* ANTH 0418a, Scientific Thinking and Reasoning  Eduardo Fernandez-Duque

Students read, discuss and reflect on the paramount importance of science and quantitative reasoning in their lives through an exploration of the basic elements of a quantitative scientific process of inquiry. The goal of the course is to introduce students to foundational topics in science that must be, but sometimes are not, thoroughly considered early in the process of scientific inquiry. The first part focuses on reading about truth, facts and skepticism, causality, inference, deductive and inductive reasoning, research questions, and formulation of hypotheses and predictions. The second part considers aspects related to the actual development and implementation of a scientific study including considerations of types of study (e.g, observational, experimental), study feasibility, sample size, selection and validity of variables, power analysis, confounding factors. The third part considers the analyses, interpretation and presentation of results, offering introductory explanations of a priori statistical protocols; predictive and/or explanatory power and interpretation of both statistical significance and research relevance. The course is neither a lecture or seminar, but instead each meeting is a hybrid of both formats; a format where students are required to be active participants in the process of learning.   Enrollment limited to first-year students.   SC, SO
TTh 2:30pm-3:45pm

* ANTH 0661a, Understanding Human Origins  Jessica Thompson

This course deals with scientific questions of what we know about human origins and human evolution. It presents evidence from evolutionary and life history theory, geochronology, paleontology, paleoenvironmental reconstruction, phylogenetic analysis, genetics, archaeology, and functional morphology. It also tackles the issue of how we know what we think we know of our own ancestry over the past 6 million years. In other words, what constitutes evidence for human evolution and how is that evidence interpreted? Students are introduced to basic milestones in human evolution and learn how they have shaped us into the species we are today, using diverse lines of evidence from evolutionary and life history theory, geochronology, paleontology, paleoenvironmental reconstruction, phylogenetic analysis, genetics, archaeology, and functional morphology. We critically examine key debates that have taken place over the last century of exploration in human evolutionary research, learning how unconventional thinking and spectacular discoveries have shaped current knowledge of our origins. Students meet strange and fascinating historical characters, and then meet our fossil ancestors via the cast collection. Students also receive hands-on and interactive learning about the morphology, life history patterns, locomotion, social behavior, and diet of our nearest fossil relatives; observe living primates to assess what they can tell us about our own deep past; dive into data collection by locating real archaeological and fossil sites; and learn how molecular techniques such as ancient DNA have transformed understanding of the origins of our own species. By formally debating controversial issues with classmates, students learn what a surprising amount of information scientists can discern from fragmentary fossils, and are brought up to date with the most current discoveries in human evolution. Enrollment limited to first-year students.   SO
MW 11:35am-12:50pm

* ANTH 0811b, Reproductive Technologies  Marcia Inhorn

Introduction to scholarship on the anthropology of reproduction. Focus on reproductive technologies such as contraceptives, prenatal diagnostics, childbirth technologies, abortion, assisted reproduction, surrogacy, and embryonic stem cells. The globalization of reproductive technologies, including social, cultural, legal, and ethical responses. Enrollment limited to first-year students.  SO
TTh 1pm-2:15pm

ANTH 1172b / ARCG 1172b, Great Hoaxes and Fantasies in Archaeology  William Honeychurch

Examination of selected archaeological hoaxes, cult theories, and fantasies; demonstration of how archaeology can be manipulated to authenticate nationalistic ideologies, religious causes, and modern stereotypes. Examples of hoaxes and fantasies include the lost continent of Atlantis, Piltdown man, ancient giants roaming the earth, and alien encounters. Evaluation of how, as a social science, archaeology is capable of rejecting such interpretations about the past.  SO
WF 2:30pm-3:45pm

ANTH 1200b / HUMS 1210b / NELC 1200b, Unequal: Dynamics of Power and Social Hierarchy in Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia  Gojko Barjamovic

The course "Unequal" examines the historical roots of intolerance, slavery, and imperialism, emphasizing how our perceptions of history shape contemporary beliefs and policies. It challenges the notion that inequality is an inevitable outcome of societal complexity, positing that historical narratives often frame progress and freedom while obscuring themes of inequality. By investigating early human history, the course aims to unpack the concepts of identity, possession, value, freedom, and power, exploring their impact on modern society. Rather than focusing on specific literature or chronological period, "Unequal" centers around critical questions about human culture. The course employs innovative experimental lab assignments, allowing students to engage with the past creatively, such as cooking ancient recipes, brewing beer, and creating virtual museum exhibits. This interdisciplinary approach encourages a deeper understanding of the historical context that informs present-day issues, inviting students to rethink common narratives and assumptions about equality and progress. Ultimately, the course aims to foster critical thinking about the interplay between history and contemporary society.  HU, SO  0 Course cr
TTh 11:35am-12:50pm

ANTH 1400a, Introduction to Biological Anthropology  Staff

Introduction to human and primate evolution, primate behavior, and human biology. Topics include a review of principles of evolutionary biology and basic molecular and population genetics; the behavior, ecology, and evolution of nonhuman primates; the fossil and archaeological record for human evolution; the origin of modern humans; biological variation in living humans; and the evolution of human behavior.  SC, SO  0 Course cr
HTBA

ANTH 1482a, Primate Behavior and Ecology  Staff

Survey of the ecological and behavioral diversity among nonhuman primates (lemurs, lorises, monkeys, and apes). Introduces students to the study of behavioral evolution and to variation in primate habitats and ecological adaptations, mating systems, and social behavior. Among the topics are links between ecology and social organization; cooperation and competition; the complexities of social life and adaptive benefits of sociality; and case studies such as baboons, gorillas, and chimpanzees. Relevance of studying nonhuman primates to understanding human behavior is a major theme.  SO  0 Course cr
HTBA

