Department of Anthropology
Chair
Carol J. Greenhouse
Departmental Representative
Lawrence Rosen
Professor
João G. Biehl
James A. Boon
John W. Borneman
Isabelle R. Clark-Decès
Carol J. Greenhouse
Abdellah Hammoudi
Alan E. Mann
Lawrence Rosen
Associate Professor
Rena S. Lederman
Carolyn M. Rouse, also African American Studies
Visiting Associate Professor
Janet M. Monge
Lecturer
Noelle J. Molé
Mekhala D. Natavar
Associated Faculty
Amy B. Borovoy, East Asian Studies
Serguei A. Oushakine, Slavic Languages and Literatures
Information and Departmental Plan of Study
Prerequisite. Students who wish to major in anthropology must take one anthropology course (any level) prior to junior year or have permission from the departmental representative. It is recommended they complete 201 prior to spring of junior year.
Early Concentration. A sophomore may apply for early concentration through consultation with the departmental representative.
Course Selection. Anthropology concentrators normally take eight departmental courses. Three are required “core’’ courses: 201 Introduction to Anthropology, 301 The Ethnographer’s Craft, and 390 History of Anthropological Theory. The core courses ensure that students will have a systematic understanding of method and theory in sociocultural anthropology. The core courses prepare students for all independent work (junior papers and senior thesis). Students should plan to take 301 The Ethnographer’s Craft and 390 History of Anthropological Theory in their junior year.
The rest of each student’s courses may be chosen in accordance with his or her special interests. Up to two courses from other departments may be counted as cognates so long as they are judged by the departmental representative to be relevant to a student’s junior or senior independent work. Well-prepared undergraduates may take graduate seminars for departmental credit. To enroll in a graduate seminar, the student must have the approval of the departmental representative and the instructor of the course.
Special University Programs. Students who choose to major in the department are encouraged to take advantage of opportunities for individual study under special University programs. For example, under the Study Abroad Program students may enrich their programs at Princeton with a term or a year of anthropological study abroad. Under the Field Study Program it is possible for departmental students to do intensive domestic field study. The Community-Based Learning Initiative also provides opportunities for independent research. Students should consult with the departmental representative about these and other possibilities.
Junior Independent Work. Independent work in the junior year includes readings and research toward the writing of a junior paper. In the fall students work with a faculty adviser to develop a detailed research proposal and annotated bibliography. In the spring students submit a paper based on the research initiated in the fall.
Senior Independent Work. In the senior year, the independent work consists of a thesis, or a comparable project that must include a substantial written component, on a subject relevant to the student’s interests that has the approval of the department. Field work is encouraged but not required.
Departmental Examination. In the spring of senior year, all concentrators must complete a departmental examination designed to test their knowledge of the broader field of anthropology.
Interdepartmental Programs. Students concentrating in the department may participate in programs such as: African American studies, African studies, American studies, East Asian studies, European cultural studies, Hellenic studies, humanistic studies, Latin American studies, Near Eastern studies, and women and gender.
