2010-2011 - Sweet Briar College

2010-2011 Catalog Anthropology and ArchaeologyANTH 325 (3)–Special Topics inAnthropologyPrerequisites: Two anthropology courses,including one at or above the 200-level. Anintensive study of a selected topic in anthropology,to be determined by the students and theinstructor.ANTH 328 (3)–Ritual and WorldviewPrerequisites: Two ANTH courses, at least oneof which is at the 200-level or above. A study ofhow ritual and religious symbolism define culturalcategories and individual experiences. Thecourse will focus on initiation and death ritual,taboo, witchcraft and other idioms of affliction,and some of the theories anthropologists haveused to interpret religious behavior and ideas.V.4, V.5.ANTH 334 (3)–Gifts and Commodities:The Construction of Value in Social LifePrerequisites: Two ANTH courses, at least oneof which is at the 200-level or above. How doobjects, such as gifts, money, commodities, artand aesthetic products, become “valued?” Howdo exchanges of valued objects shape relationshipsamong people? The place of value andexchange in everyday life is examined throughclassic statements (for example by Marx, Mauss,and Simmel), and also in selected ethnographies.Offered alternate years. III.O.ANTH 361 (1, 2, or 3)–Special StudyPrerequisites: Three anthropology courses,including one at the 200-level and permissionof the instructor. The study of an intermediatelevel topic by an individual student or by a smallgroup of students under the immediate supervisionof a faculty member. This course is taken ona P/CR/NC grading option only.ANTH 377 (1, 2, or 3)–InternshipPrerequisites: Three credits in ANTH and permissionof instructor, department chair, anddean. This course is graded P/CR/NC only.ANTH 451 (1)–Senior Workshop inAnthropology and ArchaeologyPrerequisites: Majors in anthropology orarchaeology. A fall term workshop for studentsplanning to take ANTH 452 in the spring term.In the course we will plan the senior seminar,and plan research projects for the spring, includingassembling bibliographies, and researchmaterials, and developing research proposalsfor review by the department. We also discusscareer planning and how the anthropology andarchaeology majors have prepared students for avariety of post-graduation paths. This course istaken on a P/CR/NC grading option only.ANTH 452 (3)–Senior SeminarPrerequisite: ANTH 451. An examination ofcore concepts and analytical methods in anthropologythrough focused discussion of contemporaryscholarship and through student seniorresearch projects. III.O, III.W.ANTH 461 (1, 2, or 3)–Independent StudyPrerequisites: Three ANTH courses, at leastone at the 300-level, and permission of theinstructor. Pursuit of an upper level researchproject determined in advance by the student inconsultation with a faculty member who will actas the sponsor. This course is taken on a P/CR/NC grading option only.Course Descriptions–ArchaeologyARCH 115 (3)–Archaeological MethodsPrerequisite: ANTH 114 or one course inARCH. An introduction to archaeologicalmethods and practices, including field surveyand excavation, background research, laboratoryconservation and analysis, preparing projectproposals, and knowledge of federal andstate regulations. Students are required to participatein some weekend activities. III.Q.ARCH 207 (3)–Rise and Fall of CivilizationsThis course focuses on the emergence of complexsocieties in the Old and New Worlds (suchas, the Mesopotamians, Egyptians, Harappans,Aztecs, Mayans, and Inkans). Topics include theorigins of agriculture and its effect on society,the shift from egalitarian societies to those withsocial ranking, the rise of cities, and the originsof writing. By highlighting the variability in preindustrialcivilizations, the course examines therole of cultural values in shaping the organizationof early societies. III.O, V.1.51­