Department of Sociology & Anthropology

Congratulations to Kaelyn Simone Reid, recipient of the 2023 James A. Sartain award!

New Courses Fall 2023

Anth 340 (12443) Borders and Migration TTh 12:00-1:15 

                                                                              Dr. Margaret Dorsey

Four percent of the world’s population migrated across a nation-state’s border in 2019.  Increased migration across borders is both a numeric and social fact.  Is it because of state policy? We will explore why people migrate, and our method is ethnography (a personal and scientific story about crossing borders).  A couple of questions will guide our course:

What role does violence play in decisions to migrate across state borders?

What causes that violence?

Socio-cultural anthropology provides essential tools to understand the complexity and diversity of social life and human experience around the world.  Students will develop a working knowledge of concepts such as hegemony and a familiarity with anthropological approaches to gender, sexuality, class, the global economy, and migration.  In addition, you will gain exposure to the foundational research methodology of socio-cultural anthropology, ethnographic fieldwork, which is becoming more widely used inside and outside academic settings.  This course counts toward Global Studies as well as a community-based learning (CBL) experience and is part of the Humanities Connect Program.

SOC 379 (12514) ST: Sociology of Black Families  TTh 9:00-10:15 

                                                                               Dr. Deborwah Faulk

Drawing on sociology, Black/Africana studies, psychology, criminology and African American literature, this course approaches the study of Black families through an interdiscipinary lens.  The Sociology of Black Families course explores foundational and contemporary theories about and analysis of Black Familes with a particular emphasis on Black American families.  This course critiques and engages scholarly research, public and media discourses, public policy, and creative writing to understand and reimagine Black family life.

Sherley Arias-Pimentel, a University of Richmond senior from Newark, New Jersey, has been awarded the Joy of Giving Something Fellowship through Imagining America. The fellowship is awarded to eight undergraduate students across the U.S. who are interested in photography and digital media as future careers and hope to make a difference in their communities.

Arias-Pimentel, a double major in anthropology and global studies, has been passionate about photography and social justice since she began taking photos in middle school.

In the fall of 2021, Arias-Pimentel traveled to Ghana to study globalization and cultural legacies and returned to campus to create an art exhibition of her photography from her time there with support from the Bonner Center for Civic Engagement. She is currently showing another art exhibition in collaboration with fellow student Julia Brittain, titled “At the Intersection of Contagion and Connection: HIV/AIDS and Richmond’s LGBTQ+ Communities” in the Carole Weinstein International Center.