The courses listed below are provided by Student Information Services (SIS). This listing provides a snapshot of immediately available courses within this department and may not be complete. Course registration information can be found at sis.jhu.edu/classes.
Please consult the online course catalog for cross-listed courses and full course information.
Column one has the course number and section. Other columns show the course title, days offered, instructor's name, room number, if the course is cross-referenced with another program, and a option to view additional course information in a pop-up window.
Course # (Section)
Title
Day/Times
Instructor
Room
PosTag(s)
Info
AS.070.124 (02)
Freshman Seminar Religion and Media
MW 4:30PM - 5:45PM
Bagaria, Swayam
Mergenthaler 426
INST-IR
Freshman Seminar Religion and Media AS.070.124 (02)
This course examines the ways in which conventional and non-conventional media recreate or transform religious experience in modern life. Increasingly, religion is experienced not only in sacred spaces and as ritual prescriptions, but also through the information that is disseminated through radio, TV, and the Internet, as well as in consumer culture and political speeches. Beginning with this proposition that our ideas about religion are shaped not only by historical and scriptural legacies, but as well as by material practices and other sundry conditions of mediation, of which our present times supply many, we will reexamines how questions of revelation, belief, spirituality, ethereality, and ritual practice are constituted by these irreducible ways, thus complicating the neat separation of religion and secularism, or, for that matter, religion and culture.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: MW 4:30PM - 5:45PM
Instructor: Bagaria, Swayam
Room: Mergenthaler 426
Status: Open
Seats Available: 14/18
PosTag(s): INST-IR
AS.070.132 (02)
Invitation to Anthropology
W 1:30PM - 2:45PM, M 1:30PM - 2:45PM
Angelini, Alessandro
Remsen Hall 1
ARCH-RELATE, GECS-SOCSCI
Invitation to Anthropology AS.070.132 (02)
That the world is rapidly changing is so evident as to seem cliché to recognize it. But the question what it then means to be human requires continual investigation. This course introduces students to anthropology as a field of research and reflection. Anthropology offers conceptual tools and an ethical groundwork for understanding the world as it is and as it is becoming.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: W 1:30PM - 2:45PM, M 1:30PM - 2:45PM
Instructor: Angelini, Alessandro
Room: Remsen Hall 1
Status: Waitlist Only
Seats Available: 0/20
PosTag(s): ARCH-RELATE, GECS-SOCSCI
AS.070.212 (01)
Making of Minority in South Asia
TTh 9:00AM - 10:15AM
Asif, Ghazal Ghazal Asif
Mergenthaler 426
INST-CP
Making of Minority in South Asia AS.070.212 (01)
This area studies course on modern South Asia will interrogate conceptions of nation, community, tradition and belonging across the region from the lens of minority groups, in order to equip students with the analytical tools with which to interrogate the politics of inclusion and exclusion.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: TTh 9:00AM - 10:15AM
Instructor: Asif, Ghazal Ghazal Asif
Room: Mergenthaler 426
Status: Open
Seats Available: 8/18
PosTag(s): INST-CP
AS.070.132 (01)
Invitation to Anthropology
W 1:30PM - 2:45PM, M 1:30PM - 2:45PM
Angelini, Alessandro
Remsen Hall 1
ARCH-RELATE, GECS-SOCSCI
Invitation to Anthropology AS.070.132 (01)
That the world is rapidly changing is so evident as to seem cliché to recognize it. But the question what it then means to be human requires continual investigation. This course introduces students to anthropology as a field of research and reflection. Anthropology offers conceptual tools and an ethical groundwork for understanding the world as it is and as it is becoming.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: W 1:30PM - 2:45PM, M 1:30PM - 2:45PM
Instructor: Angelini, Alessandro
Room: Remsen Hall 1
Status: Open
Seats Available: 1/20
PosTag(s): ARCH-RELATE, GECS-SOCSCI
AS.070.132 (03)
Invitation to Anthropology
W 1:30PM - 2:45PM, M 1:30PM - 2:45PM
Angelini, Alessandro
Remsen Hall 1
ARCH-RELATE, GECS-SOCSCI
Invitation to Anthropology AS.070.132 (03)
That the world is rapidly changing is so evident as to seem cliché to recognize it. But the question what it then means to be human requires continual investigation. This course introduces students to anthropology as a field of research and reflection. Anthropology offers conceptual tools and an ethical groundwork for understanding the world as it is and as it is becoming.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: W 1:30PM - 2:45PM, M 1:30PM - 2:45PM
