Gender and Sexuality

56:606:661:90 Women, Men and Work
Instructor: Professor Saltzman

Description: This course will take an anthropological look at the paid and unpaid work that women and men perform in Western and non-Western cultures around the world, especially the United States. The course will analyze the effects of gender on the work people do, and its rewards, hardships, and implications for family living. It will consider how people’s race, ethnicity, and class profoundly affect the shape of male and female labor. It will also ask how work roles have varied throughout history, and how current economic and technological changes are affecting equality between women and men, here and abroad. We will examine historical and cultural context, empirical research findings, and theoretical developments as we study issues relevant to understanding women’s and men’s work experiences.

Books:

  • Collins, Threads: Gender, Labor, and Power in the Global Apparel Industry.
  • Dudley, Kathryn Marie. 1994. The End of the Line: Lost Jobs, New Lives in Postindustrial America. University of Chicago Press.
  • Ho, Karen. 2009. Liquidated: An Ethnography of Wall Street. Duke University Press.

Philosophy and Religion

56:606:641:90 Magic and Ritual Power
Instructor: Professor Banner

Description: An examination of magic throughout history and today in ritual, community, literature, film, television, and personal spirituality. Is magic a form of religion? Are religious rituals forms of magic? How can magic be defined? What is its power? Such questions are asked across diverse practices and beliefs such as in Judaism, Christianity, Wicca, and paganism.

  • Susan Greenwood, Magic, Witchcraft and the Otherworld: An Anthropology (New York: Berg Publishers, 2000, Paperback) ISBN-10: 1859734502; ISBN-13: 978-1859734506
  • Marvin W. Meyer and Richard Smith (editors) Ancient Christian Magic (Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press, 1999, Paperback) ISBN-10: 0691004587; ISBN-13: 978-0691004587
  • Daniel Ogden, Magic, Witchcraft, and Ghosts in the Greek and Roman Worlds: A Sourcebook (New York: Oxford University Press, 2nd Edition, 2009, Paperback) ISBN-10: 0195385209; ISBN-13:978-0195385205
  • Gerald C. Milnes, Producer, Signs, Cures and Witchery (Augusta Heritage Center, 2001) ISBN (ASIN): 1-57233-604-8 (Note this is a DVD, it is NOT the book by the same name)

Studies in Psychology

56:606:651:90 Social Psycology in the Real World
Instructor: Professor Cabiria

Description: Are you who you say you are, or are you who I say you are? The creation of our identity is a constant give-and-take between how others perceive us and how we respond to those perceptions. Firmly grounded in social psychology, each week we will explore a different facet of why and how we relate to each other in order to achieve personal, family, social, and work-related goals. You will find this course to be surprising in many ways, as we explore the practical applications of social psychology principles and theories to real-world lives, including the increasing influence of social media. Your own experiences and insights will be the foundation of our class activities.