Marybeth Nevins
Associate Professor of Anthropology
- Office
- Munroe Hall 110
- Tel
- (802) 443-5019
- mnevins@middlebury.edu
- Office Hours
- Fall 2024 Term: Tuesdays, 12:30pm-2pm; Fridays, 3pm-4:30pm (Sunderland 202)
M. Eleanor Nevins (PhD U of Virginia 2005; Associate Professor)
Linguistic anthropology; Language Endangerment and Revitalization; Indigeneity and Colonialism; Christianity; Religious Movements; History of Anthropology; Ethnopoetics; Native American languages; Environmental Communication; Misunderstanding; Anthropology of Translation.
Courses Taught
ANTH 0109
Upcoming
Language, Culture, Society
Course Description
Language, Culture and Society
In this course students will be introduced to the comparative, ethnographic study of language in relation to socio-cultural context. Our readings will be drawn from diverse global settings and will focus upon language as the means by which people shape and are shaped by the social worlds in which they live. We will examine contrasts in ways of speaking across different communities, personal identities, and institutions. We will explore the consequences of communicative difference across a range of contact situations, including everyday conversation among peers, service encounters, political elections, and global connections or disconnections made possible through new media. (formerly SOAN 0109) 3 hrs. lect./disc.
Terms Taught
Requirements
ANTH 0125
Current
Language Structure & Function
Course Description
Language Structure and Function
In this course we will discuss the major issues and findings in the study of human language within theories of modern linguistics, which shares a history with mid-century American anthropology. The main topics include the nature of human language in comparison with other communication systems; sound patterns (phonology); word-formation (morphology); sentence structure (syntax); meaning (semantics); use (pragmatics); language acquisition and socialization. We will also consider language variation and the historical development of languages. Instruction is in English but examples will be drawn from less commonly studied languages around the world. (not open to students who have taken LNGT 0101) 3 hrs. lect.
Terms Taught
Requirements
ANTH 0225
Native North America
Course Description
Indigeneity and Colonialism in Native North America
In this course we will approach Native North America and the American political mainstream as dynamically intertwined. Through ethnography, ethno-history, oral literature, and indigenous film we will examine the history of colonial encounters between the Indigenous and the 'Western'. We will examine how indigenous cultural difference and moral claims to land have challenged dominant political cultures across the history of the North American settler states. Our analysis will extend to ongoing questions concerning cultural knowledge, sustainability, and imagined futures. 3 hrs. sem.
Terms Taught
Requirements
ANTH 0395
Environmental Communication
Course Description
Environmental Communication
Do languages simply put different labels on the environment, from rocks to trees to carbon, or are what we see and what we value shaped by the ways that we talk about it? Drawing upon ethnography, linguistics, and critical discourse analysis, we will explore how environmental perceptions and modes of action are formed in and through language. We will bring an appreciation of language differences to the analysis of ongoing environmental controversies, where the various stakeholders draw contrasting boundaries between nature and culture and define human involvement with nature in different ways. (formerly SOAN 0395) 3 hrs. lect./disc.
Terms Taught
Requirements
ANTH 0396
Upcoming
Linguistic Anthropology Method
Course Description
Linguistic Anthropology Methods
In this course we will work with a method and theory known as the “ethnography of communication” to examine language use in socio-cultural context. Students will learn to form research questions and collect different kinds of data, including everyday spoken interactions, archival print sources, and social media. Students will learn how to document, annotate, and analyze their samples as speech events linked to broader discursive contexts and social relations. Students will also turn ethnography of communication upon social science research itself, examining interviews and surveys as communicative interactions. The course provides an empirical pathway to questions of cultural difference and social inequality. (formerly SOAN 0396) 3 hrs. sem.
Terms Taught
Requirements
ANTH 0500
Upcoming
Advanced Individual Study
Course Description
Prior to registering for ANTH 0500, a student must enlist the support of a faculty advisor from the Department of Anthropology. (Open to Majors only) (Approval Required)
Terms Taught
ANTH 0700
Current
Upcoming
One-Semester Senior Project
Course Description
One-Semester Senior Project
Under the guidance of a faculty member, a student will carry out an independent, one-semester research project, often based on original data. The student must also participate in a senior seminar that begins the first week of fall semester and meets as necessary during the rest of the year. The final product must be presented in a written report of 25-40 pages, due the last day of classes.
Terms Taught
ANTH 0710
Current
Upcoming
Multi-Semester Senior Project
Course Description
Multi-Semester Senior Project
Under the guidance of a faculty member, a senior will carry out an independent multi-semester research project, often based on original data. The student must also participate in a senior seminar that begins the first week of fall semester and meets as necessary during the rest of the year. The final product must be presented in a written report of 60-100 pages, due either at the end of the Winter Term or the Friday after spring break.
Terms Taught
LNGT 0109
Upcoming
Language, Culture, Society
Course Description
Language, Culture and Society
In this course students will be introduced to the comparative, ethnographic study of language in relation to socio-cultural context. Our readings will be drawn from diverse global settings and will focus upon language as the means by which people shape and are shaped by the social worlds in which they live. We will examine contrasts in ways of speaking across different communities, personal identities, and institutions. We will explore the consequences of communicative difference across a range of contact situations, including everyday conversation among peers, service encounters, political elections, and global connections or disconnections made possible through new media. 3 hrs. lect./disc. (Anthropology)/
Terms Taught
Requirements
LNGT 0396
Linguistic Anthropology Method
Course Description
Linguistic Anthropology Methods
In this course we will work with a method and theory known as the “ethnography of communication” to examine language use in socio-cultural context. Students will learn to form research questions and collect different kinds of data, including everyday spoken interactions, archival print sources, and social media. Students will learn how to document, annotate, and analyze their samples as speech events linked to broader discursive contexts and social relations. Students will also turn ethnography of communication upon social science research itself, examining interviews and surveys as communicative interactions. The course provides an empirical pathway to questions of cultural difference and social inequality. 3 hrs. sem.
Terms Taught
Requirements