Catalog
Anthropology
Professors Ásgeirsdóttir (Politics, chair) and Danforth; Associate Professor Eames; Assistant Professor Lyon; Lecturer Rubin
Anthropologists investigate cultural variation, with particular attention to race, gender, ethnicity, political and social change, and human evolution. Anthropology is a comprehensive discipline offering students a broad, comparative, and essentially interdisciplinary approach to the study of human life in all its diversity.
Anthropologists are concerned with understanding human universals, on the one hand, and the uniqueness of individual cultures, on the other. At Bates the program includes archaeological and sociocultural perspectives.
Anthropology attempts to make sense, in a nonethnocentric manner, of everyday life in both familiar and distant settings. In this way the discipline enables students to achieve cultural competence in the broadest sense of the term—the ability to function effectively in complex environments, to analyze material from their own and other cultural perspectives, and to appreciate the value of human diversity. Some recent graduates have pursued careers in public health, medicine, community organizing, environmental law, international development, teaching, journalism, and museum work; some have gone on to graduate work in anthropology or archaeology.
ANTH 101 and 103 are designed as introductions to the discipline of anthropology and as preparation for more advanced courses. Students may also use AN/RE 134 as an introductory course. Most 200-level courses also admit first-year students, while reflecting a specific field within anthropology. The 300- and 400-level courses are open to all upperclass students, but the latter are especially designed for majors. More information on the anthropology department is available on the website (bates.edu/anthropology/).
Major Requirements
Students majoring in anthropology study the discipline's history and methodology by taking two types of courses: those that focus on a particular cultural area (such as Africa, the Caribbean, Europe, or native North America) and courses that focus on a specific theoretical concern. They also conduct individual ethnographic or archaeological fieldwork and are encouraged to complement their work in anthropology with participation in a study-abroad program. The chair serves as the study-abroad advisor for anthropology students. Some departmental funding is available for student research projects, most notably annual awards from the Hamill Fund for Fieldwork in Anthropology.Students majoring in anthropology must successfully complete the following courses:
1) ANTH 101. Cultural Anthropology.
2) One of the following:
AM/AN 103. Introduction to Archaeology.
AM/AN 222. Archaeology and Colonial Entanglements in North America.
3) ANTH 210. Encountering Community: Ethnographic Fieldwork and Community-Engaged Learning.
4) One of the following:
ANTH 333. Culture and Interpretation.
ANTH 339. Production and Reproduction.
5) ANTH 441. History of Anthropological Theory, to be taken during the fall semester of the senior year.
6) ANTH 458. Senior Thesis, to be taken during the winter semester of the senior year.
7) At least five other courses in anthropology, including courses cross-listed in anthropology, and up to two department-approved study-abroad courses.
Minor
A minor in anthropology enables students to develop a basic foundation in the discipline while complementing the perspectives offered in their major area of study. The department has established the following requirements for a minor in anthropology:1) ANTH 101. Cultural Anthropology.
2) One of the following:
AM/AN 103. Introduction to Archaeology.
AM/AN 222. Archaeology and Colonial Entanglements in North America.
3) ANTH 210. Encountering Community: Ethnographic Fieldwork and Community Engaged- Learning.
4) One of the following:
ANTH 333. Culture and Interpretation.
ANTH 339. Production and Reproduction.
5) Any two other anthropology courses, including courses cross-listed in anthropology and/or one department-approved study-abroad course.
Pass/Fail Grading Option
Pass/fail grading may not be elected for courses applied toward the major or the minor.Anthropology majors and minors may not use the Culture and Meaning GEC (C026) or the Archaeology and Material Culture GEC (C025) toward meeting General Education requirements. Courses
INDC 100. African Perspectives on Justice, Human Rights, and Renewal.
This team-taught course introduces students to some of the experiences, cultural beliefs, values, and voices shaping contemporary Africa. Students focus on the impact of climatic, cultural, and geopolitical diversity; the politics of ethnicity, religion, age, race, and gender and their influence on daily life; and the forces behind contemporary policy and practice in Africa. The course forges students' critical capacity to resist simplistic popular understandings of what is taking place on the continent and works to refocus their attention on distinctively "African perspectives." Students design a research project to augment their knowledge about a specific issue within a particular region. The course is primarily for first- and second-year students with little critical knowledge of Africa and serves as the introduction to the General Education concentration Considering Africa (C022). Cross-listed in anthropology, French and Francophone studies, and history. Enrollment limited to 39. (History: Africa.) (Politics: Identities and Interests.) (Politics: Security, Conflict, and Cooperation.) Normally offered every year. [AC] [HS] A. Dauge-Roth, P. Otim.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
ANTH 101. Cultural Anthropology.