Instructor: Angelini, Alessandro
Room: Remsen Hall 1
Status: Open
Seats Available: 2/20
PosTag(s): ARCH-RELATE, GECS-SOCSCI
AS.070.140 (01)
Anthropology of Food
TTh 12:00PM - 1:15PM
Labruto, Nicole
Gilman 17
Anthropology of Food AS.070.140 (01)
This introductory course investigates what we eat and, as a consequence, who we are. By taking a cross-cultural perspective, students will examine the politics of food production, the values associated with food preparation, and the material and social dynamics of food consumption. Through readings, films, field trips, demonstrations, and tastings, the course offers an interdisciplinary and dynamic pedagogical approach to analyzing cooking and eating—activities central to daily life and social forms more broadly. Local- and global-level issues will be addressed as students explore histories, economics, social issues, and identity formation related to food.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: TTh 12:00PM - 1:15PM
Instructor: Labruto, Nicole
Room: Gilman 17
Status: Waitlist Only
Seats Available: 0/30
PosTag(s): n/a
AS.070.154 (01)
Maps and Mapping
Th 1:30PM - 4:00PM
Poole, Deborah, Procupez, Valeria
Bloomberg 178
Maps and Mapping AS.070.154 (01)
This course explores maps as cultural documents and ethnographic sites. Students will learn how cultural understandings of space, time, and the visible world shape cartographic conventions. Through mapping exercises we will explore how ethnographer can use maps to theorize the nature of political, cultural, and economic life.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: Th 1:30PM - 4:00PM
Instructor: Poole, Deborah, Procupez, Valeria
Room: Bloomberg 178
Status: Open
Seats Available: 9/15
PosTag(s): n/a
AS.070.221 (01)
Cityness: Anthropology of the Urban Experience
TTh 10:30AM - 11:45AM
Procupez, Valeria
Mergenthaler 426
Cityness: Anthropology of the Urban Experience AS.070.221 (01)
This course is an introduction to urban anthropology through the study of diverse "urban experiences," to explore how they are shaped by power relations as well as resistance. We will read about crowds and anonymity, finance and poverty, media and public space to understand how they change through the evolution of technology, shifts in capital investment and flows of migration. We will examine the scope and limitations of classical (Western) notions of foundational studies city life. We will also explore how the new notion of "cityness" captures better the variety of affects and dynamics of contemporary urban everyday life.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: TTh 10:30AM - 11:45AM
Instructor: Procupez, Valeria
Room: Mergenthaler 426
Status: Open
Seats Available: 3/25
PosTag(s): n/a
AS.070.124 (01)
Freshman Seminar: Climate Change - Treaties and Politics
T 1:30PM - 4:00PM
Khan, Naveeda
Mergenthaler 439
INST-IR
Freshman Seminar: Climate Change - Treaties and Politics AS.070.124 (01)
With a focus on the United Nations organized Conference of Parties that negotiates global climate change policy, this course will ask, how are international environmental agreements made? To what extent are they responsive to scientific knowledge and empirical realities? What possibilities and exclusions are produced by this process for politics and activism? An important task will be to de-center the U.S. from these discussions to consider the issue from the perspective of the Global South, even as we interrogate what such a perspective means. We will draw on scientific reports, policy documents, recordings of negotiations and activist protests, media and expert commentaries and literary works to navigate this bed of thorns.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: T 1:30PM - 4:00PM
Instructor: Khan, Naveeda
Room: Mergenthaler 439
Status: Waitlist Only
Seats Available: 0/15
PosTag(s): INST-IR
AS.070.132 (04)
Invitation to Anthropology
W 1:30PM - 2:45PM, M 1:30PM - 2:45PM
Angelini, Alessandro
Remsen Hall 1
ARCH-RELATE, GECS-SOCSCI
Invitation to Anthropology AS.070.132 (04)
That the world is rapidly changing is so evident as to seem cliché to recognize it. But the question what it then means to be human requires continual investigation. This course introduces students to anthropology as a field of research and reflection. Anthropology offers conceptual tools and an ethical groundwork for understanding the world as it is and as it is becoming.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: W 1:30PM - 2:45PM, M 1:30PM - 2:45PM
Instructor: Angelini, Alessandro
Room: Remsen Hall 1
Status: Open
Seats Available: 1/20
PosTag(s): ARCH-RELATE, GECS-SOCSCI
