Anthropology—Courses
Please note that not every course listed is offered each year and that students should consult the following sources for current course offerings:
COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
ANTH-1013. Introduction to Cultural Anthropology Special Topics
This is an introduction to the study of contemporary cultures and languages and to the methods of ethnographic fieldwork.
ANTH-1023. Introduction to Physical Anthropology and Archaeology
An introduction to the study of humans as a biocultural species. The focus of this course is on human evolution, human variation and genetics, nonhuman primates, and the work of physical anthropologists.
ANTH-1033. Introduction to Archaeology
This course overviews cultural diversity throughout the archaeological record, emphasizing cultural change. Topics such as adaptation, the development of complex societies, the rise of the state, and the role of archaeology in human history will be discussed. Basic archaeological methods, theory, and techniques will be presented. Multiple case studies, from different parts of the world, will illustrate how archaeologists recover, describe, and analyze the past.
ANTH-2003. Area Ethnography: Caribbean
Ethnographic and ethnological study of the culture of the Caribbean. Prerequisite: ANTH 1013.
ANTH-2013. Area Ethnography: South America
Ethnographic and ethnological study of the culture of South America. Prerequisite: ANTH 1013.
ANTH-2023. Area Ethnography: Circumpolar North
Ethnographic and ethnological study of the culture of the Circumpolar North. Prerequisite: ANTH 1013.
ANTH-2033. Area Ethnography: Aboriginal Experiences In Cities
Ethnographic and ethnological study of the culture of aboriginal experiences in cities. Prerequisite: ANTH 1013 or with permission of the instructor.
ANTH-2043. Area Ethnography: Mexico and Central America
Ethnographic and ethnological study of the culture of Mexico and Central America. Prerequisite: ANTH 1013.
ANTH-2053. Area Ethnography: the Mediterranean
Ethnographic and ethnological study of the culture of the Mediterranean. Prerequisite: ANTH 1013.
ANTH-2063. Area Ethnography: North America
Ethnographic and ethnological study of the culture of North America. Prerequisite: ANTH 1013.
ANTH-2073. Area Ethnography: Canada
Ethnographic and ethnological study of the culture of Canada. Prerequisite: ANTH 1013.
ANTH-2083. Area Ethnography: Eastern North America
Ethnographic and ethnological study of the culture of Eastern North America. Prerequisite: ANTH 1013.
ANTH-2103. Area Ethnography: Southeast Asia
Ethnographic and ethnological study of the culture of Southeast Asia. Prerequisite: ANTH 1013.
ANTH-2123. Area Ethnography: Africa
Ethnographic and ethnological study of the culture of Africa. Prerequisite: ANTH 1013.
ANTH-2153. Area Ethnography: Australia
Ethnographic and ethnological study of the culture of Australia. Prerequisite: ANTH 1013.
ANTH-2303. Issues in Archaeology
The aim of this course is to explore critically current trends and issues in archaeological theory and methods, such as system theory, postprocessual theory, etc., and their impact on current practice in archaeology.
ANTH-2323. Archaeolgy of Early Societies: Eurasia, Africa, Oceania
The archaeological record of the origin and evolution of human culture and social behaviour. Emphasis is placed on earliest human culture and society, its development, and theoretical interpretations of this development.
ANTH-2333. World Archaeology
This course will introduce students to past cultural expressions in different parts of the world. Following a general introduction to archaeological methods and techniques and the nature of archaeological record, this course will proceed to discuss multiple archaeological cases related to the ways of life of hunter-gatherers and complex societies ? chiefdoms and states - as well as the rise and fall of these forms of social and political organization. Past cultural practices and the processes that give rise to cultural change will be examined in different locations around the globe. Prerequisite: None.
ANTH-2343. Archaeology of Early Societies: North and Central America
This course will introduce students to past cultural expressions in North and Central America based on archaeological data. The peopling of the region, complex hunter-gatherers and the rise of chiefdoms, and the development of early states will be considered. Past cultural diversity as well as the process that gives rise to it will be examined in different geographical settings. A time span of more that 14,000 years will be covered during the academic term. Prerequisite: None.
