will require that students identify the research question being addresses, the theoretical assumptions used in the analysis, the data sample, the analytical method(s) employed, and the conclusions reached. The exercises will also request that students identify personal insights and difficulties encountered during the analysis.This course fills a vital position in training undergraduate majors by providing them with practical training in research design and data analysis. It also provides the logical link between our general courses in prehistory, our courses on archaeological theory, and our method courses on field methods of data recovery. All of these courses intersect in the archaeological laboratory where data interpretations are made and new information about the past takes shape. In addition to contributing to both the BA and BS undergraduate majors and minors, this course will also provide a framework for training graduate students who enter the program with minimal field and laboratory training in archaeology.
Understanding how past humans altered their environments is at the core of this Ancient Brews course. Through the domestication of plants and animals to the continuous modification of technologies, our ancestors have successfully produced a wide range of alcoholic beverages. In ANTH430, we will recreate several alcohols (e.g., beer, cider, and wine) using the most basic methods through a process of experimental archaeology. From harvesting corn, apples, and grapes from Penn State¿s agricultural fields, to crushing barley with grinding stones, to cooking the ingredients in clay pots, the students will get firsthand experience with several ancient methods of alcohol production. Most of the semester is seminar-style, where we discuss journal articles relating to specific anthropological approaches to the evolution of alcohol.
Introductory course in Environmental Archaeology, with empahsis on method and theory in the subfields archaeobotany, pedoarchaeology, and zooarchaeology. ANTH 432 Environmental Archaeology (3)This class is a survey of the fast-developing field of environmental archaeology, or archaeobiology, which encompasses archaeology, the earth sciences, plant biology, and zoology. Environmental archaeologists apply techniques and insights obtained from these fields to questions concerning the relationships among humans, cultural systems, and the natural world, as reflected in the archaeological record. The general goal of the course is to promote understanding of the vital interplay between human societies, with their diverse systems of belief and cultural practices, and the natural environment, with emphasis on human interactions with biotic resources. Instruction is by lecture, supplemented by laboratory sessions emphasizing hands-on experience. Weekly topics are explored through selected readings and class discussions, augmented with laboratory assignments (practical exercises) variously focused on specific types or classes of archaeobiological materials. ANTH 432 will fulfill 3 credits of the additional courses in the Anthropology minor and major, as well as the Archaeological Science major. Anth 002 is a prerequisite.
Introductory course that examines prominent ethical and legal issues in archaeology integral to modern applied research and practice. ANTH 433 Archaeological Ethics and Law (3)This course explores the ethical, legal, and practical dimensions of modern archaeology through a consideration of the following topics: archaeology as a profession; archaeological ethics; the relationship between archaeology and others (the public, ethnic groups, avocationals, collectors, etc.); international and national approaches to archaeological heritage management; the antiquities market; maritime law, underwater archaeology, and treasure hunting; cultural resource management in the united states; and archaeological outreach and education. Students are introduced to a variety of legal and ethical issues in archaeology that span local to international scales. Through lecture, discussion, and readings, students will consider the archeology and ethics of ownership and stewardship, including issues centered on intellectual property rights, representation, repatriation, and reburial of cultural properties. They will be able to identify the various stakeholders in contemporary archaeology, and assess their values and interests in issues such as the treatment, ownership, and disposition of human remains, heritage sites, submerged cultural resources, and antiquities. They will consider growing problems with illicit collecting and excavation, illegal trade, and global concerns centered on the international trafficking of antiquities, and will be variously exposed to relevant national and international legislation involving cultural patrimony and management of antiquities, including international treaties such as the 1970 UNESCO Convention on Cultural Property, and related pieces of US federal legislation. The 1990 Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) and the Archaeological and Historic Preservation Act (ARPA) of 1974 figure prominently in the course. In general, upon completion of the course students will come to have a stronger appreciation of archaeological ethics and "archaeopolitics" they will have a good understanding of the U.S. Secretary of the Interior's standards (36CFR61) for professional archaeologists and will be able to assess and evaluate contemporary issues of archaeological ethics and law in the context of modern practice. ANTH 2 is a prerequisite of this course.
