Courses

Undergraduate Courses Primarily for Freshman/Sophomores

105 Fundamentals of Anthropology
Introduction to anthropology; the biological evolution of humankind; the evolution of culture; and the comparative study of existing or historically recorded societies.

112 New Directions in Archaeology
New frontiers in archaeological perspectives of historical events, public policy, historic preservation, and prehistoric interpretation.

211 Culture and Society
Introduction to the comparative study of culture, exploring different types of social organization, their evolutionary significance and their economic and political correlates.

212 Global Cultures, Global Inequalities

A cultural anthropological introduction to the contemporary world and the historical backdrop to contemporary globalization.

213 Human Origins
Emergence of human species through the process of organic evolution, emphasizing genetics, the fossil record, comparison with our nearest living relatives.

214 Culture Origins
The evolution of culture from its earliest beginnings through the development of urbanism and the state. Principles of archaeological research.

215 The Study of Culture through Language
The scope of linguistic anthropology, from the study of language as an end in itself to the investigation of cultures through the medium of human languages.

220 Evolution of Moral Systems
Critical examination of evolutionary theories of the origin and development of the human propensity to make moral judgments. Prerequisite: 105.

225 Evolution of Human Society
Theories of the long-term evolution of human social organizations; comparative analysis of different scales of organization; population, environment, technology, subsistence, political economy, social stratification.

232 Myth and Symbolism
Introduction to different approaches to the interpretation of myth and symbolism, e.g., Freudian, functionalist and structuralist.

255 Contemporary African Worlds
Use of key anthropological insights about value judgments and cultural relativism to examine the survival strategies and turbulent histories of contemporary African societies.

Courses Primarily for Juniors and Seniors

301 Hunter-Gatherer Archaeology
Evolution and cultural history during the Pleistocene epoch. Interrelationship of biology, environment, and culture from earliest hominids through appearance of Homo sapiens. Prerequisite: 214 or equivalent.

302 Agriculture: Its Origins, Environmental Impacts, and Social Transformations
Beginnings of agriculture, one of the great revolutions in human history. Domestication of plants and animals, dispersal of domesticates, long-term intensification of agriculture, environmental consequences of agriculture, and related social and cultural transformations. Archaeological evidence from Mesopotamia, Europe, Mesoamerica, and North America. Prerequisites: One of the following: 214, 225, Biological Science 204, or Environmental Sciences 235.

303 Origins of Civilization
Comparative survey of prehistoric civilizations and systematic examination of the formative factors in their evolution. Prerequisite: 214 or equivalent.

306 Evolution of Life Histories
Evolved strategies for allocating resources among growth, reproduction, and maintenance; emphasis on the biological processes underlying the human life cycle and its evolution.

310 Evolution and Culture
Introduction to the application of theory from evolutionary biology to cultural anthropology; principles of evolutionary biology; application of principles to human social behavior and culture. Prerequisite: 213 or equivalent.

311 The Indians of North America
Survey of aboriginal cultures of northern Mexico, continental United States, Alaska and Canada. Languages, art, and social, economic and religious life of representative North American Indian tribes

312 Human Population Biology
Current theory and research in human biological diversity, focusing on the impact of ecological and social factors on human biology; how adaptation to environmental stressors promotes human biological variation. Prerequisite: 213.

313 Anthropological Population Genetics
Principles of population genetics applied to primates. Mathematical models, analyses of small populations and interaction of social and genetic processes. Prerequisite: consent of instructor.

314 Human Growth and Development
Integrated biological and cultural perspective on human growth and development from infancy through adolescence; cross-cultural variation in developmental processes and outcomes. Prerequisite: 100 or 200 level course in anthropology, psychology, or biology or consent of instructor.

315 Medical Anthropology
Theories of interactions between culture and biology that affect human health. Beliefs and practices for curing illness and maintaining well being. Cross-cultural study of infectious and chronic diseases, mental illness, infant/maternal mortality, poverty, and gender. Prerequisite: 100 or 200 level anthropology or sociology course, or consent of instructor.

