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Contact
FYS |
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300
Steele Building
CB# 3504
UNC-Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
27599-3504
email: fys@unc.edu
phone: (919)843-7773 |
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ANTH 050 [006E]: Skeletons in the Closet
Social & Behavioral Science/Other (SS) [GC Social
Science]
Dale Hutchinson
The human skeleton has served for centuries as a symbolic
representation of death and the afterlife. In many societies,
it is the skeletonized corpse that is ritually cleansed during
the final rites of ancestral passage outside of this world.
Beyond the symbolism, human skeletal remains are fundamental
in modern scientific inquiries regarding how human nutrition
and health changed as humans made economic, social, and political
changes. Within forensic contexts, human skeletal remains
often provide valuable information about crimes of humanity.
In this course, we explore the various applications of the
study of the human skeleton to modern behavioral and biological
investigations, as well as various emotional concerns about
the use of ancestral human remains in scientific research.
ANTH 051 [006E]: Environmentalism
and American Society
Social & Behavioral Science/Other (SS) [GC Social
Science]
Dorothy Holland
This seminar takes on the social problem of environmental
degradation. We examine the environmental movement as a transformative
process linked to changing systems of power and privilege,
consumer desire, and culturally developed attachments to place
and nature. Students conduct original group research project
on the environmental movement in North Carolina.
ANTH 052 [006E]: Asian Cultures,
Asian Cities, Asian Modernities
Social & Behavioral Science/Other (SS) [GC Social
Science]
Donald Nonini
Together in this seminar, we will study the global cities
of Southeast Asia that are central to defining Asian cultures
and Asian modernities. Using the methods of anthropology and
geography, we will examine and experience the peoples, spaces,
places, and cultures of modern contemporary cities such as
Singapore, Bangkok, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, and Manila. These
rapidly growing cities play key roles in Southeast Asian economies,
governments, and pop cultures, and are connected to us by
globalization. As we study them, we will learn not only about
Southeast Asia, but about cultures, cities, and different
ways of being modern.
ANTH 053 [006E]: Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Natural
Selection and the Nature of Humans
Social & Behavioral Science/Other (SS) [GC Social
Science]
Paul Leslie
Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection is central
to one of the most profound revolutions in the history of
thought, generating stunning insights but also misunderstanding
and tragic abuse. This seminar aims to provide a clear understanding
of how natural selection works, and how it doesn't. We examine
objections to the theory; how the environmental and health
problems we face today reflect processes of natural selection;
and recent attempts to understand why we get sick, how e respond
to disease, why we get old, and why we choose mates the way
we do.
ANTH/AMST 054 [006E]: The Indians'
New Worlds: Southeastern Indian Histories from 1200 to 1800
Historical Analysis (HS); North Atlantic World (NA);
The World Before 1750 (WB); US Diversity (US) [GC Social Science
& Cultural Diversity]
Michael Green
By AD 1200, most Southeastern Indians were farmers who lived
in societies ruled by hereditary chiefs. After 1500, encounters
between Indians and Europeans changed the lives of all concerned,
but the changes took place in and were shaped by existing
cultures. This seminar uses reading, discussion, and lecture
to examine the cultures of Southern Indians and to understand
how European exploration and colonization changed those cultures.
Students will learn how archaeologists and historians work,
both separately and together, to study the past of Native
societies. Students will study and analyze archaeological
artifacts, Spanish accounts of Southeastern Indians, and other
primary materials in class. These activities, along with various
role-playing exercises, will directly involve the students
in the study of Native people in the period of Mississippian
transition. Grades will be awarded for class participation,
two short papers and a final essay exam.
ANTH 055 [006E]: The Modern
Corporation: From the English East India Company to Wal-mart
Social & Behavioral Science/Other (SS) [GC Social
Science]
Matthew Hull
Corporations have emerged as the dominant governance
institutions on the planet. The largest among them reach into
virtually every country in the world and exceed most governments
in size and power. While corporations are characters in the
larger stories of industrialization and capitalism, this seminar
will emphasize the specific features of public corporations
and their historical and contemporary relations to individuals,
states, families, ethnic and racial groups, and other social
actors. How did corporations emerge? How are they controlled
and by whom? Under what circumstances do they exercise military
force? How do we participate in them as consumers, employees,
and stockholders, and what are the conflicts among these forms
of participation? What rights should corporations have? How
should we engage them as citizens? We will examine these questions
with reference to corporate activities in Asia, Africa, and
Latin America, with particular emphasis on the greatest early
joint stock corporation, the English East India Company, and
today's largest corporation, Wal-Mart.
ANTH 056 [006E]: The Art of Healing, the Science
of Curing
Social & Behavioral Science/Other (SS) [GC Social
Science]
Kaja Finkler
There has been a burst of interest in alternative healing
in the United States, with more and more people going to alternative
healers in America. In this seminar, we will ask the question;
"Why do 21st century Americans seek alternative healers
in light of modern western medicine's great advancements?"
To answer this question, we will learn about different kinds
of healing beliefs and practices in the United States and
in other cultures, including Africa, Asia, Latin America,
and the Middle East, as well as about social, economic, political
and ethical aspects of our lives. we will explore how these
healing systems are the same and different from Western medical
practice and what they tell us about ourselves and about different
cultures.
ANTH 057 [006E]: Today in Africa
Social & Behavioral Science/Other (SS) [GC Social
Science]
Robert Daniels
Mainstream American news sources report little from Africa
other than outbreaks of mass violence, starvation, and political
struggle, ‘explained’ without much knowledge of
the local area or its history. However, in the last few years,
the Internet has dramatically improved our access to knowledge
about
contemporary Africa. We will focus on African daily news reports
on the Web, and track major stories as they develop . Together
we will identify lines of inquiry to fill in the background.
Some readings will be assigned initially; others will be determined
as the course progresses and distributed electronically. Grades
based on short papers, class presentations, and participation
in discussion.
ANTH 058 [006E]: Germs and Governments, Trees and
Traffic Jams
Social & Behavioral Science/Other (SS) [GC Social
Science]
Carole Crumley
Is there a single framework that can describe the intricacies
of snowflakes, tree leaves, clouds, bacteria, computers, traffic
jams, and languages? Do there exist ideas so flexible that
they can link biology and anthropology, geology and music,
history and computer science? The things that we make and
think, not to mention the physical world in which we live,
are enormously complex. But what does 'complex' mean? A new
field called complexity theory may offer a means to make sense
of all kinds of complexity. The course will ground students
in the fundamentals of complex systems thinking, then explore
its utility in contemporary society.
ANTH 059: The Right to Childhood: Global Efforts and Challenges
Social & Behavioral Sciences/Other (SS), Communication Intensive (CI), Global Issues (GL)
Patricia Swain
Do children have special needs and rights? There appears to be broad international agreement (expressed in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child) that all children deserve family, identity, education, play, health care, and nutrition and should be protected from exploitation, sexual abuse, military service, and work that is hazardous or interferes with education. In wealthy countries, tremendous resources are devoted to the full development of children's capacities. Yet millions of children today work dangerous jobs, are deprived of education, are separated from their parents, and are even forced to be slaves, prostitutes, or soldiers. In this seminar we ask: what forces work against ensuring basic rights for all children? to what extent do global connections base privileges for some on deprivation for others? what is being done to improve children's situation and or heal them from past abuses? how do international efforts like the UN's figure into local struggles?
ANTH 0060H: Crisis and Resilience: Past and Future of Human Societies
Historical Analysis (HS); Beyond the North Atlantic (BN); Communication Intensive (CI)
Patricia McAnany
The goal of this seminar is to encourage students to take a long view of human society and to examine responses to crises engendered by both political and environmental forces. Cases to be discussed in the seminar reach back to Mesopotamia (3rd millennium B.C.), Classic Maya and U.S. Pueblo dwellers of the first millennium A.D. but also include contemporary situations such as the Rwandan genocide, nations such as Haiti that are alleged to be “failed” states, and the global crisis of environmental sustainability. Students will gain familiarity with evaluating primary sources in archaeology, history, and environmental studies. The ultimate aim of the seminar is to foster critical analytic skills that aid in evaluating narratives (in both scholarly and popular media) about societal crises and human resilience. |
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