African and African Diasporic peoples have been central to the creation and transformation of global ecologies and landscapes. As the birthplace of humankind, the African continent features the longest archaeological record in the world, with abundant, yet often underrepresented, material and historical evidence for remarkable Indigenous African innovations in the areas of technology, food production, and resource and land use. This course specifically examines Black ecologies preceding and then radically transformed by the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. Beginning in the late fifteenth century, the enslavement of millions of Africans and their forced translocation to the Americas and Caribbean precipitated ecological transformations on all sides of the Atlantic, as African peoples, knowledge, resources and ecological inheritances were appropriated by the European mercantile system. Enslaved Africans transformed American landscapes via extractive industries of plantations and mines and suffered the emergence of toxic landscapes and disease alongside Native American communities. Africans also recreated African ecologies as they created livelihoods and landscapes of resistance and freedom in the Americas. The legacies of the Atlantic Era maintain a persistent dynamic in which African and African Diasporic communities experience disproportionate burdens of environmental injustice today. The concept of Black ecologies reflects the marginality, systemic racism and dispossession experienced by Black peoples and their landscapes. Black ecologies also allow us to understand African and African Diasporic ecological innovations, resistance and resilience, and the pathways to future sustainability and justice they promise.
The course examines the comparative organization and development of ancient economies in both the Old and New Worlds. ANTH 435 Ancient Economy (3) (IL)(BA) This course meets the Bachelor of Arts degree requirements. This course examines the origin and development of ancient economy from its earliest beginnings to the advent of complex monetary economies that existed prior to the industrial revolution. It examines the common economic structures found in ancient foraging, pastoral, and agricultural societies and how those structures were modified and transformed as these societies were integrated into more complex monetary economies. The goal of the course is to develop a comprehensive understanding of ancient economies, the function and purpose of their economic structures, and how those structures of production and distribution were modified and retained within the modern economies that we live in today. While the economy is often approached as its own field of study, this course shows how and why the economy was embedded in social, political and religious institutions that were so prominent in the ancient past. The course will discuss the domestic and institutional economy, the origin and organization of ancient market systems, the development of urban centers and the economies that supported them, the role of merchants in ancient societies, and origins of many of our 21st century institutions including money, banking, insurance, and the organization of craft production before the industrial revolution.The class draws upon the rich literature in archaeology, history and ethnohistory that examines the structure of ancient societies. It employs a cross-cultural perspective to model ancient economies and to investigate how social forces influenced their development. A range of different historic and prehistoric societies are discussed each semester to illustrate the cross-cultural perspective. The societies discussed vary from semester to semester and include, but will not be limited to, the ancient Sumerian, Assyrian, Greek, Roman, Mongol, Aztec and Inka societies. Examples will be selected that include societies at different scales of complexity from simple hunting and gathering groups to pre-industrial states.The course fulfills the Social and Behavioral requirements in Liberal Arts. It also fulfills specific major and minor requirements for the BA in Anthropology, the BS in Archaeological Sciences, and the BS in Bioanthropology. The course is also relevant for students in CAMS, History, and Ancient History that are interested in a comparative study of New and Old World civilizations.
ANTH 439WStudies in Classical and Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology3-6
CAMS 440W Studies in Classical and Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology (3-6) (BA) This course meets the Bachelor of Arts degree requirements. CAMS 440W is a writing-across-the-curriculum upper-level archaeology course on various topics in the broad field of Classical and Mediterranean archaeology. The selected topic will emphasize interdisciplinary themes, such as comparative state formation, societal collapse, gender in the ancient world or the socio-economic and cultural development of a society or region and its interaction with other Mediterranean, Near Eastern and North African cultures. Students will learn of major publications in the field of study, and how to conduct searches of the previous archaeological literature and the related literary record. As one requirement, students will complete a research paper on a topic related to the theme of the course that semester. The sequence of writing assignments is designed to allow students to develop a project, to search for related publications, to develop a proposal, and to revise drafts of the final paper. The course is also intended to provide students with a practical background in Classical and Mediterranean archaeology that will help prepare them for archaeological fieldwork, for the interpretation of archaeological publications, and, as relevant, for utilizing the literary and/or epigraphic record for interpreting archaeological evidence. Those considering enrolling in this course may obtain information about the specific topic by asking the faculty member listed as teaching the course or the Undergraduate Officer in the Department of Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies.
