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African Film and Society (AFST266 / ANTH266)

Credit: 3 hours
Feature movies produced in African countries is the subject matter of this course. Many of these have won awards in international festivals and competitions. One movie will be screened every week to discuss contemporary issues in Africa, film topics, the current art and literature climate in Africa. Readings will be assigned on Africa, the countries where the films were made, and the themes they deal with. Attendance is extremely important. Weekly quizzes, midterm and final.

The World of Jewish Sepharad (ANTH275 / HIST267 / RLST275)

Credit: 3 hours
This is a course on the society and culture of the Sephardim, a large sector of World Jewry who were expelled by royal decree from Spain at the end of the fifteenth century and settled in various parts of the world. They became a conduit between Christianity and Islam. Focusing on the communities the Sephardim established in the Mediterranean countries and later in America, the course will cover the flourishing cultural life they created in their new lands, their Judeo-Spanish language, literature, music, participation in the economy and in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries the political movements of the emerging nations.
This course satisfies the General Education Criteria for a Hist & Philosoph Perspect, and Non-Western Culture(s) and Western Comparative Cultures

Transnational Islam: Europe-US (ANTH402 / ASST402 / RLST409)

Credit: 3 or 4 hours
This course deals with communities of Islamic origin or converts to Islam in Europe and the USA. In the case of Europe these communities are the result of immigration and the course addresses how decolonization and changes in world economy shaped this movement and how Islam, either as faith or as perceived identity, now is influencing national identities and issues of citizenship. In the US the course deals with conversion among African-Americans, relations with Asian immigrants, race, religion, and the impact of recent geopolitical policies on domestic perception of Islam.

Social Organization (ANTH421)

Credit: 3 or 4 hours
This course deals with fundamental issues of social structure. It is organized loosely chronologically, moving from classical British Social Anthropology to French Structuralism and then to the recent theoretical developments in the study of society. The emphasis, however, is on basic ideas and their applications rather than the history of the field. The core of each class session consists of discussion about the assigned reading. The course grade is based upon three short take-home examination papers. The texts will be photocopied articles and excerpts.

Economic Anthropology (ANTH423)

Credit: 3 or 4 hours
Economic anthropology deals with economic activity in its social and cultural matrix. The course will start will an overview of the field, a sample of its core literature, and then will move on to its current concerns. It will cover themes such as the gift, gender roles, the representations of work, trade and markets, and the impact of colonialism. There will be an emphasis on the diverse approaches within the discipline.

Cultures of Africa (ANTH467)

Credit: 3 or 4 hours
This course is an introduction to the populations of Sub-Saharan Africa. It will deal with topics of contemporary and historical relevance to Africa, exemplifying the diversity of social, political, and economic realities of the continent. The class readings will include recent publications and a few pieces considered classical, written by anthropologists and others in the humanities. The class grade will be based on a midterm and final essay exam, and an oral presentation made in class. Graduate students will also write a final research paper.