Mar 28, 2024  
College Catalog 2009-2011 
    
College Catalog 2009-2011 [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Courses


 

American Studies

  
  • AMST 101 - Explorations of Race and Racism


    The main objectives of this introductory course are: to explore the historical construction of racial categories in the United States; to understand the systemic impact of racism on contemporary social processes; to consider popular views about race in the light of emerging scholarship in the field; and to develop an ability to connect personal experiences to larger, collective realities. We will engage several questions as a group: What are the historical and sociological foundations of racial categories? When does focusing on race make someone racist? What is white privilege, and why does it matter? All students will be asked to think and write about their own racial identity. This course, or its equivalent, is required for majors and minors. Every year. (4 Credits)
  
  • AMST 103 - The Problems of Race in US Social Thought and Policy


    This course has been developed as an entry-level exploration of the impact of race on contemporary U.S. public discourse. The course has two principle objectives: to create a forum that encourages individuals to articulate well-informed opinions and attitudes about race; and to locate those ideas in an analytic framework that promotes a shared understanding of race and racial inequality in the contemporary context. (4 Credits)
  
  • AMST 110 - Introduction to African American Studies


    This class will explore what it has meant to be African-American in the United States, and how this identity shaped Black community, thought, and life. This course, using a variety of disciplinary approaches, exposes students to issues and problems in the development of African-American identity, and provides students with theoretical tools and contextual sensibilities necessary for advanced courses and independent projects in African American Studies. (4 Credits)
  
  • AMST 112 - Intro to LGBTQ Studies


    This course examines how sexuality, race, and nation relate in the lives of people in the United States, which we read in relation to histories of colonialism and globalization. Course material foreground scholarship, testimony, cultural work, and social movements by LGBT, two-spirit, same gender loving, and queer people of color, and by white LGBT and queer anti-racist allies. Their stories offer a template through which all students may examine how everyday life is shaped by sexuality, race, and nation–both as power relations, and as spaces for creating new identity and action. Every year. (4 Credits)
  
  • AMST 194 - Topics Course


    Varies by semester. Consult the department or class schedule for current listing. (4 Credits)
  
  • AMST 200 - Critical Methods for American Studies Research


    This course will introduce students to interdisciplinary research approaches to the study of race, ethnicity, and other categories of difference. Students will learn to conceptualize and design research projects, and will obtain hands-on experience in executing different methods. The course will also consider the critiques of systems of knowlege production and research approaches that have been informed by scholars from fields such as African American history, gender studeies, and critical race studies, as well as from the disciplines. The goal is to develop an understanding of the assumptions embedded in many fields of inquiry, and to learn to apply critical approaches to important research questions. Prerequisite(s): AMST 101 , AMST 103 , or AMST 110 . (4 Credits)
  
  • AMST 202 - Engaging the Public: Writing and Publishing in American Studies


    Students enrolled in this course form the editorial collective for the American Studies on-line journal Tapestries published on Macalester’s Digital Commons. Course content will focus on writing, editing, and the art of preparing a journal article for publication. It will also consider how to engage various publics, including students, the College, and local communities, through digital publishing. Students are part of a collaborative model for circulating scholarship, art and criticism. The class is involved in all aspects of layout and design and peer-review, and discuss issues including verifying facts, copyright, intellectual property, author rights, and open access. May be repeated one time for credit. Every fall. Prerequisite(s): at least one course in American Studies. (2 Credits)
  
  • AMST 203 - Race, Ethnicity and Politics


    This intermediate course offers an analysis of racial and ethnic factors and their implications for political processes and public policy. We begin by exploring the political history of whiteness. Our point of departure will be David R. Roediger’s text (2005), “Working Toward Whiteness, How America’s Immigrants Became White: The Strange Journey from Ellis Island to the Suburbs.” We will examine how “race” has been at the core of civic assimilation. This course will focus on post-1960 American and the Black, Brown, Red, and Yellow Power Movements. We will end with an analysis of conservative people of color and their counterparts in the dominant culture, and their movement to resist identity politics in the 1990s and the turn of the 21st Century. Alternate years. (4 Credits)
  
  • AMST 222 - Imagining the American West

    Cross-Listed as  
    Fantasies about the U.S. West are central to American history, popular culture, and collective memory. From John Wayne to Zane Grey to Disneyland, ideas about the West have shaped the ways we think about settlement, conquest, race, gender, and democracy. This course examines the myths that have circulated about the West alongside what has been called new western history, in an attempt to make sense of western Americans and the societies they created. Beginning with notions of the frontier, we will consider the scholarship that challenges our thinking about a region that has defied simple constructions. Offered alternate years. (4 Credits)
  
  • AMST 224 - African American History: Slavery, Emancipation, and Reconstruction


    This course explores the Afro-American experience from the villages of West Africa to the cotton plantations of the antebellum South. Considers West African social structure and culture, the international slave trade, the development of racism, the development of American slavery, the transformation of Afro-American culture over more than two centuries, the struggle, the possibilities of reconstruction, and the ultimate rise of share-cropping and segregation. Alternate years. (4 Credits)
  
  • AMST 225 - Native American History

    Cross-Listed as  
    Historian Daniel Richter once wrote, “for better or worse, native history belongs to all of us.” What could Richter have meant by this statement? What is native history and why would it belong to “all of us?” The history of America covers a much longer span than that usually covered in U.S. history courses. The coasts, plains and mountains of the North American continent may have been a “new world” to European traders and explorers, but to the two million people who already inhabited these lands, America was as much the “old world” as was Europe. In this course we will examine the history of North America from the age of contact to the end of the 19th century. Instead of approaching American Indian history from the perspective of Europeans, we will attempt to reconstruct the history of 16th-19th century North Americans from an indigenous perspective. In our class meetings, Mondays and Wednesday will be devoted to chronologically-oriented, broad issues in American Indian history prior to 1900. Alternate years. (4 Credits)
  
