Courses

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  • CAS AN 552: Primate Evolution and Anatomy
    The evolutionary history of the primate radiation--particularly that of monkeys, apes, and humans--is examined through investigation of the musculoskeletal anatomy of living and fossil primates. Comparative and biomechanical approaches are used to reconstruct the behavior of extinct species.
  • CAS AN 555: Evolutionary Medicine
    Why do we get sick? Evolutionary medicine seeks to answer this question by applying modern evolutionary theory to understanding health and disease among contemporary human populations. Topics include chronic and infectious disease, mental illness, allergies, autoimmunity, and drug addiction.
  • CAS AN 556: The Evolution of the Human Diet
    An investigation of human dietary evolution including primate and human dietary adaptations, nutritional requirements, optimal foraging, digestive physiology, maternal and infant nutrition, hunting and cooking in human evolution, and impacts of food processing and agriculture on modern diets and health.
  • CAS AN 558: Human Sex Differences: Behavior, Biology, and Ecology
    Why are men and women different? Adopts an evolutionary, adaptive approach to investigate sex differences in human behavior, physiology, and cognition from developmental, mechanistic, and phylogenetic perspectives. Topics include sex differences in aggression, mate choice, parenting, affiliation, and cognition. Also offered as CAS WS 558.
  • CAS AN 563: Public Religion and Politics Across Cultures
    The contested role of religion in modern politics and its implications for civil life. Begins with the West and includes Islam in the Middle East and SE Asia. Evangelicalism in Latin American and Africa, Hindu nationalism, and Buddhism in China. Also offered as CAS IR 563.
  • CAS AN 573: The Ethnography of China and Taiwan (area)
    Reading of major ethnographies and modern histories as a basis for examining changing Taiwanese and Chinese culture and society. Attention to ethnography as a genre, as well as to the dramatic changes of the past century. (Counts towards the East Asian Studies minor.)
  • CAS AN 585: Seminar: Advanced Readings in African Ethnography (area)
    Detailed examination of classic and contemporary anthropological writings about Africa. Explores ecological adaptation, kinship, social organization, religious thought and practice, and creative expression. Focus on the history of theory, method, and narrative style in the construction of ethnographies about Africa.
  • CAS AN 589: The Anthropology of Development Theory & Practice
    Explores anthropological texts that grapple with, make sense of, and ultimately challenge the international development enterprise. Considers whether, amidst these critiques, anthropology can imagine an alternative discourse and practice of betterment.
  • CAS AN 590: Seminar: Theory, Method, and Techniques in Fieldwork
    Traditional and modern methods of ethnographic field research: data collection, research design, and analyses.
  • CAS AN 594: Seminar: Topics in Cultural Anthropology
    Selected issues and debates in current anthropology.
  • CAS AN 595: Methods in Biological Anthropology
    An exploration of field and laboratory methods used in biological anthropology, with students participating in hands-on exercises. Topics include health assessment, body composition, diet, energetics, morphological adaptations, reproductive status, habitat composition, spatial movements, and conservation. Professional skills are also developed.
  • CAS AN 596: Anthropology and History
    Examines the use of ethnographic materials and models of alternative social or economic organization to interpret historical materials as well as the use of history to provide dynamic models of change in anthropological analysis.
  • CAS AN 597: Seminar: Special Topics in Biological Anthropology
    Special issues and debates in current biological anthropology. Topic for Fall 2014: Human Grown and Development. An analysis of human growth and development from an evolutionary and cross-cultural perspective. Other topics include brain evolution, fetal programming, sexual dimorphism, senescence, immunity, and obesity.
  • CAS AN 598: Seminar: Special Issues in Biological Anthropology
    Special issues and debates in current biological anthropology.
  • CAS AR 100: Great Discoveries in Archaeology
    Illustrated lectures focus on the important discoveries of the discipline of archaeology. Course covers the whole of human prehistory around the world. Archaeological methods are described, along with the great ancient sites: Olduvai, Lascaux, Stonehenge, Egyptian pyramids, Machu Picchu. This course carries humanities divisional credit in CAS. This course fulfills one unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry I.
    • Historical Consciousness
    • Social Inquiry I
  • CAS AR 101: Introduction to Archaeology
    Theory, methods, and aims of prehistoric and historical archaeology in the Old and New Worlds. Excavation and recovery of archaeological data; dating techniques; interpretation of finds; relation of archaeology to history and other disciplines. Examination of several Old and New World cultures. Carries social science divisional credit in CAS. This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry I.
    • Historical Consciousness
    • Social Inquiry I
  • CAS AR 150: Archaeology of Cities
    An introduction to the archaeology of cities and urbanism. The course includes introductory urban theory, exposure to ancient and early modern cities from geo-temporal contexts that Archaeology Department faculty specialize in, and comparison of cities and urbanism organized along central themes. Carries social science divisional credit in CAS. This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry I.
    • Historical Consciousness
    • Social Inquiry I
  • CAS AR 200: Heritage Matters: Introduction to Heritage Management
    Protection and management of archaeological heritage, including sites, artifacts, and monuments. Survey of heritage values and stakeholders. Issues covered include policy and legislation, U.S. preservation system, Carries social science divisional credit in CAS. This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry I, Research and Information Literacy.
    • Historical Consciousness
    • Social Inquiry I
    • Research and Information Literacy
  • CAS AR 201: Americas Before Columbus
    An introduction to the archaeology and civilizations of the pre-Columbian Americas. Topics progress chronologically as well as comparatively, with cases drawn from Native American cultures of the North America, Mesoamerica, and South America. Carries social science divisional credit in CAS. This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry I, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy.
    • Social Inquiry I
    • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
  • CAS AR 202: Archaeological Mysteries: Pseudoscience in the Human Past
    Investigation through case studies of pseudoscientific claims about the past. Purported solutions to archaeological mysteries are subjected to the test of evidence using the scientific method. Topics include Atlantis, ancient extraterrestrials, Pyramids, Stonehenge, crop marks, and Noah's Ark. Carries humanities divisional credit in CAS. This course fulfills one unit in the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Critical Thinking.
    • Historical Consciousness
    • Critical Thinking

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