ANTH 1700a, An Introduction to Cultural Anthropology  Staff

Anthropological study of cosmology, tacit knowledge, and ways of knowing the world in specific social settings. Ways in which sociocultural specificity helps to explain human solutions to problems of cooperation and conflict, production and reproduction, expression, and belief. Introduction to anthropological ways of understanding cultural difference in approaches to sickness and healing, gender and sexuality, economics, religion, and communication.  SO  0 Course cr
HTBA

ANTH 1840b / ER&M 2541b / SOCY 1840b, The Corporation  Douglas Rogers

Survey of the rise, diversity, and power of the capitalist corporation in global contexts, with a focus on the 20th and 21st centuries. Topics include: the corporation as legal entity and the social and cultural consequences of this status; corporations in the colonial era; relationships among corporations, states, and non-governmental organizations in Western and non-Western contexts; anti-corporate critique and response; corporate social responsibility; and race, gender, and indigeneity.  HU, SO  0 Course cr
MW 10:30am-11:20am

* ANTH 2252a / RLST 3300a / SAST 3760a, Religion, Place, and Space  Harini Kumar

This seminar explores why ‘placemaking’ is significant for practitioners of various religions worldwide. From the holy city of Mecca to the sacred landscape of Banaras in India, religious traditions are tethered to sacred geographies. These locations are often physical sites imbued with sacred energies and social meaning. Religious activities can occur in churches or mosques, forests or mountains, community centers, public squares, or homes. The course materials consider specific religious sites and contexts (including those on the Yale campus), examining how these places simultaneously become sites of worship, articulations of identity and heritage, claims of political significance, and hubs of social and emotional life. Special attention is given to how space and place are gendered, racialized, and shaped by emotions, senses, and memories.  HU, SO
MW 11:35am-12:50pm

* ANTH 2275a / ARCG 2275a, The Green Hell and the Mother Serpent: Amazonian Archaeology, Ethnography, and Politics  Richard Burger

Survey and seminar discussing the archaeology and ethnography of greater Amazonia, along with the political stakes of this heritage for modern Indigenous communities in the region. Introduces students to the varied geography and ecology of greater Amazonia, before delving into topics such as: the archaeological record of domestication and landscape investment by past Indigenous societies; the ethnographic and historical records of their descendants; the contested spheres of knowledge production in anthropology that underpins both of these records; and the modern political struggles that Indigenous communities face today amid deforestation and the pursuit of economic development.  SO
W 1:30pm-3:20pm

ANTH 2294b / ARCG 2294b, The Ancient Maya  Oswaldo Chinchilla Mazariegos

Introduction to the archaeological study of ancient Maya civilization in southern Mexico and northern Central America. Maya origins and modes of adaptation to a tropical forest environment; political history of the Classic Maya and competing theories about their collapse; overviews of Maya art, calendar, and writing.  SO
TTh 11:35am-12:50pm

ANTH 2403b, Primate Conservation  David Watts

A study of nonhuman primates threatened by deforestation, habitat disturbance, hunting, and other human activities; the future of primate habitats, especially tropical rainforests, as they are affected by local and global economic and political forces. Examination of issues in primate conservation, from the principles of conservation biology and rainforest ecology to the emergence of diseases such as AIDS and Ebola and the extraction of tropical resources by local people and by transnational corporations.  SO
TTh 2:30pm-3:45pm

ANTH 2442a, Human Evolutionary Biology and Life History  Richard Bribiescas

The range of human physiological adaptability across environments and ecologies. Effects of energetic constraints on growth, reproduction, and behavior within the context of evolution and life history theory, with special emphasis on traditional non-Western societies.  SC, SO  0 Course cr
TTh 11:35am-12:50pm

ANTH 2480b, Evolution of Primate Intelligence  David Watts

Discussion of the extent and evolutionary origins of cognitive abilities in primates (prosimians, monkeys, apes, and humans). Topics include the role of ecological and social factors as evolutionary forces; "ape language" studies; and whether any nonhuman primates possess a "theory of mind."  SO  0 Course cr
MW 11:35am-12:50pm

* ANTH 2504a, Molecular Anthropology  Serena Tucci

This course is a perfect introduction for anyone interested in understanding how genetics can help us answer fundamental questions in human evolution and population history. The course studies the basic principles of population genetics, molecular evolution, and genetic data analysis. Topics include DNA and human origins, human migrations, genetic adaptation, ancient DNA, and Neandertals. By the end of this course, students learn about the processes that generate and shape genetic variation, as well as the molecular and statistical tools used to reconstruct human evolutionary history.  SC
T 1:30pm-3:20pm

ANTH 2530a / WGSS 2230a, Evolutionary Biology of Female Bodies  Claudia Valeggia

Evolutionary, biosocial, and situated perspectives on the female body. Physiological, ecological, social and cultural aspects of the development of female bodies from puberty through menopause and aging, with special attention to lived experiences. Variation in female life histories in a variety of cultural and ecological settings. Examples from both traditional and modern societies.  SC  0 Course cr
TTh 2:30pm-3:45pm

* ANTH 2660a / ARCG 2660a, Being Human: The Neanderthal Dilemma  Jessica Thompson and Hannah Keller