Critical overview of the ethnography and theory of primitive warfare. ANTH 444 Primitive Warfare (3) Anthropology 444 is concerned with the phenomenon of lethal group violence in tribal societies so called "primitive war". Through lectures, readings, and research projects, this course reviews anthropological approaches to the study of primitive war, focusing both on ethnographic examples and on theoretical approaches. The course covers topics such as explanations, traditional and modern, for the existence of warfare; the primate background to human warfare; and the social causes and individual motives leading to warfare in tribal societies; as well as its consequences for those societies. Students become familiar with both general and particular manifestations of primitive warfare, and are exposed to individual ethnographic cases of primitive warfare as they motivate a variety of theoretical paradigms.All students are expected to attend all lectures and to complete all weekly readings. At the last class meeting of each week, a rotation of students are assigned to organize and direct the class discussion of the week's readings in the light of the lectures earlier in the week. Performance in this activity constitutes 40% of the student's grade. Another 40% is earned in the research term paper each student must prepare. The final 20% of the grade is based on overall student contribution to class discussion, particularly during those weeks when the student is not a discussion leader. There is no final examination. This course can be used to fulfill major and minor requirements in Anthropology. Because warfare was and often still is a major activity in most tribal societies, this course provides an important complement to area-focused ethnography and archaeology courses such as ANTH 241 (Peoples and Cultures of Highland New Guinea), ANTH 422 (Mesoamerica), ANTH 423 (North America), ANTH 425 (American Southwest), ANTH 440 (Lowland South America), and ANTH 447 (Africa). This course is also relevant to topically focused course such as ANTH 450 (Comparative Social Organization), ANTH 451 (Economic Anthropology), ANTH 454 (Political Anthropology), and ANTH 456 (Cultural Ecology). On the graduate level, this course addresses central topics covered in ANTH 522-523 (Ecological Theory in Anthropology), ANTH 556 (Social Organization of Traditional Societies), and ANTH 559 (Behavioral Anthropology).
Comparisons of written and visual ethnography; critical assessment of ethnographic film; cross-cultural variation. ANTH 445W Ethnographic Film (3) Students will be presented with both written and filmed ethnographic material dealing with a number of cultural subsystems (e.g., kinship and family relations, religion, political systems) and with a number of different world cultures. The aim of the course is three-fold: 1) to convey through visual anthropology the complexity and inter-relations of cultural subsystems, which is often difficult to do in written sources; 2) to develop the skills of critical viewing of ethnographic film; and 3) to provide students with critiques of their written work that will enable them to learn and practice the skills of clear, organized and convincing writing. Towards these ends, students will be expected to read and view weekly assignments for selected topics, to write twelve critical essays that compare the written and filmed sources, and to evaluate the aims, effectiveness, and methods of the films. Essays will be graded for both content and form and will provide a basis for class discussion. Students will also be required to write a term paper focused on a particular ethnographic film of their choice (one not shown in class) supplemented by additional research. As an aid in the writing of the paper, at least one class period will be devoted to learning how to do library research in Anthropology. This course will complement other courses in Anthropology such as ANTH 045 and ANTH 001. The course can be used to fulfill a requirement in both the major and minor in Anthropology and will fulfill both a Writing Intensive requirement and a Bachelor of Arts social/behavioral science requirement. It will also provide students in other departments with the opportunity to study aspects of diverse, non-western cultures.
An examination of human mating mainly from the viewpoint of behavioral ecology, centering on the species-typical institution of marriage. ANTH 446 Mating and Marriage (3) This course is an examination of human mating and marriage mainly (although not exclusively) from the viewpoint of evolutionary behavioral ecology. Its central concern is the species-typical and uniquely human institution of marriage. Why do all human societies recognize this peculiar institution, whose social and biological functions, apparently obvious, become mysterious on close examination? What, exactly, is marriage? What are its consistent characteristics and attributes--or does it have none? How are spouses chosen, and by whom? What does being married imply for the behavior of the spouses, and that of their children and other relatives? What are the evolutionary scenarios that might have led us to marriage? Although sexual behavior is clearly a key element in answering some of these questions, and receives considerable attention, this is not a course on human sexuality. Nor is it a course on kinship, even though kinship is also crucial to understanding marriage and also receives a good deal of attention. Rather, this course attempts to bring to bear on this central social institution bodies of knowledge from the biological and social sciences that may contribute to understanding how and why marriage arose as a universal feature of human societies, and how and why it is perpetuated in contemporary societies. We begin the semester with the posing of the central problem--what is marriage and why do we have it? For about half the course, we approach this question from an evolutionary, sociobiological point of view: We look into the biological background of human mating--its evolutionary history, its physiology, its behavioral ecology, etc. as we go through a semi-popular book on the subject by a biological anthropologist. Next we turn to more academic readings, old and new, that further elucidate the ecological constraints and fitness consequences of various behaviors relating to mating and mate choice, child rearing, etc., in terms of reproductive success, survivorship, etc. In the second half of the course, we take a more social anthropological point of view. We look at what anthropologists have written about marriage and marriage customs over the years. We try to relate the traditional social anthropology to more modern human behavioral ecology. Finally, in a research project report, each student examines some specifics of marriage as it is manifested in ethnographically known societies. In these reports we are particularly interested in how and by whom mates and spouses are chosen, and who contributes what to the raising of children.
