Sociology and Anthropology Courses
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- Winter 2024
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Winter 2024▲
See complete information about these courses in the course offerings database. For more information about a specific course, including course type, schedule and location, click on its title.
Introduction to Anthropology: Investigating Humanity
SOAN 101 - Oubou, Hafsa
This course is an introduction to the four subfields of anthropology: physical/biological anthropology, archaeology, linguistics, and cultural anthropology. The course explores how we humans understand each other, what we do, and how we got to where we are today. Topics include human evolution; cultural remains in prehistorical and historical contexts; connections among language and social categories like gender, class, race, and region; and social organization in past and present contexts. Concepts such as culture, cultural relativism, ethnocentrism, and global and local inequalities are discussed.
Introduction to Sociology: Investigating Society
SOAN 102 - Perez, Marcos E.
An introduction to the field of sociology including both micro and macro perspectives, this course exposes students to key topical areas in the discipline and includes readings that show the range of research methodologies in the field today. The sociological meaning of concepts such as social group, nation, state, class, race, and gender, among others, are discussed. Topics may include social inequalities, group processes, collective action, social networks, and the relationship between social organization and the environment.
What is Power?
SOAN 227 - Perez, Marcos E.
People use the expression "power" all the time, yet defining this concept is far more difficult than it seems at first sight. What does it mean to have power? How is it accumulated, exercised, and resisted? Using classic and contemporary social theory, as well as documentaries involving case studies, this course offers an overview and discussion of the nature of power. In particular, we will debate two core ideas. First, the relational nature of power. That is, power is not just something people "have", but a set of structures linking social actors. Second, the relation between visibility and effectiveness of power. In other words, the most insidious forms of domination are the ones least noticeable to those involved in them.
Race and Ethnic Relations
SOAN 228 - Chin, Lynn G. (Lynny)
An examination of why and how society creates and maintains racial and ethnic boundaries in the US. We discuss some of the crucial questions, which include: What conditions constitute a privileged group and an oppressed group? Why and how do racial/ethnic minority groups, the poor, and women experience discrimination, oppression, and exclusion in social life? Is there any racial discrimination against privileged racial/ethnic groups? How can ordinary people, policymakers, and social scientists contribute to improving race and ethnic relations among different social groups in the US?
European Politics and Society
SOAN 245 - Jasiewicz, Krzysztof
A comparative analysis of European political systems and social institutions. The course covers the established democracies of western and northern Europe, the new democracies of southern and east-central Europe, and the post-Communist regimes in eastern and southeastern Europe. Mechanisms of European integration are also discussed with attention focused on institutions such as European Union, NATO, OSCE, and Council of Europe.
Introduction to Criminology
SOAN 271 - Cataldi, John
This course introduces the field of criminology, providing an overview of the issues involved in defining, measuring, and explaining crime. We engage in a practical study of criminology using holistic and multi-perceptional lenses via lateral thought while avoiding normative assessments as we expand our Mulligan Stew of knowledge. Students will learn about the field of criminology, examine general characteristics of crime and criminals, review early and contemporary theories which attempt to explain criminal behavior, and discuss crime in the modern world from an interdisciplinary and integrative perspective.
Art & Science of Survey Research
SOAN 276 - Jasiewicz, Krzysztof
This course is designed as a group research project in questionnaire construction and survey data analysis. Students prepare a list of hypotheses, select indicators, construct a questionnaire, collect and analyze data, and write research reports. When appropriate, the course may include service-learning components (community-based research projects).
Special Topics in Sociology: (de)Constructing Disability in the U.S.
SOAN 290E - Sutton, Alexander
This course will examine the socio-political and cultural consequences of disability as a medical diagnosis and a social identity. We will analyze the various definitions of disability (including the medicalization and social construction perspectives) and their historical trajectories while accounting for the range of barriers experienced by people with both visible and so-called “invisible” disabilities. The course will consider the impact of public policy on the lives of disabled people at the intersections of race, class, gender identity, and sexual orientation, noting disparities with regard to income, employment, health, and overall quality of life. And we will closely examine representations of disability in art and popular culture to assess the degree to which these representations perpetuate and/or challenge stereotypes associated with disability. More generally, the course will consider how we construct bodies and minds as “normal” along with the implications of these constructions for disabled and non-disabled individuals.