An introduction to the study of a wide variety of social and cultural phenomena. The argument that the reality we inhabit is a cultural construct is explored by examining concepts of race and gender, kinship and religion, the individual life cycle, and the nature of community. Course materials consider societies throughout the world against the background of the emerging global system and the movement of refugees and immigrants. Enrollment limited to 49. Normally offered every semester. [AC] [HS] L. Danforth, J. Rubin.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
ANTH 103. Introduction to Archaeology.
Archaeology is anthropology that looks into the past by examining material remains. This course introduces the theories, methods, and techniques employed by modern archaeologists. It examines such issues as what is left behind, how we find and interpret it, and what it all means to us today. Using hands-on lab exercises, films, computer simulations, and field trips, this course reveals dimensions of human culture often not considered. Enrollment limited to 32. Normally offered every year. [S] K. Barnett.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
ANTH 105. Global Circuits: Popular Culture, Migration, and the World Economy.
Most of us carry a device that connects us with a virtually infinite number of communities across the globe. From watching Korean drama over Thai takeout to keeping in touch with family members abroad, many of our daily experiences are facilitated by globalization. In this course, students analyze the shifts in modes of production, consumption, and membership precipitated by globalization through an anthropological lens. Anthropology offers a unique set of tools for understanding how macroprocesses such as globalization are made, challenged, and accommodated in the local. Moreover, students consider how power structures relationships of production and consumption on the global scale. Enrollment limited to 39. Normally offered every year. [AC] [HS] J. Lyon.AM/AN 112. Production and REproduction: Experimental Archaeology Lab.
This lab-based course provides an introduction to archaeology and inference. Students design individual experimental archaeology projects that include background research, hypothesis, test expectations, methods, intellectual merit, and broader impacts. During the course, students carry out their research, followed by a series of revisions and retesting. This hands-on course provides holistic engagement in research design, western-scientific methods, quantitative and qualitative analysis, interpretation, redesign, and connection to scholarly and general public interests. Recommended background: ANTH 103. Enrollment limited to 29. [L] [SR] K. Barnett.AM/AN 125. Critical Perspectives on Sport and Society.
This course explores the connections between sports and a broad range of anthropological concerns, including colonialism, resistance and domination, race, and gender. Students consider questions such as: Why do we play the sports we do? Why are sporting performances socially significant, and how have groups and political regimes used this significance to suit their needs? What can teams, players, and brands tell us about how we (and others) see the world? Addressing topics from cricket in the Caribbean to boxing in Chicago, students reappraise conventional sporting narratives and use sports to analyze the social and historical conditions in which they occur. In doing so, students think critically about their own sporting experiences and develop a deeper and subtler understanding of the ways that societies make sports and sports make societies. Enrollment limited to 39. J. Rubin.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
AN/RE 134. Myth, Folklore, and Popular Culture.
A variety of "texts," including ancient Greek myths, Grimms' folktales, Apache jokes, African proverbs, Barbie dolls, Walt Disney movies, and modern Greek folk dances, are examined in light of important theoretical approaches employed by anthropologists interested in understanding the role of expressive forms in cultures throughout the world. Major emphasis is placed on psychoanalytic, feminist, Marxist, structuralist, and cultural-studies approaches. Enrollment limited to 60. [AC] [HS] L. Danforth.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
ANTH 202. Decoding Disney: Race, Gender, and Sexuality in the Animated Blockbuster.
An anthropological analysis of Disney entertainment productions as "cultural texts." Students learn to discern America's contested beliefs and values by unearthing the cultural politics embedded in Disney's feature-length animated motion pictures. Students delve beyond apparent surface messages to reveal underlying tensions, recurring contradictions, and even counter-hegemonic themes. With respect to the particular intersections of race, class, gender, sexuality, ability, and nation, what distinguishes this millennium's popular culture from productions of the early twentieth century? What American cultural continuities might we detect? Given the corporation's covert messages on love and sex, individualism and freedom, pleasure and entertainment, violence and conquest, what are the implications of Disney's increasingly global touch? Recommended background: familiarity with the Disney feature cartoon repertoire. Not open to students who have received credit for FYS 432. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 29. One-time offering. [AC] [HS] E. Eames.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
AN/LS 205. Citizenship, Borders, and Belonging.
