81 - 90 of 335 results for: ANTHRO

The South Asian subcontinent (comprising of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka) is one of the most diverse and densely populated regions in the world and increasingly prominent in new global political and cultural economies. South Asia has also provided the inspiration for cutting edge theories about the colonial state, postcolonial studies, democracy, popular culture, and religious conflict. The course will provide an overview of major historical events and social trends in contemporary South Asia and focus on themes such as gender, religion, caste, migration and movement, new technologies, the urban and rural, the state, and new forms of consumption among others.Thus, the course will give students historically and theoretically informed perspectives on contemporary South Asia, as well as how to apply insights learned to larger debates within the political and social sciences.

This course will explore historical formation of cities and citizens in the Eastern Mediterranean since the 19th century.We will explore urban development, economy, social classes and local politics with a focus Egypt and Turkey and in particular two world-historical cities, Cairo and Istanbul. Drawing on history, cultural anthropology, geography and sociology disciplines, we will examine how urban space in Egypt and Turkey have reconfigured through histories of colonialism, nationalism, developmentalism and globalization. Rural to urban immigration, informality, gendered places, consumption, urban regeneration, local politics and branding the city will be the themes of our discussion. We will study these themes in relation to two main questions: How do spatial changes engender new social practices and redefine cultural difference?; How do power struggles at the intersection of local and global interests shape urban change? It will be of interest for urban studies majors and other students at all levels who would like to study urban struggles and change in Turkey, Egypt, the Middle East and the Global South.

How do choices relating to bearing, nursing, and raising children influence women's participation in the labor force? Cultural, demographic, and evolutionary explanations, using crosscultural case studies. Emphasis is on understanding fertility and work in light of the options available to women at particular times and places.

An overview of social issues in contemporary China as seen through its emerging independent documentary film movement. Topics covered include representations of history, political power and accountability in the reform era, human rights, urbanization, the environment, homelessness and inequality, sexualities, addiction, and the role of media in society. Each viewing is accompanied by readings in media theory or the anthropological/sociological study of contemporary China. Can be taken with or without research component. Films include English subtitles.

Our everyday lives are made up of multiple routines, some consciously staged and imagined and others unconscious and insidious. Anthropologists call these rituals. Rituals shape every aspect of our lives, creating our symbolic universes and governing the most minute of our practices. nnFor early anthropologists and for those interested in religious and symbolic life, rituals and rites were seen as both one of the most universal features of human existence, and, as that which enables us to reflect upon our human existence. A prominent example are that of the ¿rites de passage¿ found in every culture, from puberty initiation rites, weddings or funerals, which socially signal the change from one status to another. While initially for anthropologists, rituals marked the difference between the sacred and the profane, soon scholars began to see the ubiquity of ritual and the symbolic in shaping even the most mundane activity such as the structure of a meal and why one is not meant to eat dessert before the main course. The first half of the class examines these different debates surrounding the meaning and effects of rituals and rites. The second half of the class takes these debates to think about the question of power and politics. We return to the question of how our symbolic universes are staged and imagined by us through ritual forms such as the annual Presidential ¿pardoning the turkey¿ at Thanksgiving. The question of power however pushes us even further to ask why it is that we obey particular kinds of authority, consent to particular actions, and find ourselves doing things we haven¿t consciously decided to do. Many have argued that these kinds of political questions about how we respond and are shaped by power have something to do with our symbolic worlds and ritual, from the most obvious (the monarchy) to the most subtle (listening in a classroom). Throughout the course, these abstract questions will be grounded in cross-cultural examples and analysis.

The course prepare students for the methodological and practical aspects of doing ecologically oriented, quantitative anthropological field research. The primary goal is to explore what it means to ask anthropological questions in a systematic way. We will focus on understanding what can constitute an interesting question, how to frame a question in way that facilitates investigation, and how to design methods to begin investigating a question. In turn, the course will provide a format to refine research projects in preparation for doing more extensive fieldwork.

Theory, method, and application in anthropology. How theory in behavioral ecology developed to understand animal behavior is applied to questions about human economic decision making in ecological and evolutionary contexts. Topics include decisions about foraging and subsistence, competition and cooperation, mating, and reproduction and parenting.

The social and cultural consequences of contemporary environmental problems. The impact of market economies, development efforts, and conservation projects on indigenous peoples, emphasizing Latin America. The role of indigenous grass roots organizations in combating environmental destruction and degradation of homeland areas.

This interdisciplinary course explores natural resource extraction from multiple conceptual perspectives. Logging and non-timber resource harvesting practices are examined through ecological dynamics of species and community life histories, natural and anthropogenic disturbance regimes and resilience and recovery to diverse perturbations through alternative stable states. Using a political ecology lens, we then examine historical and current policies and practices aimed to manage terrestrial resource use and extraction: maximum sustained yield, community-based forest management, certification systems, payment for ecosystem services and Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD). Through problem sets and lab/field exercises, we employ quantitative ecological measurements and experiments coupled with quantitative and qualitative methods and analyses used to assess socio-economic drivers and ecological impacts. Diverse benefits/costs imparted throughout the supply chain - from extraction to consumer ¿ are explored across temporal and spatial scales with local to global agents. No Prerequisites: course or foundation in Ecology, Community Ecology, and/or Ecosystem Ecology strongly suggested.