Anthropology 189-01 Sex: An Anthropological Perspective

Course Description:
Why do we have sex?

Both in terms of male/female bodily sexes and in terms of sexual play, sex has been a central concern to anthropologists since the very founding of the discipline in the late 19th century. This course analyzes the various aspects of sex from the perspective of all of the four subfields of anthropology: archaeology, biological anthropology, sociocultural anthropology, and linguistic anthropology. This includes sexual morphology and behavior; constructions of sex and gender; gendered violence, power, and language; and kinship and mating.

Course readings will draw broadly from both historical and contemporary work within the broad discipline of anthropology, with emphasis on research conducted by faculty in the Department of Anthropology at UC Berkeley.

Course Requirements and Prerequisites:
None.
All students from all majors and levels are welcome. However, the course may be capped at n*30 (where n>=1 and is the number of TFs) students and in the case that the course is oversubscribed, first and second year students will have priority over other students.


No laptops or other electronic devices in lecture or section / Exam Open Notes
Various studies have shown that taking notes longhand improves recall and retention as compared to taking notes using a laptop or tablet. Accordingly, this course has a no-laptop/tablet/phone policy in both lectures and section. Powerpoints and other lecture notes will not be put online after the first week of class. Not only are you encouraged to take notes the old-fashioned way – by writing them on paper – but to give you further incentive, the exams will be open-note so far as they are notes that were hand-written by you.

Reasonable Accommodations for Disabilities
If you need a reasonable (or even unreasonable) accommodation for a disability, please let me know and I’ll try to make it happen. This goes triply for folks with non-apparent disabilities or who pass or mask or compensate. No need to do that here. Exceptions to the no-laptop rule (above) or for examination practices will require a note from the disability office.

Course Readings
There are no textbooks to purchase for this class. All readings will be made available through the website or library course reserves. Readings are due before class on the day they are listed.