To find out when a particular class may be offered, please check Testudo

UMCP students can take courses at other colleges and universities through the Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area in place of their classes here at Maryland.

Graduate Courses

ANTH 601 Applied Anthropology (3 credits)
An overview of the history and current practices of applied anthropology. This includes relationships between applied anthropology and other major subfields of the profession; the interdisciplinary and public context of applied anthropology; and problems of significance, utility, and ethics associated with applied anthropology.
Syllabus (Paolisso Fall 2017)

ANTH 607 Anthropology and Development (3 credits)
An approach to the theory and practice of international development through its transformation from humanitarian and voluntarist actions to the professionalization of aid and transformation in an important instrument of foreign policy.

ANTH 606 Qualitative Methods in Applied Anthropology (3 credits)
An introduction to the use of ethnography and qualitative methods in applied and policy contexts. Qualitative methods discussed include informal and systematic approaches. Students undertake fieldwork in local settings to practice the qualitative methods and to develop analysis and report writing skills.
Syllabus (Sangaramoorthy Fall 2017)

ANTH 610 Advanced Studies in Theory and Practice of Health and Community Development (3 credits)
Also offered as ANTH 410. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: ANTH 610 or ANTH 410.
Introduction to the relationships between culture, health status and practices, and the design of community-based initiatives. The focus is on the use of anthropological knowledge and skills in the analysis of such relationships and in the design of community-based initiatives.

ANTH 612 Hypermarginality and Urban Health (3 credits)
Also offered as: ANTH412.
Credit only granted for: ANTH412 or ANTH612.
Using perspectives from medical and urban anthropology, we examine the phenomenon of hypermarginality--the clustering of extreme poverty, chronic disease, addiction, violence and trauma in certain social and spatial contexts, often urban. We will explore both the broader social, political, and economic structures of exclusion that produce hypermarginality, as well as the illness experiences associated with these conditions. As we consider both social suffering and the related institutional responses, we will also discuss the role of anthropological approaches in national discussions about health inequities.

ANTH 615 The Anthropology of the African American Family (3 credits)
Credit will be granted for only one of the following: ANTH468N, ANTH618, or ANTH688N.
Suveys the African American family from a historical and ecological perspective, exploring adaptive responses through high stress periods. A key question underlying the explorations in this seminar is whether there are lessons from earlier African American organiztional structures (family, church, and community) that might be applicable to black families overcoming more recent periods of high environmental stress, or does such a concept even have relevance in today's multicultural world?

ANTH 616 Ethnographic Evaluation of Community-Based Initiatives (3 credits)
Credit will be granted for only one of the following: ANTH616 or ANTH689E.
Explores the use of ethnographic methods in the evaluation of community-based initiatives. Focuses on the roles of sub-cultural groups (sponsors, project personnel, target communities, evaluators, etc.) in the design, implementation, and evaluation of community-based initiatives, and the roles that anthropology and ethnography can play in such initiatives.

ANTH 617 Applied Urban Ethnography: Community Assessment Research (3 credits)
Credit will be granted for only one of the following: ANTH468B, ANTH617, or ANTH688B.
Explores the use of ethnographic research methods in carrying out community assessment research to inform the design, implementation, and evaluation of culturally and community appropriate community-based initiatives. This course usually has a fieldwork component in a local urban neighborhood.

ANTH 620 Environment and Society (3 credits)
Students will obtain foundational knowledge of core social science theories and approaches dealing with coupled natural-human systems. Key topics include: cultural models of the environment, social networks, ecological economics, political ecology, environmental justice, and science communication.
Taught at UMCP and over the Interactive Video Network (IVN). Also offered as ANTH620. Credit only granted for MEES620 or ANTH620.

ANTH 621 Nutritional Anthropology (3 credits)
Credit will be granted for only one of the following: ANTH428N, ANTH621, or NFSC498.
As a truly biocultural topic, this course explores nutritional anthropology from an integrated science approach. Topics include: theory and methods in nutritional anthropology, fundamentals of human nutrition, evolution of the human diet, impact of agriculture on human nutrition, explaining foodways in contemporary human groups, and contemporary nutritional and anthropologically related problems.

ANTH 624 Anthropology of Women's Health (3 credits)
Credit only granted for: ANTH414 or ANTH624.
Ethnographic and cross-cultural approaches to women's health domestically and globally, with particular attention to the ways in which morality, politics, local meanings, and the state influence women's reproductive health outcomes. Gendered, ethnic, and class dimensions that underlie patterning of disease and illness will be explored, with special attention to the long-term health effects of racism, poverty, structural violence, and sexism.

ANTH 630 Quantification and Statistics in Applied Anthropology (3 credits)
An intensive overview of key quantitative and statistical approaches used by social scientists in applied ad policy research. This includes nonparametric and parametric statistical approaches. Students utilize statistical software and analyze existing and student-created databases. Anthropological case studies are emphasized.
Syllabus (Downey Spring 2017)

ANTH 640 Advanced Studies in Theory and Practice of Historical Archaeology (3 credits)
Also offered as ANTH440. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: ANTH440 or ANTH640.
Historical archaeology enhances cultural heritage by providing voice for groups who were often unable to record their own histories, such as women, laborers, working class families, and enslaved people. The course provides insight into issues related to race, gender, and ethnicity as they relate to multicultural histories.

ANTH 641 Introduction to Zooarchaeology (3 credits)
Also offered as: ANTH341.
Credit only granted for: ANTH298D, ANTH341 or ANTH641.
Zooarchaeology is the study of animal remains, especially bones, from archaeological contexts. This course will address both methodology as well as many of the main issues in contemporary zooarchaeology. Zooarchaeology stands at the intersection of a number of social and biological sciences, such as Biology, Osteology, Ecology, History, Anthropology and Economics. We will discuss basic animal osteology and the concepts and practices behind the identification of animal remains from archaeological contexts. We will cover the nature of the data in zooarchaeology, especially issues around using proxy data.

ANTH 642 Advanced Studies in Public Archaeology (3 credits)
Explores the uses and environments for archaeological work through a discussion of museum, electronic media, heritage settings, outdoor history museums, including the legal environment that offers protection for archaeological remains. The course exposes advanced graduate students to the majority of the cultural media within which archaeology is currently practiced. The interdisciplinary course is a survey of the progress made within and beyond anthropology in understanding the function of heritage, public memory, tourism, and the other popular uses of material from the past, including the progress made in linguistics and psychology, and other cognitive disciplines in understanding the purpose of the past.

ANTH643/689D: GIS for Anthropologists
This course will introduce anthropology students to the fundamentals of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and the use of these tools in site mapping and analysis. GIS enables researchers and scholars the ability to effectively combine maps and databases to analyze both geographic (spatial) and historic (temporal) relationships. Techniques from field photography to radar data collection to satellite remote sensing will be covered.  The lecture portion of the class will cover GIS concepts and their specific use in anthropology while the practical exercises will introduce the student to the specific hands-on capabilities and functionality of the software.  The ESRI ArcGIS software package (the industry standard) will be primarily used, but a survey of other software platforms will be presented.  This class is designed for those with no previous GIS experience.  The course will be taught by Tim Foresman, a renowned pioneer and teacher in the GIS field and James Stein, geographer and GIS expert.

ANTH 646 Advanced Studies in Chesapeake Archaeology (3 credits)
Credit will be granted for only one of the following: ANTH448W, ANTH646, or ANTH689W. Formerly ANTH689W. An understanding of the greater Chesapeake region, including its major cities, derived from prehistoric and historical archaeology. The course will include topics related to the past and present conditions of Native peoples, colonized populations, and the relationship of preserved remains to modern political standings.

ANTH 647 Advanced Material Culture Studies in Archaeology (3 credits)
Credit will be granted for only one of the following: ANTH447, ANTH448C, ANTH647, or ANTH689C. Formerly ANTH689C. An in-depth introduction to the world of material culture studies with a focus on the methods and theories in historical archaeology. Students will look at archaeological data as historical documents, commodities and as symbols expressing ideas.

ANTH 650 Advanced Studies in Theory and Practice of Environmental Anthropology (3 credits)
Also offered as ANTH 450. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: ANTH 450 or ANTH 650.
An overview of contemporary application of cultural theory and methods to environmental problems. Topics include the use of theories of culture, cognitive approaches, discourse analysis, and political ecology. Case studies from anthropology, other social sciences, humanities, conservation, and environmental history are used to demonstrate the applied value of a cultural-environmental approach.

ANTH 651 Environmental Archaeology (3 credits)
Credit only granted for: ANTH448F, ANTH451, ANTH688F, or ANTH651.
Formerly: ANTH688F.
An overview of modern environmental archaeology as a tool for the interdisciplinary investigation of past and present global change and to engage the long term past with current issues of sustainability and rapid environmental change.

ANTH 652 Anthropology and Climate Change (3 credits)
Also offered as: ANTH452.
Credit only granted for: ANTH452 or ANTH652.
Human activities now influence ongoing global climatic change, and the outcome remains uncertain for communities and cultures around the world. This interaction between humans and climate provides a rich area of study for anthropologists in an interdisciplinary context. Case studies of historic and contemporary evidence will be used to understand impacts of global climate change and assess opportunities and barriers to successful responses and adaptation.

ANTH653/689Q: Archaeology of the Modern City (3)
The course provides an overview of how social scientists, in particular historical archaeologists, approach modern cities as being part of the materiality of the social structure and order. It uses a multidisciplinary approach that includes various aspects of social history, anthropology, sociology, to understand the use of space, living conditions, and the material remains of past communities. The history of cities and accompanying social issues provide the grounding to understand how the creation and use of urban landscapes can segregate ethnic, class, and racial factions. The outcome of the course is to show how such social policies and concepts of space within a city can have an impact on the type of materials recovered during the course of archaeological inquiry.

ANTH 654 Travel and Tourism (3 credits)
Also offered as ANTH454. Not open to students who have completed ANTH688U. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: ANTH454 or ANTH654. Formerly ANTH688U.
Review of recent anthropological contributions to the study to tourism and tourism development. Topics include the political economy of tourism, gender in tourism, the built environment, ecotourism, and sustainable tourism development.

ANTH 655 Introduction to Museum Scholarship (3 credits)
Also offered as: AMST655, HIST610.
Credit only granted for: ANTH655, AMST655, or HIST610.
Provides students a basic understanding of museums as cultural and intellectual institutions. Topics include the historical development of museums, museums as resources for scholarly study, and the museum exhibition as medium for presentation of scholarship.

ANTH 656 Community-Based Tourism (3 credits)
Credit will be granted for only one of the following: ANTH468Y, ANTH688Y, or ANTH656.
Review of the global, economic, and representational properties of modern tourism development that threaten local self-determination. Questions addressed include how do communities cope with tourism and what are effective strategies for community-based and sustainable tourism development?

ANTH 657 Anthropology of Museums (3 credits)
Contemporary museums serve as repositories of knowledge, but are also en gaged with communities in the utilization and production of such knowledge. New venues to increase and enhance utilization are virtual galleries, community museums, and cultural centers. This course will include exhibit curation, public program planning, and implementation as museum practices that emerge from the theoretical framework of the new museology. The course will emphasize the cross disciplinary nature of museum work.

ANTH 661 Language as Practice (3 credits)
Credit only granted for: ANTH468I, ANTH461, ANTH688I, ANTH661..
Formerly: Previously offered as ANTH688I.
An introduction to linguistic variation and the construction of identity, relationship, and community membership through language use. The approach emphasizes language as community-based practice and examines the dynamic construction of social relations through linguistic interactions.

ANTH666/688P: Anthropology, War, and Security (3)
This course will examine interactions between anthropologists and military and intelligence agencies, with attention to three particular periods in U.S. history.  The course will look first at World War II, when more than half of the nation’s anthropologists were utilizing their professional skills in some capacity to advance the war effort—gathering military intelligence, writing training documents, and working for government agencies.  The course will then look at the Cold War, during which time, American anthropologists again worked closely with the U.S. government, sometimes resulting in troubled relationships, including incidences of FBI monitoring of U.S. anthropologists, CIA funding of anthropological research (sometimes without the scholars’ knowledge), and realignment of the discipline’s research agenda to serve U.S. national security objectives.  Finally, the course will look at global events of the early twenty-first century and the manners in which they have created new relationships between anthropologists and national security personnel.  In the face of prolonged insurgencies, particularly in Iraq and Afghanistan, segments of the U.S. military have taken renewed interest in anthropology, evidenced in part by the Pentagon’s Counterinsurgency Field Manual which called for the mobilization of anthropologists to conduct field research that would serve the needs of military strategy.  In addition to these historical moments, the course will examine the ongoing and evolving ethical debates surrounding anthropologists’ collaborations with the U.S. national security apparatus.

ANTH 672 Advanced Studies in Medical Anthropology (3 credits)
Credit will be granted for only one of the following: ANTH472, ANTH468L, ANTH672, ANTH688L. Formerly ANTH688L. An exploration of the cultural, social, economic and political dimensions of health, disease, and illness. These dimensions will be examined through both the health-seeker's and the care-provider's perspectives.

ANTH 688A Current Developments in Anthropology (3 credits)
Contact department for information to register for this course.

ANTH688B: Transnational Islam (3)
September 11th has changed the way Americans view the world and how the world views Islam and Muslims. However, more and more Muslims are immigrating and settling in Europe and other Western countries. What does the cohabitation of Muslims and non-Muslims in the West mean for the future of secular Western societies, and for the future of Islam? TRANSNATIONAL ISLAM, examines Islam and Muslims from an anthropological perspective and focuses on the transnational aspect of the religion and its believers. The course begins with how anthropologists study Islam and the methods used in examining beliefs, society, and politics. The second part explores Muslim identity, education, and representation. The last section covers gender, Muslim immigrants, their communities and their reception by Western societies.

ANTH688C: Introduction to Performance Studies
Introduces doctoral students to theoretical and methodological issues in performance studies. We will focus on 3 primary areas of research, analyzing representational strategies of adaptations, ethnography, and cultural analysis of theatrical performance.

ANTH 688Z Current Developments in Anthropology; Archaeology of Diaspora (3 credits)
The purpose of this course is to define the term diaspora and see how it is defined, theorized, deconstructed, and employed throughout the social sciences. As will become evident a diaspora is not monolithic, but rather made up of diverse groups. There are context specific relations that define who leaves, when, and how they are received in the new place of settlement. The class will focus on the particular set of social, economic, and political contexts that create and structure the daily lives of diasporic groups. We will draw from a set of theoretical positions to understand the material and historical conditions of the African, Irish, and Chinese Diasporas. The problem structuring the course is that historical archaeologists have not conceived of a theoretical stance to illustrate the experiences, daily lives, and social relations of a diasporic group, much less theorize about the impact of how such groups are accepted or marginalized in the larger social world, through material culture. Over the course of the semester the class will actively and critically examine the relevance of historical archaeology and material culture studies in the understanding of the formation, experiences, and transformation of diasporic groups over time and space.

ANTH 689A Special Problems in Anthropology (1-6 credits)

ANTH689B: Archaeological Law and Preservation (3)
This course emphasizes the historical development and continued  evolution of laws designed to protect archaeological resources in the  United States.  Through an analysis of significant national, state,  and local preservation laws, the course will introduce students to the  basic concepts involved in the field of archaeology law.  The goals of  the course include: (1) establishing a basic understanding of the  American legal system and legal concepts; (2) promoting a sense of  familiarity with legal principles and case law; and (3) achieving a workable knowledge of archaeology law issues.

ANTH689C: Language and Culture
This course focuses on key issues in the study of language in its cultural context.  We will highlight some contemporary ethnographic approaches in linguistic anthropology, by considering the phenomenon of bilingualism and multilingualism, focusing on linguistic diversity in the U.S. and internationally, through the study of the use and structure of such codes as African American speech, Spanish, Native American Languages, American Sign Language, and Pidgins and Creoles.  Students will learn about the importance of the oral tradition and verbal art in cultures (i.e. African-American and indigenous cultures).  This online class will also study technology-mediated communication, including language and internet cultures.  We will consider the implications of linguistic diversity for education, and the effects of language change over time, sometimes culminating in the language endangerment and potential death of minority (heritage & native) languages.  We will consider communication that is both verbal and non-verbal, can vary according to gender, race, ethnicity, class, sexuality, and other social factors.

ANTH689C: Anthropology and Climate Change (3)*
Climatic changes have helped shape hominin evolution, contributed to the rise and fall of complex societies, and affected socio-ecological systems. Human activities now influence ongoing climatic change, and the outcome remains uncertain for communities and cultures around the world. This interaction between humans and climate provides a rich area of study for anthropologists in an interdisciplinary context. In this course, we will explore past, present, and future interactions between humans and climate. Discussions, methods-oriented activities, case study analyses, and a final project provide students a foundation for appreciating the role of anthropology in understanding, responding to, and preparing for climate change.

ANTH 689D/498D: Summer Field School in Applied Urban Ethnographic and Community Health Sciences (6)
This 6 week, 6 credit course has both classroom and fieldwork components. There will be classroom instruction, online instruction, ethnographic fieldwork, and a service component. Students will be introduced to a number of methods included in CuSAGs Ethnographic Toolkit, which will be applied by students conducting fieldwork in economically distressed urban neighborhoods relatively close to the UMCP campus, focusing on quality of life, health, and social justice issues. Students also will be provided with data and background information on communities that CuSAG already has been working with for some time in these same areas. Moreover, the data that they collect during the course will be added to the running databases that CuSAG is developing and which is made available to organizations in these communities that are attempting to address the range of health and social problems that are being experienced by the residents in these communities.  These databases, and the methods used to collect the data can be seen at http://www.cusag.umd.edu/programs/cehc/EICCARS/DataProfiles.html.

ANTH689L Special Problems in Anthropology; Music and Language (3-6 credits)
Also offered as ANTH689L. Credit only granted for ANTH689L or MUSC679L.

ANTH 692 Ethnology of the Immigrant Life (3 credits)
Credit will be granted for only one of the following: ANTH612 or ANTH698B.
Explores the soical issues affecting local immigrant populations through research and service learning components. Questions addressed include barriers to immigrant access to basic and social needs. What are the major characteristics of contemporary immigrants to neighborhoods adjacent to campus? How has this immigrant stream affected non-immigrant populations?

ANTH 693 Advance Studies in Anthropological Fieldwork and Experiences in Argentina: The Relevance of Context and Place (3 credits)
Credit will be granted for only one of the following: ANTH493, ANTH688Q, ANTH693, CPSP379, or HONR348E.A three week intensive course in Argentina that examines anthropological fieldwork and experiences to understand the relevance of context and place in the identification and implementation of projects on health, development, and heritage. Students will learn to contextualize the production and dissemination of knowledge within political-economic, historical, socio-cultural and policy realms. Participant-observation of the local culture and exposure to the regional varieties of anthroplogical practice will also be carried out through comparison of projects in the U.S. and Argentina, visits to selected sites of anthropological production, and homestays with families.

ANTH 696 Field Methods in Archaeology (6 credits)
Formerly ANTH699.
Field training in the techniques of archaeological survey and excavation.

ANTH 701 Anthropology Internship Preparation (3 credits)

Preparation for internship includes practicum training in development, presentation and evaluation of position papers, proposals and work plans; literature search and use of secondary data sources in decision making the effect cultural analysis and resource management; ethics and professional development for work in non-academic settings.

ANTH 712 Anthropology Internship Analysis (3 credits)
Prerequisite: ANTH789.The preparation and presentation of internship results, and the development of skills in report writing and presentation. Includes the completion of a professional quality report or publishable paper based on the internship experience.

ANTH 722 Advanced Studies in Theory and Practice of Applied Ecological Anthropology (3 credits) Restriction: Must be in one of the following programs (Anthropology (Doctoral); Anthropology (Master's)). Credit only granted for: ANTH720 or ANTH722. An overview of important approaches to ecological anthropology. Population, systems, community, political, behavioral and evolutionary ecology will be examined as they have been applied to a range of anthropological questions. Complexity theory (nonlinear dynamics) and topics in game theory will also be addressed. Students will map the field of ecological anthropology and to assess the strengths and weaknesses of contemporary approaches, methods and theories.
Syllabus (Downey Spring 2017)

ANTH 740 Theories of the Past and Accomplishments of Archaeology (3 credits)
Credit will be granted for only one of the following: ANTH689P or ANTH740. Formerly ANTH689P.
The primary purpose is to highlight some of the key achievements made by archaeologists in informing questions of interest to society from 1850 on. Key achievements include how archaeologists understand elements of the past thought to be central to the development of modern socieity. A secondary purpose is to introduce students to the theories used to understand the place of the past in society and the function of answers to questions thought central to modern social life.
Syllabus (Leone Spring 2017)

ANTH 760 Development of Social/Cultural Theory (3 credits) A broad perspective of the history of social cultural theory in anthropology and the critical skills needed for understanding the subdiscipline is provided. An overview of the history of theorizing about society and culture will help outline the past, present, and future of anthropology and its relations with other scientific and humanistic disciplines.
Syllabus (Chernela Fall 2017)

ANTH 788 Internship Research (1-3 credits)
Prerequisite: ANTH 701 and permission of track advisor. 03 semester hours. For ANTH majors only.
This course augments ANTH 789 and is graded in conjunction with it.

ANTH 789 Internship (3-6 credits)
Prerequisite: ANTH 701. For ANTH majors only. Repeatable to 06 credits if content differs. Formerly ANTH705. Individual instruction course supervised by a department faculty member.

ANTH 856 Museum Research Seminar
Prerequisite: HIST610.
Also offered as: HIST810, AMST856.
Credit only granted for: ANTH856, AMST856, or HIST810.
A research seminar focusing on the practice and presentation of cultura and historical scholarship in museums and historical sites. Students will complete an original research project on the challenges and opportunities of public exhibition and interpretation of cultural and historical research.

ANTH 857 Museum Scholarship Practicum
Prerequisite: HIST810.
Restriction: Permission of Museum Scholarship Program required.
Also offered as: HIST811, AMST857.
Credit only granted for: ANTH857, AMST857, or HIST811.
Students devise and carry out a research program using the collections at the Smithsonian Institution or some other cooperating museum, working under joint supervision of a museum professional and a university faculty member.

ANTH 899 Doctoral Dissertation Research (6 credits)