Increasing levels of globalization have prompted scholars to predict the diminishing importance of national borders. Contrarily, in the age of detention, deportation, and refugee crises, citizenship has gained renewed importance. In this course, students explore different ways of organizing citizenship around the world from multiple perspectives including those of refugees, visa seekers, unauthorized immigrants, soldiers, and mothers, among others. They examine how formal framings of rights are shaped by a politics of representation where the ideal citizen is crafted and contested. They also consider how those excluded from legal and cultural citizenship form alternative structures of belonging. Enrollment limited to 29. Normally offered every year. [AC] [HS] J. Lyon.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
AM/AN 207. Race, Racism, and Redress.
Recent events in the United States and around the globe have prompted a re-examination of the role of race in contemporary life. Since its inception, anthropology has been concerned questions of human origins, diversity, and community. In this course, students examine the origins of racial thought, its transformation over time, and the ways race and intersecting identifications shape everyday life. Through ethnographies of global cultures, students explore how race takes form and meaning in different contexts. Throughout, they learn how to think critically about their own identities and beliefs and engage with strategies for redress. Enrollment limited to 29. (Africana: Introductory Sequence.) Normally offered every year. [AC] [HS] J. Lyon.INDC 209. Pixelated Parts: Race, Gender, Video Games.
This course considers the politics of race, gender, and sexuality as they emerge in video games and their surrounding ecosystems—in games and their conditions and processes of production, in the representations and spaces of identification that come with the play of games, in the communities that players generate among themselves, and in the affective and material interactions that result when players look at a screen, hold a controller, type on a keyboard, and move a mouse. Crosslisted in anthropology, digital and computational studies, and gender and sexuality studies. Enrollment limited to 29. One-time offering. J. Rubin.Interdisciplinary Programs
This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)
ANTH 210. Encountering Community: Ethnographic Fieldwork and Community-Engaged Learning.
This course offers students an opportunity to explore cultural diversity in the Lewiston-Auburn community. Students are trained to conduct original ethnographic fieldwork by doing both interviews and participant-observation research. Students may also carry out community-engaged learning projects in conjunction with their fieldwork. In some years, the course has a particular focus such as refugees, ethnicity, or religion. Recommended background: course work in anthropology. Not open to students who have received credit for ANTH s10. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 25. (Community-Engaged Learning.) Normally offered every year. [AC] [HS] J. Rubin.ConcentrationsInterdisciplinary Programs
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)
AN/MU 212. How Music Performs Culture: Introduction to Ethnomusicology.
An introduction to the field of ethnomusicology, the study of "music as culture." Emphasis is on the interdisciplinary character of the field, and the diverse analytical approaches to music making undertaken by ethnomusicologists over time. The centrality of fieldwork and ethnography to the discipline is also a core concept of the course. Through readings, multimedia, and discussion, students examine relationships among ethnomusicology, musicology, anthropology, and world music, and consider the implications of globalization to the field as a whole. Students explore applied music learning as well as performance as a research technique through participation in several hands-on workshops with the Bates Gamelan Ensemble. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 25. [W2] Normally offered every year. [AC] [HS] G. Fatone.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
AN/PY 213. Introduction to Linguistics.
This course provides students with a general understanding of the academic field of linguistics and a grounding in concepts and research methods to pursue further study within it. Language is a major part of our lives and a fundamental aspect of human cognition and human culture: understanding how it works is an important step toward understanding ourselves. The course covers the structure of language (sounds, words, sentences, and meaning) as well as various topics in anthropological linguistics (the role of language in human societies), psycholinguistics (how language is stored and processed), and historical linguistics (how languages change over time, and the roots of modern languages in the past). The course is designed for individuals with no prior knowledge of linguistics. Recommended background: previous study of a non-native language is helpful. Enrollment limited to 29. D. Sanford.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
AM/AN 222. Archaeology and Colonial Entanglements in North America.
An introduction to the archaeology of North America throughout the past 20,000 years and earlier. Students examine current archaeological hypotheses of the "peopling of the Americas," and construct the most likely model based on their command of the literature and an independent critical analysis supporting their own hypothesis. Students review and reconcile the archaeological past with indigenous concepts such as oral histories and origin stories challenging and expanding their world view to include non-Western concepts. The course applies critical theory perspectives, including indigenous-feminist and postcolonial theories, to assess the colonial process that archaeology has at times unwittingly imposed on North American native peoples. Not open to students who have received credit for ANTH 222. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 39. [AC] [HS] K. Barnett.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
ANTH 224. Anthropology of the State.
