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Anthropology Current Courses

Spring 2024

Course Code Title/Instructor Meets
ANTH 101-01 Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
Instructor: James Ellison
Course Description:
This course is a comprehensive introduction to how cultural anthropologists study culture and society in diverse contexts. We will use ethnographic case studies from across the world to examine the ways people experience and transform social relationships and culture in areas including families, gender, ethnicity, health, religion, exchange, science, and even what it means to be a person. We will examine how culture and society are embedded within, shape, and are shaped by forces of economics, politics, and environment. Offered every semester.
09:30 AM-10:20 AM, MWF
DENNY 313
ANTH 101-02 Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
Instructor: Amalia Pesantes Villa
Course Description:
This course is a comprehensive introduction to how cultural anthropologists study culture and society in diverse contexts. We will use ethnographic case studies from across the world to examine the ways people experience and transform social relationships and culture in areas including families, gender, ethnicity, health, religion, exchange, science, and even what it means to be a person. We will examine how culture and society are embedded within, shape, and are shaped by forces of economics, politics, and environment. Offered every semester.
11:30 AM-12:20 PM, MWF
DENNY 212
ANTH 110-01 Archaeology and World Prehistory
Instructor: Matthew Biwer
Course Description:
Cross-listed with ARCH 110-01. Archaeology is the primary means by which we decipher human prehistory. Using archaeology as a guide we will start with the origins of culture from its rudimentary beginnings nearly 4 million years ago, follow the migrations of hunters and gatherers, explore the first farming villages and eventually survey the complex urban civilizations of the Old and New Worlds. We will examine the development of technology, economic and social organization through the lens of archaeological techniques and discoveries throughout the world. This course is cross-listed as ARCH 110. Offered every year.
10:30 AM-11:20 AM, MWF
DENNY 313
ANTH 205-01 Indigenous Environmental Justice
Instructor: Daniel Schniedewind
Course Description:
Cross-listed with AMST 200-04.
03:00 PM-04:15 PM, MR
DENNY 211
ANTH 216-01 Medical Anthropology
Instructor: Amalia Pesantes Villa
Course Description:
Comparative analysis of health, illness, and nutrition within environmental and socio-cultural contexts. Evolution and geographical distribution of disease, how different societies have learned to cope with illness, and the ways traditional and modern medical systems interact. Offered every other year.
10:30 AM-11:45 AM, TR
BOSLER 314
ANTH 227-01 Forensic Anthropology
Instructor: Alyson Caine
Course Description:
Forensic anthropology is a specialized field within biological anthropology that applies methods in skeletal biology, bioarchaeology and forensic sciences to the analysis of human skeletal remains in medico-legal settings. This course introduces the field of forensic anthropology by examining underlying theory and applied techniques used to identify human skeletal remains. Students will learn the bones of the skeleton, how to create a biological profile of an individual (reconstruct age, sex, ancestry, stature), how to identify trauma and pathology, and how to estimate time since death and possible causes of death. We will also examine the various contexts in which forensic anthropologists work to recover and analyze human remains, including crime scene investigations, human rights investigations, and mass disasters. Ethical responsibilities of forensic anthropologists will be at the forefront of our study.
10:30 AM-11:45 AM, TR
DENNY 115
ANTH 245-01 Epics and Empires: Art and Archaeology of the Mediterranean Bronze Age
Instructor: Andrew Dufton
Course Description:
Cross-listed with ARCH 210-01.
11:30 AM-12:20 PM, MWF
DENNY 313
ANTH 256-01 Health and Healing in Africa
Instructor: James Ellison
Course Description:
Cross-listed with AFST 220-01. This course addresses three interrelated aspects of health and healing in Africa. We examine health in Africa from a biomedical perspective, learning about disease, morbidity, mortality, and biomedical care. We place African health and health care into a framework of political economy, examining the causes and consequences of illness and disease and the forces that shape and constrain care. We also examine the cultural and historical dimensions of health and healing in specific regions of the continent, bringing ethnographic knowledge to bear on contemporary health problems and thereby gaining an understanding of the lived experiences of health and healing in Africa.
01:30 PM-02:45 PM, TF
DENNY 212
ANTH 262-01 South American Archaeology
Instructor: Matthew Biwer
Course Description:
Cross-listed with ARCH 262-01 and LALC 262-01. This course examines the development of prehistoric societies in the South American continent through archaeological data. This course will explore the interactions of culture, economics, and politics in the prehistory of two major regions: the western Andean mountains and Pacific coast, and the eastern lowlands focusing on the Amazon River basin and Atlantic coast. In addition to learning the particular developments in each region, we will address three overarching themes: 1)What role did the environment play in shaping socio-political developments? 2) What influence do ethnographic and ethno-historical sources have on the interpretation of pre-Hispanic societies in South America? 3) What were the interactions between highland and lowland populations, and what influence did they have (if any) on their respective developments? This course is cross-listed as ARCH 262 and LALC 262.