317 Human Evolution
Fossil record and reconstruction of phylogeny, morphological and behavioral adaptation of early hominids and forebears.

320 Peoples of Africa
A survey of the cultures of Africa and the significant similarities and differences among the indigenous societies of the continent. Prerequisite: 211.

321 Archaeological Field Methods
Practical training in archaeological field methods and techniques at an excavation site; given with Summer Archaeological Field School.

322 Introductory Archaeological Methods
Quantitative and numerical approaches to the description and analysis of patterns in archaeological data, including typology, sequence ordering and attribute analysis. Prerequisite: 301 or 302 or equivalent.

325 Archaeological Methods Laboratory
Analysis of archaeological methods (faunal, botanical, artifact, or soil analysis) with various techniques. May be repeated for credit.

328 The Maya
The archaeology of the Maya in Latin America; life and society in pre-Columbian Maya civilization, the history of Maya resistance to colonial and post-colonial domination (e.g., Zapatiatas). Prerequisite: 100 or 200 level anthropology, history, or sociology course.

329 Archaeology of Mesopotamia
The Levant and Mesopotamia, 9000-2400BC, from first domestication of plants and animals to earliest village communities and urban civilization in Mesopotamia. Prerequisite: 214 or equivalent.

330 Peoples of the World
Ethnography and comparative study of a regionally or historically associated group of cultures or a type of community defined in ecological, ideological, or other terms. May be repeated for credit.

332 The Anthropology of Reproduction
Marriage and reproduction throughout the world, particularly the developing world and Africa. Conjugal strategies, fertility, contraception.

339 Material Culture
The relationship between material objects and social life; review of theoretical approaches to gifts and commodities; ethnographic collecting in colonial and postcolonial settings; relationship between culture and aesthetics. Prerequisite: 211 or consent of instructor.

341 Economic Anthropology
Economic organization in small-scale, non-industrialized communities. Traditional structures of primitive and peasant economies.

347 Political Anthropology
Cross-cultural study of political organization in stateless and state societies; the state, its origin, and changing role in developing countries.

350 Anthropology of Religion
The human relationship with the supernatural and action patterns accompanying beliefs. Comparison of nonliterate religions and historical religions.

354 Gender and Anthropology
Cross-cultural survey of women's roles from three perspectives: biosocial, sociocultural, politicoeconomic. Theory of gender inequality; emphasis on the third world.

355 Sexualities

Cross-cultural survey of sexuality from an anthropological perspective. Focus on first half of the 20th century, the 1970s, 1980s, and the turn of the century.

360 Language and Culture
Relationship between language and culture: language as the vehicle of culture and as the manifestation of thought.

361 Talk and Social Action
Analysis of talk-in-interaction based on examination of audio and video recorded data and associated transcripts. Conversation, action, turn, sequence, relevance, social structure, qualitative methodologies. Prerequisite: 215 or consent of instructor.

362 Quantitative Methods of Analysis
362-1, 2 A broad range of classical statistical methods, univariate and multivariate, currently being applied to anthropological data. Prerequisite: graduate standing or consent of instructor.

363 Language Variation and Change
Introduction to the study of language in its social context, with focus on quantitative sociolinguistics and the frameworks and methods of analysis developed by sociolinguists at work in this area. Prerequisite: consent of the instructor.

364 Pidgins, Creoles, and Language in Contact
Introduction to the study of Pidgin and Creole languages such as Tok Pisin, Bislama, Hawaiian Creole English, Guyanese Creole English, and Haitian Creole. Prerequisite: consent of the instructor.

368 Latino Ethnography

Sociocultural analysis of U.S. Latino communities. Examines ethnographies by and about Latinos based in the United States. Drwas on a broad disciplinary basis, including Latino studies and ethnic studies, to critique and elaborate on ethnographic methods and epistemologies. Prerequiste:211, Latin AM 251, or consent of instructor.

