WCSU Undergraduate Catalog 2023-2024 : Macricostas School of Arts & Sciences

Anthropology

ANT 100 Introduction to Cultural Anthropology 3 SH
A study of human behavior and the structure of society. Emphasis will focus upon cultures outside the Western European area, using a few selected societies as the framework in which to study the theories and principles of social anthropology. Listed as behavioral and social sciences general education elective. Every semester. Competency: Intercultural (IC).

ANT 104 Introduction to Archaeology   3 SH
This course is a broad survey of prehistory around the world. It will examine the following questions: how do we know, what we know about the past and what methods and theories help us interpret archaeological sites. Competencies: Critical Thinking (CT), Intercultural (IC).

ANT 110 Introduction to Physical Anthropology 3 SH
Examines the relationship between biological and social behavioral aspects of human evolution, with emphasis on basics of evolutionary theory, fossil hominids and social behavior, especially of the non-human primates. Listed as behavioral and social sciences general education elective. Fall semester.

ANT/SOC 204 Culture and Personality 3 SH
The social and cultural factors influencing the structure and development of the personality. Emphasizes studies and cross-cultural analysis. Fall semester of even-numbered years. Prerequisite: ANT 100 or SOC 100.

ANT/SOC/SS 209 Climate Change and Society 3 SH
This is an interdisciplinary course designed to provide students with an understanding of the relations between the climate system and human societies. This course explores the socio-economic origin of our current environmental problems and their effect on social organizations and vice versa. It analyzes how industrialization and free-market capitalism contribute to global warming. Finally, it evaluates the theoretical debates in the field of socio-environmental studies regarding the causes of and possible solutions to current environmental degradations and climate change. Competency: Critical Thinking (CT), Information Literacy (IL).

ANT/AAS/SOC 212 Peoples and Cultures of Africa 3 SH
Designed to acquaint the student with the cultures and peoples of Africa as they existed before European colonization. Attention will also be directed to the problem of cultural change. Spring semesters of odd-numbered years. Prerequisite: ANT 100.

ANT 213 North American Indians 3 SH
Devoted to the study of North American Indians as they existed before contact with Europeans. Attention will also be directed toward problems of acculturation, as well as prehistoric background, linguistics and history of the various culture areas. Spring semesters of odd-numbered years.

ANT/SOC 216 Anthropology of the Middle East 3 SH
As the world becomes more interconnected and linked globally, our society is increasingly faced with beliefs, practices, ideals, ideas, and ways of life that at times baffle us and discomfort us. Current conflicts in the world point to a need to actually go beyond stereotypes and understand both sameness and difference when it comes to cultures. This course seeks to look beyond common stereotypes of the Middle East and focus on daily life experiences of families and individuals who live in the region through applying an anthropological lens and reading ethnographic studies. Prerequisites: ANT 100 or SOC 100 or permission of instructor.

ANT/SOC 222 Global Rural Cultures: Resistance & Change 3 SH
To learn about agrarian lives and their relationship to other parts of a wider society (including gentry, clergy, entrepreneurial classes, and townspeople), as well as to global capital is to appreciate how “folk” traditions, more than exotic remnants, have become indigenous local ecologies of resistance with an international impact. Such comprehensive understanding, of what was once labelled as “peasant” life, is a necessity borne of contemporary accommodations within, as well as warranted socio-political and economic demands upon, our global futures. Prerequisite: ANT 100 or SOC or PSY 100 or instructor permission. Competency: Critical Thinking (CT), Intercultural (IC).

ANT/SOC 223 Contemporary Family Problems
Please see also SOC/ANT 223.

ANT 229 Archaeological Field Methods 6 SH
Course consists of evaluating local archaeological sites through survey, excavation, analysis and interpretation. Students will be expected to devote 6-8 hours a day in both the field and the laboratory.  Summer session only. Prerequisite: ANT 100 or ANT 104 or ANT 110 or ANT 225. Competency: Scientific Inquiry (SI).

