3units Basic concepts, theories and methods used in the comparative study of socio-cultural systems. Includes cultural ecology and change; political, economic and kinship systems; language, art and religion; cultural perspectives on contemporary issues.
3units The human organism from an evolutionary perspective. The foundations of life and evolutionary theory. Introduction to primate behavior and the fossil record. Human biocultural evolution over the last sixty million years.
3units How archaeologists invent their own version of the past, illustrated with compelling Old and New World discoveries from early prehistory to the present. How archaeological sites are discovered, excavated and analyzed; how facts are tested and fictions unmasked.
SatisfiesA3: Critical Thinking
Prerequisite(s): Completion of GE Areas A1 and A2 each with grades of C- or better Grading: Graded
3units Human development and its physiological, psychological and sociocultural contexts. Cross-cultural perspectives on infancy, childhood, adolescence, adulthood and old age. The role of university education in the life span.
1-12units Study Abroad and Away transfer credit course. Study Abroad and Away provides students the opportunity to study abroad on long term programs (Exchange Programs, CSU International Programs, and International Student Exchange Programs) and short-term programs (Faculty-Led Programs and Summer School Abroad Programs) for academic credit, offering Alternative Break Programs for cultural immersion, and designing other globally focused opportunities. This course is designated as a placeholder course for Study Abroad and Away programs.
3units Practice in improvement of writing skills appropriate to the fields of anthropology and behavioral science. Includes essays, reports and scholarly communication.
SatisfiesSJSU Studies Z: Written Communication II
Prerequisite(s): A3 or equivalent second semester composition course (with a grade of C- or better); completion of core GE; satisfaction of Writing Skills Test or completion of ENGL 100A or LLD 100A with C or better; and upper division standing. Or Graduate or Postbaccalaureate level. Grading: Graded
Note(s): Must be passed with C or better to satisfy the CSU Graduation Writing Assessment requirement (GWAR).
3units Examines issues of cultural diversity, work and family. technology in daily life, attachment to organizations, and community building in Silicon Valley through an anthropological perspective.Connections to other global regions are explored; public policy implications are developed and analyzed.
3units Use of anthropological knowledge in problem solving and policy making. Survey of applied anthropology, models of applying anthropology and affecting policy making, and the use of anthropology by non-professionals in diverse careers.
Prerequisite(s):ANTH 11 or instructor consent. Grading: Graded
ANTH 107 - Eating Culture: The Anthropology of Food
3units This course will explore the many ways in which humans seek, collect, grow, transform and consume foods. We will examine elements of human evolutionary history that mold our current consumption choices. Changes in subsistence strategies, human migration, and colonial expansions remade our landscapes, kitchens, cuisines and our bodies. We will identify and analyze the material processes of food production, preparation and consumption; the cognitive models that define our food choices and the ways in which power and inequality drive global feast and famine. The course will draw on archaeological, biological and cultural anthropologies, as well as examining the potential applications by anthropologists of food.
3units A comprehensive examination of culture, sickness and healing in a cross-cultural perspective, emphasizing ecological/evolutionary bases of disease and healing and cultural dimensions of health in modern world.
Prerequisite(s):ANTH 11 or instructor consent. Grading: Graded
3units Interdisciplinary focus on continuity and change in China and India as these ancient civilizations responded to challenges throughout their history.
SatisfiesSJSU Studies V: Culture, Civil & Global Understanding.
Prerequisite(s): Passage of the Writing Skills Test (WST) or ENGL 100A / LLD 100A with a C or better (C- not accepted), completion of Core General Education, and upper-division standing are prerequisites to all SJSU studies courses. Completion of, or co-registration in, 100W is strongly recommended. Grading: Graded
Note(s): All of SJSU Studies courses require completion of the WST and upper-division standing.
3units Introduction to systems concepts and approach as a way to investigate the global impacts of industrial technology on political, economic, social and moral/psychological structures of humankind.
SatisfiesSJSU Studies V: Culture, Civil & Global Understanding
Prerequisite(s): Passage of the Writing Skills Test (WST) or ENGL 100A / LLD 100A with a C or better (C- not accepted), completion of Core General Education and upper division standing are prerequisites to all SJSU studies courses. Completion of, or co-registration in, 100W is strongly recommended. Grading: Graded
Note(s): All of SJSU Studies courses require completion of the WST and upper division standing.
Cross-listed with ASIA 115. Anthropology is responsible for scheduling.
3units Exploring the ways in which people have attempted to gain mastery over the natural and supernatural worlds beginning with prehistoric times and concluding with modern day society and the contemporary world.
SatisfiesSJSU Studies V: Culture, Civil & Global Understanding.
