This course studies mankind through primate and cultural evolution, symbolic systems, cultural theory and culture change.

This course covers the basics of our origins and all the spectacular biological diversity we see around us in the modern human species, from an anthropological perspective. Students will be introduced to fundamental concepts in evolutionary theory, genetics, demography, and the various ways that human diversity has been understood and interpreted. This course is an exciting overview of humans, biologically, from our origins to who we are today.

Basic principles of archaeology. Introduction to the nature, methods, and theory of anthropological archaeology, i.e. how archaeological remains are located, recovered, and interpreted. Emphasis in this course is on the principles of reconstruction of past societies from archaeological evidence.

The comparative study of human society and culture, particularly nonwestern communities, with special attention to the family, social structures, economic and political institutions, religion, and processes of change.

An introductory archaeology course that provides an overview of New and Old World prehistory; spans the earliest origins of humans, the spread of anatomically modern humans, the development of hunting and gathering societies, the origins of food production, and the emergence of ancient urban societies.

This course examines the survival of indigenous and minority cultures in various societies. Anthropological perspectives on the relationships among race, class, culture and politics, and on genocide, ethnocide and the future of native peoples in the modern state are studied.

It is not always easy to separate fact from fiction in archaeology, and the human past has served as fertile ground for fraudsters, charlatans, and pseudoscientists of many stripes. Through the close examination of case studies, we will critically examine some of the most persistent (and popular) myths and mysteries concerned with the archaeological past. This course will demonstrate that a strong adherence to scientific investigation and hard evidence can uncover facts about prehistory that are as interesting as the myths.