Who were Neanderthals, and how were they different from us? Since their discovery in 1856, they have fascinated the public with their position as our closest, yet extinct, relatives. For decades Neanderthals were portrayed as nasty, brutish, and passively lacking the talent and innovation that allowed humans to survive and thrive. Recently, they have become celebrated as our close cousins or even just another group of ancient humans. But what does modern science say about Neanderthal life and extinction, and what do Neanderthals tell us about ourselves? By asking the question “were Neanderthals human,” this course examines what it actually means to be human. Students learn the archaeological, fossil, and biomolecular records of Neanderthals, early modern humans, and other contemporaneous human relatives.  They also learn the foundations of human evolutionary science, with a focus on the Middle and Late Pleistocene (770,000 to 11,500 years ago), when the genus Homo diversified into as many as seven species–including our own.   SC, SO
MW 2:30pm-3:45pm

ANTH 2844b, Modern Southeast Asia  Erik Harms

This course offers a comprehensive introduction to the extraordinary diversity of Southeast Asian peoples, cultures, and political economy. Broadly focused on the nation-states that have emerged since the end of World War II (Brunei, Burma [Myanmar], Cambodia, Indonesia, East Timor, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam), the course explores the benefits and limits to a regional perspective. Crossing both national and disciplinary boundaries, the course introduces students to key elements of Southeast Asian geography, history, language and literature, belief systems, marriage and family, music, art, agriculture, industrialization and urbanization, politics and government, ecological challenges, and economic change. In addition to providing a broad and comparative survey of “traditional” Southeast Asia, the course places special emphasis on the intellectual and practical challenges associated with modernization and development, highlighting the ways different Southeast Asian nations contend with the forces of globalization. The principle readings include key works from a multidisciplinary range of fields covering anthropology, art, economics, geography, history, literature, music, and political science. No prior knowledge of Southeast Asia is expected.  SO  0 Course cr
TTh 9am-10:15am

* ANTH 3075b / ARCG 3075b, Anthropology of Mobile Societies  William Honeychurch

The social and cultural significance of the ways that hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads, maritime traders, and members of our own society traverse space. The impact of mobility and transport technologies on subsistence, trade, interaction, and warfare from the first horse riders of five thousand years ago to jet-propulsion tourists of today.  SO
F 9:25am-11:15am

ANTH 3116La / ARCG 3116La, Introduction to Archaeological Laboratory Sciences  Ellery Frahm

Introduction to techniques of archaeological laboratory analysis, with quantitative data styles and statistics appropriate to each. Topics include dating of artifacts, sourcing of ancient materials, remote sensing, and microscopic and biochemical analysis. Specific techniques covered vary from year to year.  SC
W 1:30pm-4:30pm

* ANTH 3136b / ARCG 3136b / EPS 3360b, Geoarchaeology  Ellery Frahm

A survey of the numerous ways in which theories, approaches, techniques, and data from the earth and environmental sciences are used to address archaeological research questions. A range of interfaces between archaeology and the geological sciences are considered. Topics include stratigraphy, geomorphology, site formation processes, climate reconstruction, site location, and dating techniques. Prior introductory coursework in archaeology or geology (or instructor permission) suggested.  SC, SO
W 1:30pm-3:20pm

* ANTH 3185b / ARCG 3185b, Archaeological Ceramics  Anne Underhill

Archaeological methods for analyzing and interpreting ceramics, arguably the most common type of object found in ancient sites. Focus on what different aspects of ceramic vessels reveal about the people who made them and used them.  SO
M 1:30pm-3:20pm

* ANTH 3297a / ARCG 3297a, Archaeology of East Asia  Staff

East and Southeast Asia have increasingly emerged as hotspots for global political, economic, and cultural interactions. What were the roots and social processes that gave rise to such systems? In this seminar, we explore archaeological evidence for the development of social and political organization and religious practices, using selected examples from East and Southeast Asia spanning approximately 5000 BCE to 1500 CE. We examine four key themes: (1) the origins and timing of plant and animal domestication, (2) the emergence and impact of early metallurgy, (3) patterns of interregional interaction, and (4) the rise of sociopolitical complexity. Using a comparative archaeological perspective—focusing on settlement patterns, urbanism, craft production, monumentality, and diverse material culture—we examine how both local factors and long-distance connections shaped these trajectories. We conclude the course with a reflection on the role of archaeology in contemporary society, particularly in countries where the past is actively curated, celebrated, and contested. No background in archaeology or East/Southeast Asian studies is required.   SO
T 9:25am-11:15am

* ANTH 3304a / AMST 3304a / ER&M 3304a / HUMS 3304a / SOCY 3104a, Ethnography & Journalism  Madiha Tahir

While each is loathed to admit it, journalism and ethnography are cousins in some respects interested in (albeit distinct) modes of storytelling, translation, and interpretation. This methods course considers these shared grounds to launch a cross-comparative examination. What can the practies of each field and method—journalism and ethnography—tell us about the other? How do journalists and ethnographers engage ideas about the truth? What can they learn from each other? Students spend the first four weeks studying journalistic methods and debates before shifting to ethnographic discussions, and finally, comparative approaches to writing; data and evidence; experience and positionality.   HU, SO
Th 9:25am-11:15am

* ANTH 3594a, Methods and Research in Molecular Anthropology I  Serena Tucci

The first part of a two-term practical introduction to molecular analysis of anthropological questions. Discussion of genetics and molecular evolution, particularly as they address issues in anthropology, combined with laboratory sessions on basic tools for genetic analysis and bioinformatics. Development of research projects to be carried out in ANTH 395.  SC  0 Course cr
Th 1:30pm-3:20pm

