Anthropology

Anthropology courses
Anthropology department home page

Director of undergraduate studies: Eric Sargis, Rm. 208, 10 Sachem St., 432-6140, eric.sargis@yale.edu [F]; David Watts, Rm. 210, 10 Sachem St., 432-9597, david.watts@yale.edu [Sp]

FACULTY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY

Professors

Richard Bribiescas, Richard Burger, *Michael Dove, Kathryn Dudley, J. Joseph Errington, Andrew Hill, Marcia Inhorn, William Kelly (Chair), Adam Kuper (Emeritus) (Visiting), Enrique Mayer, Roderick McIntosh, *Patricia Pessar (Adjunct), Eric Sargis, *James Scott, Helen Siu, Kalyanakrishnan Sivaramakrishnan, David Watts, *Harvey Weiss

Associate Professors

Bernard Bate, Kamari Clarke, *Nora Groce

Assistant Professors

Jafari Allen, Brenda Bradley, Sean Brotherton, Narges Erami, Erik Harms, Karen Hébert, William Honeychurch, Michael McGovern, Karen Nakamura, Douglas Rogers

Lecturers

*Carol Carpenter, *Ashish Chadha, John Hale, Alessandro Monsutti, *Graeme Reid, Emily Wentzell

*A joint appointment with primary affiliation in another department or school.

The major in Anthropology gives a firm grounding in this comparative discipline concerned with the diverse cultural, social, and biological patterns of human societies. Anthropology deals not only with that small proportion of humankind in Europe and North America but with societies of the entire world, from the remotest past to the present day. It is thus an essential part of a sound liberal education, helping us to see our world from a perspective free of ethnocentric assumptions. The major in Anthropology covers trends of biological and cultural evolution, world prehistory, forms of social organization and cultural behavior, and patterns of linguistic and nonlinguistic communication.

The subfields of anthropological inquiry—archaeology, biological anthropology, sociocultural anthropology, and linguistic anthropology—together offer a holistic perspective on humankind and its development.

Requirements of the major. Students are required to present twelve course credits toward their major, including introductory or intermediate courses in at least three subfields of anthropology, a senior essay, and three advanced seminars or courses (not including the Readings in Anthropology or senior essay courses). Three term courses may be selected from other departments, with approval by the director of undergraduate studies. These cognate courses should be chosen to expand the student's knowledge in one of the subfields of anthropology or in an area of cross-disciplinary concentration. For example, cognate courses for biological anthropology can be found in the course listings of Biology, Geology and Geophysics, Psychology, and Forestry & Environmental Studies. Appropriate areas of cross-disciplinary concentrations include such topics as area studies (e.g., Africa), folklore, anthropological approaches to law and health, sex roles, or Pleistocene studies.

Senior essay. All majors are required to complete a substantial paper during the senior year, either in a seminar or in ANTH 491a or b. There are three options for completing the senior essay. First, students can write a paper for an advanced seminar. A seminar senior essay, more substantial than a typical term paper, is evaluated by the seminar instructor and a second reader drawn from the Yale faculty. Students must obtain written approval for this option from the seminar instructor no later than the third week of the term. Students fulfilling the requirements of two majors may not write a single seminar essay to complete the senior requirement for both majors. The deadline for a seminar senior essay is the senior essay deadline, not the term paper deadline.

The second option for the senior essay is an independent essay on a subject of the student's choice, completed in ANTH 491a or b. Regardless of the term in which the essay is written, a student pursuing this option must choose a topic and identify an Anthropology faculty adviser by the third week of the fall term of the senior year. The student should also inform the director of undergraduate studies of a preferred second reader by this time. The adviser must have a faculty appointment in Anthropology, and the second reader must have a faculty appointment at Yale.

The third option for the senior essay is a yearlong paper, begun in ANTH 471a or 472b and completed in ANTH 491a or b. The yearlong essay is designed for students who wish to pursue more extensive independent projects than can be completed in a single term. Students must have their project approved by a faculty adviser who establishes the requirements for ANTH 471a or 472b; approval is required before the student registers for ANTH 471a or 472b, typically in the fall term of the senior year.

REQUIREMENTS OF THE MAJOR

Prerequisites: None

Number of courses: 12 course credits (incl senior essay)

Distribution of courses: At least 1 intro survey or intermediate course in each of 3 subfields of anthropology; 3 advanced sems or advanced courses (not incl ANTH 471a, 472b, 491a or b); up to 3 cognate courses in other depts or programs with DUS approval

Senior requirement: Senior essay

Archaeology: ANTH 030b, 150a, 172a, 232b, 272b, 277a, 278La, 279Lb, 293a, 320a, 363b, 374a, 473a, 483a

Biological anthropology: ANTH 116a, 204a, 212b, 280b, 299a, 394a, 395b, 396b, 397Lb, 456a

Sociocultural anthropology: ANTH 010b, 011a, 110b, 114a, 201b, 208b, 210b, 211a, 234b, 239b, 244a, 254a, 266a, 282a, 288a, 290b, 303a, 307b, 330a, 337b, 342a, 344a, 350a, 351a, 357a, 358b, 360b, 369b, 382a, 422b, 427b, 451a, 474b

Linguistic anthropology: ANTH 120a, 285b, 298a, 333b, 413b, 419a, 423b, 432a