Special Topics: Empathetic Ethnography
SOAN 291J - Tatman, Dallas C.
Ethnography is much, much more than data collection! Conducting “ethical ethnography” means developing a skill set that enables the researcher to recognize and navigate complex relationships in diverse cultural contexts. In this course, we will not just investigate what it means to conduct ethical qualitative research, but how developing a more culturally competent methodology yields more meaningful data. Together, we will address issues of cultural/individual interactions, economic/political dynamics, informed consent, and many others. Implementing methodology gleaned from reading preparation, class participation, and independent research, students will develop individual research proposals that align with W&L’s Institutional Review Board for Research with Human Subjects (IRB) standards. SOAN 101/102 not required, but preferred.
Special Topics: Sport is My Religion
SOAN 291K - Tatman, Dallas C.
Religion and sport may seem oppositional, but they share many common themes. Ever notice we use similar vocabularies to describe religion and sport in our everyday speech? In this course, we will examine foundational questions such as “Is sport a religion?” But, we will also make time to debate other topics—"What does it mean to call something a sport?” “What about the role of fan(atic)s?” “How do you solve the ethical dilemma of running up the score?” “Can our very own Wilson Field can be considered ‘holy ground?’” Students should expect to maintain a consistent writing schedule, participate in flexible out-of-class excursions, and meaningfully contribute to class discussion.
Special Topics: Environmental Anthropology
SOAN 291L - Brown, Christopher
Drawing on conceptual and theoretical frameworks from anthropology, this course examines human-environment relations from evolutionary, phenomenological and cultural perspectives. Beginning with a consideration of fundamental questions regarding the complex relationship between culture and nature, the course addresses the historical roots of ecological thought and carefully considers what anthropology contributes to the understanding of the nature/culture dialectic. Through close reading, discussions, films and collaborative activities, the course poses the broader question of how social and cultural systems could be transformed to better address the pressing environmental crises facing humanity.
Special Topics in Anthropology: African Globalities
SOAN 291M - Brown, Christopher
This seminar course examines African histories, cultures and philosophies through the analytic lens of “globality”. Course themes reckon with 1) “Africa” as both a place and an (often problematic) cultural imaginary; 2) debates related to Afrocentric scholarship; and 3) how richer engagements with African histories and cultural forms configure visions of Afrofuturism. Drawing on diverse anthropological texts while integrating a wide-range of interdisciplinary perspectives on art, culture, politics, literature and philosophy from leading African and Africanist scholars, this course opens intellectual space to consider how Africa is (and indeed has always been) generative of thoroughly modern global trajectories.
Special Topics: Being Muslim in Europe
SOAN 291N - Oubou, Hafsa
What does it mean to be Muslim in Europe today? The so-called question of Islam in Europe has increasingly become the subject of heated debates, rendering Muslims at the forefront of systematically growing political, economic, and social discrimination. In this seminar, we will explore how Muslims experience, reconfigure, and live their religion, values, and identity in an environment where Islam is racialized as “non-European.” Engaging with anthropological readings and ethnographic methods, we will examine the multi-layered discourses about what it means to be Muslim or to come from a Muslim background in contemporary Europe. Using a variety of resources, including but not limited to, ethnographies, fiction, music, podcasts, news media, and documentaries, we will unpack the nuanced histories of Islam in Europe, the colonial legacies of racialization, and the diverse experience of Muslim communities. The goal of this seminar is to address what the everyday life of a religious minority can tell us more broadly about questions of religion, race, class, gender, secularity, and migration in European society.
Theorizing Social Life: Contemporary Approaches
SOAN 371 - Eastwood, Jonathan R. (Jon)
This course is an introduction to selected recent theoretical work in anthropology and sociology. Our two disciplines are not the same but they overlap. The best scholars in each discipline tend to read in both. We take such an approach in this course, looking at examples of (and opportunities for) cross-pollination.
