Diversity and Human Nature: Introduction to Cultural Anthropology This course introduces students to the varieties of human experience in social life and to the differing approaches and levels of analysis used by anthropologists to explain it. Topics include: culture and race, rituals and symbolism, kinship and gender roles, social evolution, political economy, and sociolinguistics. Ethnographic examples are drawn chiefly from non-Western societies, from simple bands to great agrarian states. The ultimate aim is to enable students to think critically about the bases of their own culture and about practices and beliefs previously unanalyzed and unexamined.

Introduction to Archaeology Archaeology is the scientific analysis and interpretation of cultural remains. Archaeologists examine artifacts, architecture, and even human remains in order to answer questions about the growth and development of societies worldwide.  In addressing these issues we not only illuminate the past but also explore patterns relevant to contemporary social concerns.  From the tropical lowlands of Central America to the deserts of ancient Egypt, this course provides an introduction to world prehistory.  We proceed from humanity's earliest beginnings to the development of complex societies worldwide and use case examples to explore the major topics, methods, and theories of contemporary archaeology.

Language, Culture and Society In this course students will be introduced to the comparative, ethnographic study of language in relation to socio-cultural context. Our readings will be drawn from diverse global settings and will focus upon language as the means by which people shape and are shaped by the social worlds in which they live. We will examine contrasts in ways of speaking across different communities, personal identities, and institutions. We will explore the consequences of communicative difference across a range of contact situations, including everyday conversation among peers, service encounters, political elections, and global connections or disconnections made possible through new media.

Current Social Issues in Japan (in English) In this course we will use ethnography, fiction, and historical studies to examine some of the underlying themes of Japanese culture. Japan is a highly developed, post-industrial society renowned across the globe for economic success in the post-World War II period. What historical and social factors have shaped Japan’s contemporary culture, and how have interactions with other countries influenced Japanese society? We will study a number of different spheres of Japanese life including the family and the workplace to better understand contemporary society. We will pay special attention to Japan’s global position and its relationship to the United States. (formerly SOAN 0110) 3 hr. lect./disc.

Language Structure and Function In this course we will discuss the major issues and findings in the study of human language within theories of modern linguistics, which shares a history with mid-century American anthropology. The main topics include the nature of human language in comparison with other communication systems; sound patterns (phonology); word-formation (morphology); sentence structure (syntax); meaning (semantics); use (pragmatics); language acquisition and socialization. We will also consider language variation and the historical development of languages.  Instruction is in English but examples will be drawn from less commonly studied languages around the world.

Introduction to Biological Anthropology This course will provide an overview of the field of physical anthropology. The topics to be addressed include the mechanisms of genetics and evolution, human variability and adaptation, our primate relatives and fossil ancestors (hominins), as well as bioarchaeology. Through a combination of lectures and discussions, we will explore human origins and the overall development of the species through time. Likewise, we will look at how language, art, and religion emerge as well as the interplay between environment and biology in human evolution. The course finishes by examining contemporary issues in human biodiversity, from molecular genetics and biotechnology to problematic categories like race, gender, and sexuality.

Environmental Anthropology Environmental issues are also cultural and political conflicts, between competing social groups, economic interests and cultural paradigms. This course introduces students to human ecology, the study of how our adaptations to the environment are mediated by cultural differences and political economy. Topics include: how ecological anthropology has evolved as a subdiscipline, with a focus on systems theory and political ecology; how ritually regulated societies manage resources; how rural communities deal with environmental deterioration; and how contradictions between environmental protection, economic development, and cultural values complicate so many ecological issues.

Origins of Writing The first attempts at writing were awkward experiments. A few transitioned to fully-fledged writing systems, but most were incomplete affairs that eventually went extinct. In the first half of this course, we will explore the reasons why some experiments faltered—and why others succeeded in Africa, Eurasia, and the Americas thousands of years ago. We will learn how archaeologists and codebreakers deciphered these inscriptions as well as the basics of the writing systems themselves, from Mesopotamian cuneiform to Egyptian hieroglyphics to Chinese oracle bones. In the second half of the course, we will explore Mesoamerican writing systems and focus on learning the Maya hieroglyphic script—the most sophisticated system ever produced in the Americas.

Indigenous Peoples of the Americas This course introduces students to the indigenous peoples of North and South America, from before European conquest to the present. Following a brief look at the mound-builders of North America, we will explore the connection between social stratification, religious ideology, and imperial expansion in the political economy of the Aztecs and the Incas. Ethnographies of Quechua peasants in the Peruvian Andes, Yanomami Indians in the Amazon, and Oglala Sioux in the Dakotas will show how contemporary Native Americans are dealing with the never-ending process of colonialism. How Europeans have imagined indigenous peoples has had a profound impact on how the latter defend themselves. The resulting images of authenticity and resistance have always been double-edged. The course will conclude with the debate over the reservation paradigm in the U.S.

