Anthropology and Sociology

Major and Minor

Faculty and professional interests

Nancy Eberhardt, chair
Psychological anthropology, Southeast Asia, religion, gender, rural economies
David Amor
Media and social change, political economy of media
Lawrence Breitborde
Anthropological linguistics, language and identity, sociolinguistics, Africa
William Hope
Music and cultural identity, social revolutionary process, anthropology of the senses
Gabrielle Raley (on leave Fall 2012)
Sociology of culture, sociology of art, inequality, work, qualitative methods
Amy Singer (on leave 2012-13)
Sociology of culture, consumption, sociology of food, research methodologies
Deborah Smith
Gender and sexualities, social theory, cultural sociology, inequality
Jon Wagner
North America, contemporary mythology, human evolution and adaptation

Distinguished Research Affiliates in Anthropology
James L. Watson
Social anthropology, migration and diasporas, food systems, China
Rubie S. Watson
Family and kinship, gender, history and anthropology, China

Cooperating faculty from other programs
Diana Beck, Educational Studies
Sarah Day-O'Connell, Music
Jason Helfer, Educational Studies
Frederick Hord, Black Studies
Duane Oldfield, Political Science

Lecturers
Tianna Cervantez
Wendel Hunigan

Anthropology and Sociology provide a comparative framework for interpreting and explaining human social behavior. Although each discipline arose in response to different historical circumstances which have resulted in somewhat different traditions of emphasis and approach, the two fields draw from a common body of theory and, increasingly, a common toolkit of research methods. For these reasons, the department presents the two disciplines as interdependent.

Students majoring in Anthropology/Sociology will become familiar with a wide range of human societies in all regions of the world. They will gain an appreciation for the cultural complexity, historical context, and global connections that link societies and social institutions to one another. They will also learn about key social structures and dynamics embedded in contemporary societies, including the forms of social power and privilege that exist in any society, and how these often unequal power relations are organized, sustained, reproduced, and transformed.

Students contemplating the major are urged to consult with department faculty in order to design a personalized program of study, making use of relevant courses in allied disciplines and/or off-campus study when appropriate.

The departmental curriculum contributes to the College's Key Competency Requirements as follows:

• Writing Key Competency - ANSO 220 and 399 serve as writing-intensive courses for majors
• Speaking Key Competency - ANSO 399 serves as a speaking-intensive course for majors
• Information Literacy and Informed Use of Technology - The following skills are developed in various departmental courses through a combination of relevant assignments, tutorial guidance, classroom presentation, and formal workshops.
  1. Ability to assess reliability of sources on the World Wide Web
  2. Use of bibliographic databases
  3. Effective use of PowerPoint presentation software
  4. Ability to prepare and format academic research for submission in digital form

Students are required to culminate and demonstrate each of these skills in the core course sequence required of all majors: Theories, Methodologies, Research Design, and Research Seminar.

Departmental Learning Goals

Students completing an Anthropology-Sociology major should:

1. Learn to understand and analyze the world in a manner that reveals and illuminates the social and cultural dimensions of reality
2. Be able to design and execute an appropriate strategy for investigating a social research question of their choice
3. Develop the necessary disciplinary competencies that will allow them to be sophisticated lifelong consumers and/or practitioners of social research

Requirements for the Major and Minor

Anthropology and Sociology Course Descriptions