Courses

 

 

Anthropology 1321: A Four-Field Approach

Anthropology is the study of everything related to humans-past and present. It is the most interdisciplinary of all fields and integrates linguistics, archaeology, primatology, genetics and many other domains. Today anthropological thought and rationale underlies almost all disciplines and adds crucial understanding and insight into the world around us. This class is a journey through the field of anthropology and all the main sub disciplines. Along the way, we will explore how anthropologists look at and study the world and solve different problems. Weekly readings, in-class discussions and hands on projects will be used to engage students and generate discussion of different anthropological problems and concepts. Some of these projects will help develop critical thinking skills using scientific reasoning and logic as applied to a variety of assertions, idea’s and arguments about the way the world works. As a final personal project, each student will read and summarize one of three books focused on current global problems.

ANTHROPOLOGY 6332: Hunter-Gatherers: Past and Present

Throughout most of prehistory, humankind lived as hunter-gatherers. Today, hunter-gatherers are rapidly disappearing and represent less than 1% of the population worldwide. For anthropologists and archaeologists, studies of contemporary hunter-gatherers provide important contextual information for understanding the history of all peoples. This course begins by exploring the recent history of hunter-gatherer studies with specific attention to stereotypes and misconceptions that still guide research today. We will then examine different dimensions of the behavioral adaptations of hunter-gatherers such as technology, mobility patterns, modes of subsistence, reproductive patterns and family relationships. To gain a more comprehensive basis for understanding variability in hunter-gatherer behavior, we will draw on ethnographic, historic and prehistoric information on foraging populations from around the world.

Anth 4325/6325: Human-Animal Interactions: Introduction to Zooarcheology

In this course we will use the study of bones (osteology) as a lens to examine how prehistoric human-animal interactions are reconstructed from archaeological remains (zooarcheology). Both human and animal remainsĀ  comprise an important lines of evidence for reconstructing prehistoric subsistence, environment, ecology, technology, ritual and social contexts. The goals of this introductory course are to give interested students basic general knowledge and skills in the fields of ethnozoology, osteology and zooarchaeology.

 

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