Andean Civilizations Stretching from present-day Ecuador to Chile and consisting of desert coasts, fertile valleys, soaring Andes, and tropical jungle, the Inca Empire was the largest state the Precolumbian Americas had ever seen.  Although they claimed to have ‘civilized’ the Andes, the Inka were only the latest in a sequence of complex societies, all of which ultimately fell to the Spanish in the mid-1500s.  In this course we will explore the growth and development of social complexity in the region, from the first human occupation of South America to the era of European contact.

Indigeneity and Colonialism in Native North America In this course we will approach Native North America and the American political mainstream as dynamically intertwined. Through ethnography, ethno-history, oral literature, and indigenous film we will examine the history of colonial encounters between the Indigenous and the 'Western'. We will examine how indigenous cultural difference and moral claims to land have challenged dominant political cultures across the history of the North American settler states. Our analysis will extend to ongoing questions concerning cultural knowledge, sustainability, and imagined futures.

The Aztec Empire and the Spanish Conquest This course centers around the rise and fall of the Aztecs, the first state-level society encountered by the Spanish in 1519.  Although primarily known today for their military exploits for what today is Mexico, the Aztecs produced great artisans, artists, and philosophers whose contributions endure in contemporary Mexican culture. We will trace the origins and development of Aztec civilization to its encounter with the Spanish in 1519.  The course also covers the Spanish background for the Conquest, from the martial and political expulsion of Moors and Jews from the Iberian Peninsula in 1492 to the Spanish Inquisition.

The Rise and Fall of the Ancient Maya As perhaps the most famous of all of the cultures of Mesoamerica, the Maya are best known for soaring temples, portraits of kings, a complex hieroglyphic writing system, and a dramatic collapse when their ancient kingdoms were abandoned or destroyed. In this course, we will view their accomplishments through the archaeology of the Classic Period (250-850 AD) and examine how the Maya built cities within the tropical jungles of present-day Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, and Honduras. We will also explore the history of the Maya after the “fall,” from their revival in the post-Classic Period to the present day.

Anthropologies of the Middle East: Representations, Politics, Cultures In this course we will explore the Middle East, past and present, from an anthropological viewpoint. We will start by looking at how past foreign influences and biased views have shaped how we see the region today and continue with nuanced anthropological works on the diverse peoples and struggles in different parts of the region. Topics will include family, religion, race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, the environment, state power, and political resistance. Using visual materials and ethnographic readings, we will challenge common stereotypes, offering a more complex view of the Middle East. Readings will highlight stories that are often ignored, showing the people of the region as active participants in creating knowledge and engaging in political struggles, rather than just static victims or perpetrators, as they are often portrayed, especially after 9/11.

Rethinking the Body in Contemporary Japan (In English) In this course we will examine attitudes toward and tensions related to the human body in Japan. Looking at art, music, style, and social issues we will examine the symbolic as well as material concerns of bodies in contemporary Japan. Religious, historical, martial, and aesthetic understandings of bodies will be addressed. We will analyze Japan's current attitudes toward organ transplantation, treatment of the deceased, plastic surgery, surrogacy, sex change surgery and other embodied practices. Readings will include Twice Dead and Commodifying Bodies.

Everyday Life in South Asia This course offers an introduction to anthropological studies of South Asia. Relying on works of ethnography, journalism, memoir, and film, we examine people’s everyday lived experiences and mediations of globalization, religion, science, popular culture, gender, and the body in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan. In taking a close and intersectional look at situations across the region (e.g., new expressions of gender and capitalism in India, narratives of religious pluralism in Pakistan, enactments of media, modernity, and sexuality in Afghanistan), the course aims to give students the opportunity to sharpen their cultural analysis skills as they glean a more complex understanding of people’s ways of living across South Asia and the diaspora.

Africa and Anthropology: Power, Continuity, and Change Sub-Saharan Africa has long represented primitive mysteries for Europeans and North Americans, as a ‘Dark Continent’ full of exotic people and animals. Even now, many Americans learn little about Africa and Africans except for ‘thin’ media reports of political, economic, and ecological upheaval or persistent poverty, disease, and despair. This course provides a ‘thick’ description and analysis of contemporary African conditions using ethnographies and films. We will not be exploring ‘traditional African cultures’ outside of their historical contexts or generalizing about ‘what African culture really is.’ Rather, our focus will be on understanding social continuity and change alongside cultural diversity and commonality. Topics will include colonialism, critical kinship studies, African feminism, environmental management, witchcraft and religion. Throughout the course African ideas of power – what it is, who has it, and why –unify these diverse topics as social relations.

