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Professor David Meltzer, Department Chair
Professors: Caroline Brettell, David Freidel, David Meltzer, Carolyn Sargent, Ben Wallace, Ronald Wetherington; Associate professors: Michael Adler, Victoria Lockwood, David Wilson; Assistant professors: R. Alan Covey, Carolyn Smith-Morris, Torben Rick; Research assistant professor: Mary Moore Free; Emeritus professors: Barbara Anderson, Lewis Binford, Garth Sampson, Hal Hietala, Anthony Marks, Ladislav Novak, Fred Wendorf.
The medical anthropology program is a training program in applied anthropology for students seeking involvement in health care agencies, hospitals, clinics and other health delivery organizations.
Candidates must complete 36 term hours of academic work. The following are required courses: ANTH 5336, 6316 (or approved equivalent), 6343 (for which 5336 is prerequisite), 5344, 6353 and 6354. The additional hours must be in courses related to applied training in medical anthropology or other courses focusing on health-related anthropological issues.
The Ph.D. program in anthropology offers specializations in archaeology and in cultural anthropology (with concentrations in medical anthropology and globalization and international development).
The Ph.D. degree in anthropology carries the following requirements:
1. Students must complete a minimum of 54 hours of approved graduate course work at SMU, including six hours of dissertation credit. Up to 24 hours may be waived for advanced courses taken elsewhere. In addition, students may test out of advanced courses based on prior graduate-level experiences. The following courses are required for the Ph.D. program in cultural anthropology: ANTH 5334, 5344, 6302 (or other statistics courses), 6312, 7333, 7341, 7342 and 7351. Additional hours will pertain to specializations in medical anthropology or globalization and international development. The following courses are required for the archaeology program: ANTH 5033, 5334, 6301, 6312, 6338 or 6339, 6342 and 7317.
2. The M.A. degree en route to the Ph.D. will be awarded to students who are accepted into the graduate program and who receive a “low pass” or higher on the general M.A. examination in their subfield given at the end of two years’ coursework (i.e., 36 hours). However, only students who achieve a “pass” or higher on this examination may advance into the Ph.D. program.
3. Students must satisfy all curricular requirements as specified by the department faculty. For details, see the department “Redbook” (also available on the department of anthropology Web site at smu.edu/anthro).
4. Students must demonstrate an ability to function proficiently in one or more foreign languages selected from among the following: French, German, Russian, Spanish or substitute languages approved by the department.
5. Students must demonstrate a satisfactory knowledge of analytical methods (quantitative or qualitative, as appropriate).
6. Students must pass a Ph.D. qualifying examination, including an oral defense of a dissertation proposal in their subfield.
7. Students must write and make a successful defense of a dissertation. Degree candidates may concentrate in any subfield except physical anthropology.
5334. History of Anthropology. Places the content of historical anthropological developments into related biographical, intellectual, economic and social milieux.
5336. Anthropology and Medicine. Cross-cultural study of the etiology, diagnosis and treatment of disease. Curers and patients. The life cycle and aging. Prerequisite: ANTH 2301 or 3301 or permission of the instructor.
5344. Research Methods in Ethnology. Examination of methodologies and techniques appropriate for different types of ethnological research.
5359 (ENGL 5371). Linguistics: General. An introduction to modern linguistic science. Topics include phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, dialects, writing systems, child language, language and the brain and language in education.
5381, 5382. Field Methods in Archaeology.
5681. Field Methods in Archaeology.
5981. Field Methods in Archaeology. Methods of excavation, recording and interpretation used in archaeological research. Offered at Fort Burgwin Research Center, New Mexico. Summer only.
6033. Proseminar on Ethics In Archaeology. Focuses on ethical issues in current archaeology, including collaboration with descendant communities, study of human remains, repatriation of cultural property and research collaboration in international contexts.
6034. Teaching Seminar.
6049. Graduate Full-time Status. (for students not yet advanced to candidacy)
6300. World Archaeology. An archaeological overview of the human trajectory, beginning with the origins of modern humans and then looking at human interactions with specific environments and sociocultural development over time.
6301. Principles of Archaeology. An advanced seminar course dealing with the fundamentals of modern archaeology.
6302. Statistics in Anthropology. An introductory graduate-level course describing the specific use of quantitative and statistical methods in the subdisciplines of archaeology and cultural anthropology.
6303. Political Economy of Health. Explores topics in health and healing from a political economy perspective. Addresses social and economic factors influencing culture change and health and healing practices within a society. Examines health inequities around the globe.
