Ethnographic survey of the peoples and cultures of the Pacific Island areas of Melanesia, Polynesia, and Micronesia, emphasizing continuities between traditional times and today. Ethnographic survey of the contemporary peoples and cultures of India, emphasizing the continuity as well as the diversity within that ancient civilization. Ethnographic survey of the contemporary peoples and cultures of South America. Selected Indian cultures, peasant communities, and urban societies are compared. Ethnographic survey of the contemporary peoples and cultures of Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean Islands.
Emphasis is on Spanish and Indian language areas.
Slides and other illustrative materials are used extensively. Study of ancient cultures of the Middle East, emphasizing Greater Mesopotamia, the region of the Tigris-Euphrates River drainage, from prehistoric times to the fifth century BC artifacts, monuments, and settlement patterns of ancient Mesopotamian societies. Slides and other illustrative materials are used extensively. Study of some of the supernatural explanations of evil with major emphasis on the description of the various forms of these beliefs and the reasons, both conscious and unconscious, for these beliefs. Examples are drawn from the non-Western world, medieval through seventeenth century Europe and Old and New England.