Pairing social theory with ethnographic case studies from a range of different places and historical moments, this course introduces students to anthropological perspectives on state power. Students consider the strategies, mechanisms, and technologies that states use to build and sustain their authority as well as the ways that cultural contexts, social and economic relations, structures of privilege, and forms of violence have shaped the everyday operations of regimes. Other course themes include the centers and peripheries of state sovereignty; symbolic politics; and state projects of order, disorder, and terror. Recommended background: prior course work in anthropology. Enrollment limited to 29. J. Rubin.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
AN/LS 238. Culture, Conflict, and Change in Latin America.
Over 400 million Latin Americans share a common language, but the region's racial, ethnic, geographical, and cultural diversity complicates a singular continental identity. This course surveys the anthropological scholarship on the diverse lifeways in Latin America and the Caribbean. Images and texts drawn from distinct locales considers how contrasting anthropological perspectives from the region’s peoples, histories, and contemporary challenges. Of particular concern are the ways legacies of colonialism shape both Latin America and anthropology. Additional topics of interest include indigenous and Afro-Latinx resistance and expression; immigration, transnationalism, and deportation; sex, gender, and sex work. Enrollment limited to 29. Normally offered every year. [AC] [HS] J. Lyon.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
AN/ES 242. Environment, Human Rights, and Indigenous Peoples.
This course looks at the complex intersection between environmentalism, the human rights movement, and indigenous politics. Starting with the premise that settler colonialism is not a past event but rather a structure that continues to shape societies worldwide, students consider topics including the emergence and growth of the global indigenous movement; the politics of (environmental) representation; resource conflicts such as bioprospecting and biopiracy, climate change, wildlife conservation, and extractive industries; and indigenous calls for self-determination and decolonization. Prerequisite(s): one of the following: ANTH 101 or ENVR 204. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 29. [AC] [HS] S. Pieck.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
AN/MU 298. Musical Ethnography: Writing Music Culture.
This course focuses on ethnomusicological research methods with an emphasis on the fieldwork experience. Students design and undertake an innovative field research project that reflects an understanding of the current philosophical underpinnings, ethical considerations, and approaches to ethnography within the discipline. Developing a feasible research problem and forging logical relationships between project design components are emphasized. Processes of participant observation, interviewing, and various techniques of documentation become part of the student ethnographer's toolkit. Students analyze and interpret their gathered materials from within a selected theoretical perspective, culminating in a final multimedia document. Recommended background: course work in anthropology, ethnomusicology, or music. Enrollment limited to 29. [AC] [HS] G. Fatone.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
INDC 305. Art, Power, and Politics.
An anthropological examination of the relationship among art, power, and politics. What can the artistic works of various societies say about their worlds that other creations cannot? What claims can art make about the workings of power, and what artistic techniques does power itself employ? Students consider these and other questions from a number of different perspectives, including the politics of perception, the place of art in modern life, the artistry of terror, the art of protest and propaganda, and the dream of building a beautiful regime. Recommended background: familiarity with classical social theory, especially Marx, is encouraged but not necessary. Cross-listed in Africana, American studies, and anthropology. Prerequisite(s): one course in Africana, American studies, anthropology, art and visual culture, or gender and sexuality studies. Enrollment limited to 15. J. Rubin.ConcentrationsInterdisciplinary Programs
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)
ANTH 333. Culture and Interpretation.
Beginning with a consideration of symbolic anthropology as it developed in the 1960s and 1970s, this course surveys critiques of the symbolic turn in anthropology and its use of the culture concept. Emphasis is given to history, political economy, and transnational social currents. Prerequisite(s): prior course work in anthropology. Enrollment limited to 19. [W2] Normally offered every year. J. Lyon.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
ANTH 339. Production and Reproduction.
Economic anthropology challenges the assumptions of conventional economics by analyzing economic behavior from a cross-cultural perspective. Designed for junior and senior economics and/or anthropology majors, this course looks at the relation between economy and society through a critical examination of neoclassical, substantivist, Marxist, and feminist approaches in anthropology. The relative merits of these explanatory paradigms are assessed as students engage ethnographic case material. Such "economic facts" as production, exchange, land tenure, marriage transactions, state formation, and social change in the modern world system are addressed, always in comparative perspective. Economics majors may select this course for major credit and are encouraged to enroll. Prerequisite(s): two courses in economics and/or anthropology. Enrollment limited to 15. (Community-Engaged Learning.) [W2] [AC] [HS] E. Eames.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
INDC 342. Performance, Narrative, and the Body.