AS.070.295 (01)
Conflict and Security in a Global World
T 10:30AM - 11:45AM, Th 10:30AM - 11:45AM
Das, Veena
Ames 234
INST-IR
Conflict and Security in a Global World AS.070.295 (01)
Students will be introduced to problems of global governance in the context of transnational conflicts, changing nature of war, new epidemics and pandemics, and the threats of planetary extinction. What are the ways security is imagined and what kinds of political passions are mobilized for security of people versus security of states.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: T 10:30AM - 11:45AM, Th 10:30AM - 11:45AM
Instructor: Das, Veena
Room: Ames 234
Status: Open
Seats Available: 6/25
PosTag(s): INST-IR
AS.070.273 (01)
Ethnographies
M 1:30PM - 4:00PM
Ozden-schilling, Thomas
Mergenthaler 426
Ethnographies AS.070.273 (01)
What does it mean to translate the field onto the page? This course explores the craft of ethnography and its relationship to anthropological knowledge. Reading a series of classic and contemporary works, and engaging in our own writing experiments, we attend to the knotty problem of rendering lived experience, attending to narrative, voice, structure, and the relationship between description and analysis.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: M 1:30PM - 4:00PM
Instructor: Ozden-schilling, Thomas
Room: Mergenthaler 426
Status: Open
Seats Available: 12/30
PosTag(s): n/a
AS.070.267 (01)
Culture, Religion and Politics in Iran
Th 1:30PM - 4:00PM
Haeri, Niloofar
Mergenthaler 426
INST-GLOBAL, INST-NWHIST, INST-CP, ISLM-ISLMST
Culture, Religion and Politics in Iran AS.070.267 (01)
This is an introductory course for those interseted in gaining basic knowledge about contemporary Iran. The focus will be on culture and religion and the ways they in which they become interwoven into different kinds of political stakes.
Conflict and Security in a Global World AS.070.295 (02)
Students will be introduced to problems of global governance in the context of transnational conflicts, changing nature of war, new epidemics and pandemics, and the threats of planetary extinction. What are the ways security is imagined and what kinds of political passions are mobilized for security of people versus security of states.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: T 10:30AM - 11:45AM, Th 10:30AM - 11:45AM
Instructor: Das, Veena
Room: Ames 234
Status: Open
Seats Available: 6/25
PosTag(s): INST-IR
AS.215.412 (01)
Populism
T 3:00PM - 5:30PM
Seguin, Becquer D
Gilman 186
INST-GLOBAL, INST-PT
Populism AS.215.412 (01)
What do Hugo Chávez, Marine Le Pen, and Donald Trump have in common? According to many from across the political spectrum, they are all populists. But what is populism, exactly, and how can it describe such disparate phenomena as left-wing social movements, xenophobic anti-immigrant policies, and economic redistribution? This advanced seminar will examine the history, culture, and political theory of populism. We will pay special attention to the resurgence of populism after the Great Recession and examine a number of cases from Latin America, Europe, and the United States.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: T 3:00PM - 5:30PM
Instructor: Seguin, Becquer D
Room: Gilman 186
Status: Waitlist Only
Seats Available: 0/16
PosTag(s): INST-GLOBAL, INST-PT
AS.070.336 (01)
Enthnographic Perspectives on Brazil
TTh 12:00PM - 1:15PM
Angelini, Alessandro
Mergenthaler 426
INST-CP
Enthnographic Perspectives on Brazil AS.070.336 (01)
This seminar offers an examination of Brazilian culture and politics through close readings of classic and contemporary ethnography. The course will track how anthropologists have approached the complexities and contradictions of Brazilian society. And, conversely, we investigate how studies in Brazil have prompted challenges to and generated innovations in anthropological thought.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: TTh 12:00PM - 1:15PM
Instructor: Angelini, Alessandro
Room: Mergenthaler 426
Status: Open
Seats Available: 9/18
PosTag(s): INST-CP
AS.070.376 (01)
Social Ecology
Th 1:30PM - 4:00PM
Pandian, Anand
Mergenthaler 439
ENVS-MAJOR, ENVS-MINOR, CSC-CE
Social Ecology AS.070.376 (01)
This course will explore social and cultural dimensions of contemporary ecological problems, thinking between ecological anthropology, environmental philosophy, and activist literature and media. It will be taught as a community-based learning course in partnership with the Center for Social Concern and a Baltimore environmental organization. Coursework will be organized on a collaborative studio basis and a project-based approach.