  • AMST 230 - Women and Work in US History


    An historical overview of women’s changing experiences with work-both paid and unpaid-from the mercantilist economy of colonial times to the post-industrial era of the late twentieth century. Working women come from every racial and ethnic group, and work in every sector of the economy. How did we reach this point? How does this compare to the experience of women in the early years of U.S. history? And where might working women be headed? This course is designed primarily for students who have no previous college-level background in U.S. history. Offered occasionally. (4 Credits)
  
  • AMST 232 - Immigration and Ethnicity in US History


    An overview of U.S. history as seen through the experiences of newly arriving and adjusting immigrant groups. This course is designed primarily for students who have no previous college-level background in U.S. history. Alternate years. (4 Credits)
  
  • AMST 233 - Introduction to the History of the US Working Class


    This course traces the development of the U.S. working class men and women, native-born and immigrants, black and white-from the artisan era to the post-industrial age. This course is designed primarily for students who have no previous college-level background in U.S. history. Alternate years. (4 Credits)
  
  • AMST 248 - Jim Crow

    Cross-Listed as  
    This course examines the political, cultural, economic, and social ramifications of segregation in the United States from approximately 1865 to the present. While much of the course will focus on the South, we will also consider how racial boundaries were drawn in the West and North. The course will pay special attention to the ways racial boundaries became -fixed,- and how black men and women defied Jim Crow in the streets, courts, and in their homes. Additionally, this class examines how segregation has been forgotten and how and when it is remembered. Offered alternate years. (4 Credits)
  
  • AMST 249 - African Americans and the Transformation of the City: 1890-1945


    This course investigates two mutually influencing transformations of the first half of the twentieth century: 1) the urbanization of the Afro-American people; and 2) the emergence of the modern American metropolis as the site of congregation and segregation of distinct racial and ethnic groups. Principal points of focus for this course include the causes and patterns of black migration from the rural South to the urban North; the formation of ghettoes in major northern cities; the internal life of those ghettoes, including changing gender roles and the development of new cultural forms; and the rise of new political and social ideas within these communities. Offered occasionally. (4 Credits)
  
  • AMST 250 - Race, Place and Space


    In this discussion-based course we focus on the racialized places of U.S. cities, rural towns and suburbs in an effort to understand how social, historic, and spatial forces have colluded to bring about complex and enduring racial formations. We will look for race and related social categories in places around St. Paul and Minneapolis. By engaging theories about visuality and representation, urban development and suburban sprawl, and social movements for racial justice, we will develop a specialized vocabulary for explaining how race, place, and space are connected. Offered occasionally. Prerequisite(s): Prior exposure to American Studies, human geography, sociology or race/ethnicity or urban studies. (4 Credits)
  
  • AMST 254 - Peoples/Cultures Native Amer


    A survey of the traditional cultural areas of the Americas and of selected topics related to American Indians. The course introduces the peoples, languages, subsistence patterns, and social organizations in America at the time of European contact, and traces selected patterns of change that have come to these areas. Alternate years. Prerequisite(s): ANTH 111  (4 Credits)
  
  • AMST 256 - Transatlantic Slave Trade

    Cross-Listed as HIST 256 
    This class examines the Atlantic commerce in African slaves that took place roughly between 1500 and 1800. We will explore, among other topics, transatlantic commerce, the process of turning captives into commodities, the gendered dimensions of the slave trade, resistance to the trade, the world the slaves made, and the abolitionist movement on both sides of the Atlantic. Students will read a range of primary and secondary sources in order to gain a more complex understanding of the slave trade and how it changed over time. Alternate years. (4 Credits)
  
  • AMST 260 - Race, Cultural Politics and Social Movements


    Since the nineteenth century, the struggles for racial equality and ethnic identity formation in the United States have been situated within formal and informal social movements. This course examines the central role of culture - including music, art, performance, literature, and media - in race-based activism. We will consider various aspects ofthe African American freedom struggle, Asian American and Latino/a activism, and the indigenous rights movement, paying particular attention to how culture functions as a tool for organizing, group cohesion, and outreach. The course will also consider how popular culture reflects and shapes social movements. (4 Credits)
  
  • AMST 262 - Asian American Psychology

    Cross-Listed as PSYC 262 
    This course explores the psychological experiences of Asian Americans through readings from disciplines such as psychology, sociology, Asian American Studies, as well as the popular media. The central question organizing this course is how academic research can inform the daily lived experiences of Asian Americans. Topics include racialization and racialized imagery, how behavior is shaped by prevalent stereotypes of Asian Americans, negotiating bicultural/biracial identities, transracial adoption, immigration, acculturation, and mental health, among others. Culture and Context Course. Prerequisite(s): PSYC 100 - Introduction to Psychology  (4 Credits)
  
  • AMST 270 - Black Public Intellectuals


    This course will address the tradition of public intellectuals in numerous Black communities. We will expand the definition of “politics” to include theater, literature, and film. We will interrogate the concept of who chooses the scholarly leaders for Black communities. We will examine numerous topics such as Communism, The American Dream, Incarceration, Feminism, and Ebony Voices in the Ivory Tower. (4 Credits)
  
  • AMST 280 - Re-envisioning Education and Democracy

    Cross-Listed as EDUC 280  and POLI 211 
    This course explores the design, implementation, and evaluation of public education policy as a primary means for engaging more active, inclusive and effective approaches to social inquiry and civic participation. Drawing from classic and contemporary theories of education and democracy, complemented by recent developments and controversies in public policy studies, students work to design innovative, principled, educationally sound and politically feasible responses to significant civic concerns. Fall semester. (4 Credits)
  
  • AMST 285 - Asian American Community and Identity


    This course introduces the basic issues and problems that shape the Asian American experience. The main learning objectives are: to identify and dismantle stereotypes about Asian Americans; to create a common vocabulary for describing the Asian American experience; to explore the historical and sociological foundations of Asian American community and identity; and to cultivate an appreciation of various theoretical approaches to race and ethnicity. (4 Credits)
  
