Anthropology

at Northern Kentucky University

Anthropology Courses

100 -
Cultural Anthropology (3,0,3) Definition and nature of culture, its content and structure (e.g., kinship, politics, and religion); basic field methods; emphasis on non-western cultures. A general education course (behavioral sciences or non-western). Offered every semester.
110 -
Introduction to Archaeology (3,0,3) Change and development of prehistoric cultures from 3 million B.C. to early civilizations; selected Old World and New World cultures. Basic archaeological methods. A general education course (behavioral sciences). Offered every semester.
201 -
World Cultures (3,0,3) Survey of world cultures, primarily non-literate, using various anthropological approaches; development from simple to more complex cultural systems. A general education course (behavioral sciences or non-western). Offered every semester.
202 -
Introduction to Physical Anthropology (3,0,3) Human genetics, primate behavior, humankind as biological organisms, relation of humans to culture, human evolution. COREQ: ANT 202L. Offered every spring.
202L-
Introduction to Physical Anthropology Laboratory (0,2,1) Laboratory focusing on human genetics, primate behavior, and human osteology. COREQ: ANT 202. Offered every spring.
210 -
Introduction to Archaeological Method and Theory (3,0,3) Methods of archaeological excavation and analysis; how archaeologists interpret excavated material and reconstruct prehistoric ways of life. Offered every fall.
215 -
Archaeological Field Methods (3 sem. hrs.) Archaeological excavation methods; excavation at an archaeological site; excavation, recording, mapping, analysis. Offered every summer intersession.
230 -
North American Indians (3,0,3) Origin; traditional ways of life; current position in American society. A general education course (behavioral sciences or non-western). Offered every fall.
231 -
Modern American Indians (3,0,3) Current problems faced by Indian populations in North America; history of Indian-white and Indian-black relations; relations to federal government. A general education course (behavioral sciences or non-western). Offered every spring.
240 -
Peoples of Africa (3,0,3) Archaeology, geography, history, and cultures of Sub-Saharan Africa to the present; culture area concept. A general education course (behavioral sciences or non-western). Offered every spring.
245 -
Peoples of Latin America (3,0,3) Contemporary cultures of Latin America; problems of contact, colonization, acculturation, development of the area cultural tradition, and contemporary urbanization. A general education course (behavioral sciences or non-western). Same as SOC 245. Offered every fall.
270 -
Native Australia and Oceania (3, 0, 3) Origin; traditional ways of life of native peoples of Australia, Polynesia, Micronesia, and Melanesia; modern conditions. A general education course (behavioral sciences or non-western). Offered every spring.
273 -
Race, Gender, and Culture (3,0,3) Race and gender as complex historical and cultural constructs; focus on the legacy of slavery involving racialized, sexualized, gendered and class-based identities. Develop understanding of contemporary racial/gender identities and interrelationships. A general education course (behavioral sciences or race/gender). Offered every spring.
275 -
Language and Culture (3,0,3) Methods and case studies in anthropological linguistics; relationship between language and culture; language structure. PREREQ: ANT 100. Offered every fall.
294 -
Topics: Studies in Anthropology (3,0,3) Selected topics in anthropology and archaeology taught at the sophomore-level. A general education course (behavioral sciences).
301 -
World Patterns of Race and Ethnicity (3,0,3) Patterns of inter-group relations in multi-ethnic societies (e.g., South Africa, Brazil, Israel, and Northern Ireland); similarities and differences between these and U.S. Same as SOC 301. PREREQ: ANT 100 or SOC 100. Offered every fall.
307 -
Museum Methods (2,2,3) Actual work experience in museums, stressing an anthropological and research orientation; history of museums and their role in the development of anthropology. Offered every spring.
308 -
Cultural Resource Management (3,0,3) Practical, ethical, and legal issues surrounding the preservation of prehistoric and historic cultural resources on the local, state and national level. How to locate projects, make proposals and conduct CRM surveys; writing, submitting and reviewing reports; maintaining good community relations. PREREQ: ANT 210. Offered spring in even-numbered years.
310 -
African Arts (3,0,3) Survey of African arts in their cultural context, including wood and metal sculpture, pottery, textiles, decorative arts, architecture, music, dance, and other arts. PREREQ: 3 credit hours of ANT or ART courses. A general education course (behavioral sciences or non-western). Offered fall in even-numbered years.