Recommended Course Background: One prior course in either Anthropology or Environmental Studies.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: Th 1:30PM - 4:00PM
Instructor: Pandian, Anand
Room: Mergenthaler 439
Status: Open
Seats Available: 1/15
PosTag(s): ENVS-MAJOR, ENVS-MINOR, CSC-CE
AS.215.417 (01)
Literature of the Great Recession
M 3:00PM - 5:30PM
Seguin, Becquer D
Bloomberg 176
GRLL-ENGL, INST-ECON
Literature of the Great Recession AS.215.417 (01)
The Great Recession—sometimes called the financial crisis or the economic crisis of 2008—brought financial markets to a halt and created significant political turmoil across the North Atlantic. But its impact on culture, and literature especially, has often been ignored. This seminar will travel across Europe, from Dublin to Madrid, from London to Reykjavík in order to examine how literature has registered this most recent economic crisis. We will focus on how crisis is narrated and the ways in which literary works have managed to provide a voice for marginalized social, economic, and political demands.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: M 3:00PM - 5:30PM
Instructor: Seguin, Becquer D
Room: Bloomberg 176
Status: Open
Seats Available: 6/16
PosTag(s): GRLL-ENGL, INST-ECON
AS.070.334 (01)
Contemporary Anthropology
T 4:00PM - 6:00PM
Pandian, Anand
Mergenthaler 439
Contemporary Anthropology AS.070.334 (01)
Students are invited to attend, for credit, the departmental research colloquium in anthropology. The colloquium meets most (but not all) Tuesday afternoons during the semester. Students are expected to attend and listen, encouraged to ask questions when they wish, and to write one brief reflection on contemporary trends in the field, based on what they have observed during these sessions.
Credits: 1.00
Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: T 4:00PM - 6:00PM
Instructor: Pandian, Anand
Room: Mergenthaler 439
Status: Open
Seats Available: 3/10
PosTag(s): n/a
AS.070.359 (01)
Korean War
W 1:30PM - 4:00PM
Han, Clara
Krieger 180
INST-GLOBAL, INST-NWHIST
Korean War AS.070.359 (01)
This course takes the Korean War as a site to both explore: 1) contemporary historical and political transformations in East Asia and globally and 2) the ways in which violence, catastrophic loss, and separation are woven into everyday life. It will explore the Korean War through film, fiction, historiography, and draw on comparative materials in anthropology
Credits: 3.00
Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: W 1:30PM - 4:00PM
Instructor: Han, Clara
Room: Krieger 180
Status: Open
Seats Available: 17/30
PosTag(s): INST-GLOBAL, INST-NWHIST
Column one has the course number and section. Other columns show the course title, days offered, instructor's name, room number, if the course is cross-referenced with another program, and a option to view additional course information in a pop-up window.
Course # (Section)
Title
Day/Times
Instructor
Room
PosTag(s)
Info
AS.070.253 (02)
Introduction to Medical Anthropology
M 12:00PM - 1:15PM, W 12:00PM - 1:15PM
Han, Clara
Hodson 110
Introduction to Medical Anthropology AS.070.253 (02)
Is illness bound within an individual body, or is it entangled with our relations? What are the ethics and politics of the doctor/patient relation? How are medical technologies changing the way we experience illness and healing? How have global institutions responded to the problems posed by disease and development? Drawing on ethnography, film, and literature, this course introduces students to how anthropologists have explored and researched problems related to health and illness.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: M 12:00PM - 1:15PM, W 12:00PM - 1:15PM
Instructor: Han, Clara
Room: Hodson 110
Status: Waitlist Only
Seats Available: 0/33
PosTag(s): n/a
AS.070.213 (01)
Data and Society
TTh 12:00PM - 1:15PM
Ozden-Schilling, Canay
Mergenthaler 426
ENVS-MAJOR, ENVS-MINOR
Data and Society AS.070.213 (01)
This course explores the context, experience, and consequences of data proliferation in the contemporary moment. Both experts and laypeople generate and study data at unprecedented rates to make decisions, communicate with each other, and process their environments. How do data advance or constrain our social, political, and economic relationships at large? How is knowledge transformed when it is mediated by large volumes of data? What are the consequences of trusting sociopolitical decisions to data-processing algorithms? What happens when everyday users generate data about themselves and volunteer their data to for-profit entities? The course consists of different modules zeroing in on topics ranging from the economy, to public health, climate change, media, and the law. Each module consists of lectures and seminar-type discussions, as well as interactions with invited speakers. Students will be expected to actively participate in all discussions and develop one independent project. The course content and activities tie into the 2019-2021 Sawyer Seminar on “Precision and Uncertainty in a World of Data” led by the Departments of Anthropology and the History of Medicine.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: TTh 12:00PM - 1:15PM
Instructor: Ozden-Schilling, Canay
Room: Mergenthaler 426
Status: Waitlist Only
Seats Available: 1/30
PosTag(s): ENVS-MAJOR, ENVS-MINOR
AS.070.253 (01)
Introduction to Medical Anthropology
M 12:00PM - 1:15PM, W 12:00PM - 1:15PM
Han, Clara
Hodson 110
Introduction to Medical Anthropology AS.070.253 (01)