Prerequisite(s): Passage of the Writing Skills Test (WST) or ENGL 100A / LLD 100A with a C or better (C- not accepted), completion of Core General Education, and upper-division standing are prerequisites to all SJSU studies courses. Completion of, or co-registration in, 100W is strongly recommended. Grading: Graded
Note(s): All of SJSU Studies courses require completion of the WST and upper-division standing.
Cross-listed with RELS 122. Humanities is responsible for scheduling.
3units Anthropological theories and methods in analyzing the global effects of urban growth. Relevance of anthropological approach in understanding our local multiethnic metropolitan area.
Prerequisite(s):ANTH 11 or instructor consent. Grading: Graded
Cross-listed with URBP 125. Anthropology is responsible for scheduling.
3units Anthropological examination of humans’ relationship to their biological environment. Course topics include population growth, resource consumption, human induced climate change, biodiversity, solid and hazardous waste, economic and cultural patterns affecting the environment, environmental risk, water resources, hazards, disasters, sustainable initiatives.
ANTH 130 - Kin, Kith, and Community: The Anthropology of Social Organization
3units Overview of social organization focused on local forms of human relationships: kinship, non-kin relations such as friendship and networking, and community. Explores the principles of kinship and community-building. Examples will be drawn from small-scale, complex and international societies.
3units Seminar on evolutionary, functional and structural theories of culture. Analysis of contemporary theory and development of the discipline of anthropology.
Prerequisite(s): Upper division standing; ANTH 11; ANTH 12 or ANTH 13 or declared Anthropology major or instructor consent. Grading: Graded
3units Cross-cultural exploration of material expressions of culture. Analysis of production and consumption of places, shelters, and goods. Implications for design and policy.
3units Complex organizations as dynamic sociocultural systems. Topics include organizational culture, cross-cultural study of organizations, organizational ethnography, cultural diversity, organizational learning and relevance of a cultural approach to enhance organizational effectiveness in a rapidly-changing world.
Prerequisite(s):ANTH 11 or instructor consent. Grading: Graded
3units Examination of systemic leadership thought and practice, especially its application to helping resolve complex problematic issues more effectively and responsibly. Focus is on leading collaborative change efforts with diverse sets of stakeholders in group, organizational, community, cultural, and global settings.
ANTH 136 - Thought Control in Contemporary Society
3units Anthropological analysis of sociocultural controls influencing and regulating human thought and behavior in the contemporary period. Topics include propaganda, censorship, undue influence, coercive persuasion and “brainwashing,” groupthink, messianic cults, totalitarianism, technologies of control, ritualized rebellion, resistance movements, and democratic alternatives.
3units Biological and sociocultural facets of human sexuality. Evolution and physiology of sex, reproductive biology/ethics and cross-cultural expression of sexual behavior.
SatisfiesSJSU Studies S: Self, Society & Equality in US
Prerequisite(s): Passage of the Writing Skills Test (WST) or ENGL 100A / LLD 100A with a C or better (C- not accepted), completion of Core General Education and upper division standing are prerequisites to all SJSU studies courses. Completion of, or co-registration in, 100W is strongly recommended. Grading: Graded
Note(s): All of SJSU Studies courses require completion of the WST and upper division standing. Not acceptable as an elective in the Biology major.
Cross-listed with BIOL 140 / PH 140. Anthropology is responsible for scheduling.
3units Exploration of self, identity and behavior in cultural context. Cognition, socialization, cross-cultural mental health issues and comparison of intercultural communication modes.
Prerequisite(s):ANTH 11, ANTH 25 or instructor consent. Grading: Graded
3units Explores the relationship between adaptive human behavior and the environment. Theories of interaction between biology, environment and culture are illustrated by examples of mobile foraging peoples, village sedentary farmers, complex chiefdoms and state-level societies.
3units Cross-cultural analysis of economic systems. Topics include reciprocity, redistribution, and market exchange; the history of money and virtual currencies; the cultural construction of debt and credit; corporate capitalism and cyclical crises; global economic integration; and contemporary “alternative” economic systems.
Prerequisite(s):ANTH 11 or Instructor Consent Grading: Graded
3units Introduction to the peoples and cultures of the Middle East through exploration of the cooperation, competition, conflict and dialogues between the ethnic, national, and religious communities of contemporary Middle Eastern countries.
SatisfiesSJSU Studies V: Culture, Civil & Global Understanding.
Prerequisite(s): Passage of the Writing Skills Test (WST) or ENGL 100A / LLD 100A with a C or better (C- not accepted), completion of Core General Education, and upper-division standing are prerequisites to all SJSU studies courses. Completion of, or co-registration in, 100W is strongly recommended. Grading: Graded
Note(s): All of SJSU Studies courses require completion of the WST and upper-division standing.
Cross-listed with MDES 145 / RELS 145. Humanities is responsible for scheduling.
3units Problems of change, especially in multiethnic societies of both established and emerging nations. Technological development, modernization, social changes and value conflicts.