* ANTH 3595b, Methods and Research in Molecular Anthropology II  Serena Tucci

The second part of a two-term practical introduction to molecular analysis of anthropological questions. Design and execution of laboratory projects developed in ANTH 394. Research involves at least ten hours per week in the laboratory. Results are presented in a formal seminar at the end of the term. Prerequisite: ANTH 394.
T 1:30pm-3:20pm

* ANTH 3684b / ARCG 3684b, Zooarchaeology  Jessica Thompson

This course deals with the analysis of animal remains from archaeological sites (“zooarchaeology”). It covers the history and epistemological development of zooarchaeology, its theoretical underpinnings, major debates, approaches, methodological advances, and relationship to sister disciplines (e.g., paleoecology, paleontology). The course includes basic identification of the major groups of animal remains recovered from archaeological sites, with an emphasis on vertebrate bones and teeth. It offers tools and insights from taphonomy–the reconstruction of the processes that occur as organisms transition from living creatures into assemblages of archaeological remains. The first half of the class deals with specific methods in the context of major issues, and the second half examines “big” issues in zooarchaeology: early evidence for human consumption of animal tissues, ancient forager diets and environments, dietary resource intensification and animal domestication, and insights from animal bones into social identity. Discussions are followed by practical components that involves the identification and/or analysis of specimens using microscopic and macroscopic approaches.   WR, SC, SO
W 9:25am-11:15am

* ANTH 3710a, Anthropological Theory and the Post Colonial Encounter  Jane Lynch

Key texts in the theoretical development of sociocultural anthropology. Theorists include Karl Marx, Max Weber, Emile Durkheim, Franz Boas, Zora Neale Hurston, Sidney Mintz, Bernard Cohn, Michel Foucault, Edward Said, Antonio Gramsci, Sherry Ortner, and Joan Scott.  SO  0 Course cr
Th 1:30pm-3:20pm

* ANTH 3720b, Field Methods in Cultural Anthropology  Jane Lynch

The fundamentals of cultural anthropology methods. The foundations of fieldwork approaches, including methods, theories, and the problem of objectivity.  WR, SO
T 1:30pm-3:20pm

* ANTH 3807b / EP&E 4256b, Reparation, Repair, Reconciliation: Reckoning with Slavery and Colonialism in Global Perspective  Yukiko Koga

Imperial reckoning for slavery, imperialism, and colonialism has gained new momentum in recent years, from official apologies for colonial violence to reparations lawsuits filed in Asia, Europe, and the US for slavery, genocide, and massacres, to demands for the return of bodily remains and cultural artifacts from established cultural institutions. This seminar explores how these new attempts for belated imperial reckoning are reshaping relations between former empires and their ex-colonies. It approaches imperial reckoning as a site for redressing not only the original violence but also the transitional injustice incurred in the process of the unmaking of empire, which calls for post-imperial reckoning. Drawing on examples from recent cases, this course explores what it means to belatedly reckon with imperial violence today. What does it mean to reckon with imperial violence through legal means, decades after the dissolution of empires? What is the role of law in belated redress? How is historical responsibility articulated and by whom? Who is responsible for what, then and now? What are the stakes in reckoning with distant, yet still alive, pasts? Why and how does it matter today for those of us who have no direct experience of imperial violence? This course approaches these questions through an anthropological exploration of concepts such as debt, gift, moral economy, structural violence, complicity and implication, and abandonment. Prerequisites: Instructor permission required.  HU, SO
T 9:25am-11:15am

* ANTH 3809a, Language and Culture  Paul Kockelman

The relations between language, culture, and cognition. What meaning is and why it matters. Readings in recent and classic works by anthropologists, linguists, psychologists, and philosophers.  SO  0 Course cr
M 9:25am-11:15am

* ANTH 3820b, Contemporary China through Ethnography and Film  Yukiko Koga

This course introduces students to contemporary China through ethnography and film. Global political economic forces are dramatically reshaping the Chinese landscape—by the end of next decade more than half of its 1.3 billion people will live in cities. The China of today is unfolding within these cities, where generational change and social disparities are sharpened, new consumption patterns and identities take shape, and conflicts among the city-dwellers, nouveau riche, and labor migrants play out. The ethnographic texts and films in this course capture how these changes are experienced in everyday life. We examine the lure and disillusionment of “modern life,” a buzzword in today’s China, and how the major socio-economic and cultural transformations of the present relate to the past.  SO
M 9:25am-11:15am

* ANTH 3821b / MMES 3321b / SOCY 3433b / WGSS 3321b, Middle East Gender Studies  Marcia Inhorn

The lives of women and men in the contemporary Middle East explored through a series of anthropological studies and documentary films. Competing discourses surrounding gender and politics, and the relation of such discourse to actual practices of everyday life. Feminism, Islamism, activism, and human rights; fertility, family, marriage, and sexuality.  SO
Th 3:30pm-5:20pm

