ANT 4168: Maya Civilization

This course provides an overview of the archaeology of Maya civilization, the ancestors of contemporary Maya people who have historically inhabited the Yucatán peninsula of Mexico and Central America. The Maya are famous for their ancient cities, pyramids, sculpted and painted art, and their ecological setting in the dense tropical rainforests of southern Mesoamerica. This course will contextualize this popular perception of the Maya with archaeological understandings of the origins of Maya civilization by the 2nd millennium BCE through the Classic period (250–900 CE), the Spanish Conquest, and the present day. Of note, the Maya developed a detailed writing system recording their own histories, which can be interpreted alongside the archaeological record. In addition to tracing the history of Maya civilization, this course will cover topics including political organization, economy, religion, agriculture, ecology, daily life, gender, as well as the use of new technologies, including laser scanning, to document and map Maya landscapes.

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ANG 6930: Remote Sensing of Cultural Landscapes

Remote sensing is the collection and analysis of spatial data through the observation and scanning of large areas from a distance. The applications of remote sensing in anthropology and archaeology are extensive, including site and feature prospection, mapping, topographic analysis, hydrological analysis, 3D modeling, subsurface imaging, vegetation, soil classification, among others. This course discusses the history and theory of the use of remote sensing in anthropology and archaeology. The class will explore the use and analysis of remote sensing datasets from aerial photography, satellite imagery, laser scanning, radar, and thermal sensors to interpret sites, cultural landscapes, land cover change, land use, and other archaeological and environmental applications. In addition to assessing case studies of remote sensing applications, students will learn how to collect, preprocess, process, visualize, and analyze data. The course will also address ethical considerations in conducting remote sensing research.

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ANT 2149: Lost Tribes and Sunken Continents: Pseudoarchaeology and Why It Matters

This course examines claims, popularized in the media, that mysterious archaeological sites, statues, etc. were influenced by outer space visitors. Case studies to be discussed include Stonehenge, various pyramids, Easter Island, Atlantis and Mu, the Nazca Lines, and other archaeological “mysteries.” Emphasis will be placed on understanding how and why pseudoscientific beliefs proliferate, and on understanding the real archaeological histories of ancient peoples.

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ANT 2140: Introduction to World Archaeology

This course explores the totality of human experience on earth, as known through archaeology, from the beginnings of humankind into the present. Course content is not organized chronologically or regionally, but thematically, focusing on how humans have made themselves and their worlds in the past and continue to do so today. It is an archaeological contribution to the anthropological question, “What makes us human?” An anthropological archaeology can inform us of where we come from, how we got to where we are today, and where we might be going in the future.

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ANG 6930: Anthropology of Crisis, Collapse, and Resilience

This course explores the use of the term resilience in the social sciences from an interdisciplinary perspective, with a focus on recent understandings of resilience in anthropology, archaeology, medical anthropology, ecology, sociology, and psychology. Resilience operates at several scales, from the individual to the community, and relates to several other topics, including crisis, collapse, disaster, adaptation, coping, and sustainability. However, the popularity of the resilience framework and its use as a buzzword has complicated the analytical utility of the term. Students will have an opportunity to reassess the notion of resilience and how to apply this concept in their own research.

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