ANT/SOC 232 Religion and Culture 3 SH
Analysis of religion as a universal aspect of human culture expressed as belief and ritual concerned with supernatural beings, powers and forces. The function of religion in society. Fall semester of even-numbered years. Prerequisite: ANT 100 or SOC 100.

ANT/SOC/ECO 234 Economic Anthropology 3 SH
This course will give both a theoretical and a practical grounding in economic anthropology by focusing on recent fieldwork and publication within economic and cultural anthropology. After students are introduced to theoretical debates and issues in the field, they will read about and discuss people in specific ethnographic contexts as they grapple with poverty, globalization, modernization, and development — always keeping in mind that the economy is closely intertwined with and cannot be understood apart from sociocultural factors in people’s lives. The course will involve small-group and large-group discussions, interesting reading and a commitment to the formation of a critically thoughtful and engaged classroom community. Prerequisites: ANT 100 or SOC 100 or ECO 211 or permission of instructor.

ANT/WS 236 Culture, Sex and Gender 3 SH
Course examines the cross-cultural background of sex and gender, tracing the configurations of gender from egalitarian hunting and gathering societies through gender-stratified horticultural, pastoral, agricultural and industrial societies. The course will address gender issues, such as the feminization of poverty, gender as portrayed by the media, and contemporary theoretical perspectives about the dialectics of power. Not open to first-year students. Offered periodically.

ANT/SOC 242 Buddhism and Culture 3 SH
This course offers a fundamental understanding of the societal context and cultural principles of a major world religion. The course surveys the major events and personalities in Buddhism, and provides a basic understanding of the religion in several of its main “streams” or traditions. Principally, the course seeks to provide for students a foundational understanding of Buddhism and Buddhistic societies through an ethnographic approach. Topically, the course considers Therevada, Mahayana, Vajrayana, Pure Land, Zen and Bon. Spring semester of even-numbered years. Prerequisite: ANT 100 or SOC 100 or permission of the instructor.

ANT/SOC/WS 251 Women and Gender in the Middle East  3 SH
This course will explore the complex and multi-layered processes and dimensions, including texts, cultural values and practices, institutions and events which have shaped, and continue to shape, gendered experience in the Middle East. We will consider these processes in their historical context focusing mainly on the contemporary Middle East. Prerequisite: ANT 100 or SOC 100 or WS 200 or permission of instructor. Competency: Intercultural (IC).

ANT 297 Cooperative Education

ANT 298 Faculty Developed Study 1–6 SH

ANT 299 Student Developed Study 1–6 SH

ANT/SOC/SS 309 Food, Justice, and the Environment 3 SH
This course will offer students a comprehensive understanding of the challenges facing the global food system in the context of energy-intensive food production, wasteful consumption, climate change, and biodiversity loss. It critically engages with the relevant theoretical perspectives to interrogate how the corporatization of the food system has led to global food insecurity and environmental destruction. It will help students explore how certain mainstream food practices and discourses marginalize racialized social groups. It will analyze alternative food movements’ insistence on a ‘politics of consumption’, which may promote apolitical strategies, reproduce neoliberalism, and reinforce the existing race-class divides. Finally, it will introduce students to the concept of ‘food justice’ as a better analytical framework that attends to the questions of sustainability, power, and equity in the food system. Competencies: Intercultural (IC), Writing Intensive Tier 2 (W2).

ANT/WS 321 Gender and Globalization   3 SH
This class will question the complexities of globalization, paying particular attention to gendered difference. After discussing major theoretical conceptualizations of globalization, we will move on to discuss specific issues, such as: feminization of poverty; global activism; structural adjustment; and neoliberalization. Fall semester of odd-numbered years. Prerequisite: ANT 100 or SOC 100, or by permission of the instructor.

ANT/SOC 330 Social and Cultural Theory 3 SH
The course proposes to integrate theoretical perspectives in sociology and anthropology. Focus is upon problems and applications of theory-building. Major selections of classical, modern, post-modern, and critical theories will be read in relation to the theorists’ historical and cultural milieus. These theories will be analyzed, applied, and critiqued in order to investigate both the substance of the theories and the theorists’ methods of approach. Every fall semester. Prerequisite: Junior standing or above, or permission from instructor. Competency: Writing Tier Intensive 2 (W2).

