Anthropology

Course Listings

ANTH 199 Topics in Anthropology (1-4)

A semester-long study of topics in Anthropology. Topics and emphases will vary according to the instructor. This course may be repeated for credit with different topics. See the New and Topics Courses page on the Registrar’s webpage for descriptions and applicability to majors/minors in other departments.

• General Education Requirement Fulfillment: Topic dependent
• Prerequisite: Topic dependent
• Offering: Occasionally
• Instructor: Staff

ANTH 231 Indigenous Peoples of North America (4)

This course offers a survey of the dynamic, changing cultures of Native North America, from the time of the first peopling of the continent to the present day. The approach emphasizes the diversity of these cultures, as well as the complexity of the relationships between Native American and non-native peoples. Particular attention given to Oregon and the Northwest.

• General Education Requirement Fulfillment: Social Sciences; PDE; World Engagement: CV
• Prerequisite: ANTH 150 recommended
• Offering: Last offered in Fall 2022
• Instructor: Dobkins

ANTH 232 Peoples and Cultures of Africa (4)

This course explores Africa's cultural diversity from an interdisciplinary perspective. To situate specific African groups in their local and global context, the course begins with a study of African geography and history. The bulk of the course is then devoted to the study of present-day Africa, including ethnographic studies on language, literature, social organization, religion, politics and popular culture. The last unit of the class focuses on the causes and consequences of Africa's current upheavals and humanitarian crises.

• General Education Requirement Fulfillment: Social Sciences;PDE; World Engagement: CV
• Offering: Fall
• Instructor: Millen

ANTH 235 Cultures of Mexico and Ecuador (4)

This course focuses on the cultures of Mexico and Ecuador, with the primary focus on Mexico, including the experience of Mexican-Americans. Topics include ethnicity, gender, class, religion, healing, immigration, and politics. Many of the units are organized around first-person accounts, as read through the lens of anthropological theories.

• General Education Requirement Fulfillment: Social Sciences; World Engagement: CV
• Offering: Spring
• Instructor: Wogan

ANTH 258 Selected Area Studies (4)

This course enables faculty and students to study a specific geographic or cultural area not normally covered in existing curricula. Anthropological perspectives will be applied to such topics as history, environment, family, religion, popular culture and the arts, and current issues in the area under study. Designation of specific area focus will be made at the time of the course offering. Foci, readings, and assignments will vary with instructor. May be repeated for credit with different area focus.

• General Education Requirement Fulfillment: Social Sciences; World Engagement: CV
• Offering: On demand
• Instructor: Staff

ANTH 299 Topics in Anthropology (1-4)

A semester-long study of topics in Anthropology. Topics and emphases will vary according to the instructor. This course may be repeated for credit with different topics. See the New and Topics Courses page on the Registrar’s webpage for descriptions and applicability to majors/minors in other departments.

• General Education Requirement Fulfillment: Topic dependent
• Prerequisite: Topic dependent
• Offering: Occasionally
• Instructor: Staff

ANTH 335 Visual Anthropology (4)

This course focuses on a variety of visual texts, from documentary films about non-Western cultures to fictional films made in the U.S. Special emphasis is placed on questions about visual representations of other cultures, and the way audience responses to visual texts reflect cultural values. Students will carry out independent fieldwork projects, in some cases making use of video-recording technologies.

• General Education Requirement Fulfillment: Arts & Humanities, Social Sciences
• Prerequisite: One previous anthropology course; preference given to Anthropology Majors and Minors
• Offering: As Appropriate
• Instructor: Wogan

ANTH 344 Medical Anthropology (4)

This course introduces students to medical anthropology. By exploring human health, sickness and healing from diverse theoretical and cross-cultural perspectives, students will learn how different peoples around the world conceptualize the human body, explain the causes of disease, manage patients and healers, contend with stress, and articulate the meaning and origin of social suffering. The course has a service learning component.

• General Education Requirement Fulfillment: Social Sciences
• Prerequisite: One course in Anthropology and/or consent of instructor
• Offering: Annually
• Instructor: Millen

ANTH 346 Technology and Society (4)

This course focuses on the social aspects of technology, such as how technology practices, beliefs, and attitudes are shaped by age, class, and (sub-)culture. Most of the primary research will be provided by the students themselves, based on their qualitative investigations of uses and interpretations of technology, including their own. The majority of the data will be taken from the U.S., but we will also examine uses and interpretations of technology in other areas, such as Western Europe, Latin America, and Asia. Possible topics include social patterns and variations in the attribution of human qualities to robots and other technology; reactions to artificial intelligence and surveillance technology, ranging from resistance to indifference and positive embrace; and the sociolinguistic aspects of communication through phones, video-conferencing, and other media.