  • AMST 288 - Race and Ethnicity in Japan

    Cross-Listed as INTL 288  and JAPA 288 
    One of the founding myths of the modern Japanese nation-state has been the illusion of racial and ethnic homogeneity. This course aims not only to challenge this myth but also to historicize and contextualize it by investigating varous racial and ethnic minorities in Japan: Ainu, Burakumin (outcasts), Okinawans, Koreans, African Americans, Nikkeijin (South Americans of Japanese descent), and Caucasians. These groups pose fundamental questions about the boundaries of “Japan” and about the meanings of “race” and “ethnicity” as categories of identification and difference. The purpose of this course is two-fold: 1) to familiarize students with the history of minority discourse in Japan, and 2) to encourage students to think critically and comparatively about race and ethnicity in general. All readings are in English or English translation. (4 Credits)
  
  • AMST 292 - Topics Course


    Varies by semester. Consult the department or class schedule for current listing. (2 Credits)
  
  • AMST 294 - Topics Course


    Varies by semester. Consult the department or class schedule for current listing. (4 Credits)
  
  • AMST 300 - Jr Civic Engagement Seminar


    This innovative course will comprise a junior civic-engagement experience in the Twin Cities organized around a central theme (such as “Schools and Prisons”). The course provides a real-world urban context for students who are deeply engaged in theorizing racism and other forms of structural inequalities in the U.S. and around the globe. It is based largely outside the classroom, draws on the College’s relationships with the Twin Cities, and provides extensive opportunities for students to interact with community mentors. The course is designed primarily for juniors majoring in American Studies as a prior rigorous study of issues related to race and racism in U.S. history and contemporary social policy and social thought are needed to set the stage for the course. It is required of all American Studies majors, however, other students with equivalent preparation are welcome with permission from the instructor. Spring semester. Prerequisite(s): American Studies Major or permission of instructor. (4 Credits)
  
  • AMST 305 - Race, Sex and Work in the Global Economy


    This seminar presents feminist and queer studies of global capitalism, which examine power relations under contemporary globalization in terms of the racial and sexual dynamics of labor, citizenship, and migration. Course material considers the local and transnational dynamics of free trade, labor fragmentation, and structural adjustment, as these shape industrial and informal labor, and community organizing around gender, sexuality, and HIV/AIDS. The material foregrounds ethnographic analyses of the everyday conditions of people situated in struggles with the effects of global capitalism. Alternate years. Prerequisite(s): Junior standing or permission of instructor, and at least one intermediate-level Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies core course. (4 Credits)
  
  • AMST 308 - Introduction to U.S. Latino Studies


    This course provides an interdisciplinary discussino of the Latino experience in the United States with a focus on Mexican, Puerto Rican, Dominican, and Cuban-Americans. Using fiction, poetry, films and critical essays, we will examine issues of race and ethnicity, language, identity, gender and sexuality, politics, and immigration. Students will further engage with the Latino population of the Twin Cities by working with a local community organization. Offered every semester. Prerequisite(s): HISP 305  or consent of the instructor. (4 Credits)
  
  • AMST 310 - Comparative Freedom Movements: The US and South Africa

    Cross-Listed as HIST 235 
    This advanced course explores two of the most important movements to challenge institutional racism in the second half of the 20th century - the U.S. civil rights movement and the South African anti-apartheid movement. The course places both of these movements within their specific historical contexts and, therefore, opens with an examination of the historical role(s) of racism in each of these societies. It then explores dimensions of these movements in a comparative fashion: the leadership produced by both movements; the functioning of both movements and the roles played by particular cohorts (women, young people, workers, allies); the internal tensions within each movement, particularly around ideologies, strategies, and tactics; the uses of culture (music, theater, poetry, visual art) within each movement. We also explore the methodologies of comparative history, particularly the critique that insists that the movements’ influences on each other need to be considered. Finally, we assess the impact of each movement on its respective society. Every other year. (4 Credits)
  
  • AMST 315 - Topics in Transnational Studies


    The field of American Studies has changed in the last quarter century from an emphasis on American exceptionalism to a consideration of the relationships between the United States and the World. We will be particularly concerned with how American conceptions of race and ethnicity are influenced by global phenomena, and how global processes shape America’s enduring social, political and cultural structures. This course will up varying topics on this theme, including, but not limited to, immigration, U.S. imperialism, the construction and dissolution of borders, diasporic identities, and transnational cultures. Alternate years. (4 Credits)
  
  • AMST 331 - Racial Formation, Culture and US History

    Cross-Listed as HIST 331  and MCST 331 
    This interdisciplinary course will employ the methodologies of cultural and media studies within an historical framework to ask: What roles did “race” (the presence of diverse races; the relationships among those groups of people; the construction and representation of racial identities; the linking of material privileges and power to racial locations) play in the development of the United States? How have relationships of class, gender, ethnicity, and sexuality been linked to “race”? How has “race” been a site of struggle between groups? How is the present a product of historical experiences? Our coursework will rely on reading historical studies, theory, cultural analysis, and memoirs, and on viewing and analyzing cultural performances and films. This course is designed for students with experience in history, cultural studies, African American Studies and/or American Studies. Alternate years. (4 Credits)
  
  • AMST 334 - Cultural Studies and the Media

    Cross-Listed as MCST 334 
    An overview of contemporary approaches to media as culture, a determining as well as determined sphere in which people make sense of the world, particularly in terms of ethnicity, gender, identity, and social inequality. Students develop tools for analyzing media texts and accounts of audience responses derived from the international field of cultural studies and from the social theory on which it draws. Analysis emphasizes specificity of media texts, including advertisements, films, news reports, and television shows. Experience in cooperative discussion, research, and publication. Every year. (4 Credits)
  