The Anthropology of Warfare and Polarization In this course we will use the anthropology of human evolution, religion and politics to identify the cognitive patterns that justify feuding, warfare, witchcraft, conspiracy theory, and ideological polarization.  Beginning with animal behavior and hunting and gathering societies, we will study natural selection for accountability, moralism, and factionalism; how social groups define themselves through mimesis, othering and scapegoating; how scapegoating justifies aggression; how sacrifice and other forms of ritualizing victimhood generate sanctity, sacrilege, and outrage; and how religious and political loyalty tests enforce social boundaries

Law and Politics In this course we will explore how societies construct, negotiate, and contest political systems and legal frameworks in diverse contexts from an anthropological perspective. We will begin by examining anthropological perspectives on politics and laws across various social structures. We will then discuss dissent, protests, and social movements (e.g., Occupy, Arab Spring, Black Lives Matter). We will inquire into what defines the realms of the political and legal, probing how certain aspects of social life have been structured in explicitly apolitical and non-legal terms. Assigned materials are theoretical and ethnographic readings, supplemented by interdisciplinary and primary sources. The class format includes lectures, media, and group discussion. Students will gain a nuanced understanding of governance, power dynamics, legal norms, and social movements through this course.

Anthropology of Global Corporations Multinational corporations have become pervasive in the 21st Century global economy. No other social organization matches their ability to increase productivity and multiply wealth. Nor does any other social vehicle match their power to destabilize preexisting relationships. In this course we will learn about the anthropology of exchange and capitalism through ethnographies of corporations, corporate social responsibility, factory production, and financial speculation in the U.S., China, South Africa, and Papua New Guinea. We will also evaluate social-justice critiques of corporate structures: are they meritocracies or exclusionary kin-based networks? Do they build community or merely offload costs? For the final project, students will have the option of doing ethnographic research on a for-profit or not-for-profit enterprise. 3 hours, lct/disc,

Migration and Social Justice: Power, Place, and Human Experiences. This course examines migration through bottom-up approaches, drawing on interdisciplinary perspectives from political and legal anthropology, feminist and decolonial studies, and social scientific and historical methodologies. It critically explores how gender, race, ethnicity, social class, and global disparities shape migratory experiences and influence notions of justice, agency, and belonging. Key topics include migration governance, borders, economic aspects of migration, climate displacement, refugee camps, and everyday lives, agencies, and solidarity practices of migrants; themes explored across South-to-North and South-to-South migration to illuminate the global and interconnected dimensions of migration experiences and governance. Through diverse materials – ethnographic texts and documentaries, primary legal sources, art and activist projects, and podcasts – students will analyze the lived experiences of migrants alongside the structural realities that shape migrants’ lives.

Cities of Hope and Despair Why have some cities outlasted empires and nation states while others exist on the edge of marginality and loss? In this course, we will use historical and contemporary examples to explore the rise and fall of urban centers around the world. What is the meaning of urbanity across cultures? What different purposes do cities serve? What challenges confront them, from climate change to gang warfare to new forms of human precarity? In this course we will also investigate how processes like colonialism, imperialism, and global migration shape the evolution of cities and how they exist in our imaginaries.

Sustainable Japan: Nature, Culture, and Environment (taught in English) In this course we will examine the interplay of culture, nature, and human responses to environmental limitations and possibilities in the context of Japan. Students will study the historical and environmental conditions that shape contemporary Japan, focusing on specific case studies of environmental crisis and recovery. Student groups working within a project-based learning framework will research specific green and sustainable practices and projects in Japan and create learning segments and presentations to share with the class and other community members interested in Japan and the environment. Texts such as Japan: An Environmental History, Totman and Just Enough: Lessons in Living Green from Traditional Japan, Brown will be used. This course will be taught in English.

Medical Anthropology: Approaches to Affliction and Healing In this course, an introduction to medical anthropology, we will explore cultural and political-economic perspectives on health, illness, and disease. Topics covered include: (1) biocultural approaches to understanding health; (2) medical systems, including biomedicine and others; (3) the effects of poverty and inequality on health outcomes; and (4) the social construction of health and illness. Students will apply these concepts in understanding an aspect of health, illness, or healing in their own research project with an ethnographic component. An introductory course in anthropology or familiarity with medical or public health issues is recommended.

The Research Process: Ethnography and Qualitative Methods The aim of this course is to prepare the student to conduct research, to analyze and present research in a scholarly manner, and to evaluate critically the research of others. Practice and evaluation of such basic techniques as observation, participant-observation, structured and open-ended interviews, and use of documents. Introduction to various methodological and theoretical frameworks. Thesis or essay prospectus is the final product of this course. Strongly recommended for juniors. One-hour research lab required.

