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This course introduces basic anthropological concepts and presents the discipline's distinctive perspective on society and culture. The power of this perspective is illustrated by exploring vividly-written ethnographic cases that show how anthropological approaches illuminate contemporary social and political issues in a range of different cultural sites.

The world-famous landscapes of East Africa, including Serengeti National Park, Ngorongoro Conservation Area, and the Rift Valley lakes of Tanzania form the backdrop for this special course on protected area conservation, its impacts on local people, and alternative models that simultaneously promote conservation while creating local community benefits. We take full advantage of the special format of Sophomore College, spending an initial week on campus with lectures and lively discussions on these topics, before flying together on a 12-day expedition to northern Tanzania to witness firsthand the challenges of parks and peoples in this classic setting. Summer reading is designed to help us all prepare for the experience. Students will also undertake research on a related subject of interest to them by drawing on the literature to develop and present a final paper to the class, providing a closer look at key places and issues we'll consider. Joining us for the travel segment of the class, and a few days on campus, will be a group of Stanford alumni who have an interest in these same topics. The course will explore the pros and cons of parks and protected areas as they affect both wildlife and human inhabitants, and to address the dilemma of how to achieve conservation in a manner that creates benefits for local people and promotes social justice. We will look at the history of specific protected areas to ask: What approach to protected area (PA) conservation has been taken in each case? Who are the key proponents and what are their main social and ecological objectives? How successful has the protected area been at achieving its conservation goals? In what ways is climate change affecting that success? What are the benefits of the PA to people and who receives them? What are the costs of the PA to people and who pays them? Where benefits are not commensurate to costs, what, if anything, is being done to address the imbalance? How well is it working? Are there alternative conservation models that would make the interests of parks and people more compatible, and reduce the tradeoffs between them? What is needed to make these alternative models work? The travel portion of the class will help us take an on-the-ground look at these questions. We are scheduled to visit Tarangire, Lake Manyara, Mt. Meru, and Serengeti National Parks, plus the Maramboi Wildlife Management Area, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, and nearby Maasai villages. Please note that students are required to read four books over the summer, to reflect on them in two short essays (2-3 pages each), one due in July and the other in August, and to come to campus in the fall well-prepared to discuss each reading and co-lead a class discussion on at least one of them. A 6- to 8-page final paper will be based on literature research on an approved topic, focused on Tanzania or nearby. Students will be expected to present main findings of that paper during an evening seminar as we travel.

This course will examine the role of fear in shaping ideas about immigrants, asylum seekers, and refugees. We start from the notion that emotions are social formations with particular histories and political significance. We will refrain from assuming that fear is nothing more than a feeling or an automatic response and instead take it as a site that allows us to examine how psychological and legal experts together define and dispute what is normal, reasonable, credible, plausible, real, appropriate, and timely. The seminar will cover themes such as risk and threat, race and origin, pain and injury, confession and testimony, fiction and figuration, and personhood and representation. We will look at newspaper articles, social media content, legal opinions, case law, court transcripts, and psychological evaluations, as well as texts in politics, anthropology, sociology, philosophy, literature, comics, and films. Students will write a short essay on the politics of fear. Throughout the course, they will develop their toolkit to critically reflect on an emotion of their choice.

Independent research conducted under faculty supervision, normally taken junior or senior year in pursuit of a senior paper or an honors project. May be repeated for credit.

This course introduces basic anthropological concepts and presents the discipline's distinctive perspective on society and culture. The power of this perspective is illustrated by exploring vividly-written ethnographic cases that show how anthropological approaches illuminate contemporary social and political issues in a range of different cultural sites.

Required of second- and third-year Ph.D. students writing the qualifying paper or the qualifying written examination. May be repeated for credit one time.