ANTH 470 - Senior Seminar in Anthropology

Fall (4) Staff. Prerequisite(s): ANTH 202 and two other ANTH courses in the same sub-field as the senior seminar section.

A small, writing intensive seminar for senior majors. Topics will vary, reflecting the research specializations of faculty teaching each section. Students will conduct original research and produce a substantial paper.

Topics for Fall

Alcohol and Culture. Alcohol is the most widely used drug and drinking is often a highly ritualized social event. In this seminar we will explore the role alcohol has played historically in politics, society, and the economy from a comparative cross-cultural perspective. Using historical, archaeological, and ethnographic sources, we will identify common themes in the social uses of alcohol and interpret the symbolic meanings people attach to drinking.

Topics for Spring

Jews and Muslims in North Africa This senior seminar explores questions of ethnicity, religion, sovereignty, diaspora, and social difference by examining the varied interactions of Muslims and Jews in North African, with particular attention to the past two hundred years.

Indigenous Archaeology This seminar will examine the theoretical, methodological, ethical and political implications of archaeological research that is conducted by, with and for indigenous communities. Through close readings of assigned texts, in-class discussions and debates, and writing assignments, students will interrogate the concept of indigeneity and examine indigenous archaeology in the context of other “archaeologies of virtue,” including community and public archaeology. Questions that will orient the course include: Do such archaeologies, as some have argued, represent cynical attempts by non- indigenous archaeologists to protect their access to the archaeological record? Or does the required collaboration between indigenous communities and predominately non-indigenous archaeologists offer the potential for a new archaeological epistemology through which knowledge of the past is constructed by considering both Western and local conceptions of time, space and subjectivity? What ethical obligations do archaeologists have to descendent communities and to their profession? Students will also discuss the utility of methodological innovations, including ethnographic archaeology, which have developed with the turn to collaborative research projects.