Anthropology Minor

Understanding diverse cultures of the world, from preliterate societies to modern technological societies is the focus of this course, including mankind's universal as well as adaptive dimensions; the examination of socioeconomic, political, religious, and physical environmental factors that relate to the values and lifestyles of various peoples.

This course will analyze ethnicity in contemporary urban society including the relationship between subcultural communities and the larger society and examine the factors and processes in the formation of minority groups as well as strategies for changing dominant-minority patterns.

Practical application of anthropological concepts designed to assist in analyzing, understanding, and living within other cultural traditions is the focus of this course and will include topics such as the role of culture, living with culture shock, strategies for analyzing cultures, processes of assimilation, language issues, cultural food ways, manners, and social expectations.

An anthropological overview of native North American societies from pre-Columbian times to the present is the focus of this course, utilizing a culture area approach and including an emphasis on the native people of California. Offered in alternate years.

This course will explore the relationship between individual experiences and the socio-cultural context, focusing on the role socio-cultural institutions play on personality, health, and world view.

This course will present a comparative examination of religion as an aspect of human culture and will include substantive and functional approaches to religious behavior, religion as a symbol system, ritual behavior, magic, religious movements, and paranormal phenomena. Prerequisite: Ant 210 or permission of instructor. Offered in alternate years.

An introductory course into the lands, peoples, and cultures of the Middle East from antiquity to modern times, including the role of religion in shaping social and political institutions, and the influence of Islamic thought on the Arab world and conflicts in the contemporary Middle East. Offered in alternate years.

This course will introduce students to the study of music as a universal cultural phenomenon and the discipline of ethnomusicology, with exposure to the musical and social aspects of a variety of folk, traditional, and art music of Latin America, Africa, India, North America, and contemporary mass media. Prerequisite: Mus 101 or equivalent knowledge and experience in music strongly encouraged. Offered in alternate years.