The Anthropology program at Purchase offers an interdisciplinary and rigorous approach to cultural anthropology and linguistic anthropology for students interested in studying what it means to be a member of a culture different than one's own. Students will learn about the contributions sociocultural anthropologists are making to understanding contemporary world problems.
Our courses cover a wide range of classic and current anthropological topics including: religion; magic and witchcraft; drugs and bodies; urban anthropology; media and technology; language and culture; ethnomusicology; sound studies; film; youth culture in Japan; popular music studies; alternative economies; performance in Africa; sexuality in a global context; fieldwork methods; myth and ritual; avant-garde culture; global performing arts; Hausa language; popular culture; social justice and activism
Through these electives, students learn how anthropologists approach the study of expressive culture (music and art), religion, gender & sexuality, globalization, labor, drugs, tourism, war, and the ethics of anthropological field research itself.
Students in Prof. Pine's class on material cultures looking at the results of a performance by artist Caroline Woolard, who erased money while giving a presentation on her other art works.
Trash archaeology exercise for Prof. Pine's class on material cultures.