Courses
ANT 201 Introduction to Anthropology — Fall SA
A comparative study of human cultures. The human capacity for culture, embedded in language and symbolism, enables us to know the world in distinctive ways. Culture helps us make sense of human nature and distinguish between the universal and the culturally specific. Knowledge of the world and nature, and that which gives meaning to human life, is “uncultured” cognition. We examine diverse cognitive dispositions through empirical, historical, and theoretical cross-cultural conditions for the possibility of gaining knowledge. Two lectures, one preceptorial. Staff
ANT 206 Human Evolution (also GEO 208, EEB 306) — Spring EC
The evolution of humans in the Pleistocene. An interdisciplinary perspective on the role of biology and culture in human evolution. Readings and lectures from the fields of biology, geology, and anthropology. Two lectures, one class. A. Mann, J. Monge
ANT 215 Human Adaptation (also EEB 315) — Fall ST
Human adaptation focuses on human anatomy and behavior from an evolutionary perspective. Lectures and weekly laboratory sessions focus on the evolution of the human brain, dentition, and skeleton to provide students with a practical understanding of the anatomy and function of the human body and its evolution, as well as some of its biological limitations. No science background required. Two 90-minute lectures, one three-hour laboratory. A. Mann, J. Monge
ANT 225 Japanese Society and Culture (see EAS 225)
ANT 232 Social Lives, Social Forces — SA
Examining law and love as social forces provides a way to examine some key assumptions behind such everyday distinctions as altruism and self-interest, public and private, rules and norms, regulation and free market, kinship and citizenship, friend and foe. This seminar untangles these binaries by exploring various settings—of family, community, law, and business—where they have been put into practice as organizing principles, and thus into contention. It also follows them beyond the United States into post-colonial and post-socialist environments, so as to further hone our comparative and interpretive questions. One three-hour seminar. C. Greenhouse
ANT 250 World Music Cultures (see MUS 250)
ANT 301 The Ethnographer’s Craft — Fall SA
Ethnography as a craft and as a written genre, combining student field research projects in Princeton with the study of classic ethnographies. Required for juniors concentrating in anthropology. One 90-minute lecture, one 90-minute class. Prerequisite: one course in anthropology. Staff
ANT 302 Third World Literature and Culture — LA
An examination of literary works from and about the Third World to provide insights into the culture and history of the peoples. The focus will shift from year to year to cover topics such as gender, caste, colonialism, religion, problems of migration, and exile. One 90-minute lecture, one 90-minute class. Staff
ANT 304 Political Anthropology — SA
A cross-cultural examination of collective action, power, and legitimacy. Topics will include cultural variation in systems of leadership and decision making, the sociocultural contexts of egalitarianism and hierarchy, and human rights struggles. Issues of representation and self-representation in film and media will be considered. One 90-minute lecture, one 90-minute class. A. Hammoudi
ANT 305 Pluralism, Identity, and Culture — SA
An examination of anthropological approaches to the study of identity and pluralism. This course explores the formation and transformation of identities (ethnicity, race, gender, sexuality, nationalism); examines case studies of discrimination, resistance, assimilation, and renewal; and analyzes current debates about pluralism in educational and language policies. Prerequisite: one course on multicultural issues in anthropology, politics, history, literature, religion, or regional studies. One three-hour seminar. Staff
ANT 306 Current Issues in Anthropology — SA
A course taught by different members of the department and visiting faculty on various subjects not normally taught in regular courses. Staff
ANT 310 Fundamentals of Biological Anthropology — EC
A survey of current data and debates in evolutionary theory, molecular anthropology, primate biology and behavior, primate and human evolution, and modern human biology and adaptation. One three-hour seminar. A. Mann
ANT 311 Cultural Analysis and International Development Dilemmas — SA
Designed to give students the anthropological tools to analyze concrete development dilemmas. Specific instances of violent ethnic conflict, international food relief, refugee rights, the global factory, and culturally diverse regional blocs will be considered. Staff
ANT 315 Modern Human Origins — ST
This summer course focuses on the fossil and archaeological evidence that documents the evolutionary origins of modern humans. Working at the prehistoric cave site of Marillac in the southwest of France, students have an intensive introduction to archaeological field and laboratory techniques. Three weeks of classroom/lecture and three weeks of field work/ laboratory. A. Mann
ANT 316 Cultural Diversity: Money, Sex, Nation — SA
This course explores the use of money, sex, and national belonging in processes of cultural diversification. Its focus is anthropological: making and understanding difference in space and time. Its method is primarily ethnographic: relating face-to-face or personal encounters to macro-political factors and to contemporary issues. Drawing from film, music, and selected readings, it examines how money, sex, and national form create value and interact to create people. Students will be asked to examine critically and reflexively their own prejudices as they influence the perception and evaluation of cultural differences. One three-hour seminar. J. Borneman