Is illness bound within an individual body, or is it entangled with our relations? What are the ethics and politics of the doctor/patient relation? How are medical technologies changing the way we experience illness and healing? How have global institutions responded to the problems posed by disease and development? Drawing on ethnography, film, and literature, this course introduces students to how anthropologists have explored and researched problems related to health and illness.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: M 12:00PM - 1:15PM, W 12:00PM - 1:15PM
Instructor: Han, Clara
Room: Hodson 110
Status: Waitlist Only
Seats Available: 1/33
PosTag(s): n/a
AS.010.382 (01)
The Politics of Display in South Asia
W 1:30PM - 4:00PM
Brown, Rebecca Mary
Gilman 119
HART-MODERN, HART-NW
The Politics of Display in South Asia AS.010.382 (01)
Through an examination of colonial exhibitions, the rise of national, regional, and archaeological museums, and current practices of display and representation in institutions, we will explore how the image of South Asia has been constructed in the colonial, modern, and contemporary eras. We will engage with the politics of representation, spectacle, and the economies of desire as related to colonialism and the rise of modernity. Readings from postcolonial theory, museum studies, anthropology, history, and art history.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: W 1:30PM - 4:00PM
Instructor: Brown, Rebecca Mary
Room: Gilman 119
Status: Open
Seats Available: 6/15
PosTag(s): HART-MODERN, HART-NW
AS.070.124 (04)
Freshman Seminar: Anthropology of Home
TTh 10:30AM - 11:45AM
Procupez, Valeria
Mergenthaler 426
Freshman Seminar: Anthropology of Home AS.070.124 (04)
In this course we will examine different conceptions and experiences of "home" through studies of domesticity, kinship and household in diverse cultural settings. Reading anthropological analysis of urban built environment and locality, we will explore the notions of home and homeland, as realms of care, intimacy and belonging yet also as sites of subjection, discrimination and gender/racial inequality.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: TTh 10:30AM - 11:45AM
Instructor: Procupez, Valeria
Room: Mergenthaler 426
Status: Waitlist Only
Seats Available: 0/18
PosTag(s): n/a
AS.070.125 (01)
Technology and Politics in Native North America
M 1:30PM - 4:00PM
Ozden-schilling, Thomas
Mergenthaler 426
Technology and Politics in Native North America AS.070.125 (01)
How have biodiversity protection measures, cultural heritage NGOs, genomic science, and transnational media altered the lives of Indigenous groups in North America in the twenty-first century? What does "recognition" mean for these people, and how does it actually work in practice? This course will explore the emergence of new spaces and technologies of Indigenous politics and their new roles in shaping everyday experiences, from Inuit communities in Arctic Canada to urban centers in the United States.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: M 1:30PM - 4:00PM
Instructor: Ozden-schilling, Thomas
Room: Mergenthaler 426
Status: Open
Seats Available: 5/18
PosTag(s): n/a
AS.070.317 (01)
Methods
W 1:30PM - 4:00PM
Haeri, Niloofar, Ozden-schilling, Thomas
Mergenthaler 426
Methods AS.070.317 (01)
This course aims to teach basic fieldwork skills: Choosing and entering a community; establishing contacts; learning to listen and to ask questions and locating archival material that might be relevant. It is a hands-on course that increases student familiarity with various neighborhoods such as the Arts District in Baltimore. Recommended Course Background: two or more prior courses in anthropology (not cross-listed courses). Course is a requirement for anthropology major.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: W 1:30PM - 4:00PM
Instructor: Haeri, Niloofar, Ozden-schilling, Thomas
Room: Mergenthaler 426
Status: Reserved Open
Seats Available: 17/20
PosTag(s): n/a
AS.070.329 (01)
An Introduction to Reality
T 1:30PM - 4:00PM
Angelini, Alessandro
Mergenthaler 426
An Introduction to Reality AS.070.329 (01)
Reality is a key concept we often think with more than we think about. And yet reality is not a self-evident thing. This seminar explores a central paradox in the concept of reality: as a totality—an ‘everything’—nonetheless produced and maintained from a partial and situated practice of making. The course begins with historical examinations of reality-making and -undoing then proceeds to approaches from anthropological theory and ethnography. It looks critically at the role of scientific knowledge, technological development, and capitalist and socialist ideological regimes in making realities in their own image. The course puts forth the case that anthropology is uniquely situated to understand how systems of knowledge come into being and stabilize a social order while investigating the inherent contestability and fragility of those systems.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: T 1:30PM - 4:00PM
Instructor: Angelini, Alessandro
Room: Mergenthaler 426
Status: Open
Seats Available: 1/19
PosTag(s): n/a
AS.070.334 (01)
Contemporary Anthropology
T 4:00PM - 6:00PM
Pandian, Anand
Mergenthaler 439
Contemporary Anthropology AS.070.334 (01)
Students are invited to attend, for credit, the departmental research colloquium in anthropology. The colloquium meets most (but not all) Tuesday afternoons during the semester. Students are expected to attend and listen, encouraged to ask questions when they wish, and to write one brief reflection on contemporary trends in the field, based on what they have observed during these sessions.
