New Courses in Sociology & Anthropology Offered in Spring 2009

ANT 111/Introduction to Physical Anthropology
(TF 10:00-11:20 and TF 2:00-3:20)
What makes us human? Is it the use of language, the ability to manipulate material culture or the fact that we are bipedal? This course will focus on evolutionary theory and the theory of natural selection, the behavior and anatomy of non-human primates, and the evolution of modern humans. Students will also learn how anthropology is directly related to other disciplines including sociology, biology, ecology and geology.

ANT 240/Epidemiology
(MTh 10-11:20)
Epidemiology covers the basic principles of epidemiology e.g., study design, measures of association, biases and confounding variables, disease detection, and risk analysis. It emphasizes critical thinking, the limitations of current conceptual and methodological approaches in epidemiology, ethical and social justice considerations and socio-cultural aspects of public health, using examples from epidemiological studies carried out in the United States and internationally.

ANT 370/Topics in Anthropology: Hunters and Gatherers
(W 4-6:50)
Analysis of hunter and gatherer societies, with attention to social structure, culture, and cultural ecology, as well as how hunting and gathering societies have adapted to an increasingly globalized world.

MDL 371-02: Gender and Language in Global Perspectives
(MTh 12-1:50)
This course will provide an historical overview of language and gender research and the development of various theoretical and methodological approaches. This overview begins in the West, but quickly expands to include a variety of countries, languages, and cultures. Particular attention will be given in the course to approaches to language and gender that have developed within sociolinguistics and linguistic anthropology and which focus on the way in which both language and gender are embedded in structures of power, authority, and social inequality, and with conflicts over these social structures. NOTE: This course will count towards the anthropology minor.

SOC 370: Topics in Sociology: Body Image and Culture
(MTh 2-3:30)
This course is intended to start you on your way to becoming critical thinkers about social responses to the idealized images of women and men around you as well as the individual decisions you make affecting your own body. In addition to gender, race, ethnicity, social class, sexual identity, and even religion become mediating factors in the social consequences of their pursuit of beauty.  We will also consider their role. Then, we will examine how this process is at work in our own society, looking at such topics as dieting and eating disorders, the fashion and make-up industry, magazines and advertising, plastic surgery, and ageism. Finally, we will consider some alternatives to the complying with the narrow range of body-image ideals offered to individuals today.

SOC 370: Topics in Sociology: The Holocaust
(Tues 5:30-8:20)
A sociological investigation into the Holocaust.