This is a current list of courses being offered in the Anthropology program, and includes several courses not listed in the 2008-2010 Wagner College Undergraduate Bulletin. The following list also reflects recent changes in the schedule of course availability.
101 Introduction to Anthropology. A survey course to acquaint students with the basic principles of anthropological thinking, as well as with some of the discipline's research techniques. These will be explored through work in the four traditional subfields of anthropology: human biology, archaeology, linguistic and cultural anthropology. Offered fall and spring semesters.
201 Comparative Cultures (I).This course will introduce basic concepts and theories of cultural anthropology, engaging students in an ongoing discussion of what culture means and how it is enacted and reflected in everyday life. The course will focus on the in-depth reading of /ethnographic research/ (case studies of how people live in the world and the kinds of problems they face). Through hands-on activities students will also learn how cultural anthropologists formulate their questions, and how they gather and process ethnographic information, paying particular attention to ethical issues. Students will learn how to think critically about present-day debates on diversity, cultural relativism, the social invention of categories, and other common areas in which the idea of culture is often used. This course provides a foundation for students in fields that utilize or benefit from cultural analysis, including, though not limited to, those majoring or minoring in Anthropology. Offered spring semester.
202 Biological Anthropology and Human Evolution. An introduction to the study of biological anthropology. This course explores the role evolutionary processes that account for modern human biological variability and adaptation, including the concept of race. Students will examine the evolutionary history of the human species through the study of the fossil record, DNA, and comparative anatomy with our closest relatives, the primates. Current debates in human evolution will be discussed. Offered fall semester.
212 Archaeology An introduction to archaeology as a method of studying the human past. This course explores field methods, data interpretation, archaeological theory, and the relevance of archaeology to the modern world Offered spring semester.
221 Kinship and Society (I). A survey of the broad range of possibilities in kinship forms in various parts of the world and in subcultures of American society. Not currently offered
233 Archaeology and Cultures of Mesoamerica (I). An introduction to the archaeology and cultures of Mesoamerica, a geographic area that encompasses modern day Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, and El Salvador. This course provides a survey of archaeological and cultural developments in Mesoamerica, beginning with the earliest settlers to the region and continuing through colonial times following the Spanish conquest. Mesoamerica is home to a long and complex cultural traditions that encompasses such advanced civilization as the Olmec, Maya, Teotihuacan, Zapotec, Toltec, and Aztec. Not currently offered.
234 Land of the Inca: Peru Past and Present (I). The rugged Andes Mountain range of South America provides an exceptionally difficult environment for human settlement and survival. Yet over the course of thousands of years, this area has produced some of the world's greatest civilizations and a unique and distinct cultural adaptation. This course focuses on the culture of the Peruvian Andes and traces its evolution from prehistoric to modern times. Themes explored include the development of Andean culture, a cultural description of the Incas and their empire which represent the zenith of independent Andean social evolution, and the survival and persistence of this culture to the present day despite nearly five hundred years of vigorous attempts to destroy it. Offered alternate fall semesters.
235 North American Indians (D). A survey of the native cultures of North American from the first appearance of humans in the Western hemisphere, through the confrontation with Europeans and the rise of Native American power movements. Offered alternate spring semesters.
236 Cultures of the Caribbean (I). This course is an introductory-level cultural anthropology course in which students will learn about the diverse societies of the Caribbean region through history, music, literature, film, ethnography, and current events research. The course will cover English, French, and Spanish-speaking countries and the Diaspora, including the experiences of Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, and Haitians in New York City. Offered alternate spring semesters.
241 Forensic Anthropology and Human Osteology. This course is an introduction to the field of forensic anthropology, the application of biological anthropology in legal contexts. This course will introduce students to human osteology, the study of the human skeleton. Students will explore the principles and methods of forensic anthropology through lecture, reading, and laboratory experience. The course will focus not only on the sciences of human osteology and forensic anthropology, but will examine the legal framework in which they are applied, including criminal contexts, mass disasters, and human rights violations. Offered alternate spring semesters.
251 Sex, Gender and Culture. This comparative course emphasizes the varying ways in which sex and gender are culturally interpreted and socially organized among different human groups. An initial brief investigation of the biological foundations of human sexuality will provide the background for considering such culturally determined elements as: what defines masculinity verses femininity and heterosexuality verses homosexuality in various cultures; the roles and rituals that may be assigned to each gender; and the meanings attached to sexual behavior. Data will be drawn from both Western and non-Western societies. Not currently offered.
252 Culture, Health, and the Body: Introduction to Medical Anthropology (I).
This course is an introduction to the comparative study of health and illness through time and cross-culturally. Topics addressed include the roles of disease in human evolution and history, sociocultural factors in contemporary world health problems, the comparative cultures of ethnomedicine and biomedicine, and ethnicity and health care (including applied issues of “cultural competence” in clinical practice). Case studies from the major geographic regions of the world (including the industrialized North/West) are explored through in-depth ethnographic case studies, and critically compared with one another. This course is appropriate for undergraduate students at any level, but especially those studying any of the health sciences, including those in the Physician Assistant program, Nursing, Pre-Health, as well as majors and minors in Anthropology. Offered fall semester.
291 Special Topics in Anthropology. May be repeated once. Discussion and analysis of problems not covered in regular course work. The specific content of the course will remain flexible in response to student and departmental interests. Offered as required.