SatisfiesSJSU Studies V: Culture, Civil & Global Understanding
Prerequisite(s): Passage of the Writing Skills Test (WST) or ENGL 100A / LLD 100A with a C or better (C- not accepted), completion of Core General Education and upper division standing are prerequisites to all SJSU studies courses. Completion of, or co-registration in, 100W is strongly recommended. Grading: Graded
Note(s): All of SJSU Studies courses require completion of the WST and upper division standing.
3units Comparative anthropological study of religious systems and world views; Anthropological theories concerning origin and evolution of religion; structure and function of ritual and myth; types of religious specialists.
Prerequisite(s):ANTH 11, ANTH 25 or instructor consent. Grading: Graded
Cross-listed with RELS 148. Anthropology is responsible for scheduling.
3units Qualitative methods: research design, participant observation, collection of life histories, ethical responsibilities, interviewing, analysis and ethnographic writing.
Prerequisite(s):ANTH 11 or instructor consent. Grading: Graded
3units Modernity and Disease explores the effects of the modern world on human biology, with specific emphasis on adaptations to the last several decades of environmental changes. Topics include reproduction, diet, and infectious, geriatric and environmental diseases.
Prerequisite(s):ANTH 12 or instructor consent. Grading: Graded
3units This course reviews the fossil evidence for human evolution. It emphasizes areas of scientific controversy in paleoanthropology by assessing recent fossil discoveries and molecular data. Lectures are supplemented with lab demonstration of modern skeletal materials and reproductions of fossil hominids.
Prerequisite(s):ANTH 12 or instructor consent. Grading: Graded
3units Behavior, ecology and evolution of our closest animal relatives, the nonhuman primates. Interpretive emphasis toward broader understanding of human evolution and behavior.
Prerequisite(s): Any lower division anthropology or psychology course or instructor consent. Grading: Graded
3units The human skeletal system for forensic identification. Lab experience in identification of osteological material to answer questions regarding sex, age, ethnicity and cause of death.
Prerequisite(s):ANTH 12 or Instructor Consent. Grading: Graded
3units Study of human skeletal remains from archaeological setting to aid in reconstructing the biological and cultural past. Current theoretical and methodological issues in bioarchaeology. Emphasis on potential of skeletal analysis for uncovering disease and trauma, subsistence patterns, biological relatedness, physical activity and diverse reactions to stressors.
3units An overview of forensic anthropological methods and applications emphasizing the recovery and interpretation of human remains within the context of multidisciplinary scientific death investigation. Topics include the history of the discipline and a concentrated hands-on overview of basic human osteological identification.
3units Explore mummies from around the world. Examine the archaeological and biological evidence of how and why mummification was practiced in these cultures, plus what the examination of mummies can tell us about past peoples cultures, diseases, and lifestyles.
Prerequisite(s): Upper division standing or instructor consent. Grading: Graded
3units Explores scientific archaeology and the reconstruction of civilizations. Topics include framing hypotheses, site selection, excavation, analysis of artifacts and ecofacts, and reconstructing social systems.
SatisfiesSJSU Studies R: Earth & Environment
Prerequisite(s): Passage of the Writing Skills Test (WST) or ENGL 100A / LLD 100A with a C or better (C- not accepted), completion of Core General Education and upper division standing are prerequisites to all SJSU studies courses. Completion of, or co-registration in, 100W is strongly recommended. Grading: Graded
Note(s): All of SJSU Studies courses require completion of the WST and upper division standing.
3units Prehistoric cultural development in Europe, Asia, and Africa from the Paleolithic to the development of civilizations. Discussions of early states include social organization, economic systems, art, architecture and intellectual achievements.
3units Ancient high civilizations of Mexico, Central America and Andean South America, their predecessors and contemporaries. Explores sociocultural systems with emphasis on art, architecture and intellectual achievements.
3units Archaeology and history of North American peoples before 1492. Precolumbian culture areas and relationships between them; development of state societies; relationships with and resistance to European colonizers.
Prerequisite(s): Upper division standing or instructor approval Grading: Graded
3units Course centers on the archaeology of the recent past. Students explore how to employ archaeological material analysis and archival research to develop a fuller understanding of the development of the modern industrialized world.
3units Central methods of archaeological practice. Methods of archaeological inquiry, research design, and the cultural resource management presented through case studies in historic and prehistoric archaeology.
3units Artifact recovery and analysis during archaeological field project. All phases of professional archaeological practice leading to publication of findings. Sites may be local or distant.
Misc/Activity: 6 hours activity
Prerequisite(s):ANTH 13 or instructor consent. Grading: Graded
3units Planning, production, and presentation of ethnographic materials using various media. Theoretical and applied aspects of multimedia anthropology. Use of multiple media in data collection, analysis, evaluation, and representation of culture including photographs, documentary video, websites, social networking platforms, and infographics.
