* 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 2:35pm-3:50pm

* ANTH 0440a, The Evolution of Human Uniqueness  David Watts

Current ideas in anthropology about what facilitated the evolutionary success of Homo sapiens and what distinguishes humans from other primates. The fossil and archaeological records for human evolution and the evolution of social behavior; research on nonhuman primate behavior and cognitive abilities, with an emphasis on chimpanzees; insights and limitations of comparative primate research. Enrollment limited to first-year students.  SO
TTh 9am-10:15am

ANTH 1171a / ARCG 1171a, Great Civilizations of the Ancient World  Piphal Heng

A survey of selected prehistoric and historical cultures through examination of archaeological sites and materials. Emphasis on the methodological and theoretical approaches by which archaeologists recover, analyze, and interpret the material remains of the past.  SO  0 Course cr
TTh 1:30pm-2:20pm

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  David Watts

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 1813a / EAST 3121a, Contemporary Japan and the Ghosts of Modernity  Yukiko Koga

This course introduces students to contemporary Japan, examining how its defeat in the Second World War and loss of empire in 1945 continue to shape Japanese culture and society. Looking especially at the sphere of cultural production, it focuses on the question of what it means to be modern as expressed through the tension between resurgent neonationalism and the aspiration to internationalize. The course charts how the legacy of Japan’s imperial failure plays a significant role in its search for renewal and identity since 1945. How, it asks, does the experience of catastrophic failure—and failure to account for that failure—play into continued aspirations for modernity today? How does Japanese society wrestle with modernity’s two faces: its promise for progress and its history of catastrophic violence? The course follows the trajectory of Japan’s postwar nation-state development after the dissolution of empire, from its resurrection out of the ashes after defeat, to its identity as a US ally and economic superpower during the Cold War, to decades of recession since the 1990s and the search for new relations with its neighbors and new reckonings with its own imperial violence and postwar inactions against the background of rising neonationalism.  HU, SO
T 1:30pm-3:25pm

ANTH 1819a, Law as Culture  Louisa Lombard

Introduction to anthropological understanding of what law is, how it holds its authority, and how it is shaped by cultural assumptions about justice, rights, and morality. Readings from classic and contemporary texts in legal and political anthropology. Cultural dimensions of law and its changing relationship to discipline, power, and governance.  SO
TTh 2:35pm-3:50pm

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 2:35pm-3:50pm

ANTH 2215a / ARCG 2215a, Archaeology of China  Anne Underhill

Archaeology of China, one of the world's oldest and most enduring civilizations, from the era of early humans to early empires. Methods of interpreting remains from prehistoric and historic period sites.  SO
MW 9am-10:15am

ANTH 2232a / ARCG 2232a / LAST 2232a, Ancient Civilizations of the Andes  Richard Burger

Survey of the archaeological cultures of Peru and Bolivia from the earliest settlement through the late Inca state.  SO
HTBA

* ANTH 2255b / ARCG 2255b / LAST 1255b, Inca Culture and Society  Richard Burger

The history and organization of the Inca empire and its impact on the nations and cultures it conquered. The role of archaeology in understanding the transformation of Andean lifeways; the interplay between ethnohistoric and archaeological approaches to the subject. This course is not open to students who previously enrolled in ARCG 030.  SO
HTBA

ANTH 2264a / ARCG 2264a / SPAN 4320a, Aztec Archaeology and Ethnohistory  Oswaldo Chinchilla Mazariegos

An anthropological and ethnohistorical examination of the Aztec civilization that dominated much of Mexico from the fourteenth century until the Spanish Conquest of 1521.  SO
TTh 9am-10:15am

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
MW 9am-10:15am

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
TTh 2:35pm-3:50pm

* 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
TTh 1:05pm-2:20pm

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 2:35pm-3:50pm

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

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 2:35pm-3:50pm

ANTH 2821b / HSHM 2380b, The History of Drugs in America  Marco Ramos

Virtually every American today “does” drugs. As a nation, our drug use ranges from everyday activities, such as drinking coffee or beer, to combating illnesses with prescription medications, to using illegal drugs for recreation. This course follow a loose chronology beginning in the early twentieth century and ending in the present day. Instead of focusing on the biography of a single drug, or class of drugs, this course incorporates a wide range of substances, including alcohol, cigarettes, pharmaceuticals, psychedelics, and narcotics. Through a selection of essays, book chapters, and primary source material, we discuss how certain ways of using and selling drugs have been sanctioned and encouraged, while others have been pathologized as addiction or criminalized. We explore how drug definitions are constructed, how they shift over time, and how they reflect, reinforce, and sometimes challenge anxieties about race, disability, sexuality, and gender. Throughout the course, films, images, music, and television episodes are also presented as objects of analysis to provide insight into the cultural lives of drugs. We explore how historians approach this subject, assess their sources and assumptions, and consider the choices they have made in researching and writing. Students are expected to apply these historical lessons to the present and demonstrate the ability to think and write critically about the history of drugs. Students previously enrolled in HSHM 488, The History of Drugs in 20th Century America, are not eligible to enroll in this course.  HU, SO  0 Course cr
TTh 9:25am-10:15am

