This is an archive. See the current website at www.summer.harvard.edu.
This page contains content from the Summer School 2009. For current information, visit the Harvard Summer School website at www.summer.harvard.edu.
ANTH S-1011
The Road to Discovery: An Introduction to Archaeology (32367)
(Website) (Printable version)
Mary Elizabeth Prendergast
(4 credits: UN, GR, NC) Mondays, Wednesdays, noon-3 pm. Tuition $2,475. Limited enrollment.
More than 99 percent of human history happened before the advent of writing, leaving only the archaeological record to tell us about our past. How then do archaeologists "make silent stones speak"? In this class, students learn about the process of discovery: how archaeologists find, excavate, date, study, and interpret ancient (and not-so-ancient) sites and their contents. By the end of the course, students have knowledge of the methods used to understand the past, and the ability to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of those methods. To this end, the class uses case studies that cover the globe and span more than two million years of human history. Though not a comprehensive survey of world prehistory, this course imparts to students a better sense of world timelines, human origins, and the development of major civilizations. The class also tackles ethical issues, such as the excavation of Native American graves, the use of history to promote political agendas, and the illegal looting and trafficking of antiquities.
ANTH S-1095
Study Abroad in Scandinavia: The History and Archaeology of the Viking Age (31953)
(Printable version)
Neil Price and Stephen A. Mitchell
Limited enrollment.
Study abroad programs are restricted to students 18 years of age or older.
See Study Abroad for more information.
ANTH S-1130
Archaeology of Harvard Yard (32415)
(Website) (Printable version)
Diana Loren and Christina J. Hodge
(4 credits: UN, GR, NC) Tuesdays, Thursdays, 8:30-11:30 am. Required sections to be arranged. Tuition $2,475. Limited enrollment.
Archaeological data recovered from Harvard Yard provide a richer and more nuanced view of the seventeenth- through nineteenth-century lives of students and faculty living in Harvard Yard, an area that includes the Old College and Harvard Indian College. Students excavate near Matthews Hall in Harvard Yard and process and analyze artifacts and report on the results. Additional topics to be covered include regional historical archaeology, research design, surveying, archival research, stratigraphy, and artifact analysis.
ANTH S-1178
The Archaeology Field School at San José de Moro, Peru: Methods, Techniques, and Andean Prehistory (32356)
(Printable version)
Jeffrey Quilter and Luis Jaime Castillo Butters
Limited enrollment.
Study abroad programs are restricted to students 18 years of age or older.
See Study Abroad for more information.
ANTH S-1600
Introduction to Social Anthropology (31819)
(Website) (Printable version)
Theodore Macdonald, Jr.
(4 credits: UN, GR, NC) Tuesdays, Thursdays, noon-3 pm. Tuition $2,475.
The course explores anthropological approaches to society, culture, history, and current events. Themes include social organization, ideology, religion, exchange, subsistence, gender, land use, ethnicity, ethnic conflict, and local/global interrelations. Students explore these themes through detailed studies of women in North Africa, ethnicity in Bosnia, ritual exchange in the South Pacific, and political organization in Southeast Asia. The instructor also reviews his current applied research on contemporary indigenous responses to political, economic, and ecological changes in Latin America, with special emphasis on the Amazon Basin. Students grapple with the intellectual and ethical challenges, both past and present, of anthropologists.
ANTH S-1641
Tolkien as Translator: Language, Culture, and Society in Middle-Earth (32366)
(Website) (Printable version)
Marc Zender
(4 credits: UN, GR, NC) Tuesdays, Thursdays, noon-3 pm. Tuition $2,475.
As the purported "translation" of ancient records from before the dawn of accepted history, J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings grapples with themes of language and identity rarely encountered in fantasy novels. In this course, students study the role of language in making the cultures and societies of Middle-Earth come alive, and are introduced to concepts from linguistic anthropology that shed light on Tolkien's methods and purpose.
ANTH S-1643
Language and Culture (32417)
(Printable version)
James P. Herron
(4 credits: UN, GR, NC) Tuesdays, Thursdays, 8:30-11:30 am. Tuition $2,475.
This course offers students an introduction to linguistic anthropology, the study of language in social and cultural context. Linguistic anthropology begins with the fundamental assumption that language structure and language use are integral parts of human culture. We begin by exploring language as a medium that does not simply communicate ideas but that constructs our identities, our sense of reality, and our social worlds. Our approach in the course emphasizes the role of language in understanding all aspects of human social relations. We consider these basic questions: What is language? How are we to understand linguistic diversity and language change? Does speaking a particular language affect our understanding of the world? How does language variation mark and reproduce hierarchical social divisions such as class, race, ethnic, and gender differences? What are the social effects of language standardization and whose interest does it serve? How are power differences between speakers manifest in their use of language? How are social identities and relations enacted in face-to-face conversations? In answering these questions we view language both as a formal symbolic system and as an open, flexible, and strategic cultural resource. Our approach involves both theoretical arguments and the consideration of particular case studies.
ANTH S-1650
Museum Anthropology: Thinking with Objects (32348)
(Website) (Printable version)
David Reid Odo
Seminar. (4 credits: UN, GR, NC) Tuesdays, Thursdays, noon-3 pm. Tuition $2,475. Limited enrollment.
This seminar uses collections from the Peabody Museum to consider broad issues in museum anthropology. Students explore the history of museums and collecting, changing exhibit styles, museum ethics, and challenges to traditional museum practices by conducting hands-on research in the collections, critical viewing of exhibitions, readings, discussions, and research papers.
ANTH S-1725
Anthropology and Film (32155)
(Printable version)
Jayasinhji Jhala
(4 credits: UN, GR, NC) Tuesdays, Thursdays, 6:30-9:30 pm. Tuition $2,475.
This course offers a deep immersion into anthropological film and is recommended for all students interested in visual anthropology and documentary film. Its objective is to provide a substantial understanding of the nature of anthropological film as a whole, and to enable students to take part in a specific discourse related to social relationships articulated in filmic texts. The course has a topical approach in a historical context; the theoretical overview is grounded in a perspective that applies concepts of culture to processes of visual communication. Examples of anthropological film are taken from the tradition of ethnographic filmmaking, indigenous film, dramatic fiction film, and minority film. Classical works and the contribution of major ethnographic filmmakers are studied, alongside the work of other filmmakers. Through discussion and coursework students review and use theories, methods, and topics presented in the films.
ANTH S-1741d
Study Abroad in San José, Costa Rica: An Anthropological Perspective on Media in Education (32291)
(Website) (Printable version)
Study abroad programs are restricted to students 18 years of age or older.
*** ANTH S-1741d has been CANCELED.***
See Study Abroad for more information.
ANTH S-1882
Study Abroad in Venice: Cultural Studies—China and the West (32131)
(Printable version)
Marco Ceresa
Limited enrollment.
Study abroad programs are restricted to students 18 years of age or older.
See Study Abroad for more information.