* ANTH 3858b / SAST 3040b, Corporations & Communities  Jane Lynch

Can communities redefine corporations? How do corporations shape everyday life? To whom are they responsible? This course examines the relationship between commerce, society, and culture through a diverse set of case studies that are rooted in both global and local histories. Students learn about Henry Ford’s rubber plantations in the Amazon, family firms in Italy, how the East India Company shaped the modern multinational, the first company town to be established and run by an Indian firm, transnational “stakeholder” arrangements to compensate injured garment workers in Bangladesh, and the rise of “corporate social responsibility” culture. The goal of this course is not to define the relationship between corporations and communities as singular or obvious, but rather, to draw out the variety of factors—economic, historical, social, and cultural—that shape commercial interactions, institutional cultures, and claims about market ethics and social responsibility.  HU, SO
Th 1:30pm-3:20pm

* ANTH 3873b / SAST 3830b, Water and Society: Culture, Life, and Values  Staff

Water has become an urgent theme not just in current anthropology, but in development studies and environmental studies more generally. Beyond questions of scarcity and sustainability, water allows human life to flourish, and without water, there would be no civilization. Yet water is not equitably distributed across time or space, leading to contestation and conflict around water. Against such a background of strife, this course examines how human beings have related to water, to other life forms, and to each other through the control of water, in different historical moments and different parts of the world. The seminar is organized around four porous thematic clusters: (i) “urban water”, to do with cities and urban industrial life; (ii) “agrarian water”, to do with rivers, irrigation systems, and agrarian life; (iii) “rural water”, to do with coasts, lakes, dams and rural life; and (iv) and “living water”, to do with social, cultural and political values, and human and more-than-human life. This seminar introduces students to the everyday values of water, as well as the everyday politics of water, including the production of water and its attendant politics at the level of the nation-state as well as the city municipality while also being attentive to the moral ecologies of water. By studying water in different ways through the lens of culture, environment, social justice, and spirituality or faith, students develop a nuanced understanding of development, urbanization, environmental justice, and climate change.  HU, SO
W 9:25am-11:15am

ANTH 3880b / LING 2190b, Introduction to Linguistic Phylogenetics  Edwin Ko

The goal of linguistic phylogenetics is to establish the relationships among the world’s languages. This course surveys the history of linguistic phylogenetics that has employed quantitative and computational methods in the past century. Another goal of the course is to provide students with an overview of more recent computational methods originally developed for studying evolutionary biology but extended and adapted for use in studying linguistic change.  WR, SO  0 Course cr
MW 11:35am-12:50pm

* ANTH 3950a, Middle Eastern Migrations  Clayton Goodgame

Much modern scholarship on the Middle East takes for granted a sedentary perspective on society and social change. Cultures, religions, kinship systems, economies, and political ideologies are imagined, explicitly or implicitly, to emerge in territories bounded by the Westphalian limits of the nation-state. This course re-examines the societies of the modern Middle East from the perspective of the pilgrim, the refugee, the traveller, and the trader. Where traditional approaches took sedentariness and stasis as their starting point, we will begin with movement, displacement, uprootedness, and migration. Readings will explore how migration and movement have shaped the region's social, cultural, and economic structures over time. But rather than focus on case studies in particular countries, we will follow the flow of peoples, objects, capital, and ideas wherever they take us, from Egypt and Lebanon to India, the Netherlands, and Chile. Readings are organized by theme, from economic migration and wartime displacement to religious pilgrimage and intellectual exchange. There is some focus on the modern and contemporary periods but we will be engaging both historical and ethnographic research and modes of analysis.  SO
M 1:30pm-3:20pm

* ANTH 3968a / LAST 3068a, Science Stories: Communicating Discovery Across Cultures  Diego Golombek

How do scientists share their discoveries beyond the lab—and why does it matter? In an age of misinformation, climate crisis, and global health challenges, communicating science is no longer optional: it’s a core scientific responsibility. This course invites students from the natural and exact sciences—and anyone curious about the power of knowledge—to explore how to turn complex ideas into stories that inspire, inform, and empower diverse audiences. Blending theory and practice, we will experiment with different media platforms: from writing and museum exhibits to live performance and digital storytelling. Special attention will be given to cultural context: how does science communication change across borders, languages, and worldviews? For students affiliated with CLAIS, the course will also offer deeper engagement with Latin American approaches to science, narrative, and public dialogue. Students will leave the course with practical communication skills, a portfolio of creative work, and a critical understanding of how science lives in society—not just as facts and data, but as a shared human endeavor.
T 9:25am-11:15am

* ANTH 4071a, Pre Thesis Senior Essay Research  Richard Bribiescas

For students who wish to investigate an area of anthropology not covered by regular departmental offerings. The two-term project must terminate with at least a term paper or its equivalent. No student may take more than two terms for credit. To apply for admission, a student should present a prospectus and bibliography to the director of undergraduate studies no later than the third week of the term. Written approval from the faculty member who will direct the student's reading and writing must accompany the prospectus. This course is followed by ANTH 4091.
HTBA

* ANTH 4072a, Readings in Anthropology  Richard Bribiescas

For students who wish to investigate an area of anthropology not covered by regular departmental offerings. The project must terminate with at least a term paper or its equivalent. No student may take more than two terms for credit. To apply for admission, a student should present a prospectus and bibliography to the director of undergraduate studies no later than the third week of the term. Written approval from the faculty member who will direct the student's reading and writing must accompany the prospectus.
HTBA

* ANTH 4091a, Writing the Senior Essay  Richard Bribiescas

Supervised investigation of some topic in depth. The course requirement is a long essay to be submitted as the student's senior essay. By the end of the third week of the term in which the essay is written, the student must present a prospectus and a preliminary bibliography to the director of undergraduate studies. Written approval from an Anthropology faculty adviser and an indication of a preferred second reader must accompany the prospectus.
HTBA