Gender, Culture, and Power This course offers a cross-cultural introduction to the issues involved in the study of women and gender.  Such an endeavor raises a number of difficult and delicate issues.  What explains the diversities and similarities in women's roles across societies?  How do we assess women's status and power, and how do we decide which standards to use in doing so?  What forces create changes in women's roles?  What is the relationship between gender constructions and the nature of communities, economies, and even nations?  Our analysis will concentrate on three primary domains: family and kinship, symbolic systems, and political economy. Course readings will focus primarily on non-Western societies.

Anthropological Theory This course gives an introduction to some important themes in the development of anthropological thought, primarily in the past century in anglophone and francophone traditions. It emphasizes close comparative reading of selections from influential texts by authors who have shaped recent discourse within the social sciences.

Language Endangerment and Renewal Out of the world’s roughly 7000 languages, 3000 are under-resourced and under-recognized, and threatened with discrimination and limited use in their communities of origin. Most threatened languages are indigenous, their speakers having responded to colonial dispossession by shifting to politically and economically dominant languages. While all languages change, the global shift away from indigenous languages represents an unprecedented loss of global linguistic heritage and diversity. Some communities have responded with programs designed to reclaim and renew heritage languages for future generations. We will apply linguistic, anthropological, decolonizing, and data science methods to the project of indigenous language reclamation.

Global Japanese Culture - In English In this course we will examine the transformation of Japanese cultural identity (Japanese-ness) as products, ideas, and people move across the borders in and out of Japan. Social scientists have been particularly interested in the Japanizing of non-Japanese practices and products such as hip hop and hamburgers, as well as the popularity of Japanese styles and products on the global scene. We will take an anthropological approach using texts such as Millennial Monsters, Remade in Japan, and Hip Hop Japan to examine the issues of cultural hybridity, identity, and globalization.

The Anthropology of China China serves as a case study in the anthropological analysis of a complex rapidly changing non-Western society. This course will be a survey of the principal institutions and ideas that form the background to modern Chinese society. Areas covered include: family and kinship, ritual, transformations of class hierarchies, and the impact of globalization. Materials will be drawn from descriptions of traditional, contemporary (including both mainland and Taiwanese settings), and overseas contexts.

Love, Sex, and Marriage What are the social terms for sexual agency in countries around the world? How is marriage understood through idealizations of romance as well as familial expectations of duty or status? In this course we consider how other cultures’ views on love, sex, and partnership are made legible and illegible within broader cultural, moral, and state interests. The course asks for in-depth participation, short weekly writings, and a longer final paper that each engage ethnographic works on a range of topics, from critical studies of love and globalization to queer kinmaking, rituals of the ‘lavish wedding,’ and everyday ways of hooking up and breaking up online.

The Traveling Tonic: Geographies of Medicine, Science, and the Body Medical practice does not operate within bounded systems but moves in highly transactional and molten ways—from the circulation of classical Chinese and Indian manuscripts to transnational movements of genes, gametes, and drugs. In this seminar we draw on ethnographic examples to grasp the importance of migration in producing science. The metaphor of travel enables us to pivot from Eurocentric histories of science to disrupt what we mean by global medicine. At the same time, the figure of the tonic enables us to think about the many sorts of life (plants, distillates, vectors, etc.) that make up medicine today.

The Anthropology of Food Food not only sustains bodies, but also reflects and shapes cultures, social identities, and systems of power.  In this course we examine the relationship between food and culture.  Beginning with an examination of the origins of cooking, we will go on to analyze a variety of approaches to understanding the food/culture/society relationship.  These include the symbolic meanings of food, the role of food in constructing social and cultural identities, and the relationship between food and political and economic systems.   Our examples will be cross-cultural (Africa, South and East Asia, Europe, and the Americas).

Education and Social Policy School choice programs like charter and magnet schools are dramatically altering the educational landscape in the United States. In this course we will examine the premise that we can overcome the challenges of children living in poor neighborhoods by severing the traditional link between neighborhoods and schools and by providing access to extralocal high-quality schools. But who gets to exercise such choice? Does school choice result in better educational outcomes? We will also explore the relationship between school and neighborhood inequality. How do these two contexts work together to reproduce, intensify, or ameliorate spatial and educational inequities?

Race and Ethnicity Across Cultures  Ethnicity and race are social phenomena that influence group relations, as well as personal identity, in many areas of the world. But what is "ethnicity" and what is "race"? In this course we will explore the varied approaches that have been utilized to understand race and ethnicity across diverse cultural settings. No single explanation of  race and ethnicity is all encompassing, and so we will explore a number of different approaches.  Among the issues we will examine are: alternative explanations of ethnic and racial identity formation; the causes and consequences of ethnic violence and competition; the connections among ethnicity, gender, and class; and the processes through which distinctions between self and other are created.