  • AMST 340 - Living on the Edge: The Asian American Experience


    The Asian American experience will be used to examine the role of cultural heritage in how one views oneself, one’s own ethnic group and the dominant culture. This interdisciplinary course consists of experiencing the art, reading the literature and history, and discussing the current issues of several Asian American communities. Topics include the role of women, stereotype, racism and assimilation. (4 Credits)
  
  • AMST 341 - Urban Social Geography: City Life and Landscapes

    Cross-Listed as GEOG 341 
    Urban social geography is the study of social and spatial dimensions of city life. In this course, we will explore some of the ways in which urban society is organized geographically. We will also consider how the spatial patterns of urban life influence public policy issues in the American context. Topics covered in this course include causes of racial segregation, debates about gentrification, sustainable suburban development, the transition from government to governance in cities, and the delivery of urban services that affect the education, health and economic welfare of urban populations. Students will learn current research, engage debates about critical urban issues, and learn techniques useful for analyzing spatial patterns in the urban landscape. Offered Spring semester. Prerequisite(s): GEOG 112 , GEOG 242 , GEOG 262  or instructor permission. (4 Credits)
  
  • AMST 345 - Race, Culture, and Ethnicity in Education

    Cross-Listed as EDUC 340 
    This survey course will explore history, policy, and pedagogy as they relate to race, ethnicity, and culture as education. K-12 public education will be the primary focus with topics including desegregation, standardized testing, multi-cultural and ethnocentric pedagogy, the teacher’s role and experience, and significant historical events in education. The course will culminate by analyzing current trends and future expectations in education. Spring semester. (4 Credits)
  
  • AMST 350 - American Pop, Rockabilly, and Soul, 1954-64

    Cross-Listed as MUSI 350 
    This course provides an in-depth look at one crucial period in American popular-music history, addressing in particular the roles that racial categories played in the production, dissemination, and reception of music in three dominant streams within the culture of American popular music. Topics for close study will include: Sam Philips’s practices of recording of black and white musicians for Sun Studios in Memphis during the 1950s; the early “crossover” hits of such recording arts as Chuck Berry and Elvis Presley; the doo wop repertory and theories of whiteness; issues of race, gender, and sexuality in the music of the “girl groups”; and a comparison of white-owned Stax Records and black-owned Motown in the early-mid 1960s. The course will move from a broad overview of the era at the beginning of the semester, through a discussion of conceptual, critical, and methodological issues, and into more detailed case studies of various recording artists, institutions, and repertories. The course aims to examine ways in which social and historical constructions of race operated on many levels, from the national industry (e.g., the Billboard charts), to regional and local scenes (e.g., the studio and “space/place” theory), to performative, technological, and aesthetic realms that intersect directly with issues of subjectivity and identity. This course is intended for upper-level majors and minors in Music and American Studies. It is designated as a seminar and not a lecture course; students will be responsible for leading class on a regular basis, coming prepared with handouts and sets of questions/topics for discussion. Generally offered alternate years. (4 Credits)
  
  • AMST 354 - Blackness in the Media

    Cross-Listed as MCST 354 
    This course examines mainstream and alternative systems of African American representation in the media from the 1820s to the 1960s, including race records, race movies, the Black press, Black video, and Black appeal radio. It also examines the way Blackness is constructed in the media today, including the role of new media (such as cable and the Internet); new corporate formations (such as FOX, UPN, and BET), and new forms of representation (such as representations that reject the Black-White binary). Every year. Prerequisite(s): One of the following: an introduction to African American Studies course, or MCST 110 - Texts and Power: Foundations of Media and Cultural Studies  or permission of instructor. (4 Credits)
  
  • AMST 370 - Understanding and Confronting Racism


    An examination of the social psychological factors associated with race prejudice and racism, particularly in the United States. Focusing on the psychological theories proposed to understand racism, this course investigates the causes and consequences of racism at the individual, interpersonal, institutional and cultural levels of society. Special attention will be given to exploring interventions to reduce racism. Culture and Context course. Prerequisite(s): PSYC 100  or PSYC 201 , and at least one intermediate course or permission of the instructor. (4 Credits)
  
  • AMST 380 - Topics in African American Literature


    (4 Credits)
  
  • AMST 392 - Topics Course


    Varies by semester. Consult the department or class schedule for current listing. (2 Credits)
  
  • AMST 394 - Topics Course


    Varies by semester. Consult the department or class schedule for current listing. (4 Credits)
  
  • AMST 400 - Senior Seminar


    The Senior Capstone is required of all majors. Majors who meet college criteria are encouraged to conduct an honors project in conjunction with their Senior Capstone. Fall semester. (4 Credits)
  
  • AMST 444 - The Family as History: The Stories of US Latinos

    Cross-Listed as HISP 444 
    The course will examine and compare the stories of Latinas/os in the U.S. as told by themselves. Students will read authors of Puerto Rican, Cuban, Dominican, and Mexican-American origin. We will place a special emphasis on practices and values held both here and in the cultures of origin. The course will cover such subjects as family, social and economic struggles, individual aspirations and spiritual needs. The course will highlight language issues and use film to complement the readings. Alternate years. Prerequisite(s): HISP 307  or consent of the instructor. (4 Credits)
  
  • AMST 494 - Topics Course


    Varies by semester. Consult the department or class schedule for current listing. (4 Credits)

Anthropology

  
  • ANTH 101 - General Anthropology


    This course is an introduction to the discipline of anthropology as a whole. It presents students with a theoretical grounding in the four major subfields: archaeology, biological anthropology, cultural anthropology, and linguistics. In this class the emphasis is on the holistic nature of the discipline. Students will be challenged with some of the countless links between the systems of biology and culture. They will explore key questions about human diversity in the past, present, and future. (4 Credits)
  
  • ANTH 111 - Cultural Anthropology


    Introductory Course Open to first year students. The cultural perspective on human behavior including case studies, often illustrated by ethnographic films and slides, of non-Western and American cultures. May include some field interviewing. Includes the cross cultural treatment of economic, legal, political, social and religious institutions and a survey of major approaches to the explanation of cultural variety and human social organization. Every semester. (4 Credits)
  