Senior Seminar in Quantitative Analysis
SOAN 395 - Eastwood, Jonathan R. (Jon)
In this course students will carry out independent research on anthropological or sociological topics that they identify and develop in consultation with their professor and while working alongside their peers. Projects completed under the auspices of this course will use (or mostly use) quantitative methods, generally the statistical analysis of experimental or observational data. Students will develop a question, select appropriate methods, ground their approach in an appropriate theoretical perspective from their discipline of concentration (anthropology or sociology), carry out, write up, and present their research.
Senior Seminar in Qualitative Analysis
SOAN 396 - Bell, Alison K.
In this course students will carry out independent research on anthropological or sociological topics that they identify and develop in consultation with their professor and while working alongside their peers. Projects completed under the auspices of this course will use (or mostly use) qualitative methods, such as interviews, textual analysis, archival research, or field observation, among others. Students will develop a question, select appropriate methods, ground their approach in an appropriate theoretical perspective from their discipline of concentration (anthropology or sociology), carry out, write up, and present their research.
Fall 2023▲
See complete information about these courses in the course offerings database. For more information about a specific course, including course type, schedule and location, click on its title.
Introduction to Anthropology: Investigating Humanity
SOAN 101 - Brown, Christopher
This course is an introduction to the four subfields of anthropology: physical/biological anthropology, archaeology, linguistics, and cultural anthropology. The course explores how we humans understand each other, what we do, and how we got to where we are today. Topics include human evolution; cultural remains in prehistorical and historical contexts; connections among language and social categories like gender, class, race, and region; and social organization in past and present contexts. Concepts such as culture, cultural relativism, ethnocentrism, and global and local inequalities are discussed.
Introduction to Sociology: Investigating Society
SOAN 102 - Chin, Lynn G. (Lynny)
An introduction to the field of sociology including both micro and macro perspectives, this course exposes students to key topical areas in the discipline and includes readings that show the range of research methodologies in the field today. The sociological meaning of concepts such as social group, nation, state, class, race, and gender, among others, are discussed. Topics may include social inequalities, group processes, collective action, social networks, and the relationship between social organization and the environment.
FS: First-Year Seminar: The Sociology of Conflict
SOAN 180A - Cataldi, John
This interactive class provides an introduction to social conflict with an emphasis on striving for objectivity while exploring the perspectives of various groups. Concepts of group culture, collective identity, collective memory, and commemoration are closely interrelated with each other and are used as investigative tools when studying social conflict. We are surrounded by diverse elements in our community and beyond, each with unique and sometimes opposing sentiments. We will explore groups that have been on the forefront of controversy such as the police, the military and various ideological groups, with clinical rather than normative intent so as to expand our understanding of the world around us.
FS: First-Year Seminar in Anthropology: You Cannot Wear That: Race, Fashion and Religion in the West
SOAN 181B - Oubou, Hafsa
Why does a piece of clothing on the heads of Muslim women create so many controversies in the U.S. and Europe? This class explores the racialization of Muslim women through the politics of secularism, gender, and laws. Within a growing Islamophobia in the West, Muslim women have increasingly become a systematic target for racist incidents. We will consider the intersection of gender, religion, and race through a number of cases, including the “headscarf affair” suspending Muslim girls from school in France, the attacks on Sikh men wearing turbans in post-9/11 U.S., and the banning of face-covering clothing worn in public in Belgium. Engaging with a comparative and transnational approach to veil-wearing in the Middle East, we will examine ethnographic, literary, and audiovisual works, including those written and made by Muslim women. The learning goal of this seminar is to guide students to critically analyze the gendered racialization of Muslim women in the West through an anthropological study of Islam and gender.
Qualitative Methods
SOAN 208 - Perez, Marcos E.