Death and the Body This course will provide an overview of how archaeologists and anthropologists encounter and interpret death in societies worldwide.  We will look at death and the body from the perspective of burials and tombs, discussing ancient and modern conceptions of souls, afterlives, and identities.  Drawing upon my own research in the tropical lowlands of Guatemala and Honduras, we will compare Maya attitudes towards death with those of other world societies, from the mummies of ancient Egypt to modern jazz funerals in New Orleans.  We will explore different ideas about death, social boundaries, and even what it is to be human.

International and Cross Cultural Education Who gets to own knowledge?  Who can acquire it?  How do we construct advantage and disadvantage?  Comparative and international education examines the intersection of culture and education and the ways they are inextricably related through history, politics, and literature. In this course we will explore major concepts, trends, and methodologies across disciplines, focusing on the effects of globalization, the maintenance and dissolution of borders, the commodification of knowledge, the social creation of meaning, and the consequences of those constructions. We will examine global educational traditions and realities on the ground in case studies of Western and developing nations.

Global Political Ecology From global land grabs and agrarian revolutionary movements to clashes over energy infrastructure and the establishment of protected areas, today’s “environmental issues” are suffused with political relations and deeply entangled with the historical formations of capitalism, colonialism, the state, and science. In this seminar we will analyze how “social” questions of power, political economy, and social struggle, pervade the “natural” (and vice versa). Such questions are invariably messy and full of surprises, confounding reduction to universal theories extended from afar. Often, they require a close in-the-weeds look. That is what this class will invite you to do. The field of political ecology offers a rich repertoire of approaches for developing empirically grounded, historically contextualized, and theoretically nuanced forms of analysis that grapple with the situated complexities of resource and environmental issues. (ENVS 0208 or ENVS 0211 or PSCI 0214) 3 hrs. sem

Environmental Communication Do languages simply put different labels on the environment, from rocks to trees to carbon, or are what we see and what we value shaped by the ways that we talk about it? Drawing upon ethnography, linguistics, and critical discourse analysis, we will explore how environmental perceptions and modes of action are formed in and through language. We will bring an appreciation of language differences to the analysis of ongoing environmental controversies, where the various stakeholders draw contrasting boundaries between nature and culture and define human involvement with nature in different ways.

Linguistic Anthropology Methods In this course we will work with a method and theory known as the “ethnography of communication” to examine language use in socio-cultural context. Students will learn to form research questions and collect different kinds of data, including everyday spoken interactions, archival print sources, and social media. Students will learn how to document, annotate, and analyze their samples as speech events linked to broader discursive contexts and social relations. Students will also turn ethnography of communication upon social science research itself, examining interviews and surveys as communicative interactions. The course provides an empirical pathway to questions of cultural difference and social inequality.

Sorcery in Mesoamerica Sorcery was fundamental to religious life in ancient Mesoamerica.  Though removed from one another in time and space, the different cultures and civilizations of this region practiced magic and witchcraft.  Civilizations like the Aztecs (1300-1521 CE), the Classic Maya (250-850 CE) and the Olmecs (1200-400 BCE) flourished in different environments, spoke unrelated languages, and worshipped separate gods; however, they were all fascinated by the occult.  This course compares their magical traditions from a variety of viewpoints, including analytical, anthropological, and historical perspectives.  It also considers the impact of European witchcraft on Mesoamerica, from the Colonial Period to the present.

The Enterprising Self: Entrepreneurial Cultures, Modern Subjects In this course we will look at how ideas about self-improvement and being entrepreneurial shape who we are today as humans. We will explore how concepts like self-care and self-empowerment, often seen through a business-like lens, shape our mental and social lives. Social media platforms like LinkedIn and Instagram push us to market ourselves, turning everyday actions into forms of entrepreneurship. Through real-life examples, ethnographic studies, and visual materials, we will examine how socio-economic life and personal choices influence each other. We will take a critical look at how global capitalism shapes our sense of self, showing the ongoing negotiation between personal identity and economic pressures.

Anthropology of Religions How do you study religions when they are not in a document or a creed but lived by people you know?  Anthropologists over the course of the last century have had a wide range of responses and approaches to that question, including how to define the term “religion” itself.   The class will provide a history of approaches to anthropology and religions, including their origins in colonial legacies and world views.  We will then turn to recent writings in the field, particularly as thinkers began to re-evaluate their own premises and methods: what is the relationship between self and other in ethnographic field work in religious communities? How do we think ethically about field work and the representation of religious cultures and individuals? How do we approach religions as ontologies, or lived experiences, rather than a set of rules and regulations that cultures create?  How do we think about new scientific claims about the evolution of religions by cognitive anthropologists? How do we assess communities’ perspectives on interactions with deities and spirits within postcolonial cultures which are negotiating competing world views?  (At least two courses in ANTH or RELI, one of which must be at the 200 or 300 level.) This course may not substitute for the “Method and Theory” requirement in the Religion Major.