ANTH-2353. Archaeology of Early Societies: South America
This course will introduce students to past cultural expressions in South America and the Caribbean region. The human colonization of the region and the adaptation of those early communities will be considered. The development of agriculture and the adoption of a sedentary life as well as the rise and collapse of complex societies will be examined. Past cultural diversity of both regions, as well as the process that gives rise to it will be examined in different geographical settings. A time span of more than 12,000 years will be covered during the term. Prerequisite: None.
ANTH-2413. Human Biological Diversity
This course will study human biological diversity in the context of the interaction of biology and culture in different environments. The goal is to understand why biological variations exist and how these variations help populations adapt to varying environments. The course will examine many of these human variations such as distribution of eye, hair and skin colour, blood groups, thermal acclimatization, and disease adaptations. The format of the course will be a combination of in-class lab work/exercises and lectures. Prerequisite: ANTH 1023.
ANTH-2423. Human Evolution: Fact and Theory
This course is a study of the current knowledge and scientific debate regarding the origins and development of the human species. Fossil evidence and evolutionary theory from a historical and modern perspective are emphasized. Not open to first-year students. Prerequisite: ANTH 1023.
ANTH-2443. Human Skeletal Biology
The focus of this course is on osteology, the study of skeletal anatomy, in the context of forensic anthropology. Students will learn the details of both the human and nonhuman skeleton in a concentrated lab format. Not open to first-year students.
ANTH-2513. Cultural Anthropology
This course examines culture both conceptually and in its diverse forms ranging from foraging to peasant and industrial societies. Both non-Western and Western value systems and their social expression in political, economic, and ideological institutions will be studied from cross-cultural and historical perspectives. The study of non-Western societies will also be used in a critical examination of contemporary Western industrial societies. Prerequisite: ANTH 1013.
ANTH-2523. Social Anthropology
This course investigates social forms such as kinship, marriage, descent, age groupings, and interest associations, as well as processes of stratification, change, and social control in society. Ethnographic examples are used to illustrate how social aspects of economy, political order, religion, and language constitute social systems. Prerequisite: ANTH 1013.
ANTH-2533. The Anthropology of Gender
This course examines male and female roles in a number of different cultural settings, especially non-Western societies. Particular attention is given to the cultural expectations of gender behaviour, the structure of economic opportunities for males and females, and how shifts in opportunity structures impact gender roles. Various examples illustrating the roles of males and females in the context of marriage, domestic group organization, economic decision making and political decision making, will be presented. Prerequisite: ANTH 1013.
ANTH-2623. Applied Anthropology
This course distinguishes between applied and basic anthropological research and examines new career opportunities for anthropologists in such areas as public health, urban and community development, international development, human rights, education, and social services. Important ethical and policy considerations are reviewed within the context of the profession of applied anthropology. Prerequisite: ANTH 1013.
ANTH-2633. Issues in Ethnomusicology
The aim of this course is to examine a range of key issues in ethnomusicology, from the classic works of the discipline to contemporary theories and approaches, and including aesthetic systems, the representation of music, music and cultural change, and the musical articulation of social identity. The course will not only offer an insight into musical diversity in cultures around the world, but will also develop the fundamental view that music both expresses and actively constructs social and cultural realities. Prerequisite: ANTH 1013.
ANTH-3303. Anthropology of Law and Justice
Law and justice are important components of culture. This course will survey the anthropology of law and justice from its earliest to its most current forms. Western and non-Western forms of law, justice, and dispute resolution will be analyzed. Critical examinations of formal and informal law and justice will reveal how both are socially constructed and practiced in everyday life in different ways and for different purposes across cultures, nations, and institutions. Prerequisite: None.
ANTH-3323. Hunter-Gatherers in Modern World
This course begins by exploring the definitions of hunter-gatherers and by examining what sets them apart from other peoples. Early evolutionary views of hunter-gatherers are contrasted with current research on the diverse economic foundations of hunter-gatherer societies. The course covers questions of identity, property rights, gender, modes of production, and distribution of resources, drawing upon examples from various geographical areas. Prerequisite: ANTH 1013.