• General Education Requirement Fulfillment: Social Sciences; World Engagement: Cultural Values
• Offering: Annually
• Instructor: Wogan

ANTH 351 Indigenous Peoples, Human Rights and the Environment (4)

This course focuses upon environmental and human rights issues affecting indigenous peoples worldwide. Using the cross-cultural, comparative and field-based perspectives that distinguish anthropology, this course examines some of the most pressing problems facing the world's indigenous peoples, explores strategies used by these groups in facing human rights and environmental violations, and offers students the opportunity to study about and take action on these issues. Case studies of specific indigenous groups will be drawn from different world areas, including North and South America, Africa, Oceania and Asia.

• General Education Requirement Fulfillment: Social Sciences;PDE; World Engagement: CV
• Prerequisite: prior course work in Anthropology or Environmental Studies required
• Offering: Last offered in Fall 2022
• Instructor: Dobkins

ANTH 356 Language and Culture (4)

This course introduces students to the major issues and methodologies in the study of language in its cultural context. In particular, the course focuses on linguistic questions related to the following: 1) gender; 2) power; 3) ethnic, racial, and national identifies; 4) literacy; 5) poetic, verbal performance; and 6) intercultural communication. Analysis often centers on video and cassette texts from films, conversations, and the students' own fieldwork data.

• General Education Requirement Fulfillment: Social Sciences; World Engagement: CV
• Prerequisite: Previous coursework in Anthropology recommended
• Offering: Alternate years
• Instructor: Wogan

ANTH 394 Internship in Anthropology (1-4)

This course provides an opportunity for practical experience (minimum 12 hours per week) in an off-campus setting related to the study of anthropology and to the student's emerging research and professional interests. The student will be supervised by an on-site professional as well as a faculty member. A paper, journal, and periodic consultations with the faculty member are required. The course does not fulfill the senior experience requirement.

• General Education Requirement Fulfillment: Social Sciences
• Prerequisite: The internship is open to advanced majors in anthropology only
• Offering: Every semester
• Instructor: Staff

ANTH 399 Topics in Anthropology (1-4)

A semester-long study of topics in Anthropology. Topics and emphases will vary according to the instructor. This course may be repeated for credit with different topics. See the New and Topics Courses page on the Registrar’s webpage for descriptions and applicability to majors/minors in other departments.

• General Education Requirement Fulfillment: Topic dependent
• Prerequisite: Topic dependent
• Offering: Occasionally
• Instructor: Staff

ANTH 429 Topics in Anthropology (1-4)

A semester-long study of topics in Anthropology. Topics and emphases will vary according to the instructor. This course may be repeated for credit with different topics. See the New and Topics Courses page on the Registrar’s webpage for descriptions and applicability to majors/minors in other departments.

• General Education Requirement Fulfillment: Topic dependent
• Prerequisite: Topic dependent
• Offering: Occasionally
• Instructor: Staff

ANTH 490 Independent Study (2 or 4)

This course provides the opportunity to conduct a major research project which cannot otherwise be pursued through any existing course in the department's curriculum. Students must have standing in anthropology and will work under faculty supervision. This course cannot replace ANTH 499W Senior Seminar.

• Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
• Offering: On demand
• Instructor: Staff

ANTH 499W Senior Thesis Seminar (4)

This capstone course is dedicated to the process of research and writing of the senior thesis for Archaeology majors. It consists of weekly meetings in which students discuss readings about current topics in archaeology as well as interpretive issues directly related to their specific thesis projects. The course includes in-class workshops related to library research, writing, citation, illustration, and, if needed, specific methods such as photography, technical drawing, or pXRF analysis. Students are required to meet specific deadlines for partial drafts of their thesis, which will be read and critiqued by the thesis advisor(s). At the end of the course, the students are also required to make a formal presentation of the most significant aspects of their research.

• General Education Requirement Fulfillment: Writing-centered; Social Sciences
• Prerequisite: Senior standing in Anthropology or by permission
• Offering: Occasionally
• Instructor: Nicorgski

ANTH 499H Senior Honors Seminar (4)

Senior Honors Seminar provides anthropology majors the option of extending their required ANTH 499W Senior Research Methods Seminar for a full year in order to complete a more ambitious and rigorous senior project utilizing ethnographic methods. Enrollment is by application only, and accepted students will be expected to attend an additional semester of ANTH 499W Senior Research Methods Seminar to receive guidance and to provide peer mentoring for other anthropology majors.

• Prerequisite: ANTH 499W
• Offering: By Application
• Instructor: Dobkins, Millen, Wogan