325 Political Anthropology. Political anthropology is fundamentally the study of power. It is also, as a consequence, the study of the evolution of human organization and social control. However, it is not solely the examination of the actions of powerful people or competition among “great” civilizations. This course begins with an overview of more traditional anthropological approaches to topics generally considered “political,” but it is primarily concerned with the connections that run from you, the individual, through society, and that link you up with the most important questions of our time on a global scale. Case studies will examine the experience of physical disability, community-based environmental concerns, the power of ethnic identities in organization and conflict, and the influence of different types of nationalism. We will consider the importance of religion, symbolism, and local politics in the context of a long and continuing process of globalization. Grading is based on class participation, “ethnographic experience” projects, and a final paper. Offered alternate spring semesters.
330 Native Cosmology and Worldview in the Andes (I). In this course we will explore the unique worldviews of the native inhabitants of the Andes of South America. Andean belief systems are principally represented in Spanish documents of the sixteenth century that describe the Inca, but are also illuminated by the modern practices of contemporary Andean peoples who are the Incas' descendants. Archaeology sheds further light on Andean beliefs and demonstrates their great antiquity. Through these sources we will examine beliefs and practices regarding life and death, religious worship, and the network of reciprocal obligations that encompass the individual and govern their lives. Pre-requisites: AN 101, 201 or 212. Restricted to juniors and seniors except by special permission of the instructor. Offered alternate fall semesters.
332 Archaeological Perspectives on the Ancient State (I). Why do we find the modern world composed of state-level complex societies? What processes and factors have caused human societies to organize in increasingly complex ways, often at the expense of individual autonomy and freedoms. Through written works, videos, and discussion, participants in this course will examine theories of the origin of the state and complex society. Pre-requisites: AN 101 or AN 212, and AN 331, restricted to juniors and seniors except by special permission of the instructor. Offered alternate fall semesters.
333 Chiefdoms: An Archaeological Perspective on the Origin of Social Complexity. Since the Neolithic revolution some ten thousand years ago, chiefdoms have represented one of mankind's most common and successful governing structures. this course examines the questions of what a chiefdom is, how it is structured, and how it functions. A variety of chiefdoms, both simple and complex, and their operational strategies are examined. Pre-requisites: AN 101 or AN 212, restricted to juniors and seniors except by special permission of the instructor.
AN 342 The Dead Speak: Bioarchaeology and the Archaeology of Death (D). This course explores death using the biocultural perspective, emphasizing the interactions among the biological, cultural, social, and environmental contexts in which people live and lived. To this end we will use the theory and methods of both biological anthropology and archaeology. The class is divided into three sections: 1) paleopathology – the examination of what can learn about diet, health, and behavior of past people by analyzing their physical remains; 2) paleodemography – the analysis of what age, sex, and status differences in mortality can tell us about how societies are organized; 3) mortuary analysis – the exploration of what we can learn about culture by studying how people treat their dead. Throughout this course we will focus primarily on the practices of Native and Euro-American groups. This course fulfills the College’s American Diversity (D) requirement. Offered alternate spring semesters.
345 Practicum in Archeology (I). This is an intensive exposure designed to provide the student with practical experience in archaeological field methods. Students will participate in an actual archaeological project and explore a number of facets of archaeological fieldwork. Surveying, mapping, excavation, photography, scientific recording, and data analysis are among topics to be addressed. Offered summer session as required.
AN 400 Senior Reflective Tutorial, consists of experiential, reflective, and writing components. Students apply their knowledge and disciplinary training to a practical experience. This experience can include 100 hours of participation in any of the following: 1) an anthropological or archaeological field school, 2) an archaeological excavation, 3) a bioanthropological or archaeological laboratory analysis, 4) museum or heritage work, or 5) work with a community partner or government agency in an area of the student’s research or career interest. In seeking these experiential opportunities students work in close consultation with their professors to find the most appropriate activity, whether in New York City, in their home town, or abroad. The experiential component may begin before enrollment in the Senior Learning Community courses (AN 491 and AN 400). Students will reflect on their experiences and on the connections between their experience, disciplinary knowledge, and professional practice as individuals by recording them in a fieldwork diary, and as a community by sharing them in class. Their experiences will intersect topically with a research paper or grant proposal which they prepare and present to the department, both their professors and their peers, in a conference-style seminar. Offered alternate spring semesters.
AN 491 Seminar in Anthropological Theory, is the summative course for the major. Students critically examine high points in the development of anthropological theory from the nineteenth century through the twenty-first century, reflecting on the broad influence of many of these theories outside of academia. Among the major schools of thought included are nineteenth century evolutionism, the Boasian reaction and the focus on culture, British and French social anthropology, cultural materialism, symbolic-interpretive anthropology, political economy and ecology, feminist and gender theories, practice theories, and post-modern responses. The course emphasizes small group discussions. Students write a series of short comparative papers throughout the semester which serve as a framework for a major literature review related to their own research and career goals, and which integrates with their final project for AN 400. Offered alternate spring semesters.
593 Independent Study in Anthropology. Designed to provide the advanced student an opportunity to pursue an anthropological problem in a relatively independent manner. Prerequisite: permission of the instructor. Offered fall and spring semesters.
