Courses

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

• CAS AM 385: American Buildings and Landscapes
  An introductory analytic survey of American buildings and landscapes within their historical and cultural contexts. Students examine forces that have shaped the American built environment. Topics range from Indian mounds to commercial strips, Spanish missions to skyscrapers. Also offered as CAS AH 385. Effective Fall 2026 this course fulfills a single requirement in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Historical Consciousness.
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  • Aesthetic Exploration
  • Historical Consciousness
• CAS AM 453: Native American and Indigenous Studies: Theories and Methods
  An overview of the theories and methods of Native American and Indigenous studies. Focusing in particular on Indigenous Critical Theory, this course reads and discusses ideas from disciplines including history, law, literature, film and media studies, museum studies, and environmental studies to discuss how Native peoples advocate for issues important to Indian Country and to global Indigenous communities.
• CAS AM 501: Research Seminar in American Studies
  American Studies majors and minors complete their program of study by undertaking a one- or two-semester (AM 501 and/or AM 502) senior project based on original research or criticism. Topics vary by semester. Topic for Fall 2026. Section B1: Adaptive Reuse. Effective Fall 2023, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Research and Information Literacy.
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  • Research and Information Literacy
  • Writing-Intensive Course
• CAS AM 502: Research Seminar in American Studies
  Prerequisite: First Year Writing Seminar. - American Studies majors and minors complete their program of study by undertaking a one- or two-semester (CASAM 501 and/or AM 502) senior project based on original research or criticism. Topics vary by semester. Topics for Spring 2027: Section A1: Preservation and the Vernacular Environment. Section B1: Film Theory & Methodology Effective Spring 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU HUB areas: Writing-Intensive, Research and Information Literacy.
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  • Research and Information Literacy
  • Writing-Intensive Course
• CAS AM 505: The American South in History, Literature, and Film
  Explores the American South through literature, film, and other sources. Considers what, if anything, has been distinctive about the Southern experience and how a variety of Americans have imagined the region over time. Also offered as CAS HI 505. Effective Spring 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Historical Consciousness.
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  • Aesthetic Exploration
  • Historical Consciousness
• CAS AM 525: American Cultural Landscape Studies
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing or consent of instructor. - This seminar provides an introduction to analyzing and interpreting American cultural landscapes and acquaints students with the historiography of interdisciplinary study of the built environment. Also offered as CAS AH 525.
• CAS AM 538: Arctic Studies
  Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., CASWR 100 or WR 120). - The Arctic is home to 4 million people and has played important roles in global exchanges for millennia. This class explores the Arctic as a source of resource extraction booms, aesthetic currents, scientific advances, Indigenous knowledge, and unique governance systems.
• CAS AM 546: Places of Memory: Historic Preservation Theory and Practice
  Covers key aspects of the history, theory, and practice of historic preservation. Preservation is discussed in the context of cultural history and the changing relationship between existing buildings and landscapes and attitudes toward history, memory, invented tradition, and place. Also offered as CAS AH 546 and CAS HI 546.
• CAS AM 548: Global Heritage Conservation
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: consent of instructor. - Examining global approaches towards heritage conservation through a study of concepts, charters and case studies, using themes such as world heritage, cultural tourism, historic towns, new design, intangible heritage, authenticity, integrity, recent past, historic landscapes, conflict, disasters, revitalization and reconstruction.
• CAS AM 554: Preservation Planning
  Introduces students to local, state, and national government policies and practices intended to protect historically significant structures. In addition, the course covers planning approaches aimed at managing redevelopment in established neighborhoods, to create livable and sustainable communities.
• CAS AM 555: Boston Architectural and Community History Workshop
  Focuses on a single Greater Boston to equip students with methodological tools to conduct fieldwork related to a specific place. Emphasis is on practical research and documentation techniques through both physical and primary source-based methods. Students learn to assess and narrate the rich history of architectural and urban development.
• CAS AM 567: Topics in American Material Culture
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior or senior standing or consent of instructor. - An interdisciplinary research seminar exploring a topic in American material culture. Specific content will vary by semester and may be repeated for credit as topics change. Topic for Spring 2027: Beyond Print Culture: Indigeneity, Materiality, and the History of the Book.
• CAS AN 101: Introduction to Sociocultural Anthropology
  Introduction to the basic concepts, principles, and problems of sociocultural anthropology, emphasizing the study of traditional and complex societies. Special attention to the organization and meaning of religion, economic life, kinship and political order; and the problem of cultural variation in the contemporary world. 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, Research and Information Literacy.
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  • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
  • Research and Information Literacy
  • Social Inquiry I
• CAS AN 102: Human Biology, Behavior, and Evolution
  Introduces basic principles of evolutionary biology, human origins, genetics, reproduction, socio-ecology, and the evolution of primate and human behavior and adaptions. Section activities include examination of fossil and skeletal material, and hands-on projects involving human and primate behavior and biology. Carries natural science divisional credit (with lab) in CAS. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Scientific Inquiry I, Social Inquiry I, Critical Thinking. Effective Fall 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Scientific Inquiry I, Critical Thinking.
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  • Critical Thinking
  • Historical Consciousness
  • Scientific Inquiry I
• CAS AN 103: Anthropology Through Ethnography
  Examines the diversity of human lifeways and cultures across a variety of societies and through time, as well as the social processes that shape individuals. Seminar-style introduction to cultural anthropology through the reading of ethnography, with discussion and debate. (For anthropology majors, this course can serve as a substitute for AN 101.) 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, The Individual in Community, Critical Thinking. Effective Fall 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Oral and/or Signed Communication, Social Inquiry I, The Individual in Community.
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  • The Individual in Community
  • Oral and/or Signed Communication
  • Social Inquiry I
• CAS AN 206: Ancient Technology
  Introduction to the emergence of culture and the reconstruction of early lifeways from archaeological evidence. Topics include early humans in Africa, Asia, and Europe; Neanderthals; the first Americans; and the prelude to agriculture. Effective Fall 2023, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Teamwork/Collaboration.
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  • Historical Consciousness
  • Teamwork/Collaboration
• CAS AN 210: Introduction to Medical Anthropology
  This lecture and discussion-driven course uses ethnographic case materials and active learning strategies to introduce students to socio-cultural anthropological modes of understanding and analyzing health-related experiences and institutions, including political and ethical dimensions of illness and suffering around the globe. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Ethical Reasoning, Research and Information Literacy.
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  • Ethical Reasoning
  • Research and Information Literacy
  • Social Inquiry II
• CAS AN 211: Humans Among Animals
  Examines how humans understand (other) animals and their thought, feeling, and communication and the ways we humans in varied cultures and societies use animals for interaction and self-understanding. Interdisciplinary approach that considers language, aesthetics, ideology, practice, and regulation. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills units in the following BU Hub areas: Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings, Ethical Reasoning, and Critical Thinking.
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  • Critical Thinking
  • Ethical Reasoning
  • Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings
• CAS AN 220: Urban Anthropology
  An introduction to classic and contemporary definitions of the city and ethnographic approaches to the study of urban life. Examines urban inequalities and the stratification of space by immigration, gender, racialization, and poverty. Participants conduct mini- ethnographic projects in the city of Boston. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry I, The Individual in Community, Research and Information Literacy.
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  • The Individual in Community
  • Research and Information Literacy
  • Social Inquiry I
• CAS AN 231: The Behavioral Biology of Men
  This course explores the evolutionary roots of male behavior, examining topics like violence, testosterone, parenting, and how such topics are popularized in media. Students analyze scientific and popular media while creating digital projects to critically engage with male evolution.