Credits: 1.00
Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: T 4:00PM - 6:00PM
Instructor: Pandian, Anand
Room: Mergenthaler 439
Status: Waitlist Only
Seats Available: 0/10
PosTag(s): n/a
AS.070.363 (01)
Religious Freedom and Prisons in America
M 4:00PM - 6:30PM
Thornton, Thomas Frederick
Mergenthaler 426
Religious Freedom and Prisons in America AS.070.363 (01)
"Although we often think of religious freedom as a fixed philosophical doctrine of Enlightenment liberalism, it is a concept continually being (re)made from the ground up in increasingly important ways that today affect national politics and the judiciary. Nowadays, religious freedom has cultivated oppositional meanings: it holds together both a freedom from and to supersede government regulation; where actions in the name of religious freedom seek both to separate from government and to radically engage it as a theological force.
We begin by taking this tension as a provocation to look locally and draw widely from a variety of ethnographic, historical, philosophical, literary, and other present-day texts and media, which will deepen how we understand the significant scope of what is at play and at stake in contemporary America and its politics. Through our readings and discussions, we will better grasp how religious freedom and its legal interpretations have grown from the bottom up, moving through local policies, social geographies and institutions, such as churches and prisons, as much as through any singular adherence to transcendent philosophical doctrine.
While this class is an overarching exploration of how American Christianity has developed, it will pay particular attention to the Alabama and Louisiana prison systems and their distinctive religious histories. And we will focus on how the varied conceptual forms of religious freedom relate to the social geographies, religious discourses, literary texts, and media produced in and through ideas of the American South."
Credits: 3.00
Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: M 4:00PM - 6:30PM
Instructor: Thornton, Thomas Frederick
Room: Mergenthaler 426
Status: Open
Seats Available: 9/18
PosTag(s): n/a
AS.070.379 (01)
Social Ecology Studio
Th 1:30PM - 4:00PM
Pandian, Anand
Mergenthaler 426
ENVS-MAJOR, ENVS-MINOR
Social Ecology Studio AS.070.379 (01)
This course will grapple with the social and cultural dimensions of contemporary ecological problems through a local, project-based approach. Coursework will be organized on a studio basis in partnership with a local environmental organization, Friends of Stony Run. Continuing a collaborative project initiated in the fall of 2019, we will work together to develop interpretive materials for the Stony Run stream and urban watershed adjoining our campus.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: Th 1:30PM - 4:00PM
Instructor: Pandian, Anand
Room: Mergenthaler 426
Status: Waitlist Only
Seats Available: 0/15
PosTag(s): ENVS-MAJOR, ENVS-MINOR
AS.070.380 (01)
Slumworld: Life in informal Settlements
W 1:30PM - 4:00PM
Procupez, Valeria
Maryland 217
INST-GLOBAL, INST-CP
Slumworld: Life in informal Settlements AS.070.380 (01)
One quarter of the planet's urban population lives today in slums, shantytowns, favelas, chawls, colonias and other forms of rudimentary settlements (according to UN Habitat). Despite their prevalence throughout the world, these places are still depicted as spaces of informality and abjection, rather than as sites of emergence of
innovative -even if disadvantaged-, makeshift ways of producing the city. This course will combine ethnographic and geographical literature, as well as works of fiction and film to explore the lives of squatters and slum-dwellers in many regions of the world and examine in what way their practices, forms of dwelling, sociality, conflict and cooperation are constitutive of the urban experience.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: W 1:30PM - 4:00PM
Instructor: Procupez, Valeria
Room: Maryland 217
Status: Waitlist Only
Seats Available: 0/15
PosTag(s): INST-GLOBAL, INST-CP
AS.136.101 (01)
Introduction To Archaeology
MW 1:30PM - 2:45PM
Anderson, Emily S.K.
