Reading and composition courses based on the anthropological literature. These courses provide an introduction to issues distinctive of anthropological texts and introduce students to distinctive forms of anthropological writing, such as ethnography and anthropological prehistory. Readings will be chosen from a variety of texts by authors whose works span the discipline, from bioanthropology to archaeology and sociocultural anthropology. Satisfies the second half of the Reading and Composition requirement.

The land that makes up the present state of California is home to one of the largest and most diverse Indigenous populations in the entire Western Hemisphere, organized into hundreds of Tribes and speaking more languages than any comparable area in the world outside of New Guinea. Although these societies experienced colonization and genocide at the hands of Spanish missionaries and then American settlers, Indigenous communities in California persist and continue to be some of the most vocal advocates for environmental stewardship and cultural heritage preservation throughout their ancestral lands. However, because of California’s particular history of genocide, many California Tribes and others further north along the Pacific Coast have been denied federal recognition as independent nations. How do California Indians and other Indigenous groups along the Pacific Coast navigate the settler political and legal landscape to fight for their sacred places and lands, despite this disenfranchisement? What are the politics of cultural heritage in this region, and how do Indigenous communities and archaeologists both clash over understandings of heritage and collaborate? In this reading- and writing-intensive course, we will read a selection of texts, in many cases authored by or co-authored with Indigenous stakeholders, to explore the politics of cultural heritage and Indigenous sovereignty in our own backyard.

Repeat Rules

Course is not repeatable for credit.

Requirements class fulfills