The course covers uses of ethnography in American Studies toward an understanding of social and cultural communication and performance. The application of ethnography and concepts of cultural anthropology to complex societies such as the United States is discussed. The course teaches students to use ethnographic methods for research of American society and culture. Attention is given to the ethics and issues of ethnographic fieldwork.
Traditional and modern religions and historical and contemporary religious movements from an anthropological perspective. ANTH 453 Anthropology of Religion (3)(BA) This course meets the Bachelor of Arts degree requirements. This course will examine the origin, evolution and social function of religion from a cultural materialist perspective. It will begin with a general discussion of an anthropological approach to the study of religion, using numerous examples from different cultures for purposes of illustration. Following a discussion of several topics relevant to the anthropological study of religion --including magic, rituals, witchcraft and mythology-- the course will focus on the relationship between politics and religion: first discussing the role of religion as a mechanism of social and political control, and then examining the role of religion as a vehicle of sociopolitical change in the form of what anthropologists call revitalization movements. This course links to courses on the sociology, history, and philosophy of religion, to courses on intellectual history, and history of social sciences. Course evaluation will be based on 3 take-home essay examinations. Students will give the instructor 3 questions at indicated times; the instructor will return one question; the student will write an essay on the indicated question. Attendance is mandatory. This course will fulfill a 3 credit 400 level requirement for the Anthropology major and minor.
ANTH 457Jewish Communities: Identity, Survival, and Transformation in Unexpected Places3
Examines the global array of smaller Jewish communities that have flourished outside the main urban centers of Jewish settlement. JST 457 / ANTH 457 / SOC 457 Jewish Communities: Identity, Survival, and Transformation in Unexpected Places (3) (US;IL) This course addresses an understudied aspect of Jewish experience. It aims to expand our understanding of Jewish communities by focusing on those that are, alternatively, small, situated in out-of-the-way places, culturally outside the Jewish urban mainstream, or embedded in a larger society with markedly different values and traditions. These communities often constitute the points-of-contact between Jews and non-Jews, and in so doing sometimes transform Jews, non-Jews, and the relationships among them. Other such communities constitute experiments in Jewish lifeways and provide mainstream Jews with pilot projects for potential social and cultural change. This course will explore the significance of small, little-known, idiosyncratic, and anomalous Jewish communities on Jewish history and culture, and draw on them to instruct students on the social and cultural processes of small or unusual communities generally. The communities studied will be located both in the U.S. and elsewhere in which Jews have lived as a minority community during modern times. The course will look at the founding, growth, and decline of such communities and at their social processes and institutions. It will explore how to understand and analyze such communities, which vary from one part of the world to another. The social world of Jewish communities, large and small, is a core interest of Penn State's Jewish Studies Program. This course will complement the current offerings in Jewish Studies, strengthening the social, cultural, and contemporary perspectives available in the Program. It will provide students with an opportunity to explore individual experience and micro-level processes among Jews, and to study the dynamics of identity and survival. It will complement the current offerings in Sociology and Anthropology by affording an opportunity to focus on community-level social processes and by adding a course on contemporary Jewry. The course will integrate knowledge from a variety of sources and fields, promote intercultural understanding, and meet US and IL requirements. Materials will be interdisciplinary, and will include ethnographies, sociological studies, population studies, histories, and personal narratives. They will include primary texts, creative works, and scholarly analyses. The assignments will be structured to facilitate preliminary experience in independent analysis, library research, or field research. The course will be offered approximately once a year. Enrollment will be limited to 30 students in order to promote active, engaged learning. Evaluations will be based on short papers and outlines that will prepare students for their final, term papers.