  • ANTH 112 - Archaeology and Human Evolution


    Introductory Course Open to first year students. The origin and development of prehistoric peoples and cultures. The concepts, methods, and theories of prehistoric archaeology, human paleontology, and human biology as a framework for examining the fossils and artifacts left by humans. Course includes films and the use of casts and slides to illustrate concepts. Alternate years. (4 Credits)
  
  • ANTH 115 - Biological Anthropology


    This class is a broad survey covering topics such as genetics, evolutionary mechanisms, adaptation, primate studies, the human fossil record, and human variation. All of these areas will be placed within the framework of the interaction of humans within their environment. The course is divided into three sections: human genetics, human ecology and primatology, human evolution and adaptation. Alternate years. (4 Credits)
  
  • ANTH 123 - Introduction to Archaeology

    Cross-Listed as  CLAS 123 
    This course introduces students to archaeology, the study of the material remains of human culture. Students will explore the history of the discipline and profession, its basic methods and theories, and the political and ethical dimensions of modern archaeological practice. Students learn to examine and interpret evidence using specific examples, from artifacts to sites to regions. Every year. (4 Credits)
  
  • ANTH 194 - Topics Course


    Varies by semester. Consult the department or class schedule for current listing. (4 Credits)
  
  • ANTH 230 - Ethnographic Interviewing


    An introduction to ethnographic field interviewing learned in the context of individually run student field projects. Focuses on the anthropologist-informant field relationship and the discovery of cultural knowledge through participant observation and ethnosemantic interviewing techniques. Every semester. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. (4 Credits)
  
  • ANTH 239 - Medical Anthropology


    This course examines issues of health, illness, and healing from a variety of anthropological perspectives. From a cross-cultural perspective, we will examine the diversity of beliefs about human health and sickness, and a variety of healing practices by which people treat them. From the perspective of critical epidemiology, we will wrestle with recurrent problems of socioeconomic inequalities, ecological disruptions, and their impact upon the differential distribution, prevention, and treatment of human diseases. Previous courses in anthropology are recommended but not required. Alternate years. (4 Credits)
  
  • ANTH 240 - Human Osteology and Paleopathology


    The study of the human skeletal system is basic to the disciplines of biological anthropology, forensic science, medicine and even archaeology. This class will examine the fundamentals of osteology. It will also explore numerous pathological conditions associated with both infectious and non-infectious diseases in addition to those caused by traumatic events. Students will learn to identify and analyze human bone and pathological conditions of the skeleton to aid in the reconstruction of life histories from human remains. (4 Credits)
  
  • ANTH 241 - Anthropology of Death and Dying


    This course examines the dying process and the ways that humans beings come to terms with their mortality in different societies. We will learn how people die in major illnesses and critically analyze controversial issues regarding brain death, suicide, and euthanasia. We will survey funerary traditions from a variety of cultures and compare the social, spiritual, and psychological roles that these rituals play for both the living and the dying. We will examine cultural attitudes towards death; and how the denial and awareness of human mortality can shape social practices and institutions. Finally, we will consider issues regarding the quality of life, the opportunities and challenges of caregiving, and hospice traditions around the world. Offered alternate years. (4 Credits)
  
  • ANTH 243 - Psychological Anthropology

    Cross-Listed as PSYC 243 
    This course explores the relationship between self, culture and society. We will examine and discuss critically the broad array of methods and theories anthropologists use to analyze personality, socialization, mental illnes and cognition in different societies. Our aim is to address questions related to the cultural patterning of personality, the self and emotions and to understand how culture might shape ideas of what a person is. We will also seek to understand how cultures define behavior as abnormal, pathological or insane, and how they make sense of trauma and suffering. Alternate years. (4 Credits)
  
  • ANTH 246 - Refugees/Humanitarian Response


    This course provides an overview of issues related to refugees and humanitarian response in U.S. and international settings. Students explore the meaning of “humanitarian” and inherent issues of power, ethics, and human rights in responses to conflict by examining the roles of those who engage in humanitarian work. Every year. (4 Credits)
  
  • ANTH 248 - Magic, Witchcraft and Religions


    The following course is open only to students who have taken ANTH 111  unless otherwise indicated. Intermediate Courses. An introduction to anthropological approaches to the study of religious beliefs and practices, the idea of syncretism, witchcraft, sorcery, shamanism and the practice of magic, the role of religion in bringing about social change and the social and cultural theories that have been put forward to explain religious phenomena. Alternate years. Prerequisite(s): ANTH 111  (4 Credits)
  
  • ANTH 254 - Peoples and Cultures of Native America


    The following course is open only to students who have taken ANTH 111  unless otherwise indicated. Intermediate Courses. A survey of the traditional cultural areas of the Americas and of selected topics related to American Indians. The course introduces the peoples, languages, subsistence patterns, and social organizations in America at the time of European contact, and traces selected patterns of change that have come to these areas. Alternate years. Prerequisite(s): ANTH 111  (4 Credits)
  
  • ANTH 255 - Peoples and Cultures of Latin America

    Cross-Listed as LATI 255 
    This course is an introduction to the cultural diversity and complexity of Latin American societies. We will examine regional differences from an anthropological perspective and discus how social institutions and cultural practices and traditions have been shaped, and how they have dealt with continuity and change. Ethnographic case studies will allow us to explore relevant topics related to ethnicity, social stratification, gift-giving/reciprocity, kinship, rural/urban relationships, cosmology and religion, and gender. These issues will be examined within the context of particular histories, considering the legacy of colonialism, the formation of the nation-state, the emergence of social movements, post-colonial nationalism, the impart of migration and urbanization, and the effects of neo-liberalism and globalization. We will conclude with a critical examination of forms of represenation of Latin America, which involve notions such as indigenismo. Alternate years. (4 Credits)
  
