An examination of the events, people, movements, and themes of the region's past, from earliest known human habitation to the present. The course explores contrasting ways of life expressed by native and European peoples; implications of incorporating the area into the United States; the agricultural, industrial, and transportation revolutions of the nineteenth century; popular culture within and about Appalachia; contemporary issues of regional development and preservation; and ways the unique environment of these mountains has shaped and frustrated notions of regional identity.
Students are introduced to foundational theories of public policy, gaining valuable insight into "who gets what, when, and how" in the political process. Through a series of case studies in environmental, social welfare, criminal justice, and health policy, students are asked to apply and critically evaluate policy problems and solutions, given existing public policy theories.
Students are introduced to foundational theories of public policy, gaining valuable insight into "who gets what, when, and how" in the political process. Through a series of case studies in environmental, social welfare, criminal justice, and health policy, students are asked to apply and critically evaluate policy problems and solutions, given existing public policy theories.
This course focuses on important African-American writers whose unique perspectives challenge us to think about questions of justice, equality and difference, morality, and rule. Readings begin in the nineteenth century (Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington) and proceed into the late twentieth century with selections from authors such as Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Stokely Carmichael, James Baldwin, Shelby Steele, Cornel West, and Toni Morrison.
Introduces and explores new religious movements, sectarian spin-offs, and alternative communities in the U.S. that have tested the parameters of acceptable "religion" at different moments in history. Particular attention is given to intersectional dynamics. The class questions the politics and practices of labeling, especially the language of "cults," and centers on specific historical case studies in order to illustrate and analyze major theoretical and methodological challenges in and for the study of religion(s). It considers what draws people to create and join new religious movements, the distinctive worlds such groups endeavor to build, and the controversies that have historically attended them.
An examination of the history and criticism of American women's oratory and the history of women's public discourse in the United States from the colonial period through the present. Considers the historical, social, and cultural significance of women's rhetorical participation in civic life, as well as issues of authority, reception, and the nature of argument both within and about women's public address.
This course provides an introduction to contemporary analyses of women's economic, cultural, biological, environmental, and political conditions. We will explore commonalities and differences among women, both in the United States and in other nations. In so doing, we will engage the concept of gender as an historical and critical category relating to a woman's ethnicity, class, sexuality, and race. The course also will examine varieties of recent feminist thought, paying particular attention to the impact of this scholarship on traditional academic disciplines.
Anthropology
Introducing perspectives of Socio-Cultural Anthropology, the class explores how culture (the way of life shared by a group of people) creates varied realities and life experiences worldwide in relation to socially-generated understandings of gender, religion, ethnicity, class, race, and kinship. Focused on patterns of difference and similarity across cultures around the globe, this course teaches students the value of cross-cultural comparison and how to analyze their own cultural backgrounds through the anthropological lens.
An introduction to the processes of human and cultural evolution. Physical anthropology will focus on human evolution and the human fossil record, genetic processes, primatology, and physiological characteristics of modern human populations. Archaeology will trace cultural evolution from the first hominins to the beginnings of complex societies The pertinent methods and theories are presented throughout.
An introduction to the processes of human and cultural evolution. Physical anthropology will focus on human evolution and the human fossil record, genetic processes, primatology, and physiological characteristics of modern human populations. Archaeology will trace cultural evolution from the first hominins to the beginnings of complex societies The pertinent methods and theories are presented throughout.
This course introduces human prehistory. Referencing the influence of regional environments and technological innovations on early human societies’ attempts to resolve panhuman challenges, the class examines the earliest evidence for ritual, architecture and art in the Paleolithic and Mesolithic. Next, considering the irrevocable changes in human life caused by the development of agriculture, the course surveys early complex societies in Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Indus Valley, and China. Course topics also explore transitions from tribal societies to chiefdoms and proto-states in Asia, pre-Roman Europe and Mesoamerica to identify patterns in human social organization and perceptions of the supernatural.
This course introduces human prehistory. Referencing the influence of regional environments and technological innovations on early human societies’ attempts to resolve panhuman challenges, the class examines the earliest evidence for ritual, architecture and art in the Paleolithic and Mesolithic. Next, considering the irrevocable changes in human life caused by the development of agriculture, the course surveys early complex societies in Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Indus Valley, and China. Course topics also explore transitions from tribal societies to chiefdoms and proto-states in Asia, pre-Roman Europe and Mesoamerica to identify patterns in human social organization and perceptions of the supernatural.
This practicum focuses on historical or prehistoric cultural resources, both archaeological and standing structures, on the University Domain. Students learn excavation and documentation techniques appropriate to the specific resource type. In addition, artifact processing and cataloging will be covered. The majority of this course is field based. This course can be repeated once for credit.
Food provides a lens through which to understand cultures and social structures. This course examines how food production and consumption articulates with power and inequality, and with gender, ethnic, class and community identities. The course offers anthropological perspectives on the links between diet and disease, global economic integration and commodity chains, migration and labor, and the future of sustainable foodways.
This course explores ancient Celtic societies through archaeology, ethnohistory, linguistics, and medieval documentation of indigenous myths. Beginning with Early Iron Age material culture in Austria (the Hallstatt period from 800 BC) and the continental Late Iron Age (the La Tene period from 450 BC to the Roman conquest), the class then considers the perceived endurance of Celtic tradition through the Middle Ages in areas least impacted by Roman rule (Ireland, Scotland, and Wales).
This anthropological investigation into medical topics with a cultural component (gerontology, substance abuse, nutrition, folk medicine, etc.) will also examine the ways in which various cultural backgrounds may impede or enhance the medical process. Issues such as disease and therapy will also be examined in cross-cultural perspective.
This course applies the methods and theories of cultural anthropology in the study of business organizations and their ecosystems. Examining companies and markets as human groups with social structures, students consider how corporate cultures develop their own rituals, symbols, cultural norms, and procedures, and how these articulate with kinship, religion, gender, class, ethnicity, and environment. The class considers intercultural challenges in the current phase of global economic integration and the intersection of corporate cultural values, ethics, and practice. A significant dimension of the course is a focus on sustainable business cultures.
This course explores international and national approaches to archaeological heritage management. It includes review of public policy that protect sites (much of it incorporated into environmental legislation) and of regulations that guide the process. The course centers around study of how the determination of such policies affects negotiation between the past and present as archaeologists, various governments, descendant communities, and others try to balance a concern for preservation with growing demand for development and sustainability. Interwoven into the course are topics such as how diverse cultures view the past, the growing commodification of archaeological sites in the tourist trade, the antiquities market, and careers in cultural resource management.
This course examines how different cultures construct narratives about global catastrophe and climate change. It deconstructs common concepts related to natural and anthropogenic disaster to understand how conceptual affordances and constraints affect mitigation efforts, shape preparation, and guide response to disaster across global contexts. This course emphasizes a comparative approach including perspectives on both past and present societies. It interrogates how contemporary society incorporates tropes of archaeological “collapse” into catastrophic imaginaries. This course aims to foster a more critical, nuanced understanding of the courses of action available to global society in the face of a changing climate.
Art
An introduction to processes dependent on the lens as an imaging device, including wet-lab photography, digital photography, video editing and installation-based sequencing. The course incorporates the fundamental theoretical, technical and aesthetic principles of working with photography as an expressive medium. Assignments include darkroom laboratory work, studio projects, discussions, written analyses, and class presentations.