Anthropology Courses at
CSU
ANTH 1105 Cultural Anthropology (3-0-3): A
comparative, descriptive, non-technical study of non-literate folk
societies. Topics include: basic institutions; value systems; the
nature of culture, its content, patterns and changes; the impact of
the cultural milieu on socialization and personality development.
Fulfills Core Curriculum Area E requirement.
ANTH 1107 Discovering Archaeology (formerly
ANTH 1106): An introduction to archaeology’s methods emphasizing the
scientific techniques employed by archaeologists to
reconstruct extinct cultures and life-ways, and to discover
processes of change. Students consider the goals of
archaeology within the context of the larger field of
anthropology, and become familiar with stages of
archaeological investigation from development of hypothesis to
data interpretation and curation of cultural remains. Principles of heritage conservation
will be highlighted. Fulfills Core Curriculum Area E
requirement.
ANTH 1145 Human Origins (3-0-3): A survey of
modern scientific evidence and thought on the biological origins of
modern humans. Topics included are early human and primate
ancestors, their fossil record, modern evolutionary theory, and
techniques of dating early human and primate remains. Fulfills Core
Curriculum Area D requirement.
ANTH 2105 Ancient World
Civilizations: A survey of
the prehistoric human past using the archaeological record to trace
the rise and fall of the world’s major civilizations up to the
advent of written history. The emergence of food production,
social inequality, cities and conquest states in each world area
will be examined, as will the major anthropological theories devised
to explain them. Emphasized is diversity of world
civilizations, the variety of paths to civilization taken around the
globe, and especially "non-western" civilizations of
sub-Saharan Africa, the Far East and the Americas. Fulfills
Core Curriculum Area E requirement.
ANTH 2136. Language and Culture (3-0-3)
A study of the relationship between language and culture in
multilingual and multicultural societies throughout the world.
Topics include: language practices (i.e. name giving in
Africa, oral tradition of the Caribbean, use of proverbs),
language attitudes towards dialects, multilingualism and
identity, the immigrant experience, effects of language
contact (i.e., language mixing and borrowing), and language
planning and choice in multilingual societies.
ANTH 2137. Languages of the World (3-0-3)
A survey of languages spoken in different regions of the
world, including Africa, Asia, the Americas, and Europe.
Students will examine similarities and differences in sounds,
words, sentences/grammar, and writing systems of a variety of
languages. Students will learn about grouping of languages
into language families.
ANTH 3125. People and Cultures of Africa
(3-0-3) Prerequisite: ANTH
1105. A survey of the
African continent, its archaeology, prehistory, and culture
history, but with a focus on the great diversity of
contemporary cultures and on the impacts of political and
economic developments in the post-colonial era.
ANTH 3126: History of Anthropological Thought
(3-0-3).
Prerequisites: ANTH 1105 or ANTH 1107. Anthropology has a long,
contentious history of development as a discipline. Theories have
come and gone into and out of fashion, often paralleling social
changes and mores in their countries of origin. What began as
speculation by Greek scholars eventually resulted in a rigorous
science, only to face harsh criticism from time to time for
pre-judging or de-humanizing its subject matter. Some anthropologists wish to focus on
Culture and the wide sweep of its "evolution," while others feel we must gather
data on the histories of individual cultures down to the level of minutia.
Regardless of how they have tried to go about it, anthropologists have always
wanted to know what makes cultures "tick." In particular, what makes them
change, or what makes them choose to change. What do we all have in common
as humans, and what is the best way to unlock the "black box" that culture appears
at times to resemble.
ANTH 4107. Evolution of Social
Stratification and Inequality (3-0-3)
Prerequisite:
ANTH 1105. An examination of social stratification (class,
estate, caste) systems throughout history and their overlap
with social inequalities based on ethnic group, gender, or
other social characteristics. Description will be supported by
theoretical explanations of both stratification and equality
offered by major theorists, as well as by study of some
possibilities for more egalitarian solutions in the
contemporary world.
ANTH 4698. Internship in Anthropology (3-6)
Prerequisite: ANTH 1105 or ANTH 1107 with a minimum grade of A.
Offers students closely directed hands-on learning and practical
experience in the many aspects of anthropological research.
Usually involves participation in faculty ethnographic,
biological, archaeological and/or museum-related research. May
involve project design, field work, laboratory work museum curation and/or project administrative tasks.
ANTH 4899. Independent Study (1-6)
Prerequisite: Department Chair Approval. May be taken up
to four times for a maximum of six semester hours.
ANTH 5115. Religion, Culture and Society
(3-0-3) Prerequisite: ANTH
1105. An
overview of major sociological and anthropological studies of
the structure, function, and evolution of religious thought
and behavior including contributions of major theorists.
Religion will be studied as an aspect of human sociocultural
systems that has cognitive, emotional, social, and moral
components. This will be based on a description of major
religious traditions including Christianity, Judaism, Islam,
Buddhism, and Animism as well as on efforts at classification
of types.
ANTH 5125 (U/G)
Human Ecology (3-0-3):
Prerequisite: One of the following: ANTH 1105, 1107,
1145, or 5175; ENVS 1105 or ENVS 6207; or Department Approval.
Course provides an inter-disciplinary perspective blending
biological ecology with social science approaches to examine the
interrelationships between human societies and their
environments. Topics examined include past and present
intellectual frameworks, human biological adaptation, population ecology, human subsistence strategies,
environmental stressors, cultural responses to environmental change. Course aims to provide basic tools
that will help students understand human biological
adaptability, and to evaluate problematic human-environment
relationships in order to confront them effectively.
ANTH 5175/GEOL 5175 (U/G). Physical Anthropology
and Archaeology (3-0-3): A survey of primate and human origins,
the paleontological record of human evolution and the study of
Paleolithic cultures and the diverse biologies of modern human
populations. Course work will include techniques of lithic
archaeology and focus on North American native Prehistory.
ENVS 5226. Culture and
Environment (3-0-3) Prerequisites: One of the following:
ANTH 1105, 1106, 1145, or 5175; ENVS 1105 or ENVS 6207; or
Department Approval. Course provides history of thought concerning
humanity’s place in the natural world from its western intellectual
roots in Greek philosophy and Biblical theology through its
development and diversification into the competing analytical
frameworks of today. Course also examines a broad variety of
evidence from anthropology, archaeology and palaeoecology to
evaluate changing interactions between the natural environment and
human societies.
ANTH 5305 (U/G) Field Methods in Archaeology (0-12-4)
Prerequisite: ANTH 1107 and approval of Department Chair. First-hand experience in
data recovery methods in archaeology either in the greater Columbus
and western Georgia, or in Latin America. Students will learn
methods of archaeological site survey, site recording and surface
mapping, excavation and field laboratory documentation.
ANTH 5515 (U/G) Selected Topics in Anthropology
(3-0-3): Prerequisite is ANTH 1105: Examination of
selected topics in anthropology. Topics will vary, with no topic
repeated over four consecutive semesters to accommodate students
earning a minor in anthropology. May be repeated for credit when
topic is different.
ANTH 5116. Lab Methods in Archaeology (1-4-3)
Prerequisite: ANTH 1107 with minimum grade of B. Students
learn how artifacts and other field samples are processed before
they finally come to rest in a museum or other repository;
emphasizes the importance of precision and thoroughness required to
properly conserve, analyze and curate a broad variety of material
culture and documentation for perpetuity using standardized,
state-of-the-art techniques.
ANTH 5555 (U/G) Selected Topics in
Archaeology: Prerequisites: ANTH
1105 and ANTH 1107. Examination of selected topics in
archaeology. Topics will vary, with no topic repeated over four
consecutive semesters to accommodate students earning a minor in
anthropology. May be repeated for credit when topic is different.