312 -
Social Organization (3,0,3) Study of "primitive," peasant, and urban social organization; associations based on kinship, ethnic affiliation, age, and gender. PREREQ: ANT 100. Offered every fall.
317 -
Ecological Anthropololgy (3,0,3) Examines the modern contributions of cultural ecology, ethnoecology, and evolutionary ecology towards understanding ecosystemic and cultural connections between human populations and their environment. PREREQ: ANT 100. Offered spring in odd-numbered years.
318 -
Prehistoric Ecology (3,0,3) This course examines human adaptations to local environments from prehistory to early civilizations from an anthropological and archaeological perspective; examines environmental issues using case studies including hunter-gather societies and early farmers, to early civilizations and urbanization. PREREQ: 3 hours anthropology. Offered fall in odd-numbered years.
320 -
Religion and Culture (3,0,3) Anthropological approaches to the study of religion, religious beliefs, and practices of selected non-western and western cultures. PREREQ: ANT 100 or ANT 201. Offered spring in even-numbered years.
325 -
Applied Anthropology (3,0,3) Practical uses to which anthropological methods and theory can be put towards solving contemporary social and cultural problems through research, policy development, and administration. Students will examine cross-cultural case studies from specialties within applied anthropology and complete a career-oriented research project. PREREQ: ANT 100. Offered every spring.
330 -
Women, Gender and Culture, a Global Perspective (3,0,3) Examines the position of women in various cultures around the world: considers women's roles in local and world subsistence, economic, political, family, religious, and other institutions; examines the cultural construction of gender; seeks explanations for women's low status and women's struggle against loss of power. PREREQ: junior standing. Offered every fall.
335 -
Advanced Archaeological Field Methods (3 sem. hrs.) Further experience in excavation, recording, mapping; excavation at an archaeological site. PREREQ: ANT 215. Offered every summer intersession.
336 -
Historical Archaeology (3,0,3) Provides an overview of Historical Archaeology as a developing and changing discipline, as practiced in the United States. Includes research on diverse minority groups, cemeteries, landscape, industrial, and urban archaeology, and studies the influences of European settlement on the Americas. PPREREQ: 3 hours anthropology. Offered fall in odd-numbered years.
339 -
Introduction to Ethnographic Research (1,0,1) Intro to principles of ethnographic research; readings; design of an ethnographic project. PREREQ: ANT 100, junior standing and consent of instructor. Offered every spring.
340 -
Ethnographic Methods (3,0,3) Each student conducts an individual ethnographic research project to be completed during the semester. COREQ: ANT 339. PREREQ: ANT 100; junior standing or consent of instructor. Offered every spring.
342 -
Quantitative Methods in Anthropology (3,2,4) Theoretical foundations and methods used to conduct quantitative analysis in anthropology. This course includes a laboratory component where students practice methods learned in lecture. Topics include: research design, ethics, human subjects protection, research design, sampling, GIS/Mapping, interviewing, questionnaires, and computer aided data analysis. PREREQ: ANT 100 and STA 205. Offered fall in odd-numbered years.
345 -
Environmental Anthropology (3,0,3) Sociocultural patterns of human-environmental interaction; applied research on and policy solutions to environmental problems in the western and non-western worlds. Offered fall in even-numbered years.
350 -
North American Archaeology (3,0,3) Prehistoric cultures and cultural developments in the United States and Canada from the first settlement to late prehistoric times; regional cultural developments. PREREQ: ANT 100, ANT 110, or ANT 210. Offered fall in odd-numbered years.
352 -
Archeology of Mesoamerica (3,0,3) Major pre-Colombian cultures of Mexico and Central America from earliest times until the Spanish conquest (Aztecs, Mayas, etc.); rise of towns, ceremonial centers, cities, states, and empires; development and elaboration of area and regional cultural traditions; selected problems in Mesoamerican prehistory. PREREQ: 3 hours anthropology. Offered fall in even-numbered years.
355 -
Archaeological Laboratory Analysis (2,2,3) Follow-up study of excavated materials; artifact description, measurement, and analysis by students. PREREQ: ANT 210. Offered fall in even-numbered years.