  • ANTH 256 - Peoples and Cultures of South Asia


    The following course is open only to students who have taken ANTH 111  unless otherwise indicated. Intermediate Courses. Introduces students to anthropological knowledge of the peoples and cultures of South Asia and to the ways in which Western knowledge of that region has been constructed. The course examines the historical and social processes that have shaped the culture and lifeways of the people who live on the subcontinent and that link the modern states of South Asia to the world beyond their frontiers. Alternate years. Prerequisite(s): ANTH 111  (4 Credits)
  
  • ANTH 258 - Peoples and Cultures of Africa


    The following course is open only to students who have taken ANTH 111  unless otherwise indicated. Intermediate Courses. This course will present an overview of African cultures and societies as documented in the anthropological literature. Classic and contemporary ethnographies will be used to illustrate the social transformations which are occurring in Africa. Alternate years. Prerequisite(s): ANTH 111  (4 Credits)
  
  • ANTH 280 - Topics in Linguistic Anthropology

    Cross-Listed as  
    Introduces students to linguistic anthropology, one of the four major subfields of the discipline of anthropology. Students will focus on particular topics within linguistic anthropology including: gender, race, sexuality, and identity. May involve fieldwork in the Twin Cities area. Focus will be announced at registration. Offered occasionally. Prerequisite(s): ANTH 111  (4 Credits)
  
  • ANTH 285 - Seminar in World Ethnography


    hallmark of anthropology is the cross cultural perspective supported by first hand ethnographic accounts of hundreds of different cultures. In this course students will read, discuss, and compare ethnographies representing diverse cultures as well as a wide range of ethnographic theories and methods. Offered occasionally. (4 Credits)
  
  • ANTH 294 - Topics Course


    Varies by semester. Consult the department or class schedule for current listing. (4 Credits)
  
  • ANTH 340 - Paleoanthropology


    An exploration of the interaction between ecology, morphology, and culture in human evolution. Topics include the evolutionary adaptation of non-human primates and hominins to their various ecological and social environments, taxonomic classification systems, and techniques used in the analysis of primate fossils to help determine both their geological aga and phylogenetic placement. Alternate years. Prerequisite(s): ANTH 112  or ANTH 115  or permission of instructor. (4 Credits)
  
  • ANTH 358 - Anthropology of Violence


    Faced with the escalation of political and ethnic violence in the modern world, anthropologists have become increasingly aware of the need to address these realities which have forced a rethinking of the meaning of violence as a social and cultural phenomenon. This course interrogates the slippery concept of violence in the light of theoretical approaches from different disciplines. The course will begin with a discussion of how anthropologists have reexamined the concept of violence within the context of complex and large-scale societies. It will then address the preponderate weight that the concept of the state has played within the social sciences in interpretation of violence, followed by a consideration of how notions of community and cultural difference figure prominently in the ideology of conflict. Alternate years. (4 Credits)
  
  • ANTH 360 - Anthropology of Tourism


    This course examines the impact of different kinds of tourism (mass tourism, ecotourism, sand-sea-sun-sex tourism, ethnic tourism) on local peoples, environments and economies. It looks at the historical development of tourism and its links to both travel as a leisure pursuit in the colonial period and to economic developments in industrializing Europe. The course examines the tourist encounter and the models used to analyze it. Issues discussed include cultural mediation, the politics of cultural representation, and the problems of commoditization of culture. Offered occasionally. (4 Credits)
  
  • ANTH 362 - Culture and Globalization

    Cross-Listed as  
    The world is far more interconnected today than ever before, but what does this mean in terms of culture? This course looks at the impact of globalization on cultures and at examples of global cultures such as immigrants, media and popular cultures, world cities, and transnational intellectuals, ethnicities and ideologies. It also looks at the way cultures interact at geographic borders and in the margins of society. Alternate years. (4 Credits)
  
  • ANTH 363 - Anthropology of Development


    The goal of this course is to develop an anthropological understanding and critique of development. It aims to examine both the discourse of development and its practice. The course focuses on the construction of the Third World as an “underdeveloped” area, and discusses the dominant theoretical paradigms of development and modernization. It assesses the reasons for the general failure of development programs based on these models to bring about meaningful and substantive change in societies in Asia, Africa and Latin America, and discusses possible alternatives to “development” as it is currently practiced. Alternate years. (4 Credits)
  
  • ANTH 364 - Political Anthropology


    An analysis of various political structures and activities in diverse world societies. Emphasis is placed on pre-literate cultures, but the societies examined vary from hunting and gathering bands through agricultural tribes to the industrial state. Alternate years. Prerequisite(s):   (4 Credits)
  
  • ANTH 365 - Environmental Anthropology


    This course examines how the concept of culture can contribute to our understanding of environmental issues, in terms of how human beings adapt to their environment and the way in which they understand and give meaning to the world they live in. It aims to develop an anthropological understanding of the environment and to understand the way the “environmental crisis”-of resource scarcity and ecological degradation-is the outcome of particular structures of power, economic relations and consumption. Alternate years. (4 Credits)
  
  • ANTH 368 - Life Histories/Cultures/Selves


    This seminar focuses on the relationship between individuals and their culture. Students will record, edit, and analyze personal documents such as diaries, letters, interview transcriptions, and autobiographies. Analysis of life events such as childhood play activities, family meals, kinship relations, and modes of communication, will lead to the identification of cultural themes. Alternate years. Prerequisite(s):   (4 Credits)
  
  • ANTH 380 - Adv Medical Anthropology


    This course provides an in-depth focus on a major topic in medical anthropology as it pertains to human health, illness, and/or healing. Specific topics vary from year to year, ranging from traditional healing systems, to health related stigma and social inequalities. Students will learn to apply social theories to important health issues, and will critically read, analyze, and discuss the clinical, epidemiological, and social science literature pertaining to the most recent discussions and debates about the topic. Alternate years. Prerequisite(s): ANTH 239  (4 Credits)
  