ANTH-3333. Economic Anthropology: Anthropology of Exchange
This course will explore how anthropologists have examined exchange, sharing, and transfers of goods within and between societies. Since Malinowski and Mauss, anthropologists have focused on gift giving and exchange. In this course we will contrast various forms of exchange paying special attention to the differences between gifts and commodities. We will explore what role money plays in subsistence economies and how some societies use levelling mechanisms to maintain egalitarian distribution. Prerequisite: ANTH 1013.
ANTH-3343. The Anthropology of Art
This course examines the aesthetics of non-Western and cross-cultural visual art production, as well as the political economy of that production. Students will gain an appreciation of the diversity of artistic systems and the ways in which art is an integral part of social and cultural organization, and will scrutinize the culturally-specific ways in which art is defined. A particular focus of the course will be the conceptual movement of non-Western art from the category of ethnographic object to the category of fine art. Prerequisite: None.
ANTH-3443. Forensic Osteology and Archaeology
The focus of this course is the application of osteology to the medical-legal investigation of deaths, including description and identification, determination of cause and manner of death, and estimation of time of death, and the collection of physical evidence. The course will be taught in a combined lecture/lab format. Prerequisite: ANTH 2443.
ANTH-3643. Anthropology of Religion
This course emphasizes an understanding of religious phenomena by viewing religion in the context of the diversity of cultures. Prerequisite: None.
ANTH-3663. Urban Anthropology
This course emphasizes a cross-cultural approach to the characteristics of urban society. Major themes of the course include the processes and patterns of urbanization in developing and developed countries, and theories of rural-urban migration. The effects of urbanization on work, family, sense of community, housing, health, education, and recreation will also be examined. Anthropological research methods such as holism and participant observation will be examined and students will have an opportunity to be involved in urban ethnographic research projects. Prerequisite: None.
ANTH-3673. World Music
This course is an examination of music from different parts of the world with the intent of understanding the significance of music in diverse cultural contexts. The course will take as fundamental the idea that music does not merely express underlying cultural realities, but plays an active role in constructing those cultural realities. More importantly, however, this course analyzes the cultural, political, and economic implications of the process where by a wide range of the world's music have been commodified and sold in the global music marketplace through the mediation of the global music industry. Prerequisite: None.
ANTH-3683. The Anthropology of Sport
This course examines the role of sport cross- culturally in both Western and non-Western societies. It will focus on the role of sport in politics, religion, economics and mass media, surveying such issues as socialization, the social construction of identity, class, gender, ethnicity, ideology, power, representation and ritual. These issues will be addressed through in-class activity and fieldwork involving sporting events. Prerequisite: None.
ANTH-3723. Human Ecology
Since its beginning, anthropology has been interested in the relationship between people and the geographical setting where cultures develop. The history of the discipline is full of contrasting examples in which nature and culture are used, within different conceptual and methodological frames, to explain cultural change, social structure, cultural development, and landscape history, among other topics. The main objective of this course is to explore such different approaches using examples from different biogeographical regions. Prerequisite: None.
ANTH-3803. Reading Ethnography
This is a course in reading ethnographic literature. It emphasizes reading comprehensively and profoundly in order to gain a fuller appreciation of different cultures, and it examines issues of translating cultures into the terms of our own Western understanding. Reading examples range from classic ethnographies to recent experimental designs in writing culture. Prerequisite: None.
ANTH-3806. Readings in Anthropological Theory
This course is an intensive reading and seminar discussion on selected recent anthropological theories. Students will read and analyze original works from the second half of the 20th century to the present in an attempt to evaluate their explanatory value and their consequences in the development of anthropology as an academic discipline. Prerequisite: ANTH 1013 and one area ethnography course.
