Department of Anthropology
Courses

Anthropology (ANTH)

Click here to link to the official General Catalog
for California State University, Fresno.

A. The Core Curriculum

1. Introduction to Physical Anthropology (3)
This course examines the biological basis of being human. It compares us with our primate relatives, traces the evolution of our species from 4 million-year-old australopithecines, and accounts for the great anatomical and biochemical diversity among modern human populations. (CAN ANTH 2)

2. Introduction to Cultural Anthropology (3)
Prerequisite: G.E. Foundation A2. Examines the nature of culture, humanity's unique mechanism for adapting to the changing environment. Explores the varieties of human life and explains how culture has made possible the range of different and successful societies, from hunters and gatherers to industrial civilization. G.E. Breadth D3. (CAN ANTH 4)

3. Introduction to Prehistory and Physical Anthropology (3)
Prerequisite: G.E. Foundation A2. Examines the biological and cultural basis of being human. Compares us with our primate relatives, traces the biological and cultural evolution of our species from earliest ancestors, through the development of agriculture to the emergence of civilization. G.E. Breadth D3.

100. Concepts and Applications (3)
This foundation course demonstrates the use of selected core concepts within the context of a defined research project which the students carry out during the semester. Acquaints students with the conceptual framework of the discipline and the basic processes of anthropological inquiry.

101A. Introductory Fieldwork in Archaeology (6)
An introduction to basic methods and strategies for archeological excavation and site survey. Involves a commitment by students of a block of time in the field away from campus. Not open to students who have taken 101A-S. Course fee, $75.

101A-S. Introductory Fieldwork in Archaeology (6)
An introduction to basic methods and strategies for archaeological excavation and site survey in a public service context. Involves a commitment by students of a block of time in the field away from campus. Not open to students who have taken 101A.

101B. Advanced Fieldwork in Archaeology (6)
Advanced methods and strategies for archaeological excavation and site survey. Involves a commitment by students of a block of time in the field away from campus. Not open to students who have taken 101B-S.

101B-S. Advanced Fieldwork in Archaeology (6)
Advanced methods and strategies for archeological excavation and site survey in a public service context. Involves a commitment by students of a block of time in the field away from campus. Not open to students who have taken 101B.

104. History and Theory of Anthropology (3)
Prerequisite: ANTH 100. A history of the growth of anthropological thought through an analysis of the informational and explanatory powers of five major theoretical schools: Nineteenth-century Evolutionists, British Functionalists, Boasian Historical Particularists, Neo-Evolutionists/Marxists, and Cognitivists.

111A. Introduction to Ethnographic Fieldwork (3)
An introduction to methods of ethnographic field methods, including participant observation, interviewing, and the use of audiovisual media. Topics include the ethics of fieldwork, organizing data, and ethnographic writing. Students will conduct short fieldwork assignments on cultural and linguistic topics in the local area. (Formerly ANTH 101)

111B. Intermediate Ethnographic Fieldwork (3)
Prerequisite ANTH 111A. Students conduct an enthnographic field project under the direction of the instructor, employing methods such as participant observation, interviewing, and audiovisual media. The course involves field trips and may include weekend sessions. Not open to students who have taken 111B-S.

111B-S. Intermediate Ethnographic Fieldwork (3)
Prerequisite ANTH 111A. Students conduct an enthnographic field project under the direction of the instructor, employing methods such as participant observation, interviews, and audiovisual media. Involves field trips and may include weekend sessions. Not open to students who have taken 111B.

111C. Advanced Ethnographic Fieldwork (3)
Prerequisite ANTH 111B. Students continue work on an ethnographic field project begun in ANTH 111B. Under the direction of the instructor, students employ methods such as participant observation, interviewing, and audiovisual media. Students produce a substantial written review combining secondary sources with their own data.

111C-S. Advanced Ethnographic Fieldwork (3)
Prerequisite ANTH 111B or 111B-S. Students continue work on an ethnographic field project begun in ANTH 111B or 111B-S, employing various research methods. Students produce a substantial final paper with a focus on public service applications of their findings.

195. Colloquium (1)
Each spring semester students and department faculty will meet three times to discuss current problems in the field of anthropology. These three hour seminars will be led by a faculty member. Students will be expected to do all assigned readings and complete a paper on one of the topics discussed.

B. CULTURAL Curriculum

30. Critical Thinking in Anthropology (3)
Distinguish belief vs. knowledge and fact vs. opinion; examine relationship between language/logic; use inductive/deductive reasoning; recognize informal/formal fallacies; appreciate socio-cultural context of critical thinking. These skills are applied to topics of race/intelligence, religion/values, and social policy. Skills demonstrated/assessed through oral and written performance. G.E. Foundation A3.