Qualitative research methods are widely used to provide rich and detailed understandings of people's experiences, interactions, narratives, and practices within wider sociopolitical and economic contexts. Typical methods include oral histories, interviews, participant observation, and analysis of visual and textual culture. Students will engage in research aligned with community interests. Stages of the project will include topic identification, research design, ethical and legal considerations, choosing an appropriate methodology, data collection, analysis and write-up, and presentation and critique.
Race: Anthropological Perspectives
SOAN 229 - Bell, Alison K.
"The fictions of race are a lived reality," explains theorist Katherine McKittrick. Evolutionary, historical, and cross-cultural perspectives show that races - as discrete, internally homogenous biological subdivisions of humanity - don't exist, but persistent beliefs in the reality of race, along with socio-economic and structural forces, impact lived experiences differentially, profoundly, and often devastatingly. Thiscourse surveys dynamics of race from diverse perspectives including prehistoric and modern human variability, classic and contemporary anthropological research, and critical race theory. We draw on intellectual work within and overlapping with anthropological positions - including those of Franz Boas, W.E.B DuBois, Ella Deloria, Zora Neale Hurston, James Baldwin, and Nikole Hannah-Jones - and explore ways in which the creation of race/racism happened historically "on the ground," varied cross-culturally, and persists in healthcare, law, immigration, economic opportunity, and education. We conclude with considerations of calls for justice and determination to foster joy through music, faith, and community.
Discovering W&L's Origins Using Historical Archaeology
SOAN 230 - Gaylord, Donald A.
Same as HIST 230. This course introduces students to the practice of historical archaeology using W&L's Liberty Hall campus and ongoing excavations there as a case study. With archaeological excavation and documentary research as our primary sources of data. we use the methods of these two disciplines to analyze our data using tools from the digital humanities to present our findings. Critically, we explore the range of questions and answers that these data and methods of analysis make possible. Hands-on experience with data collection and analysis is the focus of this course, with students working together in groups deciding how to interpret their findings to a public audience about the university's early history. The final project varies by term but might include a short video documentary. a museum display, or a web page.
Anthropology of Death
SOAN 235 - Bell, Alison K.
Death is of course universal - it is appointed for all once to "die" - but cultural understandings of death vary enormously. This course provides an overview of death practices from prehistory to the present. Discussion covers diverse beliefs in the afterlife, the nature of the soul, and proper dispositions of the body. Readings include archaeological studies of funerary practices in European prehistory, ethnographic accounts of belief and behavior in diverse cultures throughout the world, classic anthropological theories of how funerary ceremonies articulate with social relations, and journalistic representations of contemporary American practices - including the rise in cremation, green burials, celebratory funerals, idiosyncratic gravestones, and online memorials.
Poverty and Marginality in the Americas
SOAN 263 - Perez, Marcos E.
In recent decades, some global transformations have increased inequality and marginality in various regions of the world. Neoliberalism has generated both opportunities and challenges to human development In different countries. This course focuses on how the undermining of safety nets, the decline of models of economic growth centered on state intervention, and the internationalization of labor markets have affected societies in Latin America and the United States. Students analyze the structural causes of marginality and how the experience of poverty varies for people in both regions. We rely on anthropological and sociological studies to address key questions. How do disadvantaged individuals and families in the Americas deal with the challenges brought about by deindustrialization, violence, and environmental degradation? How do their communities struggle to sustain public life? What are the processes causing many people to migrate from one region to the other?
Exploring Social Networks
SOAN 265 - Eastwood, Jonathan R. (Jon)
This course is an introduction to network analysis. Students learn some of the major network analysis literature in sociology and related fields and develop their skills as network analysts in laboratory sessions. Social science, humanities, business, and public health applications are emphasized.
Health and Inequality: An Introduction to Medical Sociology
SOAN 278 - Chin, Lynn G. (Lynny)
This course introduces sociological perspectives of health and illness. Students examine topics such as social organization of medicine; the social construction of illness; class, race and gender inequalities in health; and health care reform. Some of the questions we address: How is the medical profession changing? What are the pros and cons of market-driven medicine? Does class have an enduring impact on health outcomes? Is it true that we are what our friends' eat? Can unconscious racial bias affect the quality of care for people of different ethnicities? What pitfalls have affected the way evidence-based medicine has been carried out?