* ANTH 4101b / ARCG 4101b / EAST 4101b, Archaeological Plant Remains from East Asia and Beyond  Staff

Archaeology asks who we are, and how did humanity get to where it is today. This course explores the subfield of archaeobotany that is dedicated to understanding the same questions through the analysis of plant remains from archaeological sites. Students gain foundational knowledge of archaeobotanical methods, the kinds of plant remain studied, and key research themes including climate and ecology, subsistence economies, plant domestication and spread, and non-food plant uses. There is a long history of research on archaeological plant remains in East Asia. We examine how ancient peoples interacted with their environments mainly through macro plant evidence, i.e. seeds and fruits. We discuss the social impact of choices people made about different kinds of domesticated and wild plants for foods and for production of objects for daily life. The course also highlights contemporary advancements in theories and methodologies within the discipline, supported by case studies from around the globe, with a particular emphasis on East Asia.  SO
HTBA

* ANTH 4120b / EAST 4120b, Islam and Communist Modernities in Central Asia and Xinjiang  Staff

In the early 20th century, Central Asia and Xinjiang—two Muslim-majority regions with a shared history—fell under the rule of two communist states, the USSR and China. Both states facilitated the emergence of local nations while launching aggressive secularization policies aimed at suppressing local Islamic beliefs and practices. This course takes a comparative approach to the interwoven trajectories of Islam, nation-building, and secularization in Central Asia and Xinjiang. In so doing, it pursues two overarching objectives. The first is to trace the major historical events that have shaped these regions since the late 19th century. The second is to examine the main theoretical frameworks scholars have employed to better understand these historical transformations. Key conceptual questions explored in this course include: What is nationalism and how did Central Asian nations emerge? What is Islam as an object of scholarly inquiry? What is secularism, and how does it shape and regulate religion? How did Soviet and Chinese secularization campaigns transfigure Islam in Central Asia and Xinjiang? What forces facilitate the ongoing ethnocide of the Uyghurs in Xinjiang?  HU
HTBA

* ANTH 4121a / EAST 4121a, Asian Foodways in the “Anthropocene”  Staff

Together with other creatures on the earth, we have formed food chains. In the “Anthropocene,” people have discovered food, improved it, and lived with it. The rich and varied definitions of food have also enabled humans, the animal at the top of the food chains, to create many new ones. Food enters and becomes a part of the human body; in other words, the food we consume has become ourselves. How we define food also determines the way in which we relate to other living beings. We will explore cultural practices of food chains in East Asian societies, with a focus on China, Japan, and South Korea. class will guide students to think about the origins, production, and creation of food, as well as the politics, ethics, and technologies that are intertwined with the circulation of food. By reading ethnographies of food, this class provides students with the theoretical and methodological means to observe and analyze perhaps the most common thing in life. Food is not just a static object, but part of the global food chains that are constantly circulating, and part of the circulation with the human body.  SO
M 3:30pm-5:20pm

* ANTH 4122a / EAST 4122a, The Rise of Biosovereignty: Biopolitics, Technology, and Governance  Staff

This seminar critically explores the concept of “biosovereignty”—a framework of ideas and practices through which the state safeguards and utilizes biological resources—to examine how East Asian countries have conceptualized and governed “life” through science and technology. Through this seminar, the goal is to develop a critical understanding of “biosovereignty” and to use the concept to analyze how East Asian states have perceived “life” and “life forms” as assets and properties, as well as to discuss the stakes and implications of their biosovereignty practices. Themes such as the genetic makeup of crops, traditional medicines, seed wars, stem cells, pandemics, and human DNA inform our discussions. We also discuss how international political organizations envision biosovereignty through international treaties and projects.   SO
TTh 11:35am-12:50pm

* ANTH 4150a / ARCG 4150a, Analysis of Lithic Technology  Oswaldo Chinchilla Mazariegos

Introduction to the analysis of chipped and ground stone tools, including instruction in manufacturing chipped stone tools from obsidian. Review of the development of stone tool technology from earliest tools to those of historical periods; relevance of this technology to subsistence, craft specialization, and trade. Discussion of the recording, analysis, and drawing of artifacts, and of related studies such as sourcing and use-wear analysis.  SO
M 1:30pm-3:20pm

* ANTH 4217a / ARCG 4217a, Maya Hieroglyphic Writing  Oswaldo Chinchilla Mazariegos

Introduction to the ancient Maya writing system. Contents of the extant corpus, including nametags, royal and ritual commemorations, dynastic and political subjects, and religious and augural subjects; principles and methods of decipherment; overview of the Maya calendar; comparison with related writing systems in Mesoamerica and elsewhere in the ancient world.  SO
Th 9:25am-11:15am

* ANTH 4292b / ARCG 4292b / NELC 3210b, Imaging Ancient Worlds in Museum Collections  Klaus Wagensonner and Agnete Lassen

What is Digitization of Cultural Heritage? What are its merits, challenges, and best practices? The course highlighst the documentation and interpretation of archaeological artifacts, in particular artifacts from Western Asia. The primary goal of the course is the use of new technologies in computer graphics, including 3D imaging, to support current research in archaeology and anthropology. The course does put particular emphasis on the best practices of digitizing artifacts in collections. The prime study subjects are the artifacts housed in the Yale Babylonian Collection (https://babylonian-collection.yale.edu). For some background information on the Collection see here. Students engage directly with the artifacts while practicing the various imaging techniques.  HU  0 Course cr
T 1:30pm-3:20pm

