PATTY
A. GRAY
Assistant Professor
Department of Anthropology
University of Alaska Fairbanks
Assistant Professor
Department of Anthropology
University of Alaska Fairbanks
Dr. Gray's Courses
These links will download PDF files
ANTH 100X Individual, Society, and Culture
This course uses the principles of anthropology as a way of understanding the variation in social and cultural practices throughout the world, including the United States. Explores the diverse ways in which humans solve common problems related to socializing members of society, organizing social relations, making a living, expressing worldviews and identity, and engaging with an increasingly globalized world.
ANTH 215 Fundamentals of Social/Cultural Anthropology
This course is primarily intended to prepare anthropology majors for upper division courses in social/cultural anthropology, although non-majors who are interested in learning about the topic are welcome. The course will be a broad survey that first situates social/cultural anthropology within the wider discipline of anthropology, and then goes on to explore the various topics that cultural anthropologists specialize in. Beyond this, students will also be introduced to theory and method in social/cultural anthropology. The format will be a mixture of lecture and class discussion.
ANTH 409/609 Anthropology of Religion
The study of religion can be approached from a variety of perspectives: theological, philosophical, sociological, historical, etc. In this course, students will gain an understanding of the anthropological approach, which privileges local religious experiences and practices and places them in social and cultural context. Students will explore this through extensive reading assignments, intensive, classroom lecture, and lively classroom discussions. Graduate students will be able to demonstrate a mastery of anthropological theory relating to religious practice.
ANTH 445/645 Gender in Cross-Cultural Perspective
This course is primarily concerned with the social and cultural construction of gender, both in American society as well as in a broad range of large- and small-scale societies around the world. Moreover, it is concerned specifically with anthropological approaches to understanding these gender constructions. Gender includes all of the ways that a society organizes people into both female and male categories, and then attaches meaning to those categories. We will ethnographically investigate both men’s and women’s experiences of being gendered, both femininities and masculinities. We will consider how people in different cultural contexts learn their gender roles, and how they accommodate and/or resist those roles. We will begin with a historical look at the relationship between feminism and anthropology, and the anthropological theories that have developed to frame discussions of gender. The course format is a mix of lecture and lively class discussion.
ANTH 446/646 Economic Anthropology
In this course, we take up and deal with all the controversial and “messy” parts of the economy that formal economics sets aside. We will ask tough questions about human nature, power and social life. We will read in detail about the economic lives of people in many different kinds of societies, and about the major issues of poverty and development that shape the world. Economic anthropology is directly concerned with the most central anthropological issues of human nature, choice, values, and morality. This course will give you a solid basis for thinking about the different ways we explain human behavior, thought, and culture and will provide a foundation for applying anthropological knowledge to real-world situations.
ANTH 629 Structures of Anthropological Argument
This is one of two required courses for graduate students seeking the M.A. in Anthropology. The objective is to give graduate-level anthropology majors a solid grounding in anthropological theory, as well as an awareness of the varying approaches of the four subfields of anthropology (Social/Cultural, Archaeology, Biological/Physical, Linguistic). The course is taught in seminar format, and involves significant amounts of critical reading, discussion, and writing. By the end of the course, students should have a strong sense of key structures of argumentation in the discipline of anthropology.
ANTH 630 Anthropological Field Methods
This is a graduate-level course on how to design and carry out ethnographic field research in settings ranging from remote villages to urban neighborhoods, whether in a foreign country or one’s own native country. Using a seminar format, it focuses on the theoretical and practical issues involved in choosing a research problem, designing fundable and significant research, and collecting field data, with some attention given to analyzing the data and writing up the research results (primarily in the form of an ethnography). This course is designed for highly self-motivated graduate students of anthropology at both the M.A. and Ph.D. level who plan to conduct ethnographic field research for their thesis or dissertation project. Graduate students in other disciplines who are interested in ethnographic research will also find it useful. By the end of this course, the student should feel confident to begin an independent field research project.
These links will download PDF files
ANTH 100X Individual, Society, and Culture
This course uses the principles of anthropology as a way of understanding the variation in social and cultural practices throughout the world, including the United States. Explores the diverse ways in which humans solve common problems related to socializing members of society, organizing social relations, making a living, expressing worldviews and identity, and engaging with an increasingly globalized world.
ANTH 215 Fundamentals of Social/Cultural Anthropology
This course is primarily intended to prepare anthropology majors for upper division courses in social/cultural anthropology, although non-majors who are interested in learning about the topic are welcome. The course will be a broad survey that first situates social/cultural anthropology within the wider discipline of anthropology, and then goes on to explore the various topics that cultural anthropologists specialize in. Beyond this, students will also be introduced to theory and method in social/cultural anthropology. The format will be a mixture of lecture and class discussion.
ANTH 409/609 Anthropology of Religion
The study of religion can be approached from a variety of perspectives: theological, philosophical, sociological, historical, etc. In this course, students will gain an understanding of the anthropological approach, which privileges local religious experiences and practices and places them in social and cultural context. Students will explore this through extensive reading assignments, intensive, classroom lecture, and lively classroom discussions. Graduate students will be able to demonstrate a mastery of anthropological theory relating to religious practice.
ANTH 445/645 Gender in Cross-Cultural Perspective
This course is primarily concerned with the social and cultural construction of gender, both in American society as well as in a broad range of large- and small-scale societies around the world. Moreover, it is concerned specifically with anthropological approaches to understanding these gender constructions. Gender includes all of the ways that a society organizes people into both female and male categories, and then attaches meaning to those categories. We will ethnographically investigate both men’s and women’s experiences of being gendered, both femininities and masculinities. We will consider how people in different cultural contexts learn their gender roles, and how they accommodate and/or resist those roles. We will begin with a historical look at the relationship between feminism and anthropology, and the anthropological theories that have developed to frame discussions of gender. The course format is a mix of lecture and lively class discussion.
ANTH 446/646 Economic Anthropology
In this course, we take up and deal with all the controversial and “messy” parts of the economy that formal economics sets aside. We will ask tough questions about human nature, power and social life. We will read in detail about the economic lives of people in many different kinds of societies, and about the major issues of poverty and development that shape the world. Economic anthropology is directly concerned with the most central anthropological issues of human nature, choice, values, and morality. This course will give you a solid basis for thinking about the different ways we explain human behavior, thought, and culture and will provide a foundation for applying anthropological knowledge to real-world situations.
ANTH 629 Structures of Anthropological Argument
This is one of two required courses for graduate students seeking the M.A. in Anthropology. The objective is to give graduate-level anthropology majors a solid grounding in anthropological theory, as well as an awareness of the varying approaches of the four subfields of anthropology (Social/Cultural, Archaeology, Biological/Physical, Linguistic). The course is taught in seminar format, and involves significant amounts of critical reading, discussion, and writing. By the end of the course, students should have a strong sense of key structures of argumentation in the discipline of anthropology.
ANTH 630 Anthropological Field Methods
This is a graduate-level course on how to design and carry out ethnographic field research in settings ranging from remote villages to urban neighborhoods, whether in a foreign country or one’s own native country. Using a seminar format, it focuses on the theoretical and practical issues involved in choosing a research problem, designing fundable and significant research, and collecting field data, with some attention given to analyzing the data and writing up the research results (primarily in the form of an ethnography). This course is designed for highly self-motivated graduate students of anthropology at both the M.A. and Ph.D. level who plan to conduct ethnographic field research for their thesis or dissertation project. Graduate students in other disciplines who are interested in ethnographic research will also find it useful. By the end of this course, the student should feel confident to begin an independent field research project.