102. Introduction to Linguistic Anthropology (3)
A compendium of current thinking on language and culture from a variety of interdisciplinary perspectives. Examines the nature of language, language description, language and worldview, gendered speech, ethnicity and language, power and performance, verbal and nonverbal art, and associated theories and research methods.

105W. Applied Anthropology (3)
Prerequisite: Prerequisite: G.E. Foundation and Breadth Area D, satisfactory completion (C or better) of ENGL 1 graduation requirement, to be taken no sooner than the term in which 60 units are completed. Examination and assessment of the use of anthropological data and concepts to address contemporary issues in education, health care, law, environmental planning, and social services. Students work on applied problems and write observations, plans, reports, and research documents geared to the needs of professionals, service providers, and particularly planners in modern institutional contexts. Meets the upper-division writing skills requirement for graduation. G.E. Multicultural/International MI.

111B-S. Intermediate Ethnographic Fieldwork (3)
Prerequisite: ANTH 111A. Students conduct a public service ethnographic field project under the direction of the instructor, employing methods such as participant observation, interviewing, and audiovisual media. Involves field trips and may include weekend sessions.

111C-S. Advanced Ethnographic Fieldwork (3)
Prerequisite: ANTH 111B or 111B-S. Involves continued work on ethnographic field project begun in ANTH 111B or 111B-S, employing various research methods. Includes producing a substantial final paper with a focus on public service applications of their findings.

115. World Cultures (3)
An examination of contemporary issues in anthropology based on evidence from both classical and modern ethnographies. Considers strategies of qualitative research and reporting, including ethics and the application of enthographic research in modern societies.

116W. Anthropology of Religion (3)
Prerequisites: G.E. Foundation and Breadth Area D, satisfactory completion (C or better) of the ENGL 1 graduation requirement, to be taken no sooner than the term in which 60 units are completed. Examines the patterned belief systems of the world's tribal, peasant, and sectarian societies. Stresses the role of religion in individual and group perception, cognition, ritual, and social organization. Topics include myth, magic, shamanism, mysticism, witchcraft, trance, hallucinogens, and cultism. Meets the upper-division writing skills requirement for graduation. G.E. Integration ID.

117. Folk Medicine (3)
A cross-cultural examination of health practices and of the cultural assumptions and attitudes on which they are based. Reviews ethnomedicine, ethnopsychiatry, and epidemiology in the health care systems of non-Westerners and of ethnic communities in pluralistic America.

118. Women: Culture and Biology (3)
(Same as WS 170.) A cross-cultural and interdisciplinary analysis of the determinants of female statuses and circumstances. Examines theories, including biological and cultural determinism, which explain variations in the expression of sexuality, maturation, reproduction, and the life cycle.

119. Law and Culture (3)
A comparative, holistic perspective on the evolution of law. Examines its natures and origins, the basic assumptions behind legal systems, their cross-cultural expression and effects, and the directionality of legal evolution.

120. Ethnic Relations and Cultures (3)
Prerequisites: G.E. Foundation and Breadth Area D. The cultural and social origins of ethnicity, and its opportunities and problems for contemporary mass societies. Offers a critical review of major theories on ethnic politics, economics, and ideology in the light of cross-cultural evidence. G.E. Multicultural/International MI.

123. Peoples and Cultures of Southeast Asia (3)
Prerequisites: G.E. Foundation and Breadth Area D.An introductory survey of the cultural and historical adaptations of societies in Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam; and of Insular societies in Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. Examines the major effects of culture contact between East and West. G.E. Multicultural/International MI.

124. Peoples and Cultures of East Asia (3)
Examines cultural pluralism. Considers cultural adaptations and change among minorities such as Moslems, Tibetans, and Mongolians in China, and ethnic groups of Japan and Korea. Outlines kinship, religion, organization, and technological factors in the Asiatic culture complex.

125. Tradition and Change in China and Japan (3)
(Same as HUM 140.) Prerequisites: G.E. Foundation and Breadth Area D. Examines the current aspirations and problems of the Chinese and Japanese in terms of their traditional cultures, and explains how their histories, values, world views, and intellectual traditions affect their lifestyles and their international relations today. G.E. Multicultural/International MI.

126. Cultures and Foods of East Asia (3)
(Same as ASAM 151.) Treats cuisine as a systematic product of the interaction between culture and ecology. Focuses on sociocultural rather than bio-nutritional factors in the preparation and ritual implications of food in Mainland and Insular Asia. Students learn to prepare and serve a variety of Oriental dishes.

128. Environmental Anthropology (3)
Examines the interactions between environment and human culture. Specific topics include theoretical and empirical trends in environmental anthropology, materialist and cognitive approaches to human-environment interactions, human culture in ecosystem perspective, religion and ecology, and contemporary environmental movements.

