Anthropology (Anth)
A. THE CORE CURRICULUM
I. Basics
Anth 1, 2, and 3 are taught each semester. Anth 101 and S Sci 15 are taught
once each year.
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
austra lopithecines, and accounts for the great anatomical and biochemical
diversity among modern human populations. General Education BREADTH, Division
3. (CAN ANTH 2)
2. Introduction to Cultural Anthropology (3)
Not open to students with credit in Anth 15 or S Sci 15. Examines the nature
of culture, humanity's unique mechanism for adapting to the changing environment.
It 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. General Education BREADTH, Division
8. (CAN ANTH 4)
3. Introduction to Prehistory (3)
An exploration of human prehistory as revealed by the archaeological record.
Traces the evolution of culture, from its earliest expression in crude stone
tools more than 2 million years old, through the emergence of agriculture
and the first civilizations. General Education BREADTH, Division 3. (CAN
ANTH 6)
30. Critical Thinking in Anthropology (3)
Introduction to the basic concepts and skills of critical thinking illustrated
with anthropological topics such as race and intelligence, religion and
values, and social policy. General Education CORE, Critical Thinking.
B. THE ELECTIVE CURRICULUM
II. Method and Theory
These courses are offered once each year.
101. Fieldwork in Anthropology (6)
Prerequisite: Anth 106 or 108. An introduction to the role, the theory,
and the rudimentary techniques of fieldwork in archaeology, and ethnology.
Requires some field trips, including weekends.
102. Introduction to Linguistic Anthropology (3)
Prerequisite: Anth 1 or 2. A compendium of current thinking on language
from a variety of interdisciplinary perspectives. Discusses brain functions
and language process in human and nonhuman communication systems, and the
roles of language in human evolution, behavior, and thought.
103. Concepts and Applications in Anthropology I:
Physical Anthropology and Archaeology (3)
Prerequisite: Anth 1 or 3 or permission of instructor. The nature of core
concepts such as evolution, adaptation and variability. Their development,
research value and current usefulness in applied contexts are examined.
104. History and Theory of Anthropology (3)
Prerequisite: Anth 2. 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.
106. Contemporary Archaeology (3)
Prerequisite: Anth 2, 3, or permission of instructor. An overview of the
nature of archaeological data and its use in reconstructing the lifeways
of prehistoric peoples. Special emphasis is given to the development of
modern archaeological theory, the current state of the profession, and its
present trends and limits.
107. Concepts and Applications in Anthropology II:
Cultural Anthropology (3)
Prerequisite: Anth 2 or permission of instructor. The nature of core concepts
such as culture, ethnocentrism, and diversity. Their development, research
value and current usefulness in applied contexts are examined.
108. Urban Anthropology (3)
Prerequisite: Anth 2, 3, or permission. The uneven distribution and explosive
growth of humanity during this century evolved a lifestyle whose implications
are poorly understood: urban existence. Reviews cross-cultural and interdisciplinary
evidence and explanations for urbanization, with a focus on American life.
General Education CAPSTONE Cluster course.
109. Internships in Anthropology (1-6; max total 6)
Prerequisite: Anth 1 or 3. Interns will work on a variety of tasks involving
the analysis and curation of archaeological collections; design and curation
of museum displays; and the collection and analysis of physical anthropological
data, including working with primates at local zoos.
III. Area Surveys
123. Peoples and Cultures of Southeast Asia (3)
Prerequisite: Anth 2. 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. General Education
CAPSTONE Cluster course.
124. Peoples and Cultures of East Asia (3)
Prerequisite: Anth 2. 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.
127. Peoples and Cultures of the Southwest (3)
Prerequisite: Anth 2. 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.
IV. Archaeology
131. Prehistory of North America (3)
Prerequisite: Anth 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.
132. Prehistoric Europe (3)
Prerequisite: Anth 3. Outlines the peopling of the European continent, and
the origin and spread of its cultures from Neanderthal times through the
Middle Ages. The contributions of the Etruscans, Scythians, Slavs, Germanics,
Celts, Vikings, Brits, and others to the birth of history.
139T. 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.
V. Social Organization
144W. Cultural Scenarios (3)
Prerequisites: satisfactory completion (C or better) of the Engl 1 graduation
requirement, Anth 2 or 3, and at least 56 completed units. Using ethnological
data, students reconstruct an extinct society's basic challenges, adaptations,
and collapse; derive the implications for the world today; and show what
alternatives would have prolonged the viability of its culture. Designed
for writers, planners, and applied anthropologists. (Formerly Anth 144)
146. 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. General
Education CAPSTONE Cluster course.
149T. Topics in Social Organization
(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.
VI. World View
150W. Anthropology of Religion (3)
Prerequisites: Engl 1, Anth 2. 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 upper-division writing skills
requirement for graduation. General Education CAPSTONE Cluster course.
155. Folk Medicine (3)
Prerequisite: Anth 2. 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.
VII. Physical Anthropology
161. Fossil Man (3)
Prerequisite: Anth 1. A critical examination of the fossil evidence for
hominid forms and behaviors in the Pliocene and Pleistocene epochs. Focuses
on the specific evolutionary factors which led to the emergence of modern
humanity.
162. Primates (3)
Prerequisite: Anth 1. 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)
Prerequisite: Anth 1. 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)
Prerequisite: Anth 1. 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)
Prerequisite: Anth 1. 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.
VIII. Subcultural Variation
170. Women: Culture and Biology (3)
(Same as W S 170.) Prerequisite: Anth 1 or 2. 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.
General Education CAPSTONE Cluster course.
172. Ethnic Relations and Cultures (3)
Prerequisite: Anth 2 or permission. 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. General Education CAPSTONE Cluster
course.
179T. Topics in Subcultural Variation
(1-6; max total 12 if no topic repeated)
Prerequisite: varies with title. Special studies on the origin, evolution,
manifestation and implication of subcultural differences in the modern world.
Selected topics may include criminal, sexual, physically impaired, or institutional
subcultures.
C. THE SPECIAL CURRICULUM
Courses in this division cover topics outside of the standard curriculum,
including student research projects. Credit earned in these courses applies
to the 124-unit university graduation requirement, but ordinarily may not
be applied to the requirements for the anthropology major or minor.
IX. Popular Anthropology
181. 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.
186. Tradition and Change in China and Japan (3)
(Same as Hum 140.) 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. General Education
CAPSTONE Cluster course.
X. Advanced Study in Anthropology
The following courses are normally open only to students who have completed
the core curriculum.
190. Independent Study (1-3; max see reference)
See Academic Placement -- Independent Study. Approved for SP grading.
192. Directed Readings (1-3)
Prerequisite: normally open only to students who have completed the core
curriculum. Supervised reading on a student-selected topic outside the regular
curriculum, conducted under regular consultation with a faculty sponsor.
198. Senior Project (2)
Prerequisites: senior standing or permission of instructor; 12 upper-division
units in the major. Students will be guided through the selection, definition,
and execution of research on an anthropological topic of each student's
choosing. Includes lecture, discussion, practice, and independent student
research. Satisfies the senior major requirement for the B.A. in Anthropology.
199. Honors Thesis (1-3)
Prerequisites: normally open only to students who have completed the core
curriculum and who maintain a GPA in anthropology of at least 3.5. 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.