This course is designed for students in anthropology, food and nutrition, agriculture and environmental studies. It explores food in terms of human food systems. Human food systems include the knowledge, values, and practices used to produce, distribute, process, exchange and consume food. These are embedded in culture and operate within societies.
The course introduces students to recent research in business and organizational anthropology within three overlapping domains: marketing and consumer behavior, organizational theory and culture, and global business (especially international marketing, intercultural management and intercultural communication). We will explore and critically examine the meaning and usage of core concepts such as culture, design, social organization, consumption, globalization, ethnography, business, branding and marketing.
A study of the Inca and other pre-Hispanic civilizations of highland South America in terms of their origins, their development, and their material, social, and intellectual achievements.
Basic concepts and theory of evolution will be reviewed and applied to the study of fossil humans The evidence for the evolution of humans and their primate relatives will be studied, with attention paid to alternate interpretations of the data.
The ethnography of a selected North American or South American culture area or group. Both historical and contemporary cultures will be considered, e.g., Appalachia, Northwest Coast Indians, Urban American, etc. May be repeated to a maximum of six credits.
Appalachia has always had strong global connections, environmentally, economically, and culturally. Current cultural and political economic issues in the region will be examined in comparative perspective through studying related histories and concerns of communities in Appalachia and other mountain regions, including social and economic marginalization within nation-states, resource extraction, low-wage work, migration, and environmental challenges.
Guided practical experience in teaching, supplemented with group discussions of teaching practice and selected reading on lecture technique, course development, test writing and other skills for participation in the professoriate. May be repeated to a maximum of three credits.
This graduate seminar explores food as fundamental to human existence in a variety of ways. We eat to maintain life - and the nutritional characteristics of human diets shape the development and health of individuals and populations. But, for the most part, humans do not eat nutrients, humans eat food, and food consumption and production is an intensely cultural, social, and political activity. We will explore food and nutrition from all these perspectives.
This course will provide students with an understanding of the ethical dimensions of social science research. Students will learn about the ethics guidelines of different social science disciplines and discuss case studies illustrating the kinds of ethical dilemmas that researchers may encounter. The course will also examine such topics as procedures of the Institutional Review Board and the protection of human subjects; ethical implications of community-based and/or participatory research; and the relationship between ethics, research methodologies, and modes of documentation.
An in-depth disucssion of theory and method of the various approaches to cultural and social factors in the etiology, distribution, and treatment of mental illness. Data from non-Western and Western cultures are examined.
