This course provides a critical understanding of the similarities and differences in cultures and peoples through time and space, and of the application of anthropological knowledge to contemporary global issues. Topics covered may include the history of anthropology; human evolution; gender; kinship; political organization; economies; race and social inequality; religion and spiritualities; language; ethnographic methods and ethics. Contributes to International Studies and Sociology. (Each semester) (ScS) (SJ)(PJ)

The study of whiteness begins in the early twentieth century when W.E.B. Du Bois asserts that White Americans benefit from the wages of whiteness. This course explores the White Trash School of Thought; Whiteness in Education; ethnographies of White Womanhood; White Abolitionists; African Diaspora Anthropology; and Critical Whiteness Studies. Contributes to Race and Ethnicity Studies/Concepts Course. Prerequisite: Anthropology 35-104 or permission of the instructor. (ScS)

This course critically examines how the constructs of race, class and gender shape everyday life in the Caribbean. The course will cover history, human-environmental relations, the global circulations that continue to create the Caribbean (e.g. migration, tourism and development), spiritualities, language, music, and Carnival. Contributes to Feminist Studies, International Studies, Latin American and Border Studies, and Race and Ethnicity Studies/Group-Themed Course. Prerequisite: Anthropology 35-104, Feminist Studies 04-104, or permission of the instructor. (ScS) (SJ)(PJ)

This course will explore how predominantly White cities in the American South commemorate historical Black servitude and thus construct local notions of race. Through a survey of various cultural heritage projects (museums, monuments, history classes, and others) students will examine the relationship between racial ideology, place making, and identity. Contributes to Race and Ethnicity Studies/Group-Themed Course and Legal Studies Certificate. Prerequisite: Anthropology 35-104 or permission of the instructor. (ScS)

These are courses that fall out of our typical range of anthropology courses. Offered infrequently. May be repeated with change in content.

An exploration of global environmental issues from a perspective that foregrounds questions of social inequality (differences in socioeconomic status, race, gender, indigeneity, national identity, etc.). The course includes an overview of the U.S. environmental justice movement, a consideration of global inequality, and social theories of nature and culture. Topics addressed may include global climate change, consumerism, pollution and toxic substances, resource extraction, bio-diversity conservation, food production systems, natural disasters, and water scarcity. Contributes to Animal Studies, Environmental Studies, Feminist Studies, Health Studies, International Studies, Race and Ethnicity Studies/Allied Course, and Legal Studies Certificate. Prerequisite: Anthropology 35-104, Environmental Studies 49-104, or Feminist Studies 04-104. (ScS) (SJ) (PJ)

This course introduces students to different kinds of assumptions and questions that have informed anthropological inquiry in the past, and that currently orient research and writing in cultural anthropology. The course simultaneously explores the methods for gathering data that are necessarily intertwined with these assumptions and questions. Students will practice employing different methods (including participant observation and interviewing techniques) and applying different theoretical approaches. This course prepares students to conduct the ethnographic research project required for the senior seminar. Prerequisite: Anthropology 35-104. Restricted to Majors. (Fall)

This course introduces students to the Southwestern Racial History Project, where critical exploration of the university's racial underpinnings is taking place. Students will be exposed to historical and archival material that has already been collected and will contribute to an on-going archive that will be housed on campus and digitally. Contributes to Race and Ethnicity Studies/Group-Themed Course. Prerequisite: Anthropology 35-104 or permission of the instructor. (ScS).

The anthropology capstone requires students to develop a major paper in which they contextualize the data generated from their ethnographic research project in relevant scholarly literature. Students will work with each other and their professor throughout the capstone in an intellectual community of knowledge producers. Students will present their paper to campus at the end of the course and will be encouraged to present at national or regional conferences and the Southwestern Undergraduate Works Symposium. Prerequisite: Permission of instructor. (Spring) (WA) (ScS)

This course serves as an introduction to the discipline of sociology that uses sociological theories, empirical research, and the sociological imagination to explore features of contemporary American life. Particular attention will be paid to the ways in which characteristics such as race, class, and gender are socially constructed in the American context and influence people's worldviews and life chances. Contributes to Anthropology and Spanish for Healthcare Professions Certificate. (Each semester) (ScS) (SJ) (PJ)

This course examines how Christianity intersects with various structures in the United States and how history informs this relationship. Students will explore how sociologists examine this phenomenon along the axes of gender, sexuality, race, and class. Contributes to Feminist Studies, and Race and Ethnicity Studies/Group-Theme Course. Prerequisite: Sociology 34-114. (ScS)

This course examines the social construction of gender. Students will engage with theory, empirical findings, current social issues, and lived experience to interrogate the complexities of feminism and the gender binary. Particular attention is paid to intersectionality and the ways that gender, race, and class influence power in the public and private spheres. Contemporary issues related to patriarchy, masculinity, and misogyny will be covered. Contributes to Feminist Studies, Race and Ethnicity Studies/Allied Course, and Spanish for Healthcare Professions Certificate. Prerequisite: Sociology 34-114 or Feminist Studies 04-104. (ScS) (SJ) (PJ)

This course examines how race and ethnicity are experienced, maintained, and challenged in the United States at the individual, interactional, and institutional levels. Time will also be devoted to the ways that American citizenship as well as life chances are influenced by ethnic and racial group membership. Contributes to Feminist Studies, Race and Ethnicity Studies/Concepts Course, Legal Studies Certificate, and Spanish for Healthcare Professions Certificate. Prerequisite: Sociology 34-114. (ScS) (SJ) (PJ)

This course examines the inequality of U.S. families. Special attention is paid to how gender, race, social class, and sexuality inform experiences within diverse family forms. Students will trace the demographic history of families, explore contemporary constellations (divorce, child custody, single parenting, and stepparents), and contemplate on the future direction of families. Contributes to Feminist Studies, Race and Ethnicity Studies/Allied Course, Legal Studies Certificate, and Spanish for Healthcare Professions Certificate. Prerequisite: Sociology 34-114. (ScS)

This course acquaints majors and minors in sociology with the procedures for analyzing quantitative data. Students will learn how to use SPSS or Stata to analyze an existing dataset. They will also write a quantitative paper based on their empirical findings. Prerequisite: Sociology 34-114, Mathematics 52-114 and sociology minor or major. (Every Fall) (WA) (ScS)

Contributions made to sociological theory beginning in the mid-19th century to the present. This course will survey select classical sociological theorists and contemporary sociological theorists with an emphasis on how their theories can be applied to understanding human behavior through a sociological lens. This course is offered every spring. Prerequisites: Sociology 34-114 and sociology minor or major. (Every Spring) (ScS)

Students will conduct a qualitative or mixed methods sociological research project. They will collect and analyze data, apply sociological literature to their findings, develop a research paper, and present their findings to the campus community. Majors should take this class in the fall of their senior year. Prerequisites: Sociology 34-314, 34-344 and sociology major. (Every Fall) (WA) (ScS)