* ANTH 2835a / AFST 2277a / ANTH 235 / ER&M 277, Introduction to Critical Border Studies  Leslie Gross-Wyrtzen

This course serves as an introduction into the major themes and approaches to the study of border enforcement and the management of human mobility. We draw upon a diverse range of scholarship across the social sciences as well as history, architecture, and philosophy to better understand how we find ourselves in this present “age of walls” (Tim Marshall 2019). In addition, we take a comparative approach to the study of borders—examining specific contemporary and historical cases across the world in order to gain a comprehensive view of what borders are and how their meaning and function has changed over time. And because there is “critical” in the title, we explicitly evaluate the political consequences of borders, examine the sorts of resistances mobilized against them, and ask what alternative social and political worlds might be possible.  SO
Th 1:30pm-3:25pm

ANTH 2837a / ANTH 237 / CPLT 2420a / GMAN 2330a / HUMS 4325a / PHIL 2219a, Karl Marx's Capital  Paul North

A careful reading of Karl Marx's classic critique of capitalism, Capital volume 1, a work of philosophy, political economy, and critical social theory that has had a significant global readership for over 150 years. Selected readings also from Capital volumes 2 and 3.  HU  0 Course cr
HTBA

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
T 1pm-4pm

* ANTH 3304a or b / AMST 3304a or b / ER&M 3304a or b / HUMS 3304a or b / SOCY 3104a or b, 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
HTBA

* ANTH 3477a / EVST 3477a, Observing and Measuring Behavior, Part II: Data Analyses and Reporting  Eduardo Fernandez-Duque

This is the second course in a spring-fall sequence. The course is primarily for students who have recently conducted research and are in the process of analyses and writing up the results of the research. In this course students learn how to analyze the data they have collected, strategies for interpreting and presenting results, including considerations of study design issues and a priori statistical protocols; predictive and/or explanatory power and interpretation of statistical significance, scientific inference and research relevance. Students practice writing and oral skills associated with how to write communicating the results of their study. Prerequisite: ANTH 376 or EVST 377  QR, SC, SO
W 1:30pm-3:25pm

* 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
TTh 2:35pm-3:50pm

* ANTH 3710a, Anthropological Theory and the Post Colonial Encounter  Christen Smith

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
W 1:30pm-3:25pm

* ANTH 3808a / WGSS 4407a, Feminist & Queer Ethnographies: Borders and Boundaries  Eda Pepi

This seminar gives students a storm’s eye view of contemporary crises, where borders are as volatile as the ring of a wedding bell or the birth of a child. Feminist and queer ethnographies explore the geopolitical lines and social divides that define and confine us. Manifesting through laws, social norms, and physical barriers, borders and boundaries shape our identities, turning the intimate act of living into a fiercely political one. We consider them as lived experiences that cross militarized lines—as the everyday realities of families, detention centers, workplaces, universities, and even nightclubs. Our readings trace the fluidity of borders, the extension of the global north's influence, and the internal colonialism that redraws the landscapes of nations. Contemporary ways of bridging time and space are profoundly gendered, sexualized racialized, and class-specific, capable of materializing with sudden intensity for some and remaining imperceptible to others, morphing from ephemeral lines to seemingly permanent barriers. The course is an invitation to think beyond the map – to understand borders as something people live, challenge, and transform. Our intellectual battleground is the liminal space where geopolitics meets the raw human struggle for recognition, peeling back the layers of political theatre to witness the making and unmaking of our borderlands. Anchored by a “radical hope for living otherwise,” the seminar also aims to expand the intellectual horizons necessary for dreaming of, and working towards, the world to come.  HU, SO
T 4pm-5:55pm

* 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-11:20am

* ANTH 3839a, Urban Ethnography of Asia  Erik Harms

Introduction to the anthropological study of contemporary Asian cities. Focus on new ethnographies about cities in East, Southeast, and South Asia. Topics include rural-urban migration, redevelopment, evictions, social movements, land grabbing, master-planned developments, heritage preservation, utopian aspirations, social housing, slums and precariousness, and spatial cleansing.  SO
T 9:25am-11:20am

