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Anthropology (BHA Concentration)

Beth Jameson, BHA Anthropology Concentration Advisor (BH 240A)

BHA Anthropology Concentration 

(81 units minimum)

The BHA concentration in Anthropology is designed for students who want to understand how societies and cultures are changing in an age of uneven globalization. Our faculty's expertise in anthropology, history, and environmental studies enables students to develop a rich, multidisciplinary understanding of global issues and concerns (such as, climate change and the environment; inequality; migration; social and political movements; imperial legacies and contemporary politics; art, language, culture, and globalization).  Anthropology students develop critical skills for working across cultures, analyzing complex problems, and crafting equitable solutions. Graduates of the program have pursued careers in a wide range of fields, including law, education, international development, media, tourism, and community organizing, as well as graduate work in the social sciences, business, public health, medicine, and international relations. BHA concentration students in Anthropology develop a broad understanding of their prospects and responsibilities as citizens of the world confronting challenging contemporary problems.

There are two required courses for the concentration: Introduction to Anthropology (79-201) and Advanced Seminar in Anthropology (79-400). Students also choose among several courses focused on theory, research methods, transnational histories, and regional/national histories and cultures.

In addition to coursework at Carnegie Mellon, BHA students with a concentration in Anthropology are encouraged to incorporate a semester of study abroad into their course of study in order to immerse themselves in a society different from their own with unfamiliar cultural practices, language, and history.

Students should consult frequently with the BHA advisor and the Anthropology concentration advisor who will help students to craft a coherent course of study on specific topics and/or regions that may lead to the capstone research project (79-400 Advanced Seminar in Anthropology), the BXA capstone project (52-401 and 52-402) or a Dietrich College senior honors thesis. The concentration advisor will also work with students to connect their academic interests and their participation in student organizations and/or organizations based in Pittsburgh with transnational reach.

Anthropology Introductory and Capstone Courses (2 courses, 21 units)

Students must earn a final grade of "C" or better for these courses to count toward the concentration.

Units
79-201Introduction to Anthropology9
79-400Advanced Seminar in Anthropology12
Topical and Method Core Courses (2 courses, 18 units)

To gain a solid foundation in the theories, methods, and analytical topics underpinning the concentration in Anthropology, students select 18 units (typically two courses) from the core courses listed below. Students must earn a final grade of "C" or better in these courses to fulfill the theoretical and topical core course requirement.

79-275Introduction to Global Studies9
79-278How (Not) to Change the World9
79-283Anthropology of Energy9
79-314How Do We Remember? The Politics and Cultures of Memory9
79-315The Politics of Water in Global Perspective9
79-317Art, Anthropology, and Empire9
79-318Sustainable Social Change: History and Practice9
79-332Medical Anthropology9
79-379Experimental Ethnography9
79-380Hostile Environments: The Politics of Pollution in Global Perspective9
79-381The Multispecies City: Anthropology of Urban Environments9
Transnational, Global, and Regional Courses (3 courses, 27 units)

To gain insight into how complex transnational and global processes shape and are affected by local, national and regional dynamics, students will select 27 units (typically three courses) from any subcategories below.

