Topic for Winter 2025: Anthropology and Science Fiction
PREREQUISITES: sophomore standing or ANTH 110 or instructor consent Though science fiction is a genre of literature and anthropology is a social science, they are united in their efforts to describe cultures and understand cultural differences. This course pairs science fiction literature about “other worlds” with ethnographic examples of documented cultural variation as an introduction to the anthropological study of human diversity and what it means to be human. Students will engage in classic and contemporary anthropological topics, including confronting otherness, variations in family, social, and political organization, and efforts to enhance the human body/human species.

Topic for Winter 2025: Origin of Dogs
PREREQUISITES: sophomore standing, recommended ANTH 140, BIOL 200 or BIOL 235 This advanced seminar examines the current evidence for the domestication of dogs. The course draws on paleontological, archaeological, and genetic evidence for how and where dogs were first domesticated. The seminar includes the study of cultural and archaeological evidence for uses and treatment of dogs in different societies, including modern uses for service and law enforcement.