Course introduces students to ethnographic field methods, includes student projects and simple analyses that don't require statistical sophistication. ANTH 458 Ethnographic Field Methods (3)(BA) This course meets the Bachelor of Arts degree requirements. This course is designed to introduce you to some (not all) ethnographic field methods. It will include actual projects you will have to carry out and other material that will make you a better ethnographer, such as how to pose questions that can be answered, how to select an appropriate sample for a project, how to take and use field notes. Because the emphasis is on field methods, we will do only simple analyses that don't require any statistical sophistication (e.g., descriptive statistics, chi square tests)
This course will cover the nature and contents of the human genome and the basic principles of evolution. We will also explore the future implications of personal genomics and how this information is being used to reconstruct our evolutionary history and to advance human medicine. We will carefully consider the processes by which we can identify how information contained within our genomes may affect physical and behavioral phenotypes, and what other factors may be involved (e.g., the environment). The points will be illustrated by a variety of examples of human evolution and important biomedical issues
This course will cover the nature and contents of the human genome and the basic principles of evolution. We will also explore the future implications of personal genomics and how this information is being used to reconstruct our evolutionary history and to advance human medicine..We will carefully consider the processes by which we can identify how information contained within our genomes may affect physical and behavioral phenotypes, and what other factors may be involved (e.g., the environment). The points will be illustrated by a variety of examples of human evolution and important biomedical issues.
Provides framework to understand current issues in biology, genetics, and anthropology as they relate to the evolution of our species. ANTH 461 Molecular Anthropology (3) The aim of this course is to provide students with the framework to understand current issues in biology, genetics, and anthropology as they relate to the evolution of our species. Basic methods in molecular biology, structure of the genome, molecular evolution, and human population genetics will be covered in the first part of the course. Once these tools are in place we will examine both classical and contemporary research reports on a number of topics, including the place of humans among the apes; mitochondrial Eve, DNA in forensics; Neandertal DNA and other applications of ancient DNA; reconstructing recent human evolution' the biological meaning of race; disease gene mapping; recent technological advances in genomics; skin, hair, and eye color genes; and the genetic future of our species. There will be three exams that will each count for 25% of the grade. Attendance and participation are mandatory and will count for 25% of the final grade. A portion of this participation grade is earned by presenting 10 min. summaries of particular readings. Each student will be expected to summarize a scientific paper four times during the semester. These summaries are not expected to be exhaustive reports on the material, but should reflect an effort on the part of the student to understand and discuss the material and may require some background work.
Survey of the mammalian skull from many perspectives including evolution, development, anatomy, function, and variability of the skull. ANTH 466 The Skull (3) This course will provide a survey of what is known about the Mamallian skull from many perspectives including evolution, development, anatomy, function, and variability of the skull. The course will consist of lectures and a laboratory component. Students will learn about the basic skull architecture and be introduced to various specializations of extinct and extant species. The section on evolution will cover the evolution of the skull from the earliest jawless vertebrates through human evolution. During the section on development, we will discuss the nature of the formation of bone embryologically. Other topics include the ways in which bone changes shape and size during prenatal and postnatal growth, how changes in growth can result in evolutionary change in morphology. The section on the function of bone will focus on biomechanical interpretations of the morphology of the skull. The lectures will focus on human anatomy but provide contrasts with other mammals (e.g., horse, dog, mouse). The last section on variability will survey the major groups of mammals highlighting similarities and differences in bony architecture and skull morphology. This portion of the course will be more laboratory-based with students examining specimens, taking measurements and leading discussions on hypotheses regarding why skull architecture is so different among mammals. The objective of this course is to provide the student with a broad survey of information relating to the mammalian skull. Through assigned readings and lectures the student will become familiar with salient anatomical and osteological features, obvious differences in skull architecture and the various biological processes responsible for these differences. During the final laboratory part of the course the students will bring their knowledge to an assigned problem and specimen in order to apply what they have learned to a scientific question. Students will be required to attend all lectures and laboratories. Periodic quizzes will be administered as well as an exam at midterm. A paper that focuses on the student's laboratory experience will be required at the completion of the course.
This course is an anthropological approach to understanding temporal and spatial variation in human food consumption and nutrition: why do we eat what we eat? To answer this question, we approach it from multiple perspectives: biological, evolutionary, ecological and social. In this course, students will investigate how food tastes, preferences, and diets of different individuals and societies both in the past and present are affected by genetic variation, by processes of individual and cultural learning, by evolutionary and ecological forces and histories of ecological and social interaction, by existing social contexts and structures, and by global political and economic forces. Topics include a broad survey of human and nonhuman primate diets and their physiological and behavioral correlates; theories of optimal diet breadth and prey choice; fossil and archaeological evidence for early human diets; genetic adaptations to diet; metabolic syndrome; food security; food taboos; the origins and cross cultural uses of spices; ecological impacts of hunting, gathering, and agropastoralism especially relative to food webs, biodiversity and sustainability; cultural diversity in the social uses and meanings of food and the sharing of food and how sociopolitical contexts have shaped the overexploitation of certain resources throughout history. Students will come away from this course with an understanding of the diversity of human foodways through time and space: how biology, culture, and ecology interact to shape the food we eat, and how the food we eat shapes us.