130. Peoples and Cultures of the Southwest (3)
A survey of Native American cultures of the Southwestern United States and Northwestern Mexico from their prehistoric origins to the present. Emphasis is placed on cultural continuity and change during the past 400 years of contact with western culture.

134. Modern Africa (3)
(See HIST 157.)

138T. Topics in Cultural Anthropology (1-6; max total 12 if no topic repeated)
Prerequisite: varies with title. Special studies in the theory and practice of organized cooperation and conflict in nature and culture.

C. ARCHAEOLOGY Curriculum

101A-S. Introductory Fieldwork in Archaeology (6)
Introduces basic methods and strategies for archaeological excavation and site survey in a public service context. Involves a commitment by students to a block time in the field away from campus.

101B-S. Advanced Fieldwork in Archaeology (6)
Advanced methods and strategies for archaelogical excavation and site survey in a public service context. Involves a commitment by students to a block of time in the field away from campus.

140. Contemporary Archaeology (3)
Examines archaeological theory (both historical and contemporary) as well as methods and techniques used by archaeologists to gather, analyze, and interpret data.

141. Prehistory of North America (3)
Traces the development of Native American cultures from the Arctic to Mesoamerica, from the peopling of the continent to early historic times. Examines the archaeological evidence for the antiquity, spread, and variation of cultural adaptations to changing ecological conditions.

142. Old World Prehistory (3)
Examination of current knowledge of the prehistory of one area of the Old World. Chronologies, current findings, and important issues in theory method are reviewed. Consideration of these matters in relation to work in archaeology throughout the world and to work in closely related disciplines such as biology and geology. Some historic archaeology may also be included. Areas include Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Australia.

143. Archaeology and Prehistory of California (3)
Origins and prehistory of the California Native Americans. Examination of the archaeological record, both statewide and regionally, with emphasis on adaptations to natural and social environments from 12,000 B.P. until early historic times.

145. Cultural Resources Management (3)
Prerequisites: G.E. Foundation and Breadth Area D. Provides an in-depth overview of historic and prehistoric cultural resources (districts, sites, buildings, and objects), their significance, and their management in the U.S. Topics include the legal context for CRM, identifying and evaluating cultural resources, assessing effects, treatment planning, and careers in CRM. G.E. Integration ID.

159T. Topics in Archaeology (1-6; max total 12 if no topic repeated)
Prerequisite: varies with title. Special studies in archaeological methods, techniques, history and theory, or of prehistoric culture areas not covered in the regular curriculum.

D. PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY CURRICULUM

161. Bio/Behavioral Evolution of the Human Species (3)
Prerequisites: G.E. Foundation and Breadth Area B. Examines the evolution of the human species and its relationship to living and extinct primates. Explores the biological basis of human culture. Integrates evolutionary biology, geochronology, and anthropology in order to understand the bio/behavioral nature of modern man. G.E. Integration IB.

162. Primates (3)
An introduction to the study of primate biological and behavioral evolution. Explores sociobiological theory in order to explain the unity and diversity of social behavior in prosimians, monkeys, and apes.

163. Human Variation (3)
A cross-cultural examination of variations in human morphology, physiology, and biochemistry. Establishes the correlation between variations in human biology and variations in climate, culture, nutrition, and disease.

164. Human Osteology (3)
Introduces a range of analytic techniques for extracting information from human skeletal remains: sexing and aging, osteometry, odontometry, the examination and diagnosis of epigenetic traits and pathological lesion, and the statistical interpretation of skeletal data.

169T. Topics in Physical Anthropology (1-6; max total 12 if no topic repeated)
Special studies of the discovery and interpretation of information in physical anthropology, and of the application of this subdiscipline in legal, medical, and scientific research.

E. ADVANCED STUDY CURRICULUM

190. Independent Study (1-3; max total 6)
See Academic Placement - Independent Study. Approved for RP grading.

192. Directed Readings (1-3; max total 3)
Supervised reading on a student-selected topic outside the regular curriculum, conducted through regular consultation with a faculty sponsor.

193. Internships in Anthropology (1-6; max total 6)
Interns will work on a variety of tasks involving the analysis and curation of archaeological collections; design and curation of museum displays; the collection and analysis of physical anthropological data, including working with primates at local zoos; and ethnographic data collection. CR/NC grading only.

194. Honors Thesis (1-3; max total 3)
Development of a student report or paper into a manuscript of professional and publishable quality. Requires approval by an Honors Committee of three faculty members.

197T. Current Topics in Anthropology (1-6; max total 12 if no topic repeated)
Subject matter of these courses combines topics from the various subfields of anthropology, providing the student with a more integrated view of the discipline.