Anthropology (ANTH) < Wheaton College, IL

ANTH 116. Cultural Anthropology. (4 Credits)

This course is an introduction to cultural anthropology. Students learn skills for analyzing and interpreting cultural and social contexts that are relevant in any career path. All topics will be addressed in anthropological and Christian terms, including such issues as race, gender, language, and globalization.

Tags: GP, SI

ANTH 284. Culture, Travel & Tourism. (4 Credits)

Tourism and other forms of international travel have become important sites of anthropological inquiry as increasing numbers of people have their most significant cross-cultural experiences through the travel industry, either as participants or providers. This course will explore the anthropological literature around these phenomena, with a focus on the consequences of such travel for the construction of culture, cultural difference, ethics, and Christian faction in the world.

Tags: GP, SI

ANTH 319. Colonialism and Redemption: Native American Culture and Theology from 1492 to Wounded Knee. (2 Credits)

An interdisciplinary course designed to explore the Native American experience through the lens of historical anthropology and theology. The course explores the experience and perspectives of the Native inhabitants of "Turtle Island" from the beginning of the colonial era up to the present day. The course also examines the role of Scripture, theology, and the Church during the time of European expansion across North America and the current relationship between First Nations peoples and Christianity, including developments in Native Christian theology. Meetings with Native Americans are part of the course. The themes of "colonialism" and "redemption" will bind together this theological, anthropological, and personal exploration. Course is offered occasionally.

ANTH 324. Anthropology of Global Christianity. (2 Credits)

This course explores the diverse manifestations of Christianity around the globe. Using anthropological theory and method, particular attention will be paid to the non-Western church, exploring the relationship between the Gospel and culture around the world.

ANTH 331. Cultural Immersion Experience. (0 Credits)

A department approved cultural immersion experience.

ANTH 341. Consumption and Material Culture. (2 Credits)

This class integrates the relationships between people and the things they consume. In particular, it is interested in the ways in which identities and relationships are generated through the processes and events of consumption. Case studies will be drawn from multiple national and international contexts and will highlight the embeddedness of these processes within the larger social and cultural systems.

ANTH 342. Food, Farms, and Culture. (4 Credits)

This course is an exploration of the farming systems, consumption practices, and cultural patterns that intertwine in the United States. We ask what it means to seek the Kingdom of God throughout food production and consumption in the United States, seeking environmental justice; racial, ethnic, and class equity in food access and production; equity in rural and urban places; well-being for workers; health for human bodies; and the joys of communing around food.

ANTH 351. Global Christianity: Mission, Culture & Context. (4 Credits)

This course explores the expansion of Christianity around the globe. Using historical and anthropological theory and method, this course will use the college mission archives to study missionary work in history, as well as studying contemporary manifestations of Christianity around the globe, including Pentecostal, Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant traditions.

Tags: GP, HP

ANTH 353. Culture and Difference. (4 Credits)

This course draws on principles of anthropology to cultivate understanding of cultural difference, race, and faith in the global context. Students explore their own place in relation to others with a focus on intercultural adaptation. Especially relevant for those interested in HNGR, missions, ministry, and intercultural work.

Tags: DUS, GP

ANTH 354. Culture in the Contemporary World. (4 Credits)

Exploring how "culture" relates to identity, interpretation of Scripture, and the practice of the Christian life, this course provides students with an understanding of basic anthropological approaches to culture and how those approaches relate to contemporary issues such as racialization, language ideology, conceptions of gender, neocolonialism, and missions. Requires sophomore standing and above or consent of instructor.

ANTH 361. Medical Anthropology. (2 Credits)

Cultural differences in conceptions of illness and health care, and the processes of change in medical systems throughout the contemporary world. Relevant for health care professions, missions, HNGR.

ANTH 364. Linguistic Anthropology. (2 Credits)

This course will address language from an anthropological perspective. This will include technical linguistic theory (phonetics/phonemics), but whereas much of that is covered in linguistics courses, this course will spend far more time on socio-linguistics and language ideology, particularly in the colonial and post-colonial context of the non-Western world. Students will be able to identify and apply the major historic and contemporary anthropological theories of language.

ANTH 376. Culture Theory. (4 Credits)

The culture concept has gone through numerous transformations since it was first introduced into anthropology in the nineteenth century, and this course briefly surveys historical theories in anthropology, but highlights structuralist, poststructuralist, postmodernist, Marxist, feminist, postcolonial, and transaction theories.

ANTH 381. Politics of Veiling in the Modern Middle East. (2 Credits)

This course approaches the diversity of life in the modern Middle East through the practices of veiling. Rather than a singular model or symbol, the veil emerges as a material object invested with various meanings through the complex intertwining of political, religious, and social life in societies from North Africa to Central Asia, and increasingly, the rest of the world.

ANTH 383. Cities in the Global South. (2 Credits)

Cities in the global south today face a variety of challenges, requiring careful negotiation through policy and everyday practice. This course introduces students to the particular issues which colonial histories and peripheral participation in global markets have produced in some key cities of the global south. Strategies and innovations for future development are presented as possibilities for local agency and transformation. Course is offered occasionally.

ANTH 385. Field Research Methods. (4 Credits)

A practical preparation of HNGR Program interns for participatory research and cross-cultural living and service. Emphasis in research is on design and implementation of qualitative and quantitative research methods in actual field settings, including roles, rapport, ethics, cultural adaptations, field notes, and write-up. Emphasis in orientation is on cross-cultural adjustment, including approaches, responses, psychological adaptation, relationship-building, communication, health, and Christian witness. Open to outgoing HNGR interns only.

ANTH 391. Meanings of Work and Labor. (4 Credits)

In this course, students formulate a theoretically, theologically, and ethnographically grounded answer to the question: how should people rightly regard work? We consider meanings of work and labor by drawing on the work of anthropologists, theologians, and other theorists, including people from various cultural and social perspectives. Ultimately students consider how to contribute to designing work systems that work for God’s good purposes.

Tags: DUS

ANTH 393. Placemaking in Urban Contexts. (2 Credits)

Explores the processes by which particular configurations of history, identity and landscape are transformed into identifiable and meaningful places in the construction and development of cities. Case studies will be drawn from multiple cities around the world, including Scotland, China, and Africa and will examine the use of local and global narratives, images, and logics, highlighting the socially contested and constructed nature of this process. Course is offered occasionally.

ANTH 412. Advanced Topics in Anthropology. (2 Credits)

This course offers an in-depth look at some topic in anthropology. There will be a specific theme for each semester of the course. Some possible examples include: hope, immigration, gender and sexuality, ethnomusicology, anthropology of education, witchcraft and religion, death and dying, colonial legacies, or particular regions of the world.

ANTH 414. Advanced Topics in Anthropology. (4 Credits)

ANTH 431. Culture, Economy, and Morality. (4 Credits)

This course explores the diverse ways people answer moral questions about money and economics. The course focuses on how culture shapes our interpretations of the economic choices we deem right and wrong. By considering case studies of economic moralities in diverse cultural contexts, students will develop more nuanced understandings of Biblical perspectives on economic topics including generosity, consumption, work, capitalism, and inequality.

Tags: GP, SI

ANTH 432. Violence and Peace in Latin America. (4 Credits)

This course draws on anthropological and social scientific research to examine how diverse organizational and social actors work to confront violence and strengthen peace in Latin America. Students will learn about the history of state, political and criminal violence in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, and students will be introduced to the efforts of international justice and human rights activists and civil society and religious organizations to build more just, peaceful, and inclusive societies in Latin America. Course is offered occasionally.

ANTH 435. Power and Gender in Southeast Asia. (4 Credits)

This course will focus on power and gender as key topics in the anthropology and historiography of Southeast Asia. We will explore how these ideas intersect with other anthropological and historical themes such as race, colonialism, nationalism, urbanization, and economic development.

Tags: GP, HP

ANTH 451. African Cultural Anthropology. (4 Credits)

In this course, we read the works of anthropologists of African descent to better understand social life in the African continent as well as to think critically about how to decolonize scholarship and our own means of learning.

Tags: GP

ANTH 478. Anthropology Through Film. (2 Credits)

The medium of film can provide a window into the heart of a society, giving the viewer a chance to see inside the culture and minds of a people. This course will use commercial ("Hollywood") films as opportunities to explore themes and theories in anthropology, in order to gain insight into anthropological concepts and the society(ies) or subcultures from which the films originate.

ANTH 481. Anthropological Writing: Writing in History and the Social Sciences. (2 Credits)

This is a course for students who want to write for scholarly and general audiences. It is an opportunity to strengthen writing skills and analytical techniques. In this intensive writing course, advanced anthropology (and related disciplines) students will get a hands-on experience of gathering and/or using original data (ethnographic, archival, statistical, geo-spatial, etc.), transforming it into evidence (by analyzing it using relevant theoretical methods) and then writing a compelling analytical argument that connects the research findings to important social scientific questions. The course is particularly relevant for those who have previously collected data (such as HNGR or other study abroad students) they are prepared to use in a substantial writing project.

ANTH 482. Ethnographic Theory and Method. (4 Credits)

This course analyzes anthropological research and writing on fieldwork, while cultivating students' skills in the practice of ethnography. The production of knowledge, problems of evidence, experience and ethics, as well as issues of power and representation are discussed. Students frame and address theoretical problems through the development of an ethnographic research project, and through the processes of peer review, they refine this project throughout the semester, culminating in an original piece of anthropological research.

ANTH 485. Social Science Writing for Public Engagement. (4 Credits)

This class equips students to transform social science research into publication-quality articles for general audiences. Students engage in conversations about spiritual implications of writing about human lives while developing strategies for analyzing data, considering genre, formulating arguments, and pitching articles. The course is particularly relevant for those who have previously collected data that they wish to revise or publish (such as from HNGR, Independent Studies, or course research papers).

ANTH 494. Senior Capstone. (4 Credits)

A capstone seminar which evaluates contemporary issues within anthropology to address the relationship between Christianity and anthropological epistemologies, theories, and methods.

General Education: SHAR

ANTH 495. Independent Study. (1 to 4 Credits)

Guided reading and research for the advanced students, or research internship in ongoing institutional or faculty research. Prerequisite: Permission of department chair.

ANTH 496. Internship in Anthropology. (4 or 8 Credits)

Credit given in connection with an internship assignment in medical anthropology, missions, HNGR, cross-cultural settings which involve education, development, business, or family life with participation of a faculty anthropologist. Majors may apply eight hours of internship credit toward one anthropology elective course. See department for details, including course prerequisites.