Global Political Ecology From global land grabs and agrarian revolutionary movements to clashes over energy infrastructure and the establishment of protected areas, today’s “environmental issues” are suffused with political relations and deeply entangled with the historical formations of capitalism, colonialism, the state, and science. In this seminar we will analyze how “social” questions of power, political economy, and social struggle, pervade the “natural” (and vice versa). Such questions are invariably messy and full of surprises, confounding reduction to universal theories extended from afar. Often, they require a close in-the-weeds look. That is what this class will invite you to do. The field of political ecology offers a rich repertoire of approaches for developing empirically grounded, historically contextualized, and theoretically nuanced forms of analysis that grapple with the situated complexities of resource and environmental issues. (formerly ENVS 0385)

Endangered Food We walk into a grocery store and perceive a large variety of food choices. At the same time, we are told western diets are unhealthy and “homogenous.” What does this “homogeneity” refer to? And, does it apply to those of us who strive to consume “balanced” diets? In this course, we will explore the contrast between modern dietary homogeneity and the history and diversity of ancient foods. In addition to reading social science literature and case studies, we will take a practical approach to exploring course themes by meeting with farmers and naturalists aiming to preserve, and return to, diverse and wild food systems. For their final projects, students will undertake a project centering a native foodway.   Alexa Duchesneau is a fifth year Anthropology PhD candidate at Yale University. She studies the nutritional ecology of human and non-human primates.

Collaborative Film-making This course offers students an opportunity to collaboratively make videos with a group of young women workers in Bangalore, India who were the first in their families to get professional jobs and join the city’s growing startup economy. However, with job cuts, many workers lost their jobs. Others stayed on, knowing their jobs were precarious. How do the workers make meaningful lives amidst this uncertainty? Through a transnational and collaborative project, Middlebury students will connect with workers, read about the ethics and challenges of collaborative research and develop 5-minute films of their lives through videos, photographs, and audio files shared online. No prior experience with filmmaking is required.

Anthropology of Meat: Why Humans Consume Other Animals Why are some animals taboo to eat? Can it be ethical to eat meat (and how is “ethical” defined)? In this course, we will explore meat eating practices around the world, focusing on issues like sustainability, race, and gender. Key texts include Nadasdy's 2007 article "The Gift in the Animal," Boisseron's Afro-Dog (2018), Adams' The Sexual Politics of Meat (1990), and Ko's Racism as Zoological Witchcraft (2019). Through a variety of texts, films, and guest speakers--including food discrimination lawyer Thulasi Raj and Vermont slaughterer Mary Lake--we will explore our own relationships to meat eating, while questioning what it means to be human. This course does not seek to persuade you towards or away from vegetarianism; all experiences are welcome.  Amanda Kaminsky is a PhD Candidate in Sociocultural Anthropology at the University of Michigan and an alumna of Middlebury College (Class of 2013, B.A. Chinese).

The Roaring Twenties What will relationships look like at Middlebury and beyond, post-pandemic? Drawing on fiction, film, theory, and art, we will produce a collaborative exhibit on American sex and sociality in the 2020s. Our goal will be to depict the ideas and desires of Gen Zers, a generation more racially diverse, gender fluid, and well-educated than older Americans but facing higher social and economic uncertainty. What do Gen Z dreams and concerns look like in the context of #MeToo, BLM, and other movements? This course will be a place to study and understand shifts in dating, sex, solidarity, and citizenship—what those shifts are, and what they could be.

Refugees or Labor Migrants: The Anthropology of South-North Migration Millions of people from low-income countries are moving to high-income countries without work visas.  If they seek to escape poverty and government corruption, do they deserve to be classified as refugees with a human right to cross international borders? Heightened border enforcement has led to thousands of deaths in the American Southwest and the Mediterranean, and now anxious voters are electing politicians who promise even harsher crackdowns. Based on research with international migration streams, this course will explore debates over asylum rights, border enforcement, the deportation industry, the migration industry, low-wage labor markets and remittance economies, with a focus on Latin American and Chinese migration to the U.S., as well as African and Mideastern migration to Western Europe

School Lunches In this course we will chew through critical analysis on the production and consumption of school lunches. We will examine how diverse actors—state and national governments, big corporations, food service companies, celebrity chefs, community activists, and concerned parents—battle over what lands on the cafeteria tray. Using readings from the social sciences as well as food documentaries, we will explore how initiatives like school gardens and cooking classes shape child development and socialization. The laboratory component of this class will look beyond the U.S. context by making and eating meals served up to students around the world. Food preparation and consumption practices will be adjusted, as necessary, to comply with COVID restriction guidelines.

