Spring Courses

ATH 364 Language and Culture in Native North America

Explores the multifaceted communicative and sociolinguistic practices of indigenous peoples of North America in historical and contemporary contexts. Topics include linguistic and cultural vitality; performance, popular culture, and ethnopoetics; identities and language ideologies; and emergent discursive practices.

190K War, trauma, and memory

In this course we will explore how wars and military conflicts reshape societies and affect environment. We will ask questions about power effects on social structures and every life; explore everyday and structural violence, trajectories of social and political change and restoration of human rights and social and historical justice.

ATH 390B Origins of writing

Examines the social contexts and origins of writing around the world, including the emergence of Egyptian Hieroglyphs; Maya Hieroglyphs; Sumerian Cuneiform, and Shang Early Chinese Writing. Students will also examine still undeciphered ancient scripts and learn introductory skills in reading Egyptian Hieroglyphs and Maya Hieroglyphs.

ATH 190I AI in everyday life

What does it mean to be human in an age when machines can write, create, and seemingly think? This course explores this fundamental question by examining how artificial intelligence is shaping and shaped by human experiences, experiences, relationships, and societies. By combining anthropological perspectives with direct AI interaction, you will emerge better prepared to navigate an AI-integrated world with both technical literacy and cultural awareness.

ATH 314 Old World Archaeology

Introduction to the archaeology of Africa and Eurasia in premodern contexts in order to understand ancient lifeways and cultural interactions in the Old World. Variable topics may include the emergence of modern humans in Africa; the development of complex societies in ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt; the role of ritual and symbolism in ancient China; or the meaning of social violence in Western Europe.

ATH 403 Anthropology of Religion

Examines the study of religion anthropologically and ethnographically, exploring topics of historic interest such as conversion and pilgrimage and emerging debates such as the globalization of religion. Emphasizes the power of religion in human cultural life and its relationship to other social institutions through the study of indigenous religious traditions and major world religions. Introduces anthropological paradigms including cultural materialism, interpretive approaches, structuralism, and religion as an evolutionary adaptation.

ATH 180H Apes, behavior, and conservation

Honors exclusive course. This course offers an introduction to the biology, behavior, culture, and conservation of great apes around the world. Through a comparative lens, and using examples from both captive and wild populations, we will explore behavioral similarities and differences among the great apes (and ourselves). Importantly, we will examine the biological, anthropogenic, and abiotic threats facing great apes today, and the ecosystems in which they live, and discuss the conservation strategies used to combat those threats and increase their chances of survival.

ATH 265 Language and Culture

This course examines the interconnectedness of language and culture from ethnographic, interactional, and discourse-centered perspectives, Students will explore the ways in which language shapes our lives and our selves, and the substantial differences found in the human universal of language through the study of communicative practices in sociocultural context.

GHS 301 Seminar in Global Health

Explores a variety of current issues and research in global health through in depth discussions and readings. Specific content will vary each semester according to current global health events and the specific perspectives of the professor. For Global Health Minors, this seminar must be repeated at least three times, and over multiple semesters students will be exposed to multiple disciplinary approaches to analyzing global health concerns.

ATH 307 The Middle East: Anthropological Perspectives

Survey and analysis of various cultural groups in contemporary Southwest Asia and North Africa.

ATH 301 Intercultural Relations

Development of intercultural awareness; in-depth study of theory and field-based research on the cross-cultural dynamics of cross-national encounters, trends, and events. Application of problem-solving tools in intercultural conflict.

ATH 212 Introduction to Archaeological Theory and Methods

Introduction to theory, methods, and techniques of archaeology.

ATH 255 Introduction to Biological Anthropology

Introduction to biological anthropology, including evolutionary theory, human origins, models of human evolution, human variation, and primatology.

GHS 202 GHS Social Innovation Weekend

This experiential learning course embeds Social Innovation Weekend as a practical opportunity for students interested in learning processes of health equity problem identification and solution design while developing skills at presenting and pitching ideas. Students work together in consultation with community members to identify health inequity problems within the social or environmental topic of Social Innovation Weekend. With global health relevant preparation and reflection, this course builds on the strengths of Social Innovation Weekend while tailoring it to advance student learning outcomes in global health.

ATH/BIO 355 Paleoanthropology

In-depth survey of the human fossil record as interpreted in the light of modern evolutionary theory

ATH 378 Doctors, Clinics, and Epidemics

Explores the contemporary social, cultural, and communicative practices of biomedicine, and links these to the responses to epidemics and social hierarchies that form its European roots. Engages various understandings of clinical language, communication, and structural inequities that challenge the efficacy of medical practice.

ATH 421 Public Anthropology Seminar

This capstone seminar focuses on professionalization and engagement using anthropological perspectives to address critical and timely issues in the public sphere. Topics include synthesis of holistic approaches and methodologies; refinement of research goals, career potentials, and professional objectives; and multimodal and multimedia communication of anthropological perspectives to wider publics.

ATH 448 Developing Solutions in Global Health

In this course you will learn to work on a team to write an anthropologically informed grant proposal to address a health inequity. In this course you will learn to recognize illness and health as a consequence of complex bio-cultural, environmental, social, and political processes, and thus this course is intentionally transdisciplinary, inviting majors from across the university to work together to develop a solution for a complex problem in global health.

ATH 145 Lost Cities & Ancient Civilizations

Archaeological and anthropological exploration of human cultural, social, and ecological adaptations in global prehistory. Examines similarities and differences among ancient peoples and societies and their global contexts and interconnectedness in terms of political economy and social organization; technologies; environment; and religion and symbolic systems.

ATH 155 What Does It Mean To Be Human?

This course uses an holistic approach to understand the social and biological underpinnings of what it means to be human. Topics include the biological and cultural origins of humanity, prehistory, human variation, and cultural diversity.

ATH 175A Global Cultural Diversity

Provides an appreciation of human cultural, social, and linguistic variation around the world and through time. Develops anthropological and ethnographic approaches to understanding cultural differences and similarities in political, social and economic organization; marriage and family patterns; environment and beliefs systems; and other aspects of globalized human cultural life.

ATH 185 Cultural Diversity in the U.S.

Anthropological and ethnographic approaches to the study of cultural, social, and linguistic variation in the United States, its territories, and borderlands. As an introduction to cultural anthropology, the course provides a foundation for understanding historical and contemporary contexts related to globalization and diaspora; ethnic, racial, and class identities; political economy and environment; belief systems; and ethnographic methodology.

ATH 185H Cultural Diversity in the U.S.

Anthropological and ethnographic approaches to the study of cultural, social, and linguistic variation in the United States, its territories, and borderlands. As an introduction to cultural anthropology, the course provides a foundation for understanding historical and contemporary contexts related to globalization and diaspora; ethnic, racial, and class identities; political economy and environment; belief systems; and ethnographic methodology.