Shaffer 100
ARCH-ARCH
Introduction To Archaeology AS.136.101 (01)
An introduction to archaeology and to archaeological method and theory, exploring how archaeologists excavate, analyze, and interpret ancient remains in order to reconstruct how ancient societies functioned. Specific examples from a variety of archaeological projects in different parts of the world will be used to illustrate techniques and principles discussed.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: MW 1:30PM - 2:45PM
Instructor: Anderson, Emily S.K.
Room: Shaffer 100
Status: Waitlist Only
Seats Available: 1/50
PosTag(s): ARCH-ARCH
AS.070.465 (01)
Concepts: How to Read Hindu and Islamic Texts
F 2:00PM - 4:30PM
Das, Veena, Khan, Naveeda
Mergenthaler 439
INST-GLOBAL, INST-NWHIST, ISLM-ISLMST
Concepts: How to Read Hindu and Islamic Texts AS.070.465 (01)
What is the nature of anthropological concepts and what relations do they bear to concepts internal to a society? We invite students to think with key ideas from Hindu and Islamic traditions, asking if anthropological concepts are best seen as abstractions from the particular or as intertwined with ongoing lines of inquiry, say into the nature of the real and continual efforts to test it? Topics in ritual theory, grammar, aesthetics, translation, revelation, luminosity, figuration and the mythological among those to be considered.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: F 2:00PM - 4:30PM
Instructor: Das, Veena, Khan, Naveeda
Room: Mergenthaler 439
Status: Open
Seats Available: 11/15
PosTag(s): INST-GLOBAL, INST-NWHIST, ISLM-ISLMST
AS.100.365 (01)
Culture & Society in the High Middle Ages
MW 11:00AM - 11:50AM, F 11:00AM - 11:50AM
Spiegel, Gabrielle M
Gilman 17
HIST-EUROPE, INST-GLOBAL
Culture & Society in the High Middle Ages AS.100.365 (01)
History 100.365 will consist of two lectures a week and one discussion section. Readings focus when possible on primary sources. It will cover the social, economic, political and intellectual development of medieval society, beginning with the rise of feudal society, the development of medieval courtly culture, primarily the creation of epic and romance literature in the various courts of Europe; the creation of universities and the intellectual revival of Europe in the form of scholasticism; the re-emergence of trade and, with it, the rise of a middle class, the political development of royal authority which was tantamount to the creation of the modern national state and finally, the emergence of heresy and new forms of spirituality in the late Middle Ages to combat it, especially with the creation of the Dominican and Franciscan monastic orders.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: MW 11:00AM - 11:50AM, F 11:00AM - 11:50AM
Instructor: Spiegel, Gabrielle M
Room: Gilman 17
Status: Open
Seats Available: 10/20
PosTag(s): HIST-EUROPE, INST-GLOBAL
AS.100.365 (02)
Culture & Society in the High Middle Ages
MW 11:00AM - 11:50AM, F 12:00PM - 12:50PM
Spiegel, Gabrielle M
Gilman 17
HIST-EUROPE, INST-GLOBAL
Culture & Society in the High Middle Ages AS.100.365 (02)
History 100.365 will consist of two lectures a week and one discussion section. Readings focus when possible on primary sources. It will cover the social, economic, political and intellectual development of medieval society, beginning with the rise of feudal society, the development of medieval courtly culture, primarily the creation of epic and romance literature in the various courts of Europe; the creation of universities and the intellectual revival of Europe in the form of scholasticism; the re-emergence of trade and, with it, the rise of a middle class, the political development of royal authority which was tantamount to the creation of the modern national state and finally, the emergence of heresy and new forms of spirituality in the late Middle Ages to combat it, especially with the creation of the Dominican and Franciscan monastic orders.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: MW 11:00AM - 11:50AM, F 12:00PM - 12:50PM
Instructor: Spiegel, Gabrielle M
Room: Gilman 17
Status: Open
Seats Available: 20/20
PosTag(s): HIST-EUROPE, INST-GLOBAL
AS.070.407 (01)
Design Anthropology
M 1:30PM - 4:00PM
Degani, Michael, Pandian, Anand
Mergenthaler 439
Design Anthropology AS.070.407 (01)
From casinos to canoes, algorithms to animal traps, our worlds are bursting with intentional objects. The word design has come to evoke the prestige of such objects, and their power to shape our collective habits and sensations. This course explores the anthropology of designed artifacts and their complex social trajectories. Beginning with philosophical investigations into the relationship between materials, form, and craft, we will proceed through ethnographic case studies of design as expert discourse and ordinary practice. Ultimately we will consider the affinities between the ethnography and design as open-ended and not entirely predictable engagements with the world.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: M 1:30PM - 4:00PM
Instructor: Degani, Michael, Pandian, Anand
Room: Mergenthaler 439
Status: Waitlist Only
Seats Available: 1/12
PosTag(s): n/a
AS.070.426 (01)
Kinship: Old and New
Th 1:30PM - 4:00PM
Das, Veena
Mergenthaler 439
Kinship: Old and New AS.070.426 (01)
We wil track the transformations in kinship theory in relation to wider changes in legal theory, biomedicine, and the relation between state and family. In particular we will ask how the concepts of sovereignty, gift, exchange, human and non-human milieus affect notions of relations.