358 -
Art and Culture (3,0,3) Arts and art styles of Native North America, Africa, Oceania, and other cultures; examination of arts,including sculpture, textiles, pottery, music, festival, etc., and their relationship to the broader culture. PREREQ: 3 semester hours of anthropology or art. Offered fall in odd-numbered years.
360 -
Indians of Mexico and Guatemala (3,0,3) Aboriginal cultures of Mexico and Guatemala; economic, social, political, and religious aspects of traditional and contemporary Indian cultures. PREREQ: ANT 100 or ANT 201. Offered every spring.
363 -
Language and Thought (3,0,3) Examines how the content of thought or knowledge, is created, organized, and distributed in human communities. Topics include taxonomies, schemas, and models of cultural knowledge. PREREQ: ANT 100 and junior standing. Offered spring in even-numbered years.
370 -
Celtic Europe (3,0,3) Ethnographic examination of Celtic Europe. Brief look at Pre-Celtic Europe followed by appearance of Celts, earliest written descriptions of Keltoi, invasion of the Insular Celts, linguistic differences between Celts. Description of Celtic culture from written and folkloristic sources, and modern ethnographies leads into Celtic influence in modern global economy. PREREQ: ANT 100. Offered every fall.
371 -
Psychological Anthropology (3,0,3) Insight is gained into nonwestern mental processes, how syncretistic religions can act as transcultural psychiatric therapy, and why western psychiatric diagnoses may not apply to people in other cultures. The student is to develop an understanding of the historical development of a theoretical orientation. PREREQ: ANT 100. Offered spring in even-numbered years.
372 -
Peasant Societies (3,0,3) Peasants in the anthropological sense are poor subsistence cultivators. They are a major component of the global population and major contributors to global economics. The student will gain some insight into non western, non-mechanized farming, and why modern industrial economics may not apply to peasant cultivators. PREREQ: ANT 100. Offered every winter session.
375 -
Anthropology of Aging (3,0,3) This is a course in aging. Aging begins at the moment of birth. It is addressed cross culturally and is examined theoretically, historically, ritually, and autobiographically. The student will learn the life history method first hand. PREREQ: ANT 100. Offered spring in odd-numbered years.
380 -
Origins of Civilization (3,0,3) The six major early civilizations: Mesopotamia, Egypt, Indus Valley, China, Mesoamerica, and Peru; archaeological background of the development of early civilization; various theories on the development of civilization. PREREQ: ANT 100, ANT 110, or ANT 201. Offered spring in even-numbered years.
385 -
Peoples of East and Southeast Asia (3,0,3) This course provides an anthropological overview of East and Southeast Asia from prehistory to the present; examines issues in this region including ethnicity and traditional ways of life, acculturation, conflict, impact of globalization and industrialization, and Asian Diasporas. PREREQ: 3 hours of anthropology. Offered fall in even-numbered years.
391 -
Research Practicum I (3,0,3) Placement with agency for supervised experience in developing or applying research skills. Students will also meet with other practicum students and faculty field supervisors. Same as SOC 391. PREREQ: ANT 460. Offered every semester.
392 -
Research: Archaeology (1-6 sem. hrs.) Student investigation of selected archaeological topics chosen in consultation with instructor. PREREQ: ANT 210 and consent of instructor.
394 -
Topics: Anthropology (3,0,3) A newer development in any phase of anthropology. See Schedule of Classes for current topic and prerequisites.
401 -
Culture Theory (3,0,3) Development of the discipline; major theoretical and anthropological contributions. PREREQ: ANT 312. Offered spring in odd-numbered years.
410 -
Archaeological Theory (3,0,3) Theoretical bases of archaeological research; research design, analysis, and interpretation; socio-cultural reconstruction. PREREQ: ANT 210. Offered spring in even-numbered years.
460 -
Research Practicum Preparation (1,0,1) Small-group seminar to introduce practicum skills: finding a placement assignment, writing a project proposal, making a contract, working with agency/business personnel, working in teams, scheduling projects, writing reports, and managing time. Same as SOC 460. PREREQ: SOC 322 or ANT 325. Offered every semester.
480 -
Advanced Anthropological Concepts (1,0,1) Assessment testing, directed readings and individual projects in anthropology. To be taken in the anthropology major's last semester. Offered every semester.
491 -
Research Practicum II (3,0,3) Continuation of ANT 391. Same as SOC 491. Offered every semester.
499 -
Independent