* ANTH 3846a, Ethnography and Capitalism  Douglas Rogers

An introduction to the anthropological study of capitalism. Focus on how markets and commodities are embedded in social, cultural, and political contexts. Discussion of the many ways people have embraced, reinterpreted, and resisted capitalism worldwide. Consideration of the implications of this diversity for theories of capitalism as a whole. Enrollment limited to sophomores.  SO
W 1:30pm-3:25pm

* ANTH 3860a / AFST 3360a / ER&M 1614a, African Migration and Diaspora  Leslie Gross-Wyrtzen

This seminar examines the politics of migration to, from, and within Africa. We explore intercontinental, regional, and rural-urban migratory circuits and diasporic formations to consider mobility and immobility in relation to race, colonialism, capitalism, neoliberalism, and globalization. Drawing on sources ranging from colonial travel accounts and trade diaspora histories to black critical theory and fiction, we examine theorizations and representations both about migration and by diasporic peoples to unsettle and re-theorize imaginaries of globalization, nationalism, and the politics of belonging.  SO
T 1:30pm-3:25pm

* ANTH 3867a, Technology and Culture  Lisa Messeri

This class examines how technology matters in our daily lives. How do technologies shape understandings of ourselves, the worlds we inhabit, and each other? How do the values and assumptions of engineers and innovators shape our behaviors? How do technologies change over time and between cultures. Students learn to think about technology and culture as co-constituted. We read and discuss texts from history and anthropology of science, as well as fictional explorations relevant to course topics. .  SO  0 Course cr
T 1:30pm-3:25pm

* ANTH 3878a, Postwar Vietnam  Erik Harms

An introduction to the study of Vietnamese society since the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, with a focus on how economic and political changes intersect with cultural and social life. The historical challenges of postwar socialism, economic renovation, and the intersection of "market-oriented socialism" with class dynamics, urbanization, gender, health care, and ritual life.  SO
W 4pm-5:55pm

* 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
T 1:30pm-3:25pm

* ANTH 4217b / ARCG 4217b, 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
TTh 9:25am-11:20am

* 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
W 1:30pm-3:25pm

ANTH 4564a / ARCG 4564a / EEB 3464a, 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 4662a, Ethnographic Perspectives on Global Health  Marcia Inhorn

Study of anthropological ethnographies on serious health problems facing populations in resource-poor societies. Poverty and structural violence; health as a human right; struggles with infectious disease; the health of women and children. Focus on health issues facing sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America.  SO
M 4pm-5:55pm

* ANTH 4809a / ER&M 3594a / EVST 4422a / F&ES 422 / GLBL 4394a, Climate and Society: Perspectives from the Social Sciences and Humanities  Michael Dove

Discussion of the major currents of thought regarding climate and climate change; focusing on equity, collapse, folk knowledge, historic and contemporary visions, western and non-western perspectives, drawing on the social sciences and humanities.  WR, SO
Th 1:30pm-3:25pm

* ANTH 4823a / ANTH 5823a, The Anthropology of Possible Worlds  Paul Kockelman

This course focuses on the nature of possible worlds: literary worlds (Narnia), ideological worlds (the world according to a particular political stance), psychological worlds (what someone remembers to be the case, wishes to be the case, or believes to be the case), environmental worlds (possible environmental futures), virtual worlds (the World of Warcraft), and—most of all—ethnographic works in which the actual and possible worlds of others are represented (the world according to the ancient Maya). We don’t focus on the contents of such worlds per se, but rather on the range of resources people have for representing, regimenting, and residing in such worlds; and the roles such resources play in mediating social relations and cultural values.  SO
W 9:25am-11:20am

* 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
T 9:25am-11:20am

* ANTH 4838a, Culture, Power, Oil  Douglas Rogers

The production, circulation, and consumption of petroleum as they relate to globalization, empire, cultural performance, natural resource extraction, and the nature of the state. Case studies include the United States, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Venezuela, and the former Soviet Union.  SO  0 Course cr
M 9:25am-11:20am

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

This seminar invites students to explore how gender and citizenship intersect across the Middle East and North Africa, examining how these identities shape—and are shaped by—forces like nationalism, migration, capitalism, family, and religion. Drawing from ethnography, history, and literature, we trace how gender and sexuality simultaneously reify and trouble colonial legacies that uphold racialized ideas of “modernity.” And ask: How do global border regimes and the political economy of intimacies that sustain them reshape what it means to be—or not to be—a citizen? Our approach extends beyond laws to include everyday acts of citizenship across national and cultural divides. Readings highlight how people navigate their lives in the everyday, from the ordinary poetry of identity, love, and belonging to the spectacular drama of war and conflict.  SO
T 4pm-5:55pm