AN 101 – Introduction to Sociocultural Anthropology
Schwartz: MWF 10:10 – 11:00 am
| Introduction to the basic concepts, principles, and problems of sociocultural anthropology, emphasizing the study of traditional and complex societies. Special attention to the organization and meaning of religion, economic life, kinship and political order; and the problem of cultural variation in the contemporary world. Carries social science divisional credit in CAS. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry I, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Research and Information Literacy. |
AN 102 – Human Biology, Behavior & Evolution
Garrett: MWF 11:15 – 12:05 pm
| Introduces basic principles of evolutionary biology, human origins, genetics, reproduction, socio-ecology, and the evolution of primate and human behavior and adaptions. Section activities include examination of fossil and skeletal material, and hands-on projects involving human and primate behavior and biology. Carries natural science divisional credit (with lab) in CAS. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Scientific Inquiry I, Social Inquiry I, Critical Thinking. Effective Fall 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Scientific Inquiry I, Critical Thinking. |
AN 233 – The Evolutionary Biology of Human Variation
Schmitt: TR 11:00 – 12:15 pm
| Addresses human biological variation. An introduction to the fundamentals of comparative biology, evolutionary theory, and genetics and considers how research in these fields informs some of our most culturally-engaged identities: race, sex, gender, sexuality, and body type. Carries natural sciences divisional credit (without lab) in CAS. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Scientific Inquiry I, Ethical Reasoning, Critical Thinking. |
AN 240 – Legal Anthropology
Barfield: MWF 10:10-11am
| An introduction to the anthropologist’s approaches to law. Investigates the relationship among society, culture, and law focuses on how different societies generate and structure competition and conflict. Examines the range of social and symbolic mechanisms for regulating dispute. Carries social science divisional credit in CAS. (Counts towards African Studies minor.) Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry I, Ethical Reasoning. |
AN 260 Sex and Gender in Anthropological Perspective
LaPorte: TR 12:30 – 1:45 pm
| Cross-cultural examination of changing gender roles, expectations, and practices. Focuses on economic, social, political, and ideological determinants that structure the hierarchy of power and privileges accorded the thoughts, activities, and experiences of women and men in various societies. Carries social science divisional credit in CAS. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry I, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Research and Information Literacy. |
AN 263 – Behavioral Biology of Women
Harwell: TR: 2:00 – 3:15pm
| An exploration of female behavioral biology focusing on evolutionary, physiological, and biosocial aspects of women’s lives from puberty through pregnancy, birth, lactation, menopause, and aging. Examples are drawn from traditional and industrialized societies, and data from nonhuman primates are considered. (Counts as an elective in Biology with a Specialization in Behavioral Biology. Counts towards the minor in Women’s, Gender, & Sexuality Studies.) (Counts for Natural Science credit; as a Biology – Specialization in Behavioral Biology – elective; and towards the Women’s, Gender, & Sexuality Studies minor.) Carries natural science divisional credit in CAS. Effective Spring 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Scientific Inquiry I, Social Inquiry I, Critical Thinking. |
AN 272 – Introduction to Evolutionary Medicine
Hodges-Simeon: MWF 10:10 – 11:00 am
| Why did natural selection leave us so vulnerable to illness? In this course, we explore how human evolution illuminates our susceptibility to illness and disease. Students apply principles of evolutionary biology to understanding physical and mental health. |
AN 285 – Coping with Crisis in Contemporary Africa (area)
Shipton: MWF 2:30 – 3:20pm
| Explores the ways ordinary Africans are coping with problems of security, environmental degradation, forced migration, economic decline, and disease. Readings and lectures contrast outsiders’ interpretations of these “crises” with the way they are experienced by those they affect. Staff. 4 cr. Either sem. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry I. |
AN 301 – African Diaspora Archaeology
Cunningham: MWF 11:15 – 12:05 pm
| Introduction to the archaeology of the African diaspora, the global displacement of African people and their descendants. Reviews findings, methodology, and theory around key burial contexts. Emphasis on shifting dialogues, such as human remains stewardship, community engagement, and reburial. Effective Spring 2025, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas Critical Thinking, Ethical Reasoning, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy. |
AN 307 – Turkey and Middle East in Comparative Perspective (area)
Arican: TR 12:30 – 1:45 pm
| Explores the social and cultural diversity of the modern Middle East with particular attention to Turkey. Focus on state power, minority governance, gender, and the interplay of sociopolitical change and different articulations of tradition and modernity. |
AN 308 – Food in Place(s): Identity, Location, and the Cultures of Taste
White: MWF 1:25 – 2:15pm