01:30 PM-02:45 PM, MR
DENNY 211
ANTH 290-01 Archaeological Methods
Instructor: Andrew Dufton
Course Description:
Cross-listed with ARCH 290-01. This course focuses on archaeological field and laboratory methods through readings, lectures, and hands-on experiences and the data these practices generate. It will cover the essential field methods employed in archaeological survey (pedestrian, aerial, and geophysical) and excavation. This will include the fundamentals of documentation including note-taking, drawing, photography, and map-making. It will also introduce how archaeologists organize and analyze the large quantities and wide range of data recovered in these processes with particular attention to the use of computer databases, especially Geographic Information Systems (GIS). It will provide a general overview of different types of laboratory analysis including lithics, ceramics, metals, plant and animal remains, and discuss the available dating methods. Students will have the opportunity to practice many of the field and lab methods in the Simulated Excavation Field (SEF), and, when available, archaeological sites in the Cumberland Valley. Through these experiences and interactions with a range of archaeological datasets, students will learn how the archaeological record is formed and what its patterns can teach us about ancient human livelihoods. Finally, students will learn to synthesize and present the results of field and laboratory research in reports, a critical genre of writing in the discipline.This course is cross-listed as ARCH 290. Prerequisite:Any two ARCH courses at 100- or 200-level; ARCH 110 highly recommended.
01:30 PM-04:30 PM, W
DEAL 1
ANTH 345-01 Anthropology of Learning, Knowing and Education
Instructor: Amalia Pesantes Villa
Course Description:
Cross-listed with EDST 391-03. How do humans learn? How does cultural transmission occur in different parts of the world? What role has education played in identity formation, cultural eradication, and resistance? Education, broadly defined, takes place in both formal and informal settings, it occurs across generations and across the lifetime of individuals, it shapes our minds and our bodies. This class aims to introduce students to issues and approaches relevant to the study of education from an anthropological perspective. We will learn about anthropological concepts, and methods to document and analyze education, schooling, and cultural transmission. We will also learn about the role of anthropology in applied educational processes. Using ethnographic material from different parts of the world, we will discuss the relationship between education and identity, resistance, accommodation, and knowledge-production. We will specifically focus on the way in which education was used to control and assimilate indigenous populations, and how Indigenous people today are using education as a decolonizing tool, and the role that anthropologists can play in supporting these efforts.
01:30 PM-02:45 PM, MR
DENNY 304
ANTH 345-02 Ancient Disease
Instructor: Alyson Caine
Course Description:
This course examines diseases in the past that impact or alter skeletal remains and their role in shaping experiences. The primary methodological and theoretical lens will be from bioarcheology and paleopathology, the study of human remains and diseases from archaeological and historical settings. We examine a variety of disease categories, including trauma, infectious diseases, and metabolic diseases, that impact the skeleton. The transmission, susceptibility, and consequences of diseases for a variety of past populations will be considered to understand how humans lived with and adapted to diseases. This course will draw on evidence for the impacts of disease from human remains, but also material culture, ethnography, epidemiology, written texts, and iconography. This course will also emphasize themes of ethical use of human remains, structural violence, social justice, and modern relevance of disease experience from the past.
09:00 AM-10:15 AM, TR
DENNY 115
ANTH 495-02 Senior Thesis
Instructor: Matthew Biwer
Course Description:
Senior anthropology majors who qualify with a cumulative GPA of 3.6 or higher by the end of the junior year can take this course during the spring semester of their senior year. This course involves writing a senior thesis based on original fieldwork or laboratory research and used to determine departmental honors. Prerequisite: ANTH 400.

ANTH 495-03 Senior Thesis
Instructor: Andrew Dufton
Course Description:
Senior anthropology majors who qualify with a cumulative GPA of 3.6 or higher by the end of the junior year can take this course during the spring semester of their senior year. This course involves writing a senior thesis based on original fieldwork or laboratory research and used to determine departmental honors. Prerequisite: ANTH 400.

ANTH 495-04 Senior Thesis
Instructor: James Ellison
Course Description:
Senior anthropology majors who qualify with a cumulative GPA of 3.6 or higher by the end of the junior year can take this course during the spring semester of their senior year. This course involves writing a senior thesis based on original fieldwork or laboratory research and used to determine departmental honors. Prerequisite: ANTH 400.

ANTH 495-05 Senior Thesis
Instructor: Amalia Pesantes Villa
Course Description:
Senior anthropology majors who qualify with a cumulative GPA of 3.6 or higher by the end of the junior year can take this course during the spring semester of their senior year. This course involves writing a senior thesis based on original fieldwork or laboratory research and used to determine departmental honors. Prerequisite: ANTH 400.