Undergraduate Catalog: Fall 2012 - Summer 2013
with Spring 2013 Course Updates

Undergraduate Catalog F12-S13 with Spring 2013 Course Updates

Comparative Cultural Studies

Who's Who in the Department of Comparative Cultural Studies
Overview of Comparative Cultural Studies
Mission Statement

Who's Who in the Department of Comparative Cultural Studies

Chair:
Lois Parkinson Zamora

Professors:
Kenneth L. Brown (Anthropology), Andrew J. Gordon (Anthropology), Janis F. Hutchinson (Anthropology), Susan J. Rasmussen (Anthropology), Ibrahim Sumer (Religious Studies), Lois Parkinson Zamora (English/Comparative Literature)

Associate Professors:
Norris G. Lang (Anthropology), Rebecca Storey (Anthropology), Randolph J. Widmer (Anthropology)

Non-Tenure Faculty and Directors:
Thomas Behr (Faculty Director, Liberal Studies), Guinn Blackwell-Eagleson (Adjunct, Religious Studies), Steven DiMattei (Visiting Professor, Religious Studies), David M. Gustafson (Lecturer, Religious Studies), Lynn E. Mitchell (Director, Religious Studies), Rabbi Kenny Weiss (Lecturer, Religious Studies)

Overview of Comparative Cultural Studies

The Department of Comparative Cultural Studies highlights the rich comparative traditions of disciplines and programs. The Department offers major degree programs in Anthropology and Liberal Studies, and a minor in Religious Studies. Beginning in the Fall 2012, the Department will offer new minors in India Studies and Global and International Studies. Collaboration among these program enhances the strengths of each, and encourages experiential learning and cross-cultural understanding.

Students in these programs explore the historical construction of cultures and the ways in which cultural constructs affect the political, social, and aesthetic relationships that shape human communities. by creating a shared space for scholarly debate and student learning, the Department of Comparative Cultural Studies enhances the interdisciplinary opportunities inherent in its constituent disciplines.

Mission Statement

The Department of Comparative Cultural Studies offers degree programs in Anthropology, Religious Studies, India Studies, Liberal Studies, and a number of interdisciplinary minors in the comparative study of cultures worldwide.

CCS provides students with the foundation for a wide range of careers in education, research, media, business, government, and the professions. Our students gain the knowledge and skills to become effective readers, thinkers, and leaders in the global workplace and in local communities.

Goals of Comparative Cultural Studies

to provide the skills and knowledge to understand and work in cross-cultural and global contexts;
to provide students with the disciplinary vocabularies to work in the intricate networks that define cultural production worldwide;
to compare cultures from diverse disciplinary perspectives;
to consider the universals of culture, as well as practices and belief systems unique to particular cultures;
to inspire, promote, and develop visual literacy and cultural understanding through the comparative study of two or more intellectual, visual, and/or performative traditions.