* ANTH 4553b / HLTH 4250, Global Health: Practice and Policy  Catherine Panter-Brick

Current debates in global health have focused specifically on health disparities, equity, and policy. This advanced undergraduate seminar class is designed for students seeking to develop an interdisciplinary understanding of health research, practice, and policy.  Each week, we address issues of importance for research and policy, and apply theory, ethics, and practice to global health debates and case studies. The class encourages critical thinking regarding the promotion of health equity.    WR, SO
W 1:30pm-3:20pm

ANTH 4564a or b / ARCG 4564a or b / E&EB 4564 / EEB 3464a or b, Human Osteology  Eric Sargis

A lecture and laboratory course focusing on the characteristics of the human skeleton and its use in studies of functional morphology, paleodemography, and paleopathology. Laboratories familiarize students with skeletal parts; lectures focus on the nature of bone tissue, its biomechanical modification, sexing, aging, and interpretation of lesions.  SC, SO  0 Course cr
HTBA

* ANTH 4590a, Health of Indigenous Peoples  Claudia Valeggia

From the highlands of the Andes to the lowlands of the Amazon basin and the frozen circumpolar steppes, from subsistence farmers and herders to hunter-gatherer groups, indigenous populations are changing their lifestyle so rapidly, and sometimes so profoundly, that it is difficult to follow the pace of the transformation. Indigenous peoples always fare far worse than non-indigenous ones in terms of health status. No matter where one looks, there are substantial health disparities between indigenous and non-indigenous populations in the form of mortality and morbidity gaps. We go over the epidemiological landscape of indigenous populations and discuss causes of death and sickness, which vary from population to population. We then expand on some of the possible interactive causes of these disparities, particularly the role that globalization and market integration is having in shaping the health situation of indigenous peoples. Finally, we discuss the current surge of Global Health Programs, mainly at academic or research institutions in the northern hemisphere and the contribution of anthropology to those programs.  SO
W 1:30pm-3:20pm

* ANTH 4669b / ARCG 4669b, Evolution of Human Diet  Jessica Thompson

This seminar examines human nutrition and subsistence behavior from an evolutionary perspective. It begins with human nutritional literature and discussions of our biological requirements, then moves into comparison of modern human dietary ecology with those of other primates, especially our closest living relatives, the great apes. We then turn to literature that demonstrates the methods and theoretical approaches that are currently used to reconstruct past diets. As we begin to follow the evidence for changes in subsistence in the hominin lineage, case studies using these methods are integrated into discussions of how we know what we do about past nutrition. The course spends time on key issues and debates such as changes from closed-habitat to open-habitat foraging, the origins of meat-eating, the role of extractive foraging in human social systems, variation in hunter-forager subsistence systems, the origins of domestication, and the phenomenon of fad diets in industrialized nations. Prerequisite: one of ANTH 061, ANTH 267, ANTH 116, or by instructor permission.  WR, SC, SO
W 1:30pm-3:20pm

* ANTH 4818b / ER&M 4518b and ER&M 6606b / SPAN 4618b / WGSS 4518b, Multi-Sited Ethnography: Trans-Atlantic Port Cities in Colombia and Spain  Eda Pepi and Ana Ramos-Zayas

Critical to colonial, imperial, and capitalist expansion, the Atlantic offers a dynamic setting for adapting ethnographic practices to address questions around interconnected oppressions, revolts, and revolutions that are foundational to global modernity. Anchored in a Spanish and a Colombian port city, this course engages trans-Atlantic 'worlding' through a multi-sited and historically grounded ethnographic lens. Las Palmas—the earliest mid-Atlantic port and Europe's first settler colony in Africa—and Cartagena—once the principal gateway connecting Spain and its American empire—illuminate urgent contemporary issues such as climate, displacement, inter-regional subjectivities, and commerce. During a spring recess field experience (March 8–16, 2026), students immerse themselves for four nights each in Las Palmas and Cartagena, developing critical "tracking" skills that bridge ethnographic practice with cultural theory. Preparation for fieldwork includes an on-campus curriculum, organized around Cartagena and Las Palmas, and sessions with Yale Ethnography Hub faculty, covering different methodologies. As part of this broader programming, the curriculum delves into trans-Atlantic migrations from the Middle East, South Asia, and Africa that have transformed port cities, labor and aesthetic practices, class-making racial formations, and global geopolitics. After recess, the course shifts toward independent work, as students synthesize field-collected data and insights into a collaborative multimodal group project and individual ethnographic papers.  Interested students must apply by November 1st via the course website. Students may withdraw by the university deadlines in April. Prerequisite: Conversational and reading proficiency in Spanish. Readings are in English and Spanish, with assignments accepted in either language.  HU
Th 1:30pm-3:20pm

* ANTH 4824a / ANTH 5824a / EAST 3122a, Politics of Memory  Yukiko Koga

This course explores the role of memory as a social, cultural, and political force in contemporary society. How societies remember difficult pasts has become a contested site for negotiating the present. Through the lens of memory, we examine complex roles that our relationships to difficult pasts play in navigating issues we face today. This course explores this politics of memory that takes place in the realm of popular culture and public space. The class asks such questions as: How do you represent difficult and contested pasts? What does it mean to enable long-silenced victims’ voices to be heard? What are the consequences of re-narrating the past by highlighting past injuries and trauma? Does memory work heal or open wounds of a society and a nation? Through examples drawn from the Holocaust, the atomic bombing in Hiroshima, the Vietnam War, genocide in Indonesia and massacres in Lebanon, to debates on confederacy statues, slavery, and lynching in the US, this course approaches these questions through an anthropological exploration of concepts such as memory, trauma, mourning, silence, voice, testimony, and victimhood.  HU, SO
M 9:25am-11:15am