Co-listed with AS.070.639
Credits: 3.00
Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: Th 1:30PM - 4:00PM
Instructor: Das, Veena
Room: Mergenthaler 439
Status: Open
Seats Available: 2/10
PosTag(s): n/a
AS.070.419 (01)
Logic of Anthropological Inquiry
T 1:30PM - 4:00PM
Degani, Michael
Mergenthaler 439
ARCH-RELATE
Logic of Anthropological Inquiry AS.070.419 (01)
Anthropology is an endeavor to think with the empirical richness of the world at hand, a field science with both literary and philosophical pretensions. This course grapples with the nature of anthropological inquiry, reading classic works in the discipline as well as contemporary efforts to reimagine its foundations. Required for anthropology majors.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: T 1:30PM - 4:00PM
Instructor: Degani, Michael
Room: Mergenthaler 439
Status: Open
Seats Available: 7/15
PosTag(s): ARCH-RELATE
AS.130.126 (01)
Gods and Monsters in Ancient Egypt
MWF 11:00AM - 11:50AM
Jasnow, Richard
Olin 305
ARCH-RELATE
Gods and Monsters in Ancient Egypt AS.130.126 (01)
A basic introduction to Egyptian Religion, with a special focus on the nature of the gods and how humans interact with them. We will devote particular time to the Book of the Dead and to the "magical" aspects of religion designed for protective purposes.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: MWF 11:00AM - 11:50AM
Instructor: Jasnow, Richard
Room: Olin 305
Status: Waitlist Only
Seats Available: 3/100
PosTag(s): ARCH-RELATE
AS.140.346 (01)
History of Chinese Medicine
MWF 9:00AM - 9:50AM
Hanson, Marta
Gilman 186
History of Chinese Medicine AS.140.346 (01)
Students will study the most recent anthropological, philosophical, and historical scholarship on medicine in traditional and modern Chinese society. They will approach the topic from several angles including medical pluralism, the range of healers, domestic and literate medicine, gender, emergence of new disciplines, public health and the history of disease. The course relies on secondary sources and primary sources in English translation.
Cross-listed with East Asian Studies.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: MWF 9:00AM - 9:50AM
Instructor: Hanson, Marta
Room: Gilman 186
Status: Waitlist Only
Seats Available: 0/19
PosTag(s): n/a
AS.130.214 (01)
The Origins of Civilization: A Cross-Cultural Perspective
TTh 1:30PM - 2:45PM
Schwartz, Glenn M
Shaffer 300
ARCH-ARCH, NEAS-ARTARC, NEAS-HISCUL
The Origins of Civilization: A Cross-Cultural Perspective AS.130.214 (01)
One of the most significant transformations in human history was the “urban revolution” in which cities, writing, and social classes formed for the first time. In this course, we compare five areas where this development occurred: China, Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley, Egypt, and Mesoamerica (Mexico/Guatemala/Honduras/Belize). In each region, we review the physical setting, the archaeological and textual evidence, and the theories advanced to explain the rise (and eventual collapse) of these complex societies.
Credits: 3.00
Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
Days/Times: TTh 1:30PM - 2:45PM
Instructor: Schwartz, Glenn M
Room: Shaffer 300
Status: Open
Seats Available: 39/50
PosTag(s): ARCH-ARCH, NEAS-ARTARC, NEAS-HISCUL
AS.230.367 (01)
Islamic Finance
M 3:00PM - 5:30PM
Calder, Ryan
Gilman 400
INST-ECON, ISLM-ISLMST
Islamic Finance AS.230.367 (01)
Today, Islamic finance is a global industry comprising nearly $2 trillion in assets, with hubs from Kuala Lumpur to Dubai to London. But half a century ago, nothing called “Islamic finance” existed. So where did Islamic finance come from? Why is it growing so fast? And what does it mean for finance to be Islamic? We discuss the ban on riba in the Quran and hadith, finance in early and medieval Islamic societies, petrodollars and the birth of Islamic banking in the 1970s, the rise of Islamic capital markets since 2000, contemporary shariah-compliant financial structures, and the constitution of piety through financial practice.