Special Topics in Sociology: Producing Culture from the Margins
SOAN 290C - Sutton, Alexander
How does our cultural-historical understanding of artists like Leonardo da Vinci and Ludwig von Beethoven inform how we categorize and evaluate artists like Jean-Michel Basquiat and Kendrick Lamar? This course will examine the creation of cultural objects (music, visual art, literature, film/television), with particular attention to representations of race, class, gender, sexuality, and the various intersections of marginality in the contemporary world. Drawing from the relevant literature in sociology, philosophical aesthetics, and cultural studies, we will look at how the production of contemporary culture perpetuates and challenges social inequality.
Theorizing Social Life: Classical Social and Cultural Theory
SOAN 370 - Eastwood, Jonathan R. (Jon)
Sociologists and anthropologists have traditionally approached their role as students of social and cultural phenomena from two different paradigmatic starting points: a so-called "Galilean" model and an "Aristotelian" model. Practitioners were thought that they could eventually arrive at covering laws as powerful as those of physics or, falling short of this ideal, arrive at significant generalizations about human phenomenon. This class explores the trajectory of this paradigmatic split among some of the founders of sociology and anthropology and how these theorists utilized their chosen paradigms to make sense of social and cultural life. We also explore the assumptions about human nature, society, and culture that informed each of these theorists approaches and the wider historical contexts influenced their thought.
Directed Individual Study: Tracing Descendants of African American Employees at W&L
SOAN 401F - Rainville, Lynn
In this independent study, students will use genealogical methods to trace a dozen families who once worked at W&L. This work will include a study of federal census data, Bureau of Vital statistics documents (such as birth, marriage, and death certificates), courthouse documents, and materials in W&L’s Special Collections. This information will be used to understand kinship connections among Black Families in Rockbridge and Lexington, c. 1800-WWII. This data will be used analyze the social networks among and between W&L and community members. As we identify descendants of these former residents we will partner with interested family members to understand their family history and legacies.
Directed Individual Study: Regression Discontinuity
SOAN 401G - Eastwood, Jonathan R. (Jon)
A course for selected students, typically with junior or senior standing, who are preparing papers for presentation to professional meetings or for publication.
Directed Individual Study: Designing Surveys with Qualtrics
SOAN 401H - Jasiewicz, Krzysztof
In this course, students will expand the skills and analytical methods they learned in SOAN 276, by independently constructing, executing, and analyzing a survey in the field of publishing academic journals. In the process, they will acquire skills necessary to apply a new software (Qualtrics) in online survey construction and execution.
Directed Individual Study
SOAN 403 - Chin, Lynn G. (Lynny)
A course for selected students, typically with junior or senior standing, who are preparing papers for presentation to professional meetings or for publication.
Spring 2023▲
See complete information about these courses in the course offerings database. For more information about a specific course, including course type, schedule and location, click on its title.
Field Methods in Archaeology
SOAN 210 - Gaylord, Donald A.
This course introduces students to archaeological field methods through hands-on experience, readings, and fieldtrips. Students study the cultural and natural processes that lead to the patterns we see in the archaeological record. Using the scientific method and current theoretical motivations in anthropological archaeology, students learn how to develop a research design and to implement it with actual field excavation. We visit several field excavation sites in order to experience, first hand, the range of archaeological field methods and research interests currently undertaken by leading archaeologists. Students use the archaeological data to test hypotheses about the sites under consideration and produce a report of their research, which may take the form of a standard archaeological report, an academic poster, or a conference-style presented paper.
Laboratory Methods in Archaeology
SOAN 211 - McCarty, Sue A. (Sue Ann)
This course introduces students to archaeological lab methods through hands-on experience, readings, and fieldtrips. Students process and catalogue archaeological finds ensuring they maintain the archaeological provenience of these materials. Using the scientific method and current theoretical motivations in anthropological archaeology, students learn how to develop and test hypotheses about the site under consideration by analyzing the artifacts they themselves have processed. We visit several archaeology labs in order to experience, first hand, the range of projects and methods currently undertaken by leading archaeologists. Students then use the archaeological data to test their hypotheses and produce a report of their research, which may take the form of a standard archaeological report, an academic poster, or a conference-style presented paper.