  • ANTH 381 - Emerging Infectious Diseases


    This course examines the human determinants of infectious diseases from the Paleolithic to the present day using the combined frameworks of evolution, human ecology, critical history, and social epidemiology. We will consider the co-evolution of culture and disease: the ways that human subsistence, ecological disruptions, social inequalities, and demographic changes have created selective conditions for new infections, re-emerging infections, and antibiotic resistance. We will also address the social dynamics of current epidemics, and major controversies over biosecurity and bioterrorism. Alternate years. Prerequisite(s): ANTH 101  or ANTH 111  (4 Credits)
  
  • ANTH 394 - Topics Course


    Varies by semester. Consult the department or class schedule for current listing. (4 Credits)
  
  • ANTH 487 - Theory in Anthropology


    This course introduces students to the development of social and cultural theory in anthropology from its origins in the 19th century to the period of decolonization following World War II. The course focuses on the development of three broad theoretical approaches: the American school of cultural anthropology, British social anthropology, and the French school that emerged from the work of Durkheim and his followers. The course also examines theoretical approaches such as cultural materialism, and symbolic and interpretive approaches to the study of culture. Alternate years. Fall semester. Prerequisite(s): Junior or senior standing.  Students should have at least two courses in anthropology including ANTH 111 , or the permission of the instructor. (4 Credits)
  
  • ANTH 490 - Senior Seminar


    The senior seminar is for anthropology majors who are working on their senior capstone project and is designed to help students develop that project for presentation. The seminar will also include reading of anthropological works, guest speakers and discussion of current controversies in the discipline..Every year; Spring semester. Prerequisite(s):   and ANTH 487 . Junior or Senior standing. (4 Credits)
  
  • ANTH 494 - Topics Course


    Varies by semester. Consult the department or class schedule for current listing. (4 Credits)

Art

  
  • ART 130 - Drawing I


    This studio course is an introduction to a variety of drawing media and techniques. Students explore a variety of themes and subjects, including still life, architecture, figure drawing, portraiture, and imagination. Formal elements explored include: line, value, volume, space, proportion, perspective, markmaking, and surface. Theoretical components include group critiques and slide lectures. In critiques and discussions, we consider composition, representational accuracy, emotional expression, content, and intention. Two three-hour periods per week. Every semester. (4 Credits)
  
  • ART 131 - Introduction to Ceramics


    An introduction to contemporary ceramic practices. The class explores techniques and applications for both hand and wheel methods of construction. Lectures, demonstrations, readings, field trips to local exhibitions and museums introduce the basic concepts of design, aesthetics and creative development of clay objects examining culture, historical and personal modes of expression. Emphasis is on individual expression through creative problem solving. Not available to students who have previously taken ART 237  and/or ART 238 . Offered every semester. (4 Credits)
  
  • ART 132 - Introduction to Ceramics: The Human Figure


    An introduction to contemporary ceramic practices. The class explores techniques and applications for both hand and wheel methods of construction with focus on articulation of the human figure. Lectures, demonstrations, readings, field trips to local exhibitions and museums introduce the basic concepts of design, aesthetics and creative development of clay objects examining cultural, historical and personal modes of expression. Emphasis is on individual expression through creative problem solving. Not available to students who have previously taken ART 237  and/or ART 238 . Offered fall semester. (4 Credits)
  
  • ART 149 - Introduction to Visual Culture


    This course is an introduction to the principles of art and their application to broader visual culture. Students will develop specific visual and verbal skills for observing, analysing, describing and critiquing visual imagery coming from different cultures and from a range of diverse theoretical perspectives. In addition the course will expose the students to important cultural and philosophical shifts that have emerged in and across various domains of visual culture in recent decades. The course is comprised of field trips, guest lectures, films, as well as oral and written investigation of different manifestations of visual arts. Every semester. (4 Credits)
  
  • ART 160 - Art of the West I


    This course surveys the visual and material culture of Europe and the Middle East from the Paleolithic through the late Medieval period. We consider the material remains of Prehistoric Europe, the Ancient Near East, Egypt, the Aegean, Greece, Etruria, and Rome; early Christianity, Judaism and Islam; and Early Medieval, Romanesque and Gothic Europe from a contextual perspective, in order to recover the meanings of works of art within the cultures that produced them. A special focus is placed on the appropriation of these objects and images in later Western culture. (4 Credits)
  
  • ART 161 - Art of the West II


    This course surveys the artists and art movements that are generally perceived to be crucial in the development of Western art from the 14th through the 20th century. Stylistic periods covered include Renaissance, Mannerism, Baroque, Rococo, Neoclassicism, Romanticism, Realism, Impressionism, Post-Impressionism and a wide spectrum of modernist art movements such as Fauvism, Cubism, Dada, Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism and an introduction to Post-Modernism. The course focuses on the analysis of art within political, socio-historical and philosophical context in which it was produced. Spring semester. (4 Credits)
  
  • ART 170 - Art of the East I: China

    Cross-Listed as ASIA 170 
    This course provides a broad thematic survey of artistic production in China from prehistoric jades to experimental installations in contemporary Beijing. While encouraging the close analysis of visual materials and exploring the methods appropriate to interpreting works of art, this course also emphasizes the specific historical, political and religious contexts that made, used and inspired these materials. Topics include the funerary art of early tombs, Buddhist cave temples and monumental ink landscape paintings. Fall semester. (4 Credits)
  
  • ART 171 - Art of the East II: Japan

    Cross-Listed as ASIA 171 
    This course provides a survey of the art and architecture of Japan from the archaic pottery of the Jomon period to the impact of Japanese animation on the global art market. While the chronological scope of this course is defined broadly, works of art are studied within their specific social, religious, and political settings. Topics include Zen temple gardens, the decoration of feudal castles, woodblock prints of the pleasure quarters and contemporary Japanese manga (comics) culture. (4 Credits)
  
  • ART 194 - Topics Course


    Varies by semester. Consult the department or class schedule for current listing. (4 Credits)
  
  • ART 232 - Fiber and Material Studies I


    This course is an introduction to fibers as an expressive medium. Off-loom fiber techniques of vessel forms and stitchery, as well as surface design techniques of resisting, dyeing, painting, and embellishment on fabric will be explored. The course emphasizes creative, imaginative, and original applications of traditional techniques. Two three-hour periods per week. Every semester. (4 Credits)
  
  • ART 234 - Painting I


    An introduction to the studio practice of painting, using oil paint on a variety of supports ranging from paper, board and canvas to non-traditional painting surfaces. Exploration of the practical techniques and mechanics of painting as well as a consideration of content and meaning. Readings and class discussions of historical and contemporary painting practices and issues will develop a visual vocabulary as well as critical/theoretical knowledge to complement technical skills. Slide lectures, critiques and a gallery/museum visit will supplement studio work. Three two-hour periods per week. Every semester. (4 Credits)
  
  • ART 235 - Sculpture I


    An introduction to a basic visual language of sculpture and an exploration of the creative process and the nature of materials. The course includes training in the safe use of a range of hand and power tools, in support of a series of projects in wood, clay, and other sculptural media. Drawing (ART 130 ) is recommended as an introduction to the studio courses in the department. Every semester. (4 Credits)
  
  • ART 236 - Printmaking I


    A hands-on introduction to original printmaking in the media of relief, etching, lithography and handset type. Included are discussions of aesthetics, the impact of printed imagery on our society, printmaking practices from around the world and field trips to local exhibits and museum collections. Emphasis is on individual expression and appropriate techniques for the content.Drawing (ART 130 ) is recommended as an introduction to the studio courses in the department.Two three-hour periods per week. Every semester. (4 Credits)
  
  • ART 237 - Ceramic Art I: Handbuilding


    An introductory studio course designed to familiarize beginning students with techniques and concepts of contemporary ceramic art. Emphasis is on students’ personal expression through problem solving the assignments. Pinching, coil-building, slab and molding techniques will be introduced. In exploring the wide range of possibilities clay offers as an art medium, projects vary and may include: vessel making, sculptural forms, tiles, the human figure, narrative work and mixed media. Lectures are designed to expose students to the historical and contemporary uses of clay, as well as building a vocabulary for discussing three-dimensional art. Learning will be assessed primarily through portfolio production and review. Two three-hour periods per week. Every semester. (4 Credits)
  
  • ART 238 - Ceramic Art I: Wheel Throwing


    An introductory studio course designed to familiarize beginning students with techniques and concepts of contemporary ceramic art. Emphasis is on students’ personal expression through problem solving the assignments. Coil-building and wheel throwing techniques will be introduced in exploring the wide range of possibilities clay offers as an art medium. Projects vary and may include: utilitarian and non-utilitarian forms, vessel as metaphor, sculptural compositions and mixed media. Lectures are designed to expose students to the historical and contemporary uses of clay, as well as building a vocabulary for discussing three-dimensional art. Learning will be assessed primariliy through portfolio production and review. Two three-hour periods per week. Every fall semeseter. (4 Credits)
  
  • ART 252 - Gender, Sexualities, and Feminist Visual Culture

    Cross-Listed as WGSS 252 
    This course will examine the ways in which gender and sexuality are understood in modern visual culture, and it will survey a wide range of feminist approaches in the 20th and 21st century art. We will explore social constructions of gender and sexualities, their visible and invisible representation, and discuss the impact of feminism and the changing role of women in society on the history, theory and artistic practice. The course will also cover some of the most recent global feminist trends and new directions in the feminist culture since 1990s through the present, including work from Africa, India, Asia and Eastern and Central Europe and various marginalized cultural centers in Western Europe and the United States. (4 Credits)
  
  • ART 257 - Image in 20th Century China


    This course investigates the function of images in the social and political life of 20th century China. From the last decades of dynastic rule through the rise of Communism and ending with China’s current presence on the global stage, we explore the role of the image in representations of cultural identity, the relationship between tradition and modernity, and changes in technology and media. Every year. (4 Credits)
  
  • ART 259 - Nineteenth Century: From Neoclassicism through Symbolism


    This course surveys the visual arts of nineteenth century Europe, including neoclassicism, romanticism, realism, naturalism, impressionism, post-impressionism, and symbolism. The course will situate artists, artworks, art institutions, and new visual technologies such as photography within their social and political contexts, including the construction of national identities, European colonialism, and the rise of industrial production and mechanical reproduction. (4 Credits)
  
  • ART 263 - Modern Art


    This course explores major developments in European and American art from the 1900s to the 1980s, including Fauvism, Cubism, Expressionism, Dad, Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism, Pop, Minimalism, Post-Minimalism and postmodern art trends. It will examine the key figures and works of Modernist period and the critique of Modernism formulated by its contemporaries and the postmodern discourse. Throughout the semester we will trace the unfolding of different avant-garde practices, both in the early decades of the twentieth century and in the post-World War II period, and analyze them vis-a-vis the politics and historical catastrophes of World War I and World War II, and with regard to ever increasing powers of capitalism and mass culture. Theoretical models used by critics and art historians to study artistic production of the twentieth century will be also addressed. Fall semester. Prerequisite(s): 100-level Art History course or permission of instructor. (4 Credits)
  
  • ART 264 - Contemporary Art and Critical Theory


    This course examines the visual arts in the United States and Europe during the last three decades. It coves major artists and art movements that shaped the character of contemporary art within sociopolitical, cultural, and theoretical contexts. The course focuses on the exploration of the most recent artistic, cultural and intellectual trends, with attention to post-modernism, post-colonialism, globalization, internationalism, and multiculturalism. Spring semester. Prerequisite(s): ART 149 , ART 161 , ART 252 , ART 263 , or ART 375  or permission of instructor.

      (4 Credits)

 

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