Graduate Core Courses

34000. Introduction to Chicago Anthropology. This is a required course for (and enrollment is limited to) first-year graduate students in Anthropology. It is designed to acquaint students with the range of work done by the Department’s faculty. During the year, each faculty member gives one seminar based on selected bibliography representative of his/her intellectual biography, current work, and thoughts about the current and future direction of the discipline. This is a year-long course for which students formally register in one quarter. Grading is Pass/Fail.) Staff. Autumn, Annually.

34101-2. Development of Social/Cultural Theory-I (200 units) PQ: Open only to first-year Anthropology graduate students. This course is designed for (and enrollment is limited to) students beginning graduate study in anthropology. It is intended to provide a broad perspective on the history of social theory in the West, and critical skills for reading in and contributing to social and cultural theory. We will use the history of theorizing about society and culture as a means to discuss the past, present, and future of anthropology and its relations with other scientific and humanistic disciplines. This is the first half of a two-quarter course. Autumn, Annually.

34201-2. Development of Social/Cultural Theory-II (200 units). PQ: Open only to first-year Anthropology graduate students. The second quarter of “Systems” explores the interplay of theory and ethnography, professional practice and historical context, in the development of anthropology as a “modern” (and in some cases “modernist”) discipline. Rather than attempt an overview of contemporary theoretical and methodological concerns, we shall examine – in some depth – the relations among several of the major orientations that have shaped the history of Anglo-American anthropology this century. In so doing, we shall be concerned with (1) the historical roots and philosophical foundations of particular perspectives; and (2) their significance for general theoretical concerns in the social sciences at large. Winter Annually

3900. Theory and Method in Archaeology (200 units). The aims of this course are twofold: 1) to examine the logics of archaeological interpretation and 2) to investigate the principles of archaeological representation. The course is intended to help students understand the project of archaeology as it has been transformed by the last century of thought and research. The course is organized into two parts. The first, subtitled Archaeology, provides an intensive overview of the dominant positions and problems in modern archaeological theory. In this section of the course, we will explore the major historical movements in archaeological theory since the formalization of the discipline in the 19th century through contemporary post-post-processualism. It is in these discussions that we will strive to bring forward the rich and subtle logics that underlie archaeological interpretation. The second section of the course, subtitled Archaeography, centers on an exploration of archaeological representation and overlapping issues raised in the sister field of historiography. In this section of the course we will tack between general issues and movements in the philosophy of history as they bear upon the production of landmark archaeological monographs from Schliemann’s Troy to Hodder’s Çatal Hüyük. By the end of the course, students should have a thorough understanding of the theoretical frameworks that underlie contemporary archaeological research and the unique problems that follow efforts to represent the archaeological record. The ultimate goal of this intensive exploration is to initiate students into the field through critical examinations of foundations works and ideas. Spring, every other year. A.T. Smith

4200. Anthropological Methods. PQ: Second-year anthropology graduate students only. A critical introduction to the methods of anthropology, paying special attention to the ethics of fieldwork; the politics of knowledge involved in ethnography; the problems of "writing" culture; the (so-called) crisis of representation in the social sciences; and the varieties of techniques and methods conventionally used by anthropologists. JL Comaroff. Autumn 1998. A. Apter. Autumn 1999. JL Comaroff, Autumn 2000, 2001, 2002

4200. Anthropological Methods.PQ: Second-year anthropology graduate students only. This course focuses on the past, present, and future of anthropological research, paying special heed to the ways in which sociocultural anthropologists construct objects of inquiry. We cover a range of techniques of knowledge production, with an aim to understanding the methodological specificity of anthropology and the broader ethical, political, and epistemological issues raised by the work that anthropologist do. We will take as our starting point the inherently contentious nature of anthropological inquiry. But we will explore how this contentiousness can be productive, rather than simply disabling. Key to this exploration will be a series of exercises in ethnographic practice and the formulation of research topics and plans. This course is intended to help students develop the tools needed to develop their own research objects and strategies (and “methods” sections!), while reflecting critically and creatively about anthropology’s place among the disciplines. D. Rutherford, Spr’04

52200. Thesis Proposal Preparation. This is a required course for (primarily third-year) graduate students who are preparing field work grant applications and dissertation proposal during the current academic year. The course is taken pass/fail and provides each student the opportunity to present a pre-circulated draft research proposal for discussion and critique. The course focuses on preparation and discussion of students’ draft proposals. Susan Gal &/or Jean Comaroff. Autumn

52210. Archaeological Research Design. Required course for Archaeology students preparing grant and/or departmental research proposals. Usually taken in the 3rd year. N. Kouchoukos.

541. Seminar: Post Field/Professionalization . Discussion of a broad range of topics related to academic professionalization: creating a CV, job letters, job interviewing at the national meetings and on campuses, projection of a professional persona, publication (before and after receipt of the PhD, journal articles, dissertation into book, etc). professional service, entering a new department/first job, creating oneself as a teacher/colleague, second major research project, preparation for tenure, etc. JL Comaroff. Autumn 2000

46900. Archaeological Data Sets. This course focuses on the methodological basis of archaeological data analysis. Its goals are twofold, first to provide students with an opportunity to examine research questions through the study of archaeological data, and second to allow students to evaluate evidential claims in light of analytical results. We will consider data collection, sampling and statistical populations, exploratory data analysis, and statistical inference. The course is built around computer applications and, thus, will also provide an introduction to computer analysis, data encoding, and data base structure. M. Lycett. Offered in Spring of even numbered years.