Anth 4100: Visual Anthropology (Will be on schedule for Fall 2015) Visual Anthropology encompasses the anthropological study of all visual representations. This course will engage students in histories and analyses of representations and visual products/artifacts from many cultures. Artifacts and visual objects studied may include sand paintings, tattoos, sculptures and reliefs, cave paintings, jewelry, hieroglyphics, paintings, photographs and new media productions. The study of human vision, properties of media, and relationships between visual and form and function are also central to this anthropological subfield. Students will have the opportunity to create small visual objects on a weekly basis during the bulk of the semester.
Anth 1620: Intro to Public Culture: Citizenship, Science, and Culture in the Anthropocene Integrative approach connecting culture, science and law to the practical work of managing critical shared resources for the public good in the 21st century. Course examines how governance of shared natural resources (climate, water, wildlife) is connected to governance of community and cultural resources (internet, electricity grids, knowledge, storytelling). Topics highlight diverse approaches to citizenship and sustainability as found in cli-sci fiction, public science, public art, land trusts, indigenous land stewardship traditions.
Anth 3100: Business Anthropology
Demonstrating the rich area of Applied Anthropology, this course surveys the ways in which anthropologists work in and on transnational corporations. Anthropological research in marketing and consumer behavior, as well as in the organizational culture of contemporary and historical businesses influences various industries, particularly in technology and new media products. Contemporary corporations also consume anthropology, often deploying anthropological language and concepts with or without any ethnographic fieldwork. Students will discover various anthropological encounters with the business world and will have the opportunity to contribute and engage in those encounters over social media.
Anth 3156: Digital and Participatory Research Methods
This course teaches participatory research and media production as practiced in anthropology as a transformative process through which students can become agents of change. The course engages students through scholarly and active learning to develop research skills, including digital and participatory methods in collaboration with people studied, to facilitate cultural and visual literacy. Course emphasizes field techniques, data analysis and interpretation and the use of digital technologies (such as videos, social media, etc.) as sources of data as well as means of communication. Lab
Anth 3300: Energy, Culture and Society
This course takes a cross-cultural and interdisciplinary view of energy. It examines the history of energy generation and use in the U.S. with attention to economic and ecological systems as well as cultural assumptions, asking how the U.S. grew to be the largest consumer of energy in the history of the world. By studying case studies of electrification in the global north and south; post-Fukushima nuclear energy policies in Japan and Germany; the impact of global gas and oil markets on local U.S. communities and the growth of renewable energy, this course aims to give students methods, tools and perspectives to understand, critique and ultimately influence (personal and societal) assumptions, policies, economics and technical systems surrounding energy generation and use.
Anth 4652: Cultural Theory for Wicked Problems
A wicked problem is a social or cultural problem difficult to solve for many reasons, including: incomplete or contradictory knowledge, the number of people or opinions involved, the large economic burden of solutions and the interconnected nature of these with other problems. This course explores the ways that cultural theory provides critical insights in complex contemporary arenas such as government policy, nonprofit work, law, business, communications, education, health issues, environment and conservation, natural resources management, risk management, natural disaster responses and more. The goal of the course is to teach students the value of cultural theory in understanding and working within the complexities of the contemporary world.