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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.

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  • CAS AR 510: Proposal Writing for Social Science Research
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: admission to AR Honors Program or advanced undergraduate standing with consent of instructor. - Graduate Prerequisites: graduate student standing in the social sciences or humanities. - The purpose of this course is to turn students' intellectual interests into answerable, field-based research questions. The goal is the production of a project proposal for future research.
  • CAS AR 518: Zooarchaeology
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: CASAR 190. - Introduction to the study of archaeological animal bones. Provides theoretical background and methodological skills necessary for interpreting past human- animal interactions, subsistence, and paleoecology. Laboratory sections focus on skeletal identification. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Quantitative Reasoning I.
    • Quantitative Reasoning I
    • Social Inquiry II
  • CAS AR 520: Theory and Method in Environmental Archaeology
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASAR307) - Problem-based course where students apply quantitative methods across archaeological datasets to address complex problems of human-environmental relationships rooted in deep time. Through teamwork-based research projects students develop marketable skills in research design, theory integration, and data analysis and visualization. Effective Spring 2023, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Scientific Inquiry II, Quantitative Reasoning II, Teamwork/Collaboration.
    • Quantitative Reasoning II
    • Scientific Inquiry II
    • Teamwork/Collaboration
  • CAS AR 550: Human Osteology
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASAN102 OR CASAN331) or consent of instructor. - Function, development, variation, and pathologies of the human musculoskeletal system, emphasizing issues of human evolution. Basic processes of bone biology and how they are affected by use, age, sex, diet, and disease. Meetings are predominantly lab oriented. Effective Fall 2023, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: Scientific Inquiry I.
    • Scientific Inquiry I
  • CAS AR 551: Studies in Mesoamerican Archaeology
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASAR201 & CASAR250) or consent of instructor. First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120). - Analysis of major events and processes of the Mesoamerican area. Topics include rise of towns, temples, and urbanism; the origin of state; and the development of empires. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Social Inquiry II.
    • Social Inquiry II
    • Writing-Intensive Course
  • CAS AR 556: Archaeological Field Research
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: consent of instructor or advisor. - Supervised original research in excavation, survey, or field laboratory situation, as part of field school program.
  • CAS AR 565: Memory in 3-D: Memorials, then and now
    Memorials and the spaces around them are charged zones, time portals where past and present co-exist.The decision to erect a memorial is a statement on many levels -- of cultural stamina, political will, social need, and above all of historical consciousness. In this course we focus on the development of memorial culture in America, along with a comparative examination of the worlds of ancient Greece and Rome. The distance afforded by stepping outside our own time and place provides perspectives on aspects of form and message, as well as on how the meanings of memorial can change. Effective Fall 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Digital/Multimedia Expression, Historical Consciousness, Creativity/Innovation.
    • Creativity/Innovation
    • Digital/Multimedia Expression
    • Historical Consciousness
  • CAS AR 575: The Cosmopolitan Past: Material Identity in the Ancient Mediterranean
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: two CAS AR courses at the 200 level of above, or consent of instructor . First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120). - Using archaeology to understand the cosmopolitan world of the ancient Mediterranean and Middle East, from Alexander through the Romans. We travel to cities and sanctuaries, estates and farmsteads, to learn how people at all levels of society displayed their affiliations, ideals, and personas. Through the prism of personal identity we track cultural capital: what that meant, how it changed, and how people used it in order to assert who they were and how they mattered. Effective Fall 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Historical Consciousness.
    • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
    • Historical Consciousness
    • Writing-Intensive Course
  • CAS AR 577: Pots and Pans: The Material Culture of Cookery & Dining
    Exploration of food cultures and technologies through utensils for food preparation and consumption; kitchens from prehistory to present; tradition and fashion in cooking and dining vessels; cooking technology; utensils as metaphors and symbols. Ranges broadly across cultures, time, and space.
  • CAS AR 590: Life Is a Bowl: Ceramic Studies in Archaeology
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: sophomore, junior, or senior standing. - Before plastic, there was pottery -- pots and pans, cups and dishes, crocks and jars -- in every culture and in abundance. Research seminar studies pottery across time and space to elucidate personal habits as well as social, economic, and political developments.
  • CAS AR 591: Theory in Archaeology
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: at least two archaeological studies courses at the 200 level or above, senior status, or consent of instructor. - Seminar dealing with the intellectual history of the discipline, research methods, concepts, and problems in archaeological theory, and the formulation of research designs. Effective Fall 2024 fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Critical Thinking, Global Citizenship, Social Inquiry II.
    • Critical Thinking
    • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
    • Social Inquiry II
  • CAS AR 592: Archaeological Ethics and Law
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing or consent of instructor. - In this course students examine archaeology and professional ethics; archaeology as public interest; legal organization of archaeology; international approaches to heritage management; looting, collecting and the antiquities market; maritime law and underwater archaeology; cultural resource management in the United States. Effective Fall 2023, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: Ethical Reasoning.
    • Ethical Reasoning
  • CAS AR 594: Scientific Applications in Archaeology
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: First-Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120) and AR 307, or graduate standing. - Seminar exploring new ways of addressing archaeological questions through the application of scientific techniques, focusing on cutting-edge methodologies and the most recent literature in the field. Students pursue questions of individual interest through readings, discussions, presentations, and research papers. Effective Fall 2023, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Oral and/or Signed Communication, Social Inquiry II.
    • Oral and/or Signed Communication
    • Social Inquiry II
    • Writing-Intensive Course
  • CAS AR 595: Professional Futures in Archaeology
    A degree in archaeology can get you in the door at museums, the National Park Service, US Customs and other federal agencies, research laboratories, international NGO's, organizations focused on international art law, historical site management, heritage tourism -- and more. For such careers, you need skills that allow you to build on your understanding of archaeological remains and techniques, communicate to a wider public, and create pathways that link subjects and remains of the past to interests and needs in the present. Effective Spring 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas Oral and/or Signed Communication, Ethical Reasoning, Teamwork/Collaboration.
    • Ethical Reasoning
    • Oral and/or Signed Communication
    • Teamwork/Collaboration
  • CAS AR 703: Seminar: Materials in Ancient Society
    Topic to be announced. Offered through the Center for Materials Research in Archaeology and Ethnology. (MIT Materials in Ancient Societies: course #3.984)
  • CAS AR 704: Seminar: Materials in Ancient Society
    Topic to be announced. Offered through the Center for Materials Research in Archaeology and Ethnology. (MIT Materials in Ancient Societies: course #3.989)
  • CAS AR 790: The Archaeology of Southeast Asia
    Examines the prehistoric and historic cultures of Southeast Asia, including the first arrival of humans, regional Neolithic and Bronze Age communities, early states, maritime trading networks, as well as political motivations in archaeology and the illicit antiquities trade.
  • CAS AR 795: The Politics of the Past: Archaeology, Museums, and Identity
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: graduate standing. - Historical exploration of the interplay among political/nationalistic pressures and the design, implementation, and interpretation of archaeological research and its public presentation through publications, museum exhibitions, and international expositions. Spring 2022, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Digital/Multimedia Expression, Ethical Reasoning, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy.
    • Digital/Multimedia Expression
    • Ethical Reasoning
    • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
  • CAS AR 901: Directed Research in Classical Archaeology
    Graduate-level directed research in classical archaeology.
  • CAS AR 903: Directed Research in New World Historical Archaeology
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: graduate standing. - Graduate-level directed research in New World Archaeology.

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