370 Anthropology in Historical Perspective
Major schools of thought in social, archaeological and biological anthropology over the last century. Prerequisite: one 200-level course in anthropology or consent of instructor.

372 Third World Urbanization
Urbanization processes in the Third world. Spatial development, wage labor, the informal sector, gender relations, rural-urban migration, and global and transnational interactions. Effects of these processes on sociocultural practices. Prerequisite: 100 or 200 level social science course or consent of instructor.

373 Power and Culture in American Cities
Overview of history and present realities of American urban life, with focus on ethnographic knowledge and stratification by class, race, ethnicity, gender, nationality, and sexuality. Reconstitution of social and cultural relations, politics, and labor markets by recurrent streams of migration. Prerequisite: 100 or 200 level cultural anthropology or sociology course or consent of instructor.

374 The Anthropology of Complex Organizations
Examination of recent research in organizational ethnography based on investigations in industrial ethnology, the anthropology of work, studies of public-sector bureaucracies, and research in multinational corporations. Prerequisite: 100 or 200 level anthropology or sociology course or consent of instructor.

376 Socialization
Cross-cultural study of the intergenerational transmission of culture; processes by which social groups pass on social tradition and behavior to succeeding generations. Prerequisite: 211, introductory psychology, or consent of instructor.

377 Psychological Anthropology
Contemporary approaches to cross-cultural behavior: ecocultural aspects of behavior development through maturation and socialization in human and nonhuman primates. Prerequisite: introductory survey courses in psychology or anthropology, or consent of instructor.

378 Law and Culture
Introduction to the anthropology of law; institutional knowledge as seen in material culture and legal documents; colonial and post-colonial settings; theoretical approaches to the relationships between law and culture, colonialism, evidence, and globalization. Prerequisite: 200 level course in anthropology or consent of instructor.

381 North American Prehistory
Intensive study of cultural history of one or more areas of the continent from archaeological evidence.

382 Households and Everyday Life
The role of households and everyday life in past and present societies throughout the world. Focus on people, gender, social relations, and interpersonal relations. An archaeology course with heavy emphasis on theoretical perspectives from sociology and cultural anthropology. Prerequisite: 100 or 200 level anthropology, history, or sociology course.

383 Ecological Anthropology
Theory of interactions between organisms and their environments, with application to human populations.

384 Introduction to Zooarchaeology
Introduction to the study of animal bones from archaeological sites. Identification, sampling, quantification, hunting economies, domestication and herding systems in complex societies. Prerequisites: 214, 301 or 302, or consent of instructor.

385 The Archaeology of State Societies
Origins and organization of prehistoric state societies. Comparison of political systems, elites, and regional economic organization in Old and New World. Prerequisite: 302 or equivalent.

386 Methods in Human Biology Research
Laboratory-based introduction to international research in human biology and health; methods for assessing nutritional status, physical activity, growth, cardiovascular health, endocrine and immune function. Prerequisite: 362 or consent of instructor.

389 Ethnographic Methods and Analysis
Descriptive, naturalistic study of the culture of human social groups. Data gathering through observation and interview. Data analysis for ethnographic reporting. Prerequisites: 211 and 215.

390 Topics in Anthropology
Advanced work in areas of developing interest and special significance. Can be repeated for credit with a different topic.

393 Chicago Field Studies Internship
See General Studies

395 Field Study in Anthropology
Ethnographic field experience in the United States (e.g., the Southwest) or abroad. Offered in conjunction with summer field schools for exceptional students. Prerequisite: consent of instructor.

396 Advanced Archaeological Field Methods
Complex excavation and survey procedures, topographic map-making, excavation drawing, soil description. Offered in conjunction with the Summer Archaeological Field School.

396-7 Junior Tutorial
Intensive work on a topic not normally offered.

398 Senior Seminar
Supervised group discussion of research in preparation of senior thesis. Required of all majors. Prerequisite: 388

399 Independent Study
Open with consent of department to juniors and seniors who have completed, with distinction, at least two quarter-courses or equivalent in anthropology. Under direction of individual members of the department.