6304. Migration, Ethnicity and Nationalism. Examines three interrelated topics: migration, ethnicity and nationalism. Focuses on major theoretical positions and on specific ethnographic cases.
6305. Applied Anthropology. The application of anthropological theories and methods to problems in contemporary societies, including global business, community development, health care issues, agricultural/environmental programs, urban planning, tourism projects and educational policy.
6306. Anthropology and Education. The anthropological approach to the study of schools and how an anthropological framework can provide insight into the nature of education and classroom interaction.
6307. Seminar in International Health. An overview of issues in international health, with a focus on contributions of anthropology and anthropologists to international public health issues.
6308. Childhood in Cross-Cultural Perspective. Cross-cultural examination of infancy, childhood and adolescence. Comparative analysis of the process of enculturation in tribal, peasant and modern societies.
6310. The Prehistory of the American Southwest. Coverage of current theoretical and research topics in the prehistory of the American Southwest, including early human occupation, sedentariness, community organization and regional abandonments.
6311. Applied Linguistics. The use of insights and techniques from linguistics in achieving practical goals, particularly in the field of education, with special emphasis on bilingual education and the teaching of reading.
6312. Contemporary Theory in Anthropology. Emphasis on various areas of ethnology, archaeology, linguistics and physical anthropology with discussion of readings, student presentations and written papers.
6314. Archaeology of the American Southeast. Twelve thousand years of prehistory from different perspectives, including cultural evolution, social and ideological subsystems and cultural parallels to Mexico.
6316. Advanced Seminar in Ethnology I. Varying topics.
6317. Advanced Seminar in Ethnology II. Varying topics.
6320. Regional Ethnography. Worldwide exploration of ethnography, exploring similarities and differences across time and space.
6323. Linguistic Analysis. The techniques needed for linguistic fieldwork: phonological, morphological and syntactic analysis. Students are prepared to work with unwritten languages and in urban speech communities.
6325. Zooarchaeology. A lecture and laboratory course focused on the methods, techniques and implications of the analysis of animal remains from archaeological sites.
6327. Gendered Lives and Global Change. Analyzes globalization and its impact on gender relations and ideology. Examines the evolving relationship between capitalism and patriarchal social systems, focusing on theories of change in men’s and women’s lives.
6332. Special Problems in Anthropology. Varying topics.
6333. Laboratory Methods in Archaeology. Detailed examination of Old and New World techniques of artifact classification, with an emphasis upon lithic typology.
6334. Archaeology of the Lower/Middle Pleistocene. Survey of human cultural remains within their contemporary environments, between about 2.6 million years ago and the last Ice Age onset about 70,000 years ago. Covers latest finds from Africa, Europe and Asia.
6335. Upper Pleistocene Prehistory. Examination of cultural development in the Old World from the onset of Wurm to the end of the Pleistocene. Emphasis on adaptive strategies and systematics of such studies.
6336. Post-Pleistocene Adaptations. Provides the background of major cultural change following the end of the last glacial period by examining archaeological and related literature from the environmental sciences.
6337. Origins of Complex Society. Surveys the archaeological evidence for the initial rise of civilization. Emphasis is placed on the major facts of cultural history, the archaeological problems peculiar to investigation of large-scale societies and cross-cultural and evolutionary interpretations of the general phenomenon of preindustrial civilization.
6338. Paleolithic Archaeology. Surveys the evidence for the origins and dispersal of stone tool-using hunter gatherers from Africa into Europe, Asia and Australia up to the end of the last Ice Age.
6339. Neolithic Archaeology. Surveys the evidence for the origins and dispersal of early farming technology and social organization from the Near East into mainly Europe, but also Africa and Asia, up to the introduction of metalworking.
6342. Science and the Human Past. Uses of biological and physical sciences in archaeology: site discovery, dating, prehistoric ecology, diet and technology.
6343. Health and Medical Systems. Systems analysis of traditional, popular and scientific medical practice. Examination of medical bureaucracies and the relationship of health care to other social institutions.
6344. Global Population Processes: Anthropological Perspectives. Focuses on an anthropological understanding of population processes in a global context. Addresses some of the major global population processes – nuptiality, fertility, mortality and migration – and examines them within historical and cross-cultural frameworks.
6345. Human Demography. Examination of major features of population change, especially natality, morbidity, migration and mortality.
6346. Environmental Anthropology and Development. Analyzes the processes of globalization from the perspective of environmental anthropology and development.
6347. Seminar in Meso-American Ethnology. Provides an understanding of contemporary Meso-America by examining the literature and field data from anthropological and interdisciplinary viewpoints.
6351, 6352, 6353, 6354, 6355, 6156, 6256. Research in Anthropology.
6357. An Introduction to Statistics in Archaeology. An introductory graduate-level course describing the specific use of quantitative and statistical methods in the subfield of archaeology.
6363. Transforming Local Communities in a Global Age. Examination of local communities in light of theories about local/global relations. Case studies consider how global issues transform local community practices in the United States and elsewhere.
6367. Comparative Peasant Society. Economic and social institutions of contemporary peasant societies are examined with special focus on the changes they are undergoing in the 21th century.
6368. North American Archaeology. Prehistory from the peopling of the New World through initial contacts with European civilization. Regional sequences and ecological changes.
6369. South American Archaeology. Archaeology and related ethnological data of South America from Paleoindians at 13,000 B.P. through the Inca State with a primary focus on the Central Andean sequence.
6371. The Nature of Aging Processes. General considerations and theories of aging in various populations, factors affecting aging, mental and psychomotor abilities in aging, aging of biological systems, nutrition and metabolism of aged populations, body composition changes and aging, physical activity effect on aging, diseases of aging and rehabilitation of the aged.
6377. The Human Fossil Record. An examination of morphology, classification and evolutionary relationships in the human fossil record. Covers the Pliocene through the emergence of modern Homo sapiens. Comparisons using the departmental fossil collection.
6384. Global Issues and Development. An Overview. Principles of cultural dynamics, innovation, diffusion and social movements shown by nonliterate and peasant societies as they meet Western civilization.
6385. Coastal and Aquatic Archaeology. Seminar on the use of coastlines, oceans, rivers, marshes, lakes and islands throughout the human past.
6390, 6391. Current Issues in Anthropology. Seminar on selected topics.
6398, 6399. Thesis.
7000. Research.
7312. Archaeology of Meso-America. Seminar on archaeological evidence for prehistoric civilization of Mexico.
7313. Archaeological Theory. Logical and rational structure of discourse in archaeology. Evaluation of the quality of arguments, propositions and constructs based on archaeological information.
7314. Prehistory of Sub-Saharan Africa. Seminar on Stone Age and early Iron Age archaeology. Emphasis on critical analysis of typological and regional sequences.
7315. Prehistory of Europe. Survey of Paleolithic archaeology. Includes western Russia. Emphasis on lithic technology and paleoenvironment with critical analysis of interpretations.
7316. Prehistory of North Africa and the Nile Valley. Seminar on the prehistoric range of human occupation up to the earliest literate period.
7317. Archaeological Research Strategies. An examination of the logistics and strategies used in project development and fieldwork through project completion. Emphasis is upon individual student problems.
7318. Late Pleistocene Prehistory of North America. Seminar on the late Pleistocene human occupation of North America from the time of initial colonization, with an emphasis on paleoclimates, paleoenvironments and human adaptations.
7321. Ceramic Analysis for Archaeologists. Examination of procedures for analyzing ceramic artifacts, with special attention to problems of style, typology, dating and provenience.
7331. Prehistory of Southwest Asia. Intensive examination of the theory and data of Near Eastern prehistory from earliest times through the development of the Neolithic.
7333. Data Analysis. Explores various methods of data analysis using the students’ data sets or those of a member of the faculty. Combines lecture and discussion with hands-on applications. Prerequisites: ANTH 5344, 6302 (or STAT equivalent) or permission of the instructor.
7341. Current Anthropological Literature. Varied readings in numerous ethnological journals. Students will report their findings orally and in written form.
7342. Seminar in Social Organization. Intensive investigation of the statics and dynamics of both social organization and social structure in various populations.
7351. Research Strategies in Ethnology. Consideration of theoretical and practical aspects of field work: preparation for research, conduct in the field and data analysis.
8049. Graduate Full-time Status. (for students who have passed
doctoral qualifying
examinations)
8100. Dissertation Research, Ph.D. Candidates.
8200. Dissertation Research, Ph.D. Candidates.
8398. Dissertation Research, Ph.D. Candidates.
8399. Dissertation Research, Ph.D. Candidates.
8698. Dissertation Research, Ph.D. Candidates.
8699. Dissertation Research, Ph.D. Candidates.
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