Cross-cultural construction of gender and sex roles; theories of gender construction; case studies and practical effects. ANTH 476 / WMNST 476 Anthropology of Gender (3)Students will learn the current theoretical approaches in anthropology to the cultural construction of gender and sex roles. The first 2-3 weeks of the course will concentrate on exploring and understanding these theoretical approaches. The remaining weeks will focus on case studies of non-western gender systems, and on the practical effects of those systems, but students will also be encouraged to relate these systems to their own experience. Each meeting will be based on discussion of the readings assigned for that meeting and students will be expected to participate. During the period devoted to theoretical approaches, discussion will focus on the assumptions, advantages, and disadvantages of each approach. For the part of the course devoted to readings on individual societies, one reading each week will be the basis for a critical essay of approximately five pages. These essays will be expected to include: 1) an identification of the theoretical approach that informs the work, 2) a statement of the author's arguments or questions, 3) a discussion of the methods used to provide data in support of the arguments or to answer questions, 4) a critique of the adequacy of data, and 5) a statement suggesting which additional elements might make for a better study. These essays will be graded for both content and form and students will have the option of rewriting essays (and improving their grade) after they receive comments. These essays will provide 60% of the course grade, while participation in discussions will provide another 15%.A short research paper will also be required. The paper must focus on a question or hypothesis concerning gender, and a preliminary proposal that includes the focus of the paper, its relevance to the course, and a beginning bibliography is required. A first draft of the paper will be required two weeks before the end of the semester. The research paper will provide 25% of the course grade.The course complements other courses in Anthropology that deal with sex differences, but will provide a perspective on gender that is not available elsewhere in the curriculum. The course can be used to fulfill a Behavioral Anthropology requirement in both the major and minor in Anthropology and a writing across the curriculum requirement. It will also provide students in other departments with the opportunity to study aspects of diverse, non-western cultures. The course is currently identified as one that may be taken to fulfill the requirements of the Women's Studies minor.
ANTH 479Tradition, Modernity, and Cultural Change in South Asian Societies3
India and its neighboring countries provide an interesting view of the ways cultural diversity functions in the world. The region contains one-sixth of humankind, and its people are differentiated not only by religion, language, caste, and ethnicity, but also by ecology, technology, dress and cuisine. ASIA 472 examines how South Asia's history may have influenced the diverse behavioral, cultural, and social norms from the ancient to the modern times Beginning with a preliminary discussion of ancient medieval, and colonial Indian history, the course examines the institutions of caste, family and kinship, marriage, gender, and religious practices of the many different religious, and regional, and language communities of the sub-continent, and how they may have changed over the years. The course concludes with a review of how the different South Asian communities both within and outside the subcontinent have dealt with modernity in the realms of politics, religion, law, arts, cinema, and popular culture. This course will be cross listed with Anthropology and will be taught by both Asian Studies and Anthropology faculty. thereby making it useful to students of both Asian Studies and Anthropology. Furthermore, students in this course will be exposed to research methodologies used by scholars of history, literature, and anthropology.
Introduction to the history, significance, and operation of anthropology museums. ANTH 480 Museum Studies (3) This course introduces students to the operation of anthropology museums and to the growing field of museum studies. The course explores the historical setting within which these institutions evolved and the role of museums in the development of anthropology. Students will learn about the primary functions of museums through individual and group projects. Other topics to be covered include museum organization and administration, collection management, curation and conservation, research and education, public relations and financing, and ethical and legal issues. Students will get hands-on experience with the planning and implementation of a display in the Matson Museum of Anthropology. In addition, students will learn about museum careers, museum developments in other countries, and contemporary controversies, such as repatriation and the shifting role of museums in contemporary society. The course will provide the student with an introduction not only to the behind-the-scenes nuts-and-bolts of daily museum operations but also to the institutional role of museums as the preservers, interpreters, and communicators of humanity's cultural heritage. Students are evaluated based on two papers, work on Matson Museum exhibits, and participation in class discussions. This course fulfills a 3-credit requirement for additional courses for the anthropology major. This course expands on the history of anthropology and professional employment in the field that is presented in introductory courses.
