Courses of Study 2011-2012 
    
    Mar 28, 2024  
Courses of Study 2011-2012 [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

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ANTHR 4478 - Taboo and Pollution


@# (CA-AS)
Fall. 4 credits.

M. Fiskesjo.

This course introduces students to the anthropology of taboo, dirt, cleanliness and purification. We’ll examine the latest attempts to re-think and understand these classic topics through a range of cases, including sexual and blood taboos; ideas of racial or ethnic purity and purification; taboos governing food choices or religious practices; “primitive” fear and avoidance; as well as contemporary conceptions of filth and waste and their treatment in Western societies. We’ll survey a wealth of writings on these topics, from anthropology (Douglas, Valeri, and others) as well as from psychology and literary studies (Freud, Kristeva, etc.).
 



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