Land and Society in St. Vincent, Eastern Caribbean This course immerses students in the cultural history of St. Vincent and helps them understand how land conflicts are transformed through both formal policy channels and informal cultural dynamics. Students will read primary source material, ethnographic accounts, and policy documents to contextualize the oral histories they collect about land use, social change, and cultural practice. Pragmatically, they will produce public outreach materials for Vincentians to use when discussing land matters. These materials are likely to be desktop-published materials such as coloring books and curricular materials for K-12 education, policy briefs for policymakers, and short Youtube videos.

Introduction to Swahili and East African Culture This course introduces students to Swahili, the lingua franca of East Africa.  Students will acquire a foundation for speaking, reading, and writing Swahili, and will learn how to use it appropriately in East African culture.  The use of English in the classroom will be kept to a minimum.  The course also provides an introduction to the geography and history of East Africa.  This course is particularly useful for students who intend to visit Kenya, Tanzania, or Uganda, because its linguistic and cross-cultural training will give them the resources to maximize such an experience. This course counts as elective credit towards the African Studies minor.

Empowerment or Exploitation? Engaging Communities in the Pursuit of Better Health Sustained progress in global health and development requires the participation of target communities. Vaccines, for instance, will themselves do no good if caregivers refuse to vaccinate their children. In this course, we will explore the role of communities in the pursuit of improved health – a state often pre-defined by outsiders without direct community consultation. The course will focus specifically on the evolving role of community health workers within global health and development agendas, emphasizing therein the fine line we tread (as global health policy makers, implementers, and donors) between empowering and exploiting the communities on whose participation our success relies. (not open to students who have taken INTD 1224) Since 2009, Harriet has studied, supported, and advocated for community health systems across the globe, focusing on community health policy, design, implementation, and financing. In her current role on the global malaria team at Clinton Health Access Initiative, Harriet supports countries across sub-Saharan Africa, the Greater Mekong Sub-region, and Mesoamerica to holistically engage community health worker networks as key partners in the fight to eliminate malaria and improve access to basic health services. Harriet holds a Master of Science in Public Health with a focus on community health systems from Johns Hopkins University, and a BA in anthropology from Middlebury College.

Data Science Across Disciplines In this course, we will gain exposure to the entire data science pipeline—obtaining and cleaning large and messy data sets, exploring these data and creating engaging visualizations, and communicating insights from the data in a meaningful manner. During morning sessions, we will learn the tools and techniques required to explore new and exciting data sets. During afternoon sessions, students will work in small groups with one of several faculty members on domain-specific research projects in Anthropology, Biology, Classics, Political Science, and Statistics. This course will use the R programming language. No prior experience with programming is necessary. (Not open to students who have taken STAT 0118, STAT 0201, ANTH 1230, BIOL 1230, CLAS 1230, ECON 1230, ECSC 1230, ENVS 1230, FMMC 1230, GEOG 1230, HARC 1230, HIST 1230, JAPN 1230, LNGT 1230, MATH 1230, NSCI 1230, PSCI 1230, SOCI 1230, STAT 1230, or WRPR 1230.)  ANTH/LNGT: In this section we will explore indigenous political voice in unexpected places. The data we will analyze will consist of bilingual Apache-English and Maidu-English stories, songs and speeches originally recorded by anthropological linguists in the early twentieth century as examples of traditional culture. Students will use R to search this corpora for how indigenous contributors were also making claims on the future in their address to the researcher and to wider anticipated audiences. This course includes a community engagement component.  BIOL/ECSC 1230: In this section we will work with data collected by elephant seals equipped with oceanographic instruments in the Southern Ocean. Depending on your interests, you can approach the project from different angles: students focusing on biology will explore where the seals travel and what drives their movements, while those interested in earth science will investigate the temperature and salinity profiles gathered during their dives. Working in teams, you’ll combine these perspectives to build a fuller picture of both seal ecology and the oceanographic processes that shape their environment. Along the way, you’ll practice manipulating and visualizing different types of data including maps of seal tracks, temperature and salinity profiles, and cross-sections of ocean properties. We will also bring in satellite  and autonomous float data to place seal activity and the data they collect in a broader context. By the end, you’ll have a sense of how these different data sources fit together and what unique insights we gain from using seals as oceanographers.  CLAS 1230: In this section students will gain hands-on experience with a variety of natural language processing and text mining techniques by exploring the writings of the ancient historian Plutarch, who lived during the first and second centuries AD.  We will focus on the biographies of "great men" in Plutarch’s Lives, which chronicles the history, morals, and virtues of major figures who played parallel roles in ancient Greek and Roman society. The public domain English translation from Project Gutenberg will serve as our main corpus; however, students with a background or interest in Ancient Greek can work with the text in the original language. Using the R programming language, students will transform unstructured text into quantitative data for statistical analysis and morphosyntactic parsing. We will also apply machine learning models to our data to reveal underlying patterns in large amounts of text. No prior experience with R is necessary.  PSCI 1230: Who votes in elections? Who attends protests? Why? In this section we will use the tools of data science to explore these and other questions about political participation in the Americas. We will examine engagement in different forms of participation and the demographic, economic, social, and other factors that shape participation. The class will introduce students to the basics of survey research and the study of political participation.  Students will complete a final group project showcasing the concepts and tools learned in class.   STAT 1230: In this section students will dive into the world of data science by focusing on invasive species monitoring data. Early detection is crucial to controlling many invasive species; however, there is a knowledge gap regarding the sampling effort needed to detect the invader early. In this course, we will work with decades of invasive species monitoring data collected across the United States to better understand how environmental variables play a role in the sampling effort required to detect invasive species. Students will gain experience in the entire data science pipeline, but the primary focus will be on data scraping, data visualization, and communication of data-based results to scientists and policymakers.