Belonging in College
SOAN 216 - Chin, Lynn G. (Lynny)
All college students face the problem of becoming part of their campus community. College is a transformative, but nerve-wracking transition for most students. At many colleges, the traditional student experience involves leaving home and entering a new environment without the comfort and protection of their former social ties. On the one hand, severing old ties provides students freedom to explore new identities and perhaps even reinvent themselves. On the other hand, this state of detachment is stressful as students may compare themselves to their new peers and frequently ask themselves: "How do I measure up?", "Do I fit in?", and "Do I belong"? This seminar explores the questions of what does it mean to "belong" in college and how academic institutional structures shape inequalities in who gets to "fit in" and who "belongs". Students will also be asked to examine the additional barriers for inclusion and belonging for "nontraditional" students (e.g. first-generation and low-income students, students of color, non-heterosexual students, religious minorities, international students, students with disabilities, older students, etc.). Although "belonging" and "inclusion" are current buzzwords on American college campuses, these issues are not new and it is clear that diversification has not led directly to integration, especially as colleges try to diversify their student body.
Peoples of Central Europe Through Literature and Film
SOAN 225 - Jasiewicz, Krzysztof
This course provides basic information about the citizens of Central European nations of Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary. Beliefs, attitudes, and value systems of the people of Central Europe are examined against the backdrop of major historical events of the 20th century. Core textbook readings are supplemented by feature films, video materials, novels, short stories, plays, and poetry. Class discussions focus on interpreting these works of art in the context of comparative historical-sociological analysis of the Polish, Czech, and Hungarian cultures and societies.
Food, Culture, and Society in Ireland
SOAN 241 - Goluboff, Sascha
This four-week course provides students with an immersive experience into Irish cuisine, culture, and society. The opening sessions focus on representations of food and drink in Irish literature and culture, and then we segue into socioeconomic issues that have impacted food practices in Ireland. These include the Great Famine, emigration, the Slow Food movement, and sustainability initiatives. Classroom sessions are supplemented with fieldtrips within Dublin, a day trip to Causey Farm, and a three-day trip to Cork and Cloughjordan Ecovillage.
Special Topics in Sociology: Introduction to Criminology: Crime Holistically Viewed as a Social Event of Interactions
SOAN 290B - Cataldi, John
This mutually engaging class introduces the fundamentals of criminology via a holistic perspective. As a social event of interactions, every crime has a unique set of causes, consequences, and participants. However, patterns emerge allowing for potential generalized themes for us to analyze, scrutinize and learn. Crime affects all of us directly and indirectly. It has a significant impact on those who are direct participants in the immediate social event itself such as offenders, victims, police officers, and witnesses. Yet, crime also has a powerful but indirect effect on society as a whole. We will laterally study crime from the varied perspectives of direct and indirect participants in an attempt to derive productive holistic understandings.
Special Topics in Sociology: Social Inequality in American Cinema
SOAN 290F - Sutton, Alexander
This course will examine how entertainment media shapes the American cultural imagination by closely analyzing a curated selection of feature films. The class will work together as a kind of “research team,” decoding and contextualizing aspects of each film to develop a working theory concerning media messaging and propaganda from a sociological view. Specifically, we will interrogate how American cinema constructs and represents social inequality in a variety of contexts. Drawing from social theory, public policy, and scholarly approaches to reading culture as texts, students will observe how cinema depicts myths and realities of social inequality, how those representations have changed over time, and how critical evaluation of entertainment media affects its cultural impact and efficacy from a social, economic, and political perspective. Through informed analysis via group discussion and debate, and individual reading and writing assignments, students will develop a critical understanding of how narrative, cinematic style, cultural symbols, and critical evaluation influence public perception, policy, and aesthetic discourse related to social inequality.