Ellen Oxfeld

Diversity and Human Nature: Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
This course introduces students to the varieties of human experience in social life and to the differing approaches and levels of analysis used by anthropologists to explain it. Topics include: culture and race, rituals and symbolism, kinship and gender roles, social evolution, political economy, and sociolinguistics. Ethnographic examples are drawn chiefly from non-Western societies, from simple bands to great agrarian states. The ultimate aim is to enable students to think critically about the bases of their own culture and about practices and beliefs previously unanalyzed and unexamined. (formerly SOAN 0103) 2 hrs. lect./1 hr. disc.

Gender, Culture, and Power
This course offers a cross-cultural introduction to the issues involved in the study of women and gender. Such an endeavor raises a number of difficult and delicate issues. What explains the diversities and similarities in women's roles across societies? How do we assess women's status and power, and how do we decide which standards to use in doing so? What forces create changes in women's roles? What is the relationship between gender constructions and the nature of communities, economies, and even nations? Our analysis will concentrate on three primary domains: family and kinship, symbolic systems, and political economy. Course readings will focus primarily on non-Western societies. 3 hrs. lect./disc. (National/Transnational Feminisms)/

Topics in Anthropological Theory
This course gives an introduction to some important themes in the development of anthropological thought, primarily in the past century in anglophone and francophone traditions. It emphasizes close comparative reading of selections from influential texts by authors who have shaped recent discourse within the social sciences. (SOAN 0103 or ANTH 0103 or SOAN 0107 or SOCI 0107 or SOAN 0109 or ANTH 0109 or SOAN 0159 or ANTH 0159) (formerly SOAN 0306) 3 hrs. lect.

The Anthropology of China
China serves as a case study in the anthropological analysis of a complex rapidly changing non-Western society. This course will be a survey of the principal institutions and ideas that form the background to modern Chinese society. Areas covered include: family and kinship, ritual, transformations of class hierarchies, and the impact of globalization. Materials will be drawn from descriptions of traditional, contemporary (including both mainland and Taiwanese settings), and overseas contexts. (formerly SOAN 0335) 3 hrs. lect./disc.

The Anthropology of Food
Food not only sustains bodies, but also reflects and shapes cultures, social identities, and systems of power. In this course we examine the relationship between food and culture. Beginning with an examination of the origins of cooking, we will go on to analyze a variety of approaches to understanding the food/culture/society relationship. These include the symbolic meanings of food, the role of food in constructing social and cultural identities, and the relationship between food and political and economic systems. Our examples will be cross-cultural (Africa, South and East Asia, Europe, and the Americas). 3 hrs. sem.

Race and Ethnicity Across Cultures
Ethnicity and race are social phenomena that influence group relations, as well as personal identity, in many areas of the world. But what is "ethnicity" and what is "race"? In this course we will explore the varied approaches that have been utilized to understand race and ethnicity across diverse cultural settings. No single explanation of race and ethnicity is all encompassing, and so we will explore a number of different approaches. Among the issues we will examine are: alternative explanations of ethnic and racial identity formation; the causes and consequences of ethnic violence and competition; the connections among ethnicity, gender, and class; and the processes through which distinctions between self and other are created. (formerly SOAN 0355) 3 hrs. lect./disc