Recommended Preparations: STAT 500; STAT 511; Or a standard introductory statistics course or an equivalent course at the student's previous institution. Anthropology is a four-field discipline comprising dozens of sub-disciplines, each one characterized by particular theoretical and methodological approaches. As a consequence, the data that anthropologists regularly collect, analyze, and display are diverse in nature, scale and complexity. The purpose of this course is to expose anthropology graduate students to the field's wide range of approaches
This course provides practical training and experience in proposal writing and revisions for graduate students in anthropology and related disciplines.
/Maximum of 1 Seminar designed to expand general knowledge of archaeology through exposure to current research and related issues in contemporary archaeology. ANTH 521ANTH 521 Current Literature in Archaeology (1)This seminar is designed to expand general knowledge of archaeology through exposure to current research and related issues in contemporary archaeology. We accomplish this by examining the best of recent journal literature. We may also occasionally read a chapter from an edited book. We will normally read and discuss one article per week, although we might increase that number in cases where articles have been followed by published debates. Articles should be selected from a list of approved journals that will be supplied in class. Each article must be approved in advance by the course professor. The presenter should follow the standard outline for article discussion that will also be supplied in class.Faculty: Frances Hayashida, Kenneth Hirth, George Milner, Dean Snow, and David Webster
ANTH 541Current Literature in Integrative Anthropology1-3
/Maximum of 6 This course is a survey and discussion of the current content and design of research in Anthropology. Through activities and discussions of recent literature, the course focuses on critical evaluations of the use of theory, method, and analysis in the discipline. Students will learn the fundamental principles of question generation, hypothesis generation, hypothesis testing, and how to deal with sampling and bias, as well as the ethical conduct of scientific research.
Within the anthropological and environmental sciences, human ecology (incorporating environmental anthropology, ecological anthropology, cultural ecology, behavioral ecology and evolutionary ecology) is the Graduate - The Pennsylvania State University 2026-2027 911 study of dynamic interactions between people and the environment, past and present. The readings are designed to give students an overview of the fundamental ecological processes that pattern human behavioral responses to environmental variability and how and why human behavior recursively shapes environmental variability. These incorporate a wide range of topics with an emphasis on how human social behavior and resource use are integrated into ecological processes and their services at multiple scales. In so doing, the course takes a holistic perspective of the human experience; one that views cultural, biological, environmental, demographic, and technological processes as interconnected phenomena, and human behavior and practices as components of complex adaptive systems. The topics covered are especially timely in our contemporary political and environmental context, and will explore the relevance of human ecology for these on-going debates.
This course provides fundamental theory to understand the nature of the dynamic relationship between human decision-making and the natural and social environment. We focus on ecological anthropological theory operating at multiple scales, from the individual to the population, to the community. We will learn how such theory has been applied in the development of a wide range of questions in ecological anthropology, with a focus on key empirical studies of resource use and reproduction, population growth, subsistence and social intensification, disturbance dynamics, niche construction, and cooperation.
ANTH 563Current Literature in Biological Anthropology1
/Maximum of 1 Seminar designed to expand general knowledge of Biological Anthropology through exposure to current research and issues in contemporary Biological Anthropology.
ANTH 566Infectious Diseases in Anthropological Populations3
Surveys infectious diseases in history and prehistory; introduces concepts from microbiology, immunology, and epidemiology, applies them to past human populations. ANTH 566 ANTH 566 Infectious Diseases in Anthropological Populations (3) Throughout history, more people have died of infectious diseases than of any other causes. Such diseases are therefore of great importance in human ecology and demography. Yet anthropologists have paid scant attention to the implications of infectious diseases for human populations, especially populations in the past. This course attempts to correct that oversight. The course is designed for graduate students and advanced undergraduates in anthropology and related fields (biology, population studies, health sciences). The primary focus will be the role of infectious diseases in human population ecology, but enough background will be provided on the biology of infectious diseases to make the course as self-contained as possible. Thus, we will review basic information about the biology of pathogen-host interactions, including some elementary microbiology
ANTH 572Research Design in Integrative Anthropology3
This seminar will provide exposure to current data collection methods and analyses in integrative anthropology, and offer specific examples of application. Through readings and discussion, this course will focus especially on how integrative methods and research design can be utilized to help address major outstanding issues in the discipline. Students will be exposed to the challenges, limitations, and processes of ultimately successful research studies and programs, to provide a practical awareness and guidance towards the development of their own research projects and careers in anthropology.
