Archaeology
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CAS AR 100: Archaeology Today
Introduction to how archaeologists use material culture to study inequality, diet, gender, religion, identity, and sustainability in global case studies from the origins of humans to the present. Looting, heritage, and repatriation are addressed with the perspectives of descendant communities. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry I. Effective Fall 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry I, Digital/Multimedia Expression. Effective Fall 2025, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Critical Thinking, Ethical Reasoning, Historical Consciousness. -
CAS AR 150: Archaeology of Cities
An introduction to the archaeology of cities and urbanism. The course includes introductory urban theory, exposure to ancient and early modern cities from geo-temporal contexts that Archaeology Program faculty specialize in, and comparison of cities and urbanism organized along central themes. Effective Spring 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry Teamwork/Collaboration. -
CAS AR 190: Introduction to Archaeology
Foundational training in how archaeologists study past peoples and cultures via field, museum, and laboratory methods. Apply theoretical frameworks to archaeological themes and datasets. Relate archaeological outcomes to the present day through real-world examples from around the globe. Effective Spring 2022, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry I, Research and Information Literacy. -
CAS AR 201: Indigenous Peoples of the Americas
An introduction to the archaeology and Indigenous peoples of the Americas, with a focus on the precolonial era. Topics progress chronologically as well as comparatively, with cases drawn from Native American cultures of the North America, Mesoamerica, and South America. 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. -
CAS AR 202: Archaeological Mysteries: Pseudoscience and Fallacy in the Human Past
Investigation through case studies of pseudoscientific claims about the past. Purported solutions to archaeological mysteries are subjected to the test of evidence using the scientific method. Topics include Atlantis, ancient extraterrestrials, Pyramids, Stonehenge, crop marks, and Noah's Ark. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills one unit in the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Critical Thinking. -
CAS AR 206: Ancient Technology
This course explores the history of technology through hands-on experimental work with artifacts and case studies including stone tools, ceramics, metals, machines, and monumental architecture from the earliest prehistoric societies in Palaeolithic Africa to the Roman Empire and beyond. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Teamwork/Collaboration. -
CAS AR 210: Minoan and Mycenaean Civilizations
Traces the rise and fall of the Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations from their Stone Age roots to the end of the Bronze Age. Subjects include art, architecture, economic, social, political, and religious characteristics, and theoretical explanations of cultural change. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Critical Thinking. -
CAS AR 230: Introduction to Greek & Roman Archaeology
Undergraduate Prerequisites: First-Year Writing Seminar (WR 120 or equivalent) - An archaeological journey from Bronze Age Greece to democratic Athens to Imperial Rome, tracking social upheaval and cohesion through religious, civic, and domestic spheres. Learn to read material remains to understand life in a complex past, a past that illuminates our own world today. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Critical Thinking. Effective Fall 2022, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Historical Consciousness, Critical Thinking. -
CAS AR 240: Archaeology of Ancient China
Examines the archaeology of ancient China from the Neolithic through the early imperial periods (7000 BCE to 3rd C. CE) the interactions of technology, art, literature with ancient political, religious, and social power; and cultural heritage issues in facing modern China. Effective Spring 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Social Inquiry I. -
CAS AR 251: Ancient Maya Civilization
An exploration of the Maya civilization of Mexico and Central America, including its origins, intellectual achievements, city-state rise and collapse cycles, and the cultural endurance of the Maya people of today. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry I. -
CAS AR 280: Eating and Drinking in the Ancient World
Undergraduate Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120) or consent of inst ructor - Survey of the archaeological evidence of the diets of human societies, from earliest humans to the present. Emphasis on the remains of plants, animals, and humans and what they tell us about ancient food and drink within their social contexts. 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, Writing-Intensive Course. -
CAS AR 283: North American Archaeology
North American prehistory from initial peopling of continent to development of complex societies. Explores human entry into the New World; migration across North America; subsistence changes; human effects on landscape; encounters with Europeans; role of archaeology in contemporary Native cultures. 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. -
CAS AR 290: Human Impacts on Ancient Environments
Examination of human-environmental interactions in the global landscape over the past 10,000 years through migration, hunting, disease, agriculture, and other cultural activities; implications for contemporary and future resources management and environmental policy. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry I, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy. -
CAS AR 291: Peoples of the Arctic
People have lived in the Arctic for 40,000 years and continue to thrive in this challenging environment. We use archaeological, oral history, historic, and ethnographic data to examine this long history, and to address the ways in which themes from the past can be used to highlight contemporary issues in Arctic communities. Effective Spring 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU HUB areas Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry I. -
CAS AR 301: African Diaspora Archaeology
Introduction to the archaeology of the African diaspora, the global displacement of African people and their descendants. Reviews findings, methodology, and theory around key burial contexts. Emphasis on shifting dialogues, such as human remains stewardship, community engagement, and reburial. Effective Spring 2025, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas Critical Thinking, Ethical Reasoning, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy. -
CAS AR 305: Paleolithic Archaeology
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASAR101) - Introduction to emergence of culture and reconstruction of early human lifeways from archaeological evidence. Topics include early humans in Africa, Asia, and Europe; Neanderthals; the first Americans; and the prelude to agriculture. Effective Fall 2022, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Scientific Inquiry I, Critical Thinking. -
CAS AR 307: Archaeological Science
Undergraduate Prerequisites: CASAR 190 or consent of instructor. - Application of natural sciences, as an integral part of modern archaeology, to issues of dating, reconstructing past environments and diets, and analysis of mineral and biological remains. Laboratories concentrate on biological, geological, physical, and chemical approaches. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Scientific Inquiry II, Quantitative Reasoning I, Critical Thinking, Research and Information Literacy. -
CAS AR 331: Early Greek Art and Architecture
Undergraduate Prerequisites: First-Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120). - Examines a critical formative stage in Greek art. Analyzes the rise of identifiable artists, the relationship of art to epic, the evolution of the architectural orders, and the formation of Greek style in monumental stone sculpture. Effective Spring 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Historical Consciousness, Writing-Intensive Course. -
CAS AR 333: Arts of Classical Greece
Examines architecture, sculpture, painting, and metalwork of the fifth and fourth centuries B.C. in their original contexts. Addresses such larger issues as development of portraiture; tension of "real" and "ideal"; roles and shifting iconographies of myth; and political use of monuments. Effective Spring 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Ethical Reasoning, Aesthetic Exploration, Historical Consciousness. -
CAS AR 357: Bioarchaeology and the Body
Introduction to the study of human remains in bioarchaeological contexts. Course reviews key theoretical frameworks and methodologies in interpreting valuable information about demography, gender differences, social identities and the daily lives of past peoples, as well as ongoing ethical concerns in bioarchaeological practice. Effective Spring 2025, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU HUB areas: Ethical Reasoning, Social Inquiry I.
