Course introduces the subfield of social and cultural anthropology, which studies living cultures. Content includes cultural behavior, language, gender, kinship and social structure, political and economic anthropology, religion and worldview, medical anthropology, globalization, and topics related to applied anthropology. Students will be introduced to cultural systems of various human groups and explore their diversity within specific historical contexts. Using readings, films, and case studies, students will learn to apply an anthropological lens to better understand the challenges, and opportunities, of our rapidly globalizing world.
Course introduces archaeology, subfield of anthropology which studies prehistory and history of mankind, and examines archaeological concepts including research and methods for study of prehistoric cultures. Content includes site location, techniques of excavation, methods of dating artifacts and sites; analysis of artifacts, origin and spread of agriculture, rise of development of modern civilization; current archaeological investigations and interpretations of findings.
Course introduces physical anthropology, subfield of anthropology that includes study of biological, social and cultural aspects of human evolution and adaptation. Content includes fossil record and principles of population genetics, used to explore theory of evolution, primate behavior, concept of race, and human adaptation and evolution.
Course explores major issues related to field of anthropology. Topics selected from following subspecialties: primate studies and human evolution; religion and rituals; cross-gender and race issues; and early civilization. Course has different focus and/or scope from other anthropology courses currently offered. Can be repeated using different topics up to three times for up to nine credits. Fee Varies. Prerequisite may vary by topic.