Prerequisite(s):ANTH 11 or instructor consent. Grading: Graded
3units Anthropological survey of North American indigenous peoples and issues from historical and contemporary perspectives. Topics include cultural variation and diversity, decolonizing narratives of indigenous histories, resistance, social and environmental justice, law, and politics.
Prerequisite(s): Any lower division Anthropology course or Instructor Consent. Grading: Graded
3units Native Californian cultures before and after white contact, emphasizing ecological, sociopolitical and religious interrelationships, colonialism, resistance, and struggles for tribal sovereignty. Ethnographic, archaeological and documentary sources.
Prerequisite(s):ANTH 11 or Instructor Consent. Grading: Graded
3units Sociocultural themes of selected Asia cultures. Covers cultural pluralism, intercultural contact, social organization, worldview and economic adaptations. Explores connections within the Pacific Rim, especially to the local region. Course is repeatable once for credit when different cultures are emphasized.
1-4units Directed reading in cultural anthropology, physical anthropology or archaeology to gain a broader understanding of a particular topic, culture or theoretical issue.
Prerequisite(s): Upper division standing and instructor consent. Grading: Credit/No Credit
3units Contemporary issues in anthropological theory including cultural anthropology, archaeology and physical anthropology. Course is repeatable once for credit on different issue.
3units Describes research conception, development and implementation for academic research and applied careers alike. Emphasizes writing grant proposals, academic theses, and professional contracts. Topics include research question identification, methodological and technical approaches, broader significance and impact of research, and ethical considerations.
Prerequisite(s): Declared major in Anthropology or Behavioral Sciences; Completion of Area Z (100W); Two of the following courses: ANTH 11, ANTH 12, ANTH 13 or Instructor consent. Grading: Graded
3units Critical contemporary social issues that cut across archaeology and cultural and physical anthropology. Anthropology as a holistic social science. Seminar format uses reading, simulations and class discussions. Professionalism in the discipline stressed.
Prerequisite(s):ANTH 131 and senior standing or instructor consent. Grading: Graded
1-12units Study Abroad and Away transfer credit course. Study Abroad and Away provides students the opportunity to study abroad on long term programs (Exchange Programs, CSU International Programs, and International Student Exchange Programs) and short-term programs (Faculty-Led Programs and Summer School Abroad Programs) for academic credit, offering Alternative Break Programs for cultural immersion, and designing other globally focused opportunities. This course is designated as a placeholder course for Study Abroad and Away programs.
3units Capstone workshop for behavioral science majors. Students assess methods and knowledge of anthropology, psychology and sociology, and synthesize them by reflecting upon case studies of individual, organizational, community, and global issues. Emphasis is on cooperative learning, reflection and synthesis of skills and knowledge.
3units Methods for the analysis of sociocultural systems, ethnographic evaluation, and program/design development. Emphasis on professionalism, project management, budgeting, ethics, and contracts.
Prerequisite(s):ANTH 232, ANTH 105 or instructor consent. Grading: Graded
3units Methods for the analysis sociocultural systems, ethnographic evaluation, and program/design development. Emphasis on professionalism, project management, budgeting, ethics, and contracts
Prerequisite(s):ANTH 231 or instructor consent. Grading: Graded
3units Survey of domains in which anthropological skills and knowledge are applied. Topics include health, business and industry, sustainable regions, and immigration. Emphasis is on opportunities for anthropological contributions.
Corequisite(s):ANTH 231 or instructor consent. Grading: Graded
3units Advanced research methods including individual and group interviewing, structured observation, and formal analytical methods. Emphasis on data management, ethnographic writing, and presentation of data through different media.
Prerequisite(s):ANTH 149 or equivalent. Grading: Graded
3units Advanced quantitative methods to gain comprehension of statistical analyses, especially in regards to predictive value for regional issues. Emphasis will be on understanding statistics, creating databases, using statistical software packages, and employing proper statistics.
Prerequisite(s):STAT 95 or equivalent. Grading: Graded
1-3units Contemporary issues in applied and practicing anthropology not covered in other courses. Course is repeatable once for credit on different topic with advisor consent. Repeatable for credit when topic changes.
Course may be repeated for credit for up to 6 units.
Prerequisite(s): Graduate standing or instructor consent. Grading: Graded
1-6units Study Abroad and Away transfer credit course. Study Abroad and Away provides students the opportunity to study abroad on long term programs (Exchange Programs, CSU International Programs, and International Student Exchange Programs) and short-term programs (Faculty-Led Programs and Summer School Abroad Programs) for academic credit, offering Alternative Break Programs for cultural immersion, and designing other globally focused opportunities. This course is designated as a placeholder course for Study Abroad and Away programs.
1-6units Course consists of supervised units applying anthropology in a project, the documentation of that project and the evaluation of the project in a written report. Course is repeatable for credit in the same semester.