Transnational and Global Courses:
79-153Ancient Rome: How Often Should You Think About It?9
79-221From Compton to Kabul: Sound, Power, and Global History9
79-237Comparative Slavery9
79-239Theories of Nationalism9
79-270Anti-Semitism Then and Now: Perspectives from the Middle Ages to the Present9
79-273Jews & Arabs: From the Time of Muhammad to the Present9
79-276Beyond the Border9
79-280Coffee and Capitalism9
79-289Animal Planet: An Environmental History of People and Animals9
79-305Global Perspectives in LGBTQ+ History9
79-313"Unwanted": Refugees, Asylum Seekers, and Patterns of Global Migration6
79-333African Americans, Race, and the Fight for Reparations9
79-350Early Christianity9
79-368Un-natural Disasters: Societies and Environmental Hazards in Global Perspective6
79-377Food, Culture, and Power: A History of Eating9
79-385Out of Africa: The Making of the African Diaspora9
Regional Courses:
Africa
79-225West African History in Film9
79-226African History: Earliest Times to 17809
79-227Modern Africa: The Slave Trade to the End of Apartheid9
79-290The Slave Passage: From West Africa to the Americas9
Eastern and Southern Asia and the Pacific
79-112Introduction to Asian American History9
79-207Asian American History through the Novel9
79-210Identity, Ethnicity, and Place in Modern China9
79-211Modern Southeast Asia: Colonialism, Capitalism, and Cultural Exchange9
79-264Tibet and China: History and Propaganda9
79-292China and the West9
Europe
79-110Introduction to the Medieval Mediterranean World9
79-122Ancient Mediterranean Civilizations9
79-202Flesh and Spirit: Early Modern Europe, 1400-17509
79-203The Other Europe: The Habsburgs, Communism, & Central/Eastern Europe, 1740-19909
79-20520th Century Europe9
79-208Witchcraft and Witch-Hunting9
79-246War, Genocide, and Gender in Modern Europe9
79-272Coexistence and Conflict: Muslims, Christians and Jews in Spain and Portugal9
The Middle East
79-116Introduction to the Modern Middle East9
79-229The Origins of the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict, 1880-19489
79-230The Arab-Israeli Conflict and Peace Process Through 1948 to Present9
82-215Minorities in the Middle East and North Africa9
The Americas
79-174Introduction to Latin America9
79-223Mexico: From the Aztec Empire to the Drug War9
79-245Capitalism and Individualism in American Culture9
79-288Bananas, Baseball, and Borders: Latin America and the United States9
Electives (2 courses, 15 units minimum)

Students are required to take an additional 15 units (typically two courses) of electives, selected from one or both of the subcategories below. "Topical and Method Core Courses" and "Transnational, Global, and Regional Courses" listed above that are not used to fulfill those requirements may be counted as electives in addition to the courses listed below.

Anthropology offers students the opportunity to gain credit for a 9-unit elective while gaining first-hand experience interning with Pittsburgh-based organizations that work across borders. 79-506 Global Studies Internship is offered every semester and students should register for the course after consulting with the concentration advisor. The concentration advisor will assist students with matching their interests to local organizations and identifying an on-site supervisor available to collaborate in the ongoing and final evaluation of the student's work.

Thematic Courses:
57-306World Music9
66-236Introduction to Environmental Ideas9
76-241Introduction to Gender Studies9
76-337Intersectional Feminism9
76-353Transnational Feminisms: Fiction and Film9
76-384Race, Nation, and the Enemy9
76-386Language & Culture9
79-101Making History: How to Think About the Past (and Present)9
79-150Medieval Science, Magic, and Wonders of Nature9
79-155Introduction to African American Studies9
79-170Introduction to Science, Technology, and Society9
79-204American Environmental History9
79-256Introduction to Masculinity Studies9
79-281Introduction to Religion9
79-304History of Eugenics and Scientific Racism9
79-316Photography, the First 100 Years, 1839-19399
79-321Documenting Human Rights9
79-329Introduction to Queer Studies9
79-330Medicine and Society: Health, Healers, and Hospitals9
79-343Education, Democracy, and the Arts9
79-357Science and the Body6
80-244Environmental Ethics9
80-335Social and Political Philosophy9
80-348Health, Human Rights, and International Development9
80-447Seminar in Global Justice9
Area-based Courses:
79-220Screening Mexico: Mexican Cinema, 1898 to Present9
79-257Germany and the Second World War9
79-262Modern China: From the Birth of Mao ... to Now9
79-265Russian History: Game of Thrones9
79-266Russian History and Revolutionary Socialism9
79-267The Soviet Union in World War II: Military, Political, and Social History9
79-269Russian History: From Socialism to Capitalism9
79-319India Through Film9
79-320Women, Politics, and Protest9
79-322Stalin and the Great Terror9
79-331Body Politics: Women and Health in America9
82-428History of German Film9
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