This course examines the politics of the body through the inter/transdisciplinary frames of the narrative and performance, including the specific ways performance and narrative theories of the body and cultural practices operate in everyday life and social formations. Students examine how the "body" is performed and how narrative is constructed in a variety of different contexts such as race, gender, disease, sexuality, and culture. The course places narrative and performance at the center (rather than the margins) of inquiry, asking how far and how deeply performativity reaches into our lives and how performances construct our identities, differences, and our bodies: who we are and who we can become. Cross-listed in Africana, American studies, anthropology, and gender and sexuality studies. Enrollment limited to 15. (Africana: Historical Perspective.) [AC] [CP] M. Beasley.ConcentrationsInterdisciplinary Programs
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)
ANTH 360. Independent Study.
Students, in consultation with a faculty advisor, individually design and plan a course of study or research not offered in the curriculum. Course work includes a reflective component, evaluation, and completion of an agreed-upon product. Sponsorship by a faculty member in the program/department, a course prospectus, and permission of the chair are required. Students may register for no more than one independent study per semester. Normally offered every semester. Staff.ANTH 365. Special Topics.
A course or seminar offered from time to time and reserved for a special topic selected by the department. Staff.ANTH 441. History of Anthropological Theory.
A consideration of some of the major theories in the development of the field of anthropology, with an emphasis on the fundamental issues of orientation and definition that have shaped and continue to influence anthropological thought. Topics include cultural evolution, the relationship between the individual and culture, the nature-nurture debate, British social anthropology, feminist anthropology, and anthropology as cultural critique. Enrollment limited to 15. Normally offered every year. [AC] [HS] Staff.ANTH 457. Senior Thesis.
Students participate in individual and group conferences in connection with the writing of the senior thesis. Majors writing an honors thesis register for ANTH 457 in the fall semester and 458 in the winter semester. Prerequisite(s): approval by the department of a thesis prospectus prior to registration. [W3] Normally offered every year. Staff.ANTH 458. Senior Thesis.
Individual and group conferences in connection with the writing of the senior thesis. Majors writing an honors thesis register for both ANTH 457 in the fall semester and 458 in the winter semester. One course credit is given for each registration. Majors writing a one semester thesis normally register for ANTH 458. Prerequisite(s): approval by the department of a thesis prospectus prior to registration. [W3] Normally offered every year. Staff.INDC s11. Bordering Hispaniola: Blackness, Mixture, and Nation in the Dominican Republic.
This course explores Dominican identity and its relation to ideas of nation vis-à-vis the island’s shared border with Haiti. Before departing for Santo Domingo, students consider the contexts of colonialism, state formation, and labor migration that shape contemporary Dominican identities. In the Dominican Republic, students visit key sites in the African and Haitian diasporas in the country. Further, they examine performance and popular culture as key sites of antiracist engagement. Students employ participatory ethnographic methods and map making to examine key themes of identity, performance, and resistance. Cross-listed in Africana, anthropology, and Latin American studies. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 12. Instructor permission is required. (Africana: Diaspora.) [AC] [HS] J. Lyon.Interdisciplinary Programs
This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)
INDC s15. Health, Culture, and Community.
This course examines dimensions of health through classroom and community-based experiences, with a special emphasis on current public health issues. The course covers the history and organization of public health; methods associated with health-related research; disparities in health, including those related to race, class, and gender; public policy and health; population-based approaches to public health; and cultural constructions of health and illness. The course is designed to be integrative: expertise from different disciplines is used to address current challenges in public health. Cross-listed in anthropology, biology, and psychology. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 30. (Psychology: IDEA.) Staff.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
ANTH s32. Introduction to Archaeological Fieldwork.
This field course offers basic training in indigenous archaeological field survey, data collection, analysis, and community engagement at precolonial and colonial-era sites in Alaska, Maine, or other locations, depending on the year. The course requires a fee to cover transportation costs, room, and board. Enrollment limited to 12. (Community-Engaged Learning.) Normally offered every year. [AC] [L] [S] [SR] K. Barnett.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations