Courses

The listing of a course description here does not guarantee a course’s being offered in a particular semester. Please refer to the published schedule of classes on the Student Link for confirmation a class is actually being taught and for specific course meeting dates and times.

The listing below reflects the Hub units fulfilled by courses in the 2019/2020 academic year.

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  • CAS AN 379: China: Tradition and Transformation
    Examines daily life in China and Taiwan, tracing how opposed economic and political paths transformed a common tradition. Topics include capitalism and socialism; politics and social control; dissidence; gender relations; religion, arts, and literature; and pollution. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Research and Information Literacy.
    • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
    • Social Inquiry II
    • Research and Information Literacy
  • CAS AN 384: Anthropology of Religion
    Myth, ritual, and religious experience across cultures. Special attention to the problem of religious symbolism and meaning, religious conversion and revitalization, contrasts between traditional and world religions, and the relation of religious knowledge to science, magic, and ideology. Also offered as CAS RN 387. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry I.
    • Historical Consciousness
    • Social Inquiry I
  • CAS AN 462: Ethnography and Anthropological Theory 2
    Required of majors. Examines the background and philosophy of current anthropological theory and method. Discussion focuses on current issues in evolutionary, linguistic, and sociocultural theory. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Writing-Intensive Course.
    • Social Inquiry II
    • Writing-Intensive Course
  • 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. Effective Fall 2018, 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 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. Effective Fall 2018, 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. Effective Fall 2018, 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. Effective Fall 2018, 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. Effective Fall 2018, 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. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills one unit in the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Critical Thinking.
    • Historical Consciousness
    • Critical Thinking
  • CAS AR 205: Origins of Civilization
    The comparison of origins and institutions of civilizations in the Old and New Worlds, including the first state-organized societies of Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Indus Valley, China, Mesoamerica, and Peru. Carries social science divisional credit in CAS. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness and Social Inquiry I.
    • Historical Consciousness
    • Social Inquiry I
  • CAS AR 215: The Contested Past
    Examination of the diverse and often conflicting values associated with archaeological objects, ancient monuments, and cultural sites. Case studies (including the Elgin Marbles) highlight contemporary controversies over ownership, appropriation, use, and abuse of the material remains of the past. Effective Fall 2019, 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 230: Introduction to Greek & Roman Archaeology
    How material remains help us understand aspects of ancient Greek and Roman cultures in their historical development: religious and civic spaces; the culture of affluence; imperial identity; and the transformations that mark the end of classical antiquity. Carries humanities divisional credit in CAS. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Critical Thinking.
    • Historical Consciousness
    • Critical Thinking
  • CAS AR 232: Archaeology of Ancient Egypt
    The art, and architecture, political organization, social life, religion, economy and technology of ancient Egypt from prehistoric times through the Roman period, based on archaeological and historical sources. Emphasis on the period of the Pharaohs (ca. 3000 BC to ca. AD 300 BC). This course carries humanities divisional credit in CAS. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills one unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Historical Consciousness.
    • Aesthetic Exploration
    • Historical Consciousness
  • CAS AR 250: The Aztecs, Maya, and Their Predecessors: Archaeology of Mesoamerica
    Overview of the Aztecs, Mayas, and other native peoples of Mexico and Central America, including the chronological development of cultures and key topics. Focus on variability in individuals and groups by age, gender, ethnicity, class, and polities pre- and post-conquest. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: The Individual in Community, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy.
    • The Individual in Community
    • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
  • CAS AR 251: Ancient Maya Civilization
    An exploration of the Maya civilization of Mexico and Central America, including its origins, intellectual achievements, city-state rise and collapse cycles, and the cultural endurance of the Maya people of today. This course carries humanities divisional credit in CAS. Effective Fall 2019, 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 273: Archaeology of the Viking Age
    Archaeological evidence of Viking life and culture. Topics include home life, ships and shipbuilding, trade, warfare, religion, art, colonization; detailed examination of major terrestrial and underwater archaeological excavations in Europe, Greenland, and North America. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: Historical Consciousness.
    • Historical Consciousness
  • CAS AR 280: Eating and Drinking in the Ancient World
    Survey of the archaeological evidence of the diets of human societies, from earliest humans to the present. Emphasis on the remains of plants, animals, and humans and what they tell us about ancient food and drink within their social contexts. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry I, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Writing-Intensive Course.
    • Social Inquiry I
    • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
    • Writing-Intensive Course
  • CAS AR 283: North American Archaeology
    North American prehistory from initial peopling of continent to development of complex societies. Explores human entry into the New World; migration across North America; subsistence changes; human effects on landscape; encounters with Europeans; role of archaeology in contemporary Native cultures. Carries social science divisional credit in CAS. Effective Fall 2018, 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 290: Human Impacts on Ancient Environments
    Examination of human-environmental interactions in the global landscape over the past 10,000 years through migration, hunting, disease, agriculture, and other cultural activities; implications for contemporary and future resources management and environmental policy. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry I, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy.
    • Social Inquiry I
    • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
  • CAS AR 307: Archaeological Science
    Application of natural sciences, as an integral part of modern archaeology, to issues of dating, reconstructing past environments and diets, and analysis of mineral and biological remains. Laboratories concentrate on biological, geological, physical, and chemical approaches. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Scientific Inquiry II, Quantitative Reasoning I, Critical Thinking, Research and Information Literacy.
    • Scientific Inquiry II
    • Quantitative Reasoning I
    • Critical Thinking
    • Research and Information Literacy

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