/Maximum of 12 This course will provide a structured and supervised research experience to first-year students in the anthropology graduate program, providing both 1) hands-on exposure to anthropological laboratory and/or analytical methods, and 2) related professional development preparation to benefit the students' ongoing graduate training and future research careers. Specifically, with the help of anthropology faculty, students will identify a suitable, rotation-type research experience that can be conducted reasonably over the course of the semester. Meanwhile, the classroom experience will involve discussions on the research-related topics most relevant to the students' level of training and development. Likely topics include the development of research questions and study designs, power calculations, tools and strategies for literature survey, research funding options and strategies, data management and archiving, publication formats and journal outlets (including preprint servers), the publication preparation/submission/review process, academic conferences and traditional and non-traditional networking opportunities (including the effective use of social media), effective structures for research presentations in both poster and podium formats, and scientific outreach opportunities. Students will also read papers relevant to their research interests, and update the class regularly on the progress, challenges, and learnings from their ongoing research experiences/ projects.
ANTH 575Population, Food, and Traditional Farming3
This course explores the relationship between demographic processes (fertility, mortality, migration) and traditional farming, especially farming near the subsistence level. ANTH 575 Population, Food, and Traditional Farming (3) This course explores the complex relationship between demographic processes and traditional agriculture. It starts with the premise that traditional agriculture, at least agriculture near the subsistence level, is primarily demographic in its motivation: the main purpose of a small-scale, preindustrial family farm is to create and support a family, i.e. produce children (fertility) and keep them alive (survival). This idea will be the starting point for re-examining existing theories about population and agriculture, and for formulating new models of the traditional farming household as a demographic enterprise. Some of the topics to be addressed include: (1) the slippery concepts of 'population pressure', 'over-population', 'population regulation', 'carrying capacity', and 'sustainability'; (2) some basic ecology and economics of subsistence production and consumption; (3) the debate over agricultural intensification; (4) the effects of under-nutrition on fertility and mortality; (5) the nature of the household labor force; (6) the household demographic life cycle and its economic implications; (7) seasonality and the allocation of household labor; (8) the demography of the 'hungry season' (9) risk management and food shortages; and (10) household wealth differentials and their demographic implications. The first half of the course will be in lecture format, the second will be more like a seminar. At about the mid-point of the semester, students will split into groups of 2-4 (depending on class size). Each group will select an ethnographic/demographic/economic monograph on traditional agriculture from a list provided by the instructor, prepare and present a PowerPoint presentation on it, and lead an extended classroom discussion of it. Each presentation ought to take up at least two or three class periods. The course grade will be based on the presentation and on general seminar participation (approximately 80 percent presentation and 20 percent participation, including doing the required readings). This course should appeal to graduate students and advanced undergraduates in anthropology, geography, crop and soil science, demography, rural sociology, agricultural economics, and behavioral ecology.
This graduate course will expose students to spatial analysis tools and analytical methods applied to demographic research. ANTH (SOC) 579 Spatial Demography (3)The improved application of spatial data and methods to demographic research is a critical methodological challenge facing demographers today. This graduate seminar is designed
ANTH 508 is required for all Ph.D. students and may be taken at any point in the first two years. All Ph.D. students are required to enroll in a one-unit literature review 3 seminar (ANTH 541), for one credit each semester during the first six semesters of study. A student’s Ph.D. committee can require reading knowledge and/or demonstrated working knowledge of a foreign language, specialized training in linguistics, or training in computer programming languages, depending on the student’s research interests. This will be determined shortly after the committee is formed. For the Ph.D. degree, students must conduct significant original research that demonstrates the student’s mastery of the field. The Ph.D. requirements include successful completion of course work as stipulated by the department and Ph.D. committee, passing the qualifying exam, preparing a dissertation proposal, successfully passing the comprehensive exam/dissertation proposal defense, and writing and defending the subsequent dissertation. The dissertation must be accepted by the Ph.D. committee, the head of the graduate program, and the Fox Graduate School, and the student must pass a final oral examination (the dissertation defense).
/Maximum of 9 Creative projects, including nonthesis research, which are supervised on an individual basis and which fall outside the scope of formal courses. Graduate - The Pennsylvania State University 2026-2027 913
prior approval of proposed assignment by instructor
ANTH 597Special Topics1-9
/Maximum of 9 Formal courses given on a topical or special interest subject which may be offered infrequently; several different topics may be taught in one year or term.
