Sociology & Anthropology

This course offers an in-depth exploration of multiple theories of deviance and social control. Each section of the class is organized around a particular theoretical orientation; each theory will elucidate both how deviance happens and the mechanism of social control that align with that particular theory. Every theory covered in this course is situated within a social, historical, and political context. Social and scientific theories are socially constructed, and thus, the context in which they emerge and exist is fundamental to their basic understanding. Students also learn how to use this diverse set of theories to make sense of how knowledge, power, and inequalities are all fundamentally tied to the ways in which a society comes to define and control deviance. As the semester progresses, students synthesize and integrate these theories to allow for a deeper, holistic understanding of deviance and social control.

Gender surrounds us, but ideas about gender in popular culture often oversimplify its workings. This course provides an overview of a sociological perspective on gender, with close attention to the relational construction of gender difference through analyzing both femininities and masculinities, as well as how gender intersects with other differences such as race, class, ethnicity, and sexuality. The first half of the course examines gender inequality from several classic and contemporary theoretical perspectives. The second half foregrounds empirical research on gender and how gender works and changes over time in institutions that affect our daily lives such as schools, families, and workplaces. Readings focus on the United States as well as other countries within our increasingly globalized world.

The goal of this course is to provide an introduction to the forms of difference and inequality reflected, constructed, and reproduced through notions of race and ethnicity. It asks: what are the forms of knowledge, practices, institutions, and values that have informed the nature and meaning of race and ethnic relations in both the U.S. context and globally? Using a historical, theoretical, and comparative approach, the course examines both the origins of contemporary race and ethnic categories and the way those categories have been reconfigured and deployed over time and space as part of diverse political, social, and economic projects. Drawing on specific cases, students explore how notions of race and ethnicity intersect with other forms of difference such as class, gender, and national identity. Through engagement with sociological and anthropological analyses of race and ethnic difference, the course thus provides students with a conceptual and theoretical toolbox with which to critically examine contemporary race and ethnic relations and engage in informed debate about their implications.

Archaeology seeks to uncover artifacts and the material culture of human life in order to understand past civilizations and the long-term development of human societies across space and time. This course offers an introduction to the field of archaeology, providing an overview of its goals, theory, methods, and ethics. Students discuss specific archaeological sites in their historical, social, anthropological, economic, religious, and architectural contexts. Attention is given to issues relevant to classical archaeology today, including the looting of ancient sites, issues of cultural property, and ethics in archaeology. Students have the opportunity to learn and practice basic archaeological techniques, as well as to reflect on the significance of these techniques for understanding other peoples. The course will shift in its regional and historical foci, including an introduction to classical archaeology of the ancient Mediterranean world. Students thus gain an appreciation of the complexities of present-day archaeological research and both the benefits and limitations of the role of archaeology in creating our images of the past.

Students focus on visual anthropology in its primary and original form: as a research practice. Specifically, they investigate and practically explore the use of visual media as a tool for anthropological research and presentation. They discuss visual anthropology both as a supplement to textually-focused ethnography, and as an end in itself, in the creation of a visual product that explicates cultural realities. This course focuses on visual forms of communication by analyzing and questioning how facts travel in the world through old and new media such as film, video, photography, including their digital forms. Students are introduced to the history of ethnographic film and contemporary changes that have widened the possibilities of visual anthropology beyond its early confines as a tool for illustration. Critical theory, methods, and ethical concerns are all part of the current refashioning of visual anthropology and are critical components of the class. Students will also be introduced to the emerging sub-discipline of media anthropology, which focuses on the intersections of culture and media consumption, production, and materiality. The class explores the history of media and cultural studies, and how they have informed contemporary media anthropological approaches. The class combines the discussion of theoretical and ethical issues, film and video screenings, and practical assignments in visual ethnography, using a variety of available media.