ANTH-3913. Research Methods: Introduction to Qualitative Research Methods
There are two main goals in this course. The primary one is to familiarize students with some of the basic research methods that anthropologists use to construct ethnographic case studies. In the course, the student will gain experience in gathering, recording, interpreting, and presenting qualitative research material. At the same time, we will consider the close relationship between data collection and ethnographic writing. In relation to the latter, students will carry out exercises designed to aid them in developing a clear and concise style of both more formal writing and less formal note taking. The overall goal of the class will be to learn to collect, analyze, and clearly present ethnographic data. Prerequisite: ANTH 1013 and one area ethnography course.
ANTH-4003. Issues in Anthropology
This is an advanced course in anthropological theory which focuses on an issue or set of issues that are of particular concern in anthropology today. The course will be oriented around intensive reading and discussion of theoretical materials drawn from anthropology and allied disciplines. Possible issues include the dialectic between structure and agency, the commensurability and translation of cultures, power and knowledge, and the writing of ethnographic texts, among others. Honours students may be required to fulfill separate course requirements from majors. Prerequisite: ANTH 3806 or permission of the instructor.
ANTH-4013. Honours Seminar in Anthropology
This course is designed to help you with your Honours thesis requirement. It involves both practical work on your own thesis and a consideration of the written work of various anthropologists. The course will include a consideration of the importance of both macro (large-scale) and micro (small-scale) levels of analysis for contemporary ethnographic production. Special attention will be given to the fit between theory and empirical evidence. Both classic and new experimental styles of writing anthropology will receive consideration. Prerequisites: ANTH 3806 and 3913.
ANTH-4443. Applied Forensic Anthropology
The focus of this course is the analysis of specific cases in forensic anthropology, demonstrating how the various components of the law enforcement agencies become involved, and at what stage. The class will analyze the skeletal material associated with each case and do background research as a means of solving the case. This will involve learning about legislation in New Brunswick, court room use of anthropological materials, etc. The format of the course will be mainly in-class lab work accompanied by extensive research and off-campus visits. Limited enrollment. Prerequisite: ANTH 3443 and permission of the instructor.
ANTH-4453. A - Celtic Musics B- Environmental Racism
ANTH 4453A - Celtic Musics in Atlantic Canada (Toner) This course examines the musical traditions of the Irish and Scottish diasporas in Atlantic Canada. The course materials consider the historical context of Irish and Scottish migration to Atlantic Canada in the 18th and 19th centuries, contact and cross-fertilization with other musics in the region, the development of locally-specific musical traditions (related to, but not the same as, Irish and Scottish musics), folk revivalism in the second half of the 20th century, and contemporary musical genres and practices. This course is intended for fourth-year students. Prerequisite: ANTH 3913, or permission of the instructor. ANTH 4453B - Environmental Racism: Canada's Dirty Little Secret(s) (Votour) The objective of this course is to motivate students to question history and authority, expand their view of race, ethnicity, gender, class and the environmental to a global scale and perspective. Students will explore the impact that environmental degradation has on the planet as well as the ways in which environmental damage can affect the health, lives, traditional practices, languages and cultural pathways of indigenous populations. Participants will examine the role that Canada and Canadians play in the destruction (and preservation) of some of the planet's most fragile ecosystems. Since the linking of social and environmental justice movements is a relatively young theoretical perspective this course will be an exciting opportunity to work as a multi-disciplinary group to clarify and promote the issues surrounding the environmental justice movement. Students from all disciplines are encouraged to register. Prerequisites: Enrolment limited to students in their third or fourth year of study, or by permission of the instructor.
ANTH-4553. Independent Study
A programme of independent study under the direction of a member of the faculty selected by the student. It is designed for students who wish to pursue an area of special interest through reading, research, and writing.
ANTH-4666. Honours Thesis
The Honours thesis is a scholarly essay or research paper on a topic chosen by the student in consultation with a faculty member who agrees to serve as thesis adviser. When completed, the thesis is read and graded by the thesis adviser and two other members of the Department. A minimum grade of B is required on the thesis for an Honours degree. Honours students will also be expected to present their work publically within the university community. Prerequisites: ANTH 3806 and 3913.