2007-08 - Pitzer College

50 ANTHROPOLOGY
expect that a museum will conserve materials which are deemed of cultural value and
exhibit these for the education of the public. A significant part of each student’s
experience in the course will consist of a working internship in a nearby museum.
Fall, S. Miller.
105. Field Methods in Anthropology. An investigation of various methods used in the
study of culture, e.g., participant observation, key informant interviewing, linguistic
analysis. Students will learn techniques of both collecting and analyzing sociocultural
data and will carry out a range of research projects during the course of the semester.
Prerequisites: Anthropology 2. C. Strauss. [not offered 2007-08]
108. Kinship and Social Organization. How do cultures organize human reproduction
and integrate it into social life? Because of the universality of biological reproduction,
anthropology has used kinship to compare greatly diverse cultures and societies. Tracing
the history of anthropology’s concern with kinship, the course examines marriage
patterns, descent, and family structure in Western and non-Western societies. It also
considers emerging forms of kinship-involving new reproductive technologies and
lesbian and gay kinship ties-in a global perspective. Prerequisite: Anth 2 and Anth 21.
D. Segal. [not offered 2007-08]
110. Nature and Society in Amazonia. The course investigates the relations between
humans and the environment, focusing on the inter-play of social and natural Amazonian
worlds in material, political, cultural and economic terms. The course has ethnographic
and historical components: we will study different Amazonian groups and the ways their
lives connect to the forest and its beings; we will consider the history of the human
presence and the colonization of the Amazon to tease out the different roles that the
region has played in the political-economy and the imaginary of Western societies.
Spring, L. Martins.
111. Historical Archaeology. This course examines the goals and methods of historical
archaeology, as well as the archaeology of specific sites. Its focus is North America and
the interactions of European immigrants with Native Americans and peoples of African
and Asian ancestry. Archaeological data are used to challenge accepted interpretations
(based on written documents) of such sites as Monticello and the Little Bighorn Battlefield.
We will look at early Jamestown’s relationship with the Powhatan Indians, the lives of
Thomas Jefferson’s slaves, and other examples as seen through the archaeological evidence.
Spring, S. Miller.
117. Language and Power. What is power and how is it reflected in and created through
talk and writing? For example, who takes control of a conversation? Do women do more
conversational work than men? How do immigrants feel about non-native speakers using
their language? How are ideological differences reflected in the way “facts” are reported?
When is language discriminatory? We will examine the theories of Bourdieu, Bakhtin,
and Foucault through our own analyses of power dynamics in language use.
Fall, C. Strauss.
120. Studying Up: The Anthropology of Elites and Other Dominant Social Groups.
This course surveys ethnographic studies of elites and other dominant class groups,
bureaucracies, institutions, governmental and non-governmental organizations, etc.
ANTHROPOLOGY
Through lectures, discussion of readings, and individual ethnographic research projects,
students will explore the particular ethical, methodological,, theoretic, political, critical,
and moral dimensions of such work. Prerequisite: Anth 2 or permission of instructor.
J. Norvell. [not offered 2007-08]
CLAS 121. Classical Mythology. (See Classics 121) Spring, S. Glass.
124. Illness and Health: Anthropological Perspectives. This course provides an
introduction to the study of medical anthropology, with emphasis on the human rather
than the biological side of things. It examines medicine from a cross-cultural perspective,
focusing on the relationship between culture, health and illness in various contexts.
Students will learn how to analyze medical practice as cultural systems. The course also
looks at how Western medicine (bio-medicine) conceptualize disease, health, body, and
mind, and how they intersect with national and international organizations and processes.
Spring, L. Martins.
125. U.S. Social and Immigration Discourses. How do Americans arrive at their beliefs
about public policy? We will analyze interviews with diverse Americans (African
American, European, American, and Mexican American men and women from different
backgrounds) about such issues as national health insurance, welfare, and immigration.
What ideologies have affected the way Americans talk about these issues? How are
people’s views on these issues related to their personal identities? We’ll read the work of
other scholars on Americans’ social policies views, but our focus in this seminar will be
learning how to analyze what people say to uncover implicit and possibly conflicting
cultural assumptions, ideologies, and identities. Seminar, limited enrollment.
C. Strauss. [not offered 2007-08]
126. Gangs What are gangs? Who joins them and why? Why are they so violent? While
answers to these questions are often laden with political rhetoric, this class takes an ethnographic
and community-based approach to the study of gangs, positioning gang culture within the
complex social forces that necessitate alternative strategies for survival in urban arenas.
S. Phillips. [not offered 2007-08]
134. Colonial Societies. This seminar explores colonial societies through a small number
of case studies. Themes will include the mutual shaping of colonizers and colonized
peoples, the historical construction of identities of race, nationality and gender, and the
importance of colonialism in the history of the modern world. Students will participate in
research on archival materials. Prerequisite: History/Anthropology 21.
D. Segal. [not offered 2007-08]
Anth135/Envs 135. Plants and People. Plants play an important role in nearly all areas of
human activities and are the basis of human culture. Topics to be covered include plants
used for food, medicine, clothing, shelter and poisons, past and present uses of indigenous
and introduced plants by Native Americans, current uses of plants growing in California
and sustainable plant communities. Course activities include field trips, field identification,
and preparation and consumption of certain plants. Spring, S. Miller/M. Herrold-Menzies.
Envs 140. The Desert As a Place. (See Environmental Studies 140)
P. Faulstich. [not offered 2006-07]
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