ANT 341 Cultural Resource Management 3 SH
The course presents a broad overview of the subfield of archaeology called, Cultural Resource Management (CRM). This overview covers everything from federal and state legislation (Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island) to the relationship of anthropologists with Native Americans. Offered periodically. Prerequisite: ANT 100 or ANT 110 and one course in archaeology.

ANT/SOC 350 Modern and Postmodern Societies 3 SH
Using a comparative and historical perspective, this course examines the cultural and social differences between societies that are labeled “modern” and those that are “traditional.” The course explores the development of the cultural and social form known as “modernity” in Western societies and its subsequent spread throughout large portions of the world. The course also looks at more contemporary changes taking place in Western societies, such as the movement towards a postmodern culture, globalization and the information revolution. Spring semester. Prerequisite: ANT 100 or SOC 100.

ANT/SOC 360 Public anthropology & Sociology: Research for Social Change 3 SH
This course will examine multiple models of applied, engaged, and public anthropology and sociology, including 1) participatory action or (politically) engaged research designed to facilitate community-level advocacy work; 2) public interest ethnography with/for municipal agencies and non-profit and civic organizations to identify needs, assess the impact of policy and develop strategies to redress various forms of inequality (i.e., environmental justice, healthcare access, immigrant rights, poverty alleviation, etc.); 3) applied research in industry and the non-profit sector for institutional problem-solving and organizational development, 4) participatory design research for product, service, or systems “innovation,” and 5) public anthropology via creative practices. Students will practice how to apply qualitative (and to a lesser degree, quantitative) research methods and anthropological and sociological perspectives and insights in various contexts by modeling a set of applications drawn from real-life case studies and projects. If possible, students will attend (virtually or in person) the Society for Applied Anthropology annual conference in March. Prerequisite: ANT 100 or SOC 100 and one additional course in anthropology or sociology. 

ANT 400 Advanced Topics in Anthropology 2-6 SH
The content and credit hours of this course will vary from year to year, depending on the interests of the students and faculty. Aspects of anthropology not introduced, or not treated in depth, in other courses of the major will be introduced and/or treated in depth. Offerings will be drawn from physical, cultural and archeological subfields of anthropology. Possible topics might include: Mesoamerican archaeology, non-human primate behavior, ritual and symbolism, or anthropology of dance. The course may be repeated for credit with different content and permission of the department. The department will determine the number of credits prior to the course offering. Offered periodically. Prerequisite: Determined at time of offering. Open to juniors and seniors.

ANT/SOC/PS 410 Undocumented Migration 3 SH
This course offers a refined understanding of undocumented migration by exploring the legacy, causes, experiences and impacts of undocumented migration from a socio-historical and global perspective. Students explore the rise and growth of international migrations as they parallel the development of the capitalist the world-system and how they grow increasingly predictable as a result of shifts in the global economy and are further agitated by climate change. Relatedly, the course examines the transformation and formalization of laws regulating human migration, the development of citizenship and related legal regulatory systems, including the rise and militarization of borders. Students explore the lived experiences of undocumented peoples at subject and family levels, as well as the impacts on sending and receiving communities. Further the course assesses resistance to undocumented populations, including racist nativism, the international rise of anti-immigrant movements, and the hostile targeting of undocumented people. To complement this, the course examines the rise of immigrant rights movements. Prerequisites: SOC 100 or ANT 100 or PS 104 or PS/ECO 251 or GEO 100.

The following courses also have been approved and are offered periodically:
ANT 214 Peoples and Cultures of the Pacific
ANT/SOC 223 Contemporary Family Problems
ANT 226 New England Archaeology
ANT/SOC 241 Socio-Cultural Survey of Indian Religions
ANT 301 Human Evolutionary Theory: Planet of the Apes
ANT/WS 314 Native Peoples of the Southwest: Women, Spirituality and Power
ANT/SOC 322 Comparative Minority Relations
ANT/SOC 340 Culture, Change and Planning