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2008-2009 Undergraduate Bulletin [Archived Bulletin]
>Courses
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AFST 3100 - Introduction to African-American Studies
Crosslisted
Also listed as ENG 3100 or PHIL 3100.
Goals: To develop an understanding of several key issues in African-American Studies emphasizing close textural reading and analysis. Additionally, students participate in academic service learning to synthesize textual and experimental learning.
Content: The course materials will focus on critical readings about construction of race as a concept; intersections of race, class and gender; afrocentrism; pan-africanism; diasporic connections; nationalism; religious dimension; literary theory and popular culture.
Prerequisite: Sophomore standing or consent of instructor.
Credits: 4 credits
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ANTH 1100 - World Prehistory
Goals: To introduce students to the fascinating story of humanity’s deep history as told by archaeology. Students will also gain competency in the critical evaluation of scientific claims and archaeological knowledge.
Content: Survey of over four million years of human prehistory from our earliest hominid ancestors to the rise of ancient states. Topics include the first stone tools and the emergence of human culture, Neanderthals, Upper Paleolithic art, the origins of agriculture, the building of monumental architecture, and culminating with the first states, including those of Mesopotamia, Egypt, China and Mexico. We will also consider how archaeologists study the past through laboratory exercises, field assignments, and a computer simulation.
Taught: Alternate years, winter term.
Credits: 4 credits
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ANTH 1160 - Introduction to Anthropology
Goals: To enhance understanding and appreciation for human diversity. To introduce basic anthropological concepts and principles. To encourage analytic thinking.
Content: Human behavior is explored in dynamic terms; that is, in terms of cultural coherence, social change, and symbolic interaction. Topics to be covered include how a society adapts to its environment, how people organize themselves in social units, how language serves social purposes, and how religious practices are integrated with other aspects of a culture.
Taught: Annually.
Credits: 4 credits
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ANTH 1200 - Introduction to Field Methods in Archaeology
Goals: To introduce the methods and theory of field archaeology as part of an on-site excavation project.
Context: Varies depending on type of site being excavated. Basic techniques covered include survey, mapping, record keeping, excavation and field conservation.
Taught: Annually, summers.
Corequisite: ANTH 1200L.
Credits: 4 credits
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ANTH 1200L - Lab: Introduction to Field Methods in Archaeology
This lab must be taken concurrently with the ANTH 1200 lecture.
The lab itself has zero credit value.
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ANTH 1240 - The Ancient Maya
Goals: To have a focused exploration of the various epistemologies related to how we know what we know about the ancient Maya of Mesoamerica. To document the ancient cultural trajectories of the Maya region from the earliest human colonization during Pleistocene times through the arrival of the Spanish in the sixteenth century. To become familiar with and to compare archaeological and ethnohistoric information, theories, and controversies related to the emergence and sustainability and eventual collapse of ancient Maya civilization, and as well, to recognize the cultural continuities characterizing modern Maya descendent communities.
Content: The ancient Maya culture flourished in what are now southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, and parts of adjacent Honduras and El Salvador. There in southern Mesoamerica—in a tropical environment viewed by many as “hostile”—we find monumental architectural complexes, a refined great art style, and evidence of a truly impressive and sophisticated civilization. The Maya region has evidence of some of the largest and most densely packed populations known until the advent of industrialization and modern medical advances. Their “experiment” in civilization had some fatal flaws that brought about their downfall around A.D. 900—centuries before the arrival of the Europeans. We stand to learn much from their experience.
Taught: Alternate years, fall term.
Prerequisites: None; ANTH 1160 is recommended.
Credits: 4 credits
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ANTH 1300 - Ethnography: Text and Film
Goals: To introduce students to written and cinematic ethnography, the representations of the peoples and cultures that anthropologists produce. To introduce students to basic anthropological concepts and current debates concerning the ethnographic representation of cultures.
Content: Ethnography is the primary method by which sociocultural anthropologists communicate the results of their investigations into the cultures they study. This course will investigate ethnography–both written and pictorial–as a means of communicating cross-cultural difference. A close reading of ethnography is combined with screenings of numerous ethnographic films, a selection of key theoretical articles, lecture and discussion to understand the relationship between media and the representation of culture. How does one translate experience into text or images? Is “culture” the source or the product of these attempts? How do anthropological attempts at representing culture in ethnographic books and film relate to fiction and entertainment?
Taught: Alternate years, winter term.
Credits: 4 credits
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ANTH 1410 - Indonesian Music and Cultures
Crosslisted
Also listed as MUS 1410.
Goals: Designed for both musicians and nonmusicians, this course is an introduction to the music and cultures of Indonesia. One component is a hands-on introduction to the musical techniques and cultural significance of the Javanese gamelan orchestra, taught by Mr. Joko Sutrisno, Music Director of the Indonesian Performing Arts Association of Minnesota (IPAAM), using instruments on loan from the Schubert Club. In the anthropology side of the class, students will explore the wider social and cultural context in which this tradition is rooted by reading anthropological, literary, historical, and other social science accounts from Indonesia. The goals of the class are: 1) to acquire basic skills in playing gamelan music, a sense of its cultural significance, and an awareness of its social context; and 2) to gain a sense of the history and cultural diversity of Indonesia as a nation-state.
Content: The musical part of the class will involve daily playing in class and outside, regular journal-writing, and a final public recital. The anthropological part of the class will involve readings, lectures, film, and discussions. Written assignments will include journal entries, a midterm test, and short essays.
Taught: Annually, winter term.
Credits: 4 credits
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ANTH 1530 - Human Evolution
Goals: To understand the process of biological evolution and the evolution of the human species.
Content: Study of evolutionary theory, population genetics, comparative primate anatomy and behavior, evolution of social behavior, fossil evidence for primate and hominid evolution, origins of bipedalism, tools.
Taught: Annually.
Corequisite: ANTH 1530L.
Credits: 4 credits
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ANTH 1530L - Lab: Human Evolution
This lab must be taken concurrently with the ANTH 1530 lecture.
The lab itself has zero credit value.
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ANTH 3000 - Issues in Anthropology
Goals: To introduce students to key theoretical, methodological, and ethical issues within the four subfields of anthropology (biological anthropology, linguistic anthropology, cultural anthropology, archaeology). This is a gateway course into the major. Ideally, students should take this course in their sophomore year in conjunction with declaring a major. Recommended for many 3000-level courses.
Content: Department faculty introduce key issues under consideration in their respective subfields. Critical and close reading of representative articles and monograph allows students to engage active debates within the discipline (e.g., the utility of the concept of race; the role of the environment in cultural change; the uniqueness of human language; the responsibilities of anthropologists to the people they study). Writing assignments allow students to practice different styles of anthropological writing.
Taught: Annually.
Prerequisite: ANTH 1160 or consent of instructor. ANTH 3000 is not recommended for first-year students.
Credits: 4 credits
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ANTH 3100 - Principles of Archaeology
Goals: To understand principles of archaeology–the varying ways archaeologists recover, analyze, and interpret information about the past. To gain proficiency in general scientific practices, reading archaeological literature, and grant writing. To consider ethical and practical issues in the management of cultural resources, such as why preserve heritage sites, and how to balance the sometimes conflicting views, voices, and histories found in our contemporary world.
Content: Archaeologists are “time detectives” sifting through the material traces of past lives in order to better understand human behavior and human history. Using films, slides, artifacts, and readings, this course focuses on current methods and theories used in American archaeology. Students apply their knowledge by writing a research design as a final project.
Taught: Alternate years.
Prerequisite: ANTH 1160.
Credits: 4 credits
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ANTH 3110 - Arctic Archaeology
Goals: To understand how human societies have survived, and occasionally flourished in the Arctic, one of the world’s most extreme environments. To learn about the unique challenges and opportunities faced by archaeologists working in the Far North.
Content: This course draws on the Arctic’s well-preserved archaeology and its rich ethnographic and historic records to explore human settlement, adaptation, and cultural evolution in the circumpolar world. This course uses readings, films, and artifacts to examine the story from the first Arctic inhabitants more than 14,000 years ago to the arrival of Europeans (Vikings in the east and Russians in the west) between 1000 and 250 years ago. Major anthropological issues covered in this course include investigating the causes for hunter-gatherer diversity; the interactions between gender, labor, and economy in Arctic societies; the role of migration, diffusion, and interaction in prehistory; and the relationships between maritime economies and cultural complexity.
Taught: Alternate years.
Prerequisite: ANTH 1160 or consent of instructor.
Credits: 4 credits
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ANTH 3120 - Experimental Archaeology
Goals: To teach students advanced archaeological theory and laboratory methods. Students, working in teams, will design and implement research projects in ethnoarchaeology and/or experimental archaeology.
Content: One of the principle challenges faced by archaeologists wanting to learn about past human cultures is how to study the behavior of humans whom we cannot directly observe, but only understand through the physical clues they left behind. Ethnoarchaeology and experimental archaeology are two powerful tools that help archaeologists meet this challenge. Ethnoarchaeology, observing contemporary human behavior, and experimental archaeology, research that replicates under controlled conditions, behavior of interest, provide insight into the relationships between specific human actions and the archaeological evidence of these actions. The content of this course will include readings extracted from classic examples of experimental and ethnoarchaeological research. We will also engage in advanced laboratory analyses in order to identify specific research questions that students wish to address through their own experimental or ethnoarchaeological research project. Students who have taken an archaeological field methods or laboratory methods course are strongly encouraged to register.
Taught: Alternate years.
Prerequisite: ANTH 3210 or ANTH 3220 or consent of instructor.
Credits: 4 credits
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ANTH 3130 - Excavating Hamline History
Goals: To have students participate as part of an interdisciplinary team excavating a historic site on or near campus. This archaeological excavation is part of research focused on the early history of “Hamline Village.” It is also a public archaeology project with the goal of involving people from throughout the local community including Hancock Elementary students, neighborhood residents, and University alumni.
Content: Students learn basic archaeological field and laboratory methods, principles of historic archaeology, and anthropological approaches to material culture studies through readings and lectures, but primarily through participation. This course emphasizes archaeology as a holistic discipline linking the humanities, fine arts, social sciences, and natural sciences. Students help provide this interdisciplinary perspective by contributing to the overall research, educational, and public archaeology goals through individual and collaborative projects.
Taught: Alternate years.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
Credits: 4 credits
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ANTH 3210 - Advanced Field Methods in Archaeology
Goals: To gain additional competence in, and advanced theoretical understanding of, the field methods in archaeology.
Content: Students learn how to map using an alidade or transit and are trained in field photography, flotation techniques, soil sampling and planning excavation strategy.
Taught: Annually, summers.
Prerequisite: ANTH 1200.
Credits: 4 credits
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ANTH 3220L - Lab: Laboratory Techniques in Archaeology
This lab must be taken concurrently with the ANTH 3220 lecture.
The lab itself has zero credit value.
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ANTH 3230 - Made in China: The Cultures of Economic Transformation
Goals: To examine the function of the global production system and the links that bind and transform communities, cultures, nations, and individuals across the global geography. This course focuses on the case of China and its relationship to the US and specifically Minnesota-based transnational corporations. It will examine how the forces that bring goods “made in China” to the shelves of American stores have themselves transformed the lives and lifeways of the people living in China.
Content: This course is designed to provide students with basic knowledge of historical, socioeconomic, and political contexts that will enable them to engage with contemporary China in an informed and knowledgeable manner. It has been designed as explicitly interdisciplinary and will draw upon topics and materials from history, political science, economics, and anthropology. Familiarity with Chinese is not necessary, but language students are strongly encouraged to consider this course. The standard course itinerary includes visits to the cities of Beijing, Datong, Nanjing, Suzhou, and Shanghai.
Taught: Alternate years, extended spring term in China.
Prerequisite: None; an introductory anthropology course and some Chinese language would be helpful.
Credits: 4 credits
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ANTH 3240 - Ancient and Modern Maya of Yucatan
Goals: To directly familiarize the students with the prehistory, history, and present-day conditions of the Maya of the Yucatan Peninsula of southern Mexico. The ancient Maya constructed large architectural complexes and were able to sustain some of the largest, most densely-packed populations the world has known until the advent of industrialization and modern medical advances. They were accomplished astronomers and mathematicians. They provide us with an example of a culture that developed a complex state and civilization in an environment many view as “hostile.” Their “experiment” in civilization had some fatal flaws that brought about their downfall around A.D. 900—centuries before the arrival of the Europeans. We stand to learn much from their experience.
Content: Using on-site visits to archaeological and historical sites, museums, to modern Maya communities, students become acquainted with the prehistory, history, and the rural-to-urban ethnographic spectrum of the Maya people of Yucatan. Students are confronted by a variety of alternative explanations and issue-oriented perspectives that deal specifically with the Maya area.
Taught: Alternate years, winter term in Yucatan, Mexico.
Credits: 4 credits
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ANTH 3250 - Ancient Civilizations of the Mexican Highlands
Goals: To directly familiarize students with the ancient civilizations of central Mesoamerica as well as with the history and present-day conditions of the peoples of central Mexico. At sites such as Teotihuacan, Tula, El Tajin, Xochicalco, Monte Alban, and Mexico/Tenochtitlan students will have an opportunity to see firsthand the large archaeological sites that testify to the emergence of the varied ancient civilizations of the Mexican highlands ranging from the Olmec–the suggested “parent” culture of Mesoamerica–to that of later Teotihuacan, the Totonac, Zapotec, Mixtec, Toltec, and finally Aztec cultures.
Content: Using on-site visits to archaeological and historical sites, museums, and modern Mexican highland indigenous communities, students become acquainted with the prehistory, history, and the rural-to-urban ethnographic spectrum of the cultures of central Mexico. Students are confronted by a variety of alternative explanations and issue-oriented perspectives that deal specifically with the central area of Mesoamerica.
Taught: Alternate years, extended spring term in central Mexico.
Credits: 4 credits
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