Introduction to the Maghreb: Culture, History and Society The Maghreb (the “farthest west” in Arabic)—encompassing Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya—has been an important crossroads throughout history, serving as a connection between Africa, Asia, and Europe. In recent years, the region has become a center of interest not just for specialists but for also for the general, educated public. This course serves as a general introductory overview of the Maghreb and offers students the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the historical, cultural, and social processes that have affected and transformed the region. Students will be also introduced to some of the important pressing cultural and social issues in the region as well as to various forms of literary and artistic expression. Important topics include the role of colonial powers in the region, postcolonial Maghrebian societies and nation states, the impact of the Cold War, the political systems in the region, religion in the Maghreb, social movements for democracy, literature and arts in the Maghreb, educational systems, gender relations and family, food and drink, sports and media.

Sustainability, indigenous peoples and global pandemics: What have we learned so far? This class will examine the links between indigenous knowledge, environmental management and the lessons derived from the effects of massive catastrophic events on the ideal of sustainability in our society. In this new pandemic context, ensuring the needs of the present without compromising the needs of future generations can lead to unexpected results. Although numerous pandemics have occurred throughout human history, causing important transformations in the relationship between our natural and social environment, the affected geographic has never been this large scale before. Currently, we are trying to adapt to new environmental and social, economic, and political relationships whose scope we do not know until now. Within this framework, indigenous peoples can pass on their own lifetime experiences to us, as well as the lessons they have accumulated, especially about their relationships with natural resources and the environment.

Alejandro Herrera

Alexa Duchesneau

Alex Lyford

Amanda Kaminsky

Dan Suarez

David Stoll

Ellen Oxfeld

Fulya Pinar

Harriet Napier

Hemangini Gupta

James Fitzsimmons

Jasmin Msuya

Julia Deen

Kristina Simmons

Kristin Bright

Kyle Brudvik

Laurie Patton

Linda White

Marybeth Nevins

Michael Sheridan

Nourdin Bejjit

Tim Nguyen

Trinh Tran

Read 279 reviews for Anthropology courses at Middlebury College. Find the best Anthropology professors and courses.  Discover your new major today!

Sheridan clearly knows what he's talking about and loves talking about it. The class is definitely fast-paced, but that's because its an intro course and there is a lot to cover. Honestly, I did none of the reading, and I did well in the course. Just attend class, pay attention (you don't even need to take notes), and do your papers. There are a lot of papers, which is the only part of the course that overwhelmed me. If you struggle, go to his office hours; he's very friendly and wants to talk to you.  

It is hard to feel one way about this class and the professor. While I did enjoy the material, and found it to influence some of my perceptions, Michael Sheridan is relatively unaccommodating and difficult to connect with. This course pushes cultural relativism, but I found the readings and films still made it difficult to truly connect with the cultures we learned about, and oftentimes (unintentionally) alienated them. However, this class is a great first-year course because it really goes heavy on the reading and writing to a stressful point, but it will make you better. I found that everyone has a different experience with this course, so it you are considering it, I would encourage you to try it out, but be prepared for lots of work!

I took this course in Winter 2026 and received an A. You write 1 essay, which is graded very fairly. The final project is recreating an endangered food, which is a lot of fun. The professor is passionate and accommodating. For field trips, dress extra warm. It gets very cold and the entire class is outside for the trips to local farms and maple syrup sugaring centers. 