| Undergraduate Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120) – Explores historical and cultural ecologies of foodways. Field trips focus on history, immigration, and taste identity in Boston’s neighborhoods. Main text: Wurgaft and White, Ways of Eating: Exploring Food through History and Culture. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Writing-Intensive Course. |
AN 312 – People and Cultures of Africa
Ngom: MWF 11:15 – 12:05pm
| Explores the ethnolinguistic diversity of Africa, traditions of the Akan, Joola, Wolof, Yoruba, and other African ethnolinguistic groups, the coexistence between Muslims and non-Muslims in Africa, and the historical events and figures that have shaped the continent. Effective Spring 2022, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, The Individual in Community, Research and Information Literacy. |
AN 319 – Anthropology of Muslim Cultures and Politics
Hefner: TR 3:30 – 4:45pm
| Examines the history and contemporary dynamics of religion and politics across the entire Muslim-majority world. Special attention to the changing nature of religious observance and authority, and its implications for citizenship, democracy, youth culture, and gender relations. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy. |
AN 330 – From Conception to Death: The Evolution of Human Life History
Finkel: TR 9:30 – 10:45am
| Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASAN102 OR CASBI107) – Life History is the story of the human lifespan. This course uses an evolutionary and comparative framework to understand fundamental features of the human life course, such as birth, growth, sexual maturity, and death. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Scientific Inquiry II, Research and Information Literacy. |
AN 331 – Human Origins
Garrett: MWF 1:25 – 2:15 pm
| Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASAN102 OR CASAR101 OR CASBI107) or equivalent. – Introduction to human paleontology and methods for reconstructing the ancestry, structure, diet, and behavior of fossil primates and humans. Survey of primate and hominid fossils, primate comparative anatomy, radioactive dating, molecular and structural phylogenies, climactic analyses, and comparative behavioral ecology. Effective Spring 2022, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Scientific Inquiry I, Critical Thinking. |
AN 335 – The Ape Within: Great Apes and the Evolution of Human Behavior
Finkel: TR 12:30 – 1:45pm
| Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASAN102 OR CASBI107 OR CASBI119) or consent of instructor. – Introduction to primate social behavior, focusing on the apes. Examines how great ape behavior helps us understand what is unique about human behavior and how we evolved. Topics include diet, juvenile development, social relationships, sexual behavior, aggression, culture, and cognition. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Scientific Inquiry II, Quantitative Reasoning I, Research and Information Literacy. |
AN 348 – Investigating Contemporary Globalization
LaPorte: TR 3:30 – 4:45pm
| Historical and contemporary ethnographic investigation of globalization. Special attention to impact of global capitalism on indigenous communities; identity and reflexivity; transnational populations; women and work; cultural authenticity, and the relationship between social media and changing cultural norms and experiences. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry I, The Individual in Community, Critical Thinking. |
AN 357 – Bioarchaeology and the Body
Cunningham: MWF 2:30 – 3:20 pm
| Introduction to the study of human remains in bioarchaeological contexts. Course reviews key theoretical frameworks and methodologies in interpreting valuable information about demography, gender differences, social identities and the daily lives of past peoples, as well as ongoing ethical concerns in bioarchaeological practice. |
AN 362 – Culture and Environment
Schwartz: MWF 1:25 – 2:15pm
| Examines mutually transformative relations between human societies and their environments. Shows how social constructions of environment, nature, and culture vary cross-culturally. Topics include: political ecology, environmental conservation, agriculture, climate, bioprospecting, relations with other animals, pollution. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Ethical Reasoning, Social Inquiry II. |
AN 363 – Food and Water: Critical Perspectives on Global Crises
Shipton: MWF 10:10 – 11:00 am
| Examines how people, past and present, have interacted with food and water. Explores multiple causes and consequences of global food and water inequities. Considers the cultural politics of food/water production, consumption, and distribution in different parts of the world. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Social Inquiry II, Teamwork/Collaboration. |
AN 375 – Culture, Society, and Religion in South Asia
TBA: TR 2:00 – 3:15pm
| Ethnographic and historical introduction to the Indian subcontinent with a focus on the impact of religion on cultural practices and social institutions. Effective Spring 2023, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Aesthetic Exploration. |
AN 384 – Anthropology of Religion
Kelley: MWF 11:15 – 12:05 pm
| Introduction to the anthropological study of myth, ritual, and religious experience across cultures. Special attention to the problem of religious symbolism and meaning, religious conversion and revitalization, contrasts between traditional and world religions, and the relation of religious knowledge to science, magic, and ideology. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry I. |
AN 397 – Anthropology of Film: Ways of Seeing
Haeri: TR 3:30 – 6:15 pm
| Considers the history and development of anthropological, ethnographic, and transcultural filmmaking. In- depth examination of important anthropological films in terms of methodologies, techniques, and strategies of expression; story, editing, narration, themes, style, content, art, and aesthetics. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Historical Consciousness. |
AN 402
| Directed studies for seniors doing honors thesis work. |
AN 440 – Shadow Empires
Barfield: MWF 1:25 – 2:15 pm
| The political, economic and social structures of empires in Eurasia and North Africa from an anthropological perspective that examines how they became and remained the world’s largest polities for 2500 years only to all vanish in the 20th century. Effective Spring 2025, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Research and Information Literacy, Social Inquiry II. |
AN 506 – Regional Archaeology and Geographical Information Systems
Chase: W 6:30 – 9:15 pm
| Undergraduate Prerequisites: one archaeology course or consent of instructor. – Graduate Prerequisites: one archaeology course or consent of instructor. – Use of advanced computer (GIS) techniques to address regional archaeological problems. This applied course examines digital encoding and manipulation of archaeological and environmental data, and methods for testing hypotheses, analyzing, and modeling the archaeological record. Effective Fall 2023, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry II, Research and Information Literacy. |
AN 510 Proposal Writing for Social Science Research
Arkin: TR 9:30 – 10:45 am
| Undergraduate Prerequisites: consent of instructor. – Graduate Prerequisites: graduate student standing in the social sciences or humanities. – Workshop-based course designed to turn students’ intellectual interests into answerable, field-based research questions. Goal is the production of a doctoral level research project proposal and/or dissertation prospectus. |
AN 518 – Zooarchaeology
West: T 12:30 – 3:15 pm
| Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASAR101) – Introduction to the study of archaeological animal bones. Provides theoretical background and methodological skills necessary for interpreting past human- animal interactions, subsistence, and paleoecology. Laboratory sections focus on skeletal identification. Effective Fall 2023, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Quantitative Reasoning I, Social Inquiry II. |
AN 519 – Theory and Method in Environmental Archaeology
Robinson: TR 3:30 – 6:15 pm
| Problem-based course where students apply quantitative methods across archaeological datasets to address complex problems of human-environmental relationships rooted in deep time. Through teamwork-based research projects students develop marketable skills in research design, theory integration, and data analysis and visualization. Effective Spring 2023, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Scientific Inquiry II, Quantitative Reasoning II, Teamwork/Collaboration. |
AN 521 – Sociolinguistics
Ngom: MWF 2:30 – 3:20 pm
| Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASAN351 OR CASLX250) or consent of instructor. – Introduction to language in its social context. Methodological and theoretical approaches to sociolinguistics. Linguistic variation in relation to situation, gender, socioeconomic class, context, and ethnicity. Integrating micro- and macro-analysis from conversation to societal language planning. |
AN 555 – Evolutionary Medicine
Harwell: F 11:15 – 2:00pm
| Why do we get sick? Evolutionary medicine seeks to answer this question by applying modern evolutionary theory to understanding health and disease among contemporary human populations. Topics include chronic and infectious disease, mental illness, allergies, autoimmunity, and drug addiction. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Oral and/or Signed Communication, Scientific Inquiry II, Teamwork/Collaboration. |
AN 557 – Anthropology of Mental Health
Shohet: T 3:30-6:15pm
| Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASAN101 OR CASAN210) or consent of instructor. – Advanced seminar examining global and local challenges and connections that shape patterns of illness/health around the world, including international responses to mental health crises and moral quandaries through ethnographies of mental health care in different settings and treating different conditions. Effective Spring 2023 this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Oral and/or Signed Communication, Ethical Reasoning. |
AN 563 – Religion and Politics across Cultures
Hefner: TR 12:30-1:45pm
| Explores the role of religion, religious movements, and secularism in modern politics, citizenship, gender politics, and public life. Case studies draw from Muslim-majority lands, Africa and Latin America, East-Southeast Asia, and the modern West. Effective Spring 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Social Inquiry II. |
AN588 – Project Design and Statistics in Biological Anthropology
Schmitt: T 3:30-6:15pm
| Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASAN102 OR CASBI107 OR CASBI108 OR CASAR101) or consent of instructor. – This seminar teaches students project design and statistics using R and Rstudio. Students will become competent in coding, version control, data reports and commenting code, and implement both basic and advanced statistics to be used in student research projects. Effective Fall 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Quantitative Reasoning II, Scientific Inquiry II, Teamwork/Collaboration. |
AN598 – Special Issues in Biological Anthropology (Spring): Primate Conservation
Knott: TR 11-12:15pm
| Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASAN102) and consent of instructor. – Special issues and debates in current biological anthropology: Primate Conservation. 在 |