The North American Anthropology Syllabus Project

The SANA Syllabi Project is a work in progress. The links below are now active, though we are continuing to refine the content for syllabi. We welcome contributions from graduate and undergraduate courses incorporating anthropological perspectives on North America, its inhabitants, and their cultures and histories. Ideally, the webpage will grow over time, to become a resource and forum for interested scholars and teachers.

Please forward electronic versions of syllabi to Rachel Heiman at heimanr@newschool.edu.

Anthropology of the United States: Ideals and Inequalities, Conflict and Community

• America’s Diverse Cultures — Jane Adams
• American Dreams, American Lives — Michelle Marzullo
• Anthropology of American Culture — Samuel G. Collins
• Anthropology of the United States — Nicholas Townsend
• Critical Social Issues — Louise Lamphere
• Culture and Diversity in American Life — Robert V. Kemper
• Cultures of the Contemporary USA — Maria D. Vesperi
• Ethnography of North America — Jean N. Scandlyn
• Ethnography of the U.S. — E. Paul Durrenberger
• Life in America: Identity and Everyday Experience — Lee D. Baker
• United States Culture — Nicholas Townsend

Latin America: Citizenship and Transnationalism, Hybridity and Inequality

• Contemporary Issues in Latin American Society and Culture — Judith Freidenberg
• Indigenous Cultures of Latin America — Aurolyn Luykx
• Latinas/os in Comparative Perspective — Gina M. Pérez
• Mexico: From Conquest to Cancún — Robert V. Kemper
• U.S.-Mexico Borderlands in Change — Josiah (Joe) Heyman

“American Culture” — An Oxymoron?

• America’s Diverse Cultures — Jane Adams
• Anthropology of American Culture — Samuel G. Collins
• Ethnography of North America — Jean N. Scandlyn
• Life in America: Identity and Everyday Experience — Lee D. Baker
• United States Culture — Nicholas Townsend

Indigenous Peoples: American Indians and Indigenous Latin Americans

• Indigenous Cultures of Latin America — Aurolyn Luykx
• Montana Indian Tribal Government and Everyday Life — Michael Joseph Francisconi
• The Struggle for American Indian Sovereignty — Michael Joseph Francisconi

African-Americans: History and Culture

• African American Culture — Beverly Ann Davenport
• African American Intellectual History — Lee D. Baker

Migration and Immigration: Movements and Immobility

• Contemporary Issues in Latin American Society and Culture — Judith Freidenberg
• Ethnology of the Immigrant Life — Judith Freidenberg
• Human Migration: Nomads, Sojourners and Settlers — Jean N. Scandlyn
• Latinas/os in Comparative Perspective — Gina M. Pérez
• U.S.-Mexico Borderlands in Change — Josiah (Joe) Heyman

The Border

• Militarization in American Daily Life — Gina M. Pérez
• U.S.-Mexico Borderlands in Change — Josiah (Joe) Heyman

The Southwest

• Critical Social Issues — Louise Lamphere
• Learning from South Phoenix — Kristin Koptiuch
• Militarization in American Daily Life — Gina M. Pérez

Race and Ethnicity

• “American” Ethnicity — Melanie E. L. Bush
• Contemporary Issues in Latin American Society and Culture — Judith Freidenberg
• Filming Anti-Racism in the 21st Century — Enoch H. Page
• Latinas/os in Comparative Perspective — Gina M. Pérez
• Rethinking Barrios and Ghettos — Gina M. Pérez
• The Anthropology of Race — Lee D. Baker

Urban and Sub-Urban: Politics, Policies, and Place

• Critical Anthropologies of the Urban Landscape — Jeff Maskovsky
• Contemporary Urban Theory — Jeff Maskovsky
• Divided We Sprawl: Suburbs and Beyond — Rachel Heiman
• Learning from South Phoenix — Kristin Koptiuch
• Rethinking Barrios and Ghettos — Gina M. Pérez
• The Peopling of New York — Jeff Maskovsky
• Urban Anthropology — Susan B. Hyatt
• Urban Anthropology — Louise Lamphere
• Urban Anthropology: Past, Present, and Future — Maria D. Vesperi
• Urban Life: Social Justice and the Lived City — Rachel Heiman
• Urban Poverty and Affluence — Jeff Maskovsky

Political Economy: Labor, Life, and the Neoliberal

• Contemporary Issues in Latin American Society and Culture — Judith Freidenberg
• Montana Indian Tribal Government and Everyday Life — Michael Joseph Francisconi
• The Middle Classes: A Global Perspective — Rachel Heiman
• The Political Economy of Social Issues — Michael Joseph Francisconi
• U.S.-Mexico Borderlands in Change — Josiah (Joe) Heyman
• Working in a Wal-Mart World — Kasmir

Citizenship, Democracy, and the Public Sphere

• Experiments in Democracy: New Voices in the U.S. Public Sphere — Jeff Maskovsky and Roopali Mukherjee
• Historical Legacies, Current Predicaments, Dreams of a Better Tomorrow — Melanie E. L. Bush
• Media and War — Hugh Gusterson
• The Cold War and the Culture of Dissent — Michael Joseph Francisconi

War and Militarization

• Media and War — Hugh Gusterson
• Militarization in American Daily Life — Gina M. Pérez
• The Cold War and the Culture of Dissent — Michael Joseph Francisconi

The Media

• Filming Anti-Racism in the 21st Century — Enoch H. Page
• Media and War — Hugh Gusterson
• Militarization in American Daily Life — Gina M. Pérez

Education

• Education of Society (a.k.a. Sociology of Education) — Melanie E. L. Bush

Identity

• Contemporary Issues in Latin American Society and Culture — Judith Freidenberg
• Labels, Categories, and Names: The Anthropology of People “Out of Place” — Rachel Heiman
• Life in America: Identity and Everyday Experience — Lee D. Baker

Families and Households

• Families and Households — Nicholas Townsend

The Environment

• Environmental Justice — Brett Williams

Language and Power

• Language and Power — Aurolyn Luykx
• Linguistic Anthropology: On the Power of Gestures, Jokes, and Accents — Rachel Heiman

Taboos

• Taboos — Brett Williams

The Social Sciences

• Introduction to the Social Sciences — Jeff Maskovsky