* ANTH 4841b / ANTH 441 / MMES 4430b / WGSS 4430b, Gender and Citizenship in the Middle East  Eda Pepi

This seminar explores the complex interplay between gender, sexuality, and citizenship in the Middle East and North Africa. We examine how they are both shaped by and shape experiences of nationality, migration, and statelessness. Highlighting how gender and sexual minorities, and the gendered regulation of life, more broadly, both animate and contest colonial legacies tied to a racialized notion of “modernity.” Through ethnography, history, and literature, students confront a political economy of intimacies that continuously reshape what it means to be or not to be a citizen. Our approach extends beyond borders and laws to include the everyday acts of citizenship that rework race, religion, and ethnicity across transnational fronts. We discuss how people navigate their lives in the everyday, from the ordinary poetry of identity and belonging to the spectacular drama of war and conflict. Our goal is to challenge orientalist legacies that dismiss theoretical insights from scholarship on and from this region by labeling it as focused on exceptional cases instead of addressing “universal” issues. Instead, we take seriously that the specific historical and social contexts of the Middle East and North Africa reveal how connections based on gender and sexuality within and across families and social classes are deeply entwined with racial narratives of state authority and political sovereignty on a global scale.  SO
Th 3:30pm-5:20pm

* ANTH 4848a, Medical Anthropology at the Intersections: Theory and Ethnography  Marcia Inhorn

The field of medical anthropology boasts a rich theoretical and empirical tradition, in which critically acclaimed ethnographies have been written on topics ranging from local biologies to structural violence. Many scholars engage across the social science and humanities disciplines, as well as with medicine and public health, offering both critiques and applied interventions. This medical anthropology seminar showcases the theoretical and ethnographic engagements of nearly a dozen leading medical anthropologists, with a focus on their canonical works and their intersections across disciplines. Prerequisite: A prior medical anthropology course or permission of instructor.  SO  0 Course cr
W 3:30pm-5:20pm

* ANTH 4852a, Society and International Development  Louisa Lombard

In commonsense understandings, development is about improving economic metrics, like gross domestic product. Development is inherently progressivist: development projects strive to improve the present, and more importantly, the future. But in the midst of those seemingly straightforward goals and benchposts, society intervenes. It turns out that even the simplest projects to improve the human condition have a wide range of surprising, unintended consequences. In this course, we develop qualitative social science methods (ways of asking questions and ways of answering them) to better grapple with the inherently social contexts in which international development plays out. Instructor permission required.  SO
T 1:30pm-3:20pm

* ANTH 4855a / WGSS 4459a, Masculinity and Men’s Health  Marcia Inhorn

Ethnographic approaches to masculinity and men’s health around the globe. Issues of ethnographic research design and methodology; interdisciplinary theories of masculinity; contributions of men’s health studies from Western and non-Western sites to social theory, ethnographic scholarship, and health policy.  SO  RP
Th 3:30pm-5:20pm

* ANTH 4865b / AMST 4459b / ANTH 465, Multispecies Worlds  Kathryn Dudley

This seminar explores the relational and material worlds that humans create in concert with other-than-human species. Through an interdisciplinary analysis of the problematic subject of anthropology—Anthropos—we seek to pose new questions about the fate of life worlds in the present epoch of anthropogenic climate change. Our readings track circuits of knowledge from anthropology and philosophy to geological history, literary criticism, and environmental studies as we come to terms with the loss of biodiversity, impending wildlife extinctions, and political-economic havoc wrought by global warming associated with the Anthropocene.  A persistent provocation guides our inquiry: What multispecies worldings become possible to recognize and cultivate when we dare to decenter the human in our politics, passions, and aspirations for life on a shared planet?  SO
Th 1:30pm-3:20pm

* ANTH 4883a / SAST 3030a, In Ordinary Fashion  Jane Lynch

Clothing fashions not only our bodies but also our experiences in and claims about the world. It has been used to define the nature and radical possibilities of indigeneity, anti-colonial nationalism, counter-cultural narratives, and capitalist critiques. At the same time, dress–and its social and legal regulation–also creates and reinforces social hierarchies, systems of morality, and forms of exclusion. This course centers these competing social realities and histories using clothing as a way into understanding the poetics and politics of everyday life. Readings include ethnographies and social histories of textiles, fashion, and the manufacture of garments including cases from India, Guatemala, Italy, China, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Trinidad, and the United States.  SO
T 1:30pm-3:20pm

* ANTH 4895a / PSYC 480, Fathers and Fatherhood: Evolution and Behavior  Eduardo Fernandez-Duque

What does it mean to be a father? We explore this question for humans and for other animals where “dads” also play a major role in the care of the young.  We will focus on the evolutionary and behavioral sciences, while acknowledging that human behavior cannot be fully understood without attention to social and cultural contexts. Our readings cover the disciplines of biological anthropology, psychology, animal behavior, sociology, human development, ecology and evolution, public health, and medicine.   Background on evolutionary biology, biology, psychology, animal behavior and/or ecology, biological anthropology. This could be the result of advanced high-school courses or college-level ones.  SO
W 1:30pm-3:20pm