ANT 318 Understanding Muslim Social and Political Movements — SA
Introduces students to a number of contemporary movements claiming to restore Islam as the central norm for practice in the social, economic, and political life of Muslim communities and societies. These movements are studied from an anthropological perspective, using anthropological studies as well as writings by orientalists and others. The course is centered on the reconfiguration of religion, self, community, identity, and power. Emphasis on the Arab world and Iran. One three-hour seminar. A. Hammoudi
ANT 321 Ritual, Myth, and Worldview — SA
An exploration of classic and modern theories of religion (belief, ritual, myth, worldview) as they pertain to a cross-cultural understanding of these phenomena. One 90-minute lecture, one 90-minute class. I. Clark-Decès
ANT 322 Cross-Cultural Texts — HA
This seminar closely reads descriptive and fictive works replete with cross-cultural representations and juxtaposed histories. What makes a given comparative account—whether colonialist or postcolonialist—compelling? Various genres—ethnographic essays, intense travel narratives, translated tales and myths, and novels—receive concerted attention. One three-hour seminar. J. Boon
ANT 330 The Rights of Indigenous Peoples — EM
Using American Indian sovereignty, Australian Aborigine land claims, the Canadian Bill of Rights, the Maori Treaty of Waitangi, and various international conventions, students will consider whether there is a fundamental right to cultural integrity and the historical, legal, and ethical implications posed by the relations between modern states and their indigenous populations. One 90-minute lecture, one 90-minute class. L. Rosen
ANT 335 Medical Anthropology — EM
Exploration of cross-cultural constructions of sickness, disease, health, and healing interrogates our basic ethical, moral, and political positions. Our healing and disease models derive from specific cultural assumptions about society, gender, class, age, ethnicity, and race. Categories of disease from one culture can compromise ethical positions held by another. We pursue the moral implications of a critique of medical development and the political and ethical implications of treating Western medicine as ethnoscience as well as universal truth. One 90-minute lecture, one 90-minute class. J. Biehl
ANT 336 The Anthropology of Selected Regions — SA
The significant impact of peoples of particular regions on the development of anthropological theory, method, and sensibility. Special attention to the dynamic precolonial history of the region and to political and religious movements in the contemporary context of rapid socioeconomic change. Staff
ANT 337 Social Change in Contemporary India (also SAS 337) — SA
This course introduces students to the debates that have defined the anthropological study of India. It explores classic and recent theories of caste and hierarchy, focusing in particular on the ethnography of change in everyday Indian life. The course also considers the emergence of identity politics in India. Communal identities and power relations in India are often expressed and challenged in popular religious practices. The course will explore everyday Indian religiosity with reference to debates about Hindu reformism and nationalism. One three-hour class. I. Clark-Decès
ANT 341 The Anthropology of Gender — SA
Comparative perspectives on sexual divisions of labor, sex-based equality and inequality, and the cultural construction of “male’’ and “female.’’ Analysis of gender symbolism in myth and ritual, and of patterns of change in the political participation and power of the sexes. Two 90-minute lectures with discussion. R. Lederman
ANT 342 The Anthropology of Law — EM
Study of the relation between formal legal institutions and the social and cultural factors influencing their development. Western and non-Western systems compared in terms of their forms of judicial reasoning, implementation through law of moral precepts, fact-finding procedures, and dispute settlement mechanisms. L. Rosen
ANT 352 Pacific Islanders: Histories, Cultures, and Change — SA
This course concerns histories of Pacific Islanders from the first settlements through colonial rule. It will also look at the diversity of cultures and their sociocultural transformation in more recent times. Throughout the semester, we will also use Pacific ethnography to shed light on general questions concerning cultural difference, inequality, and issues of interpretation/translation. Two 90-minute classes. R. Lederman
ANT 363 Islamic Social and Political Movements (see NES 363)
ANT 372 African Cultural Forms in Political Spheres (see AFS 372)
ANT 390 History of Anthropological Theory — Spring HA
A review of the main currents in anthropological theory with particular emphasis on major issues in American and European anthropology and the intellectual climate within which they developed. Required for juniors concentrating in anthropology. One 90-minute lecture, one 90-minute class. Prerequisite: one course in anthropology or instructor’s permission. Staff
ANT 404 Special Topics in Regional Studies — HA
Analysis of a major world region stressing the issues of cultural diversity, history, and social change. Attention will be given to the theoretical contributions of regional study, the history of regional approaches, and the internationalization of the production of anthropological research. Prerequisite: instructor’s permission. Staff
ANT 405 Topics in Anthropology — SA
Study of a selected topic in anthropology; the particular choice will vary from year to year. Staff
ANT 406 Theoretical Orientations in Cultural Anthropology — SA
Analysis of classical and contemporary sources of cultural anthropology, with particular emphasis on those writers dealing with meaning and representation. The topical focus of the course will vary with the instructor. Prerequisite: anthropology major or instructor’s permission. One three-hour seminar. Staff
ANT 412 Anthropological Approaches to the Study of Religion (also REL 412) — SA
Classic and modern theories of religion relevant to anthropologists. Students will familiarize themselves with anthropological monographs dealing with a particular aspect of religion: shamanism, witchcraft, possession and ecstasy, healing. Prerequisite: instructor’s permission. Staff
ANT 413 Cultures and Critical Translation — EC
Approaches to language and culture by Sapir, Saussure, and their forerunners and successors. The seminar draws on anthropology, linguistics, and other disciplines alert to critical theories of translation. Topics include field work encounters, standardized nationalist and colonialist languages, philosophies of translation, ritual languages, marketplace discourse, and orality/literacy. One three-hour seminar. Prerequisite: anthropology major or instructor’s permission. J. Boon
ANT 414 Representing Difference: Documentary Films as Practice (also LAS 414) — SA
This seminar will foster critical viewing of mass media by addressing creative processes through which cross-cultural social documentaries are made in the U.S. and Latin America. Through analysis of narrative conventions, visual aesthetics, and production practices, we will consider how documentaries—those that deal with transnational culture and difference—are “powerful,” “persuasive,” “beautiful,” or “unconvincing.” One three-hour seminar. Staff
ANT 415 The Anthropology of Science — EC
This course considers how the sciences can be studied ethnographically, how they vary culturally one from another, and how scientific knowledge is generated. It develops an understanding of the values and social contexts of Western scientific practice through the comparative study of Western and non-Western systems of knowledge, and explores the implications and validity of the assumption that the sciences are culturally produced rather than objective standards transcending culture. One three-hour seminar. J. Biehl
ANT 416 Culture and International Order — SA
This course focuses on the relation of local and global cultural processes to international orders and regimes. After Colonialism and after the Cold War, there is a fundamental reorganizing of “peoples” and “cultures.” Emphasis on the increased intensity and scale of interaction between local and global processes, on changes in group identifications, on the transformation of ideologies (cultural, economic, religious, political), and on alternative ways of imagining and managing life. One three-hour seminar. J. Borneman
ANT 425 Post-War French Social Theory — SA
Using the works of thinkers such as Sartre, Merleau Ponty, Aron Ricoeur, Lévi-Strauss, Foucault, and Bourdieu, the course will present students with some conflicting images of Western society. It will introduce students to these authors, with emphasis on their departure from traditional schools of thought and the consequences of their ideas on the production of knowledge and societies. Two 90-minute seminars. A. Hammoudi
ANT 427 Democracy and Ethnography in the United States — SA
Ethnography is a mode of research, a creative literary genre, and a democratic discourse. This seminar focuses on these different ways of reading in relation to the ethnography of the United States—to consider how ideas about personhood, gender, citizenship, community, identity, and power “work” simultaneously as theory and practice. Drawing on close readings of ethnographies, fiction, and public policy debates, the seminar gives particular attention to the (often uneasy) connections among anthropological theories of cultural identity, political struggles over rights, and literary experiments in social analysis. One three-hour seminar. C. Greenhouse
ANT 432 The Anthropology of Memory — SA
Explores issues surrounding the organization of experience in dealing with the past, and the use of narrative tools in the analysis of culture and structuring of memory generally. This course takes up three major approaches to memory: social organization (Halbwachs), psychoanalysis (Freud), and associative temporalities (Sebald). A better understanding of memory will improve our approaches to cultural observation, documentation, analysis, and interpretation. One three-hour seminar. J. Borneman
ANT 441 Gender: Contested Categories, Shifting Frames — SA
An exploration of the reciprocal influences of anthropology
and gender studies, considering both classic and recent contributions; an
evaluation of key interpretive categories (for example, “nature,’’ “domestic,’’
“woman’’) specifically in the context of cross-cultural translation; and
comparison of various approaches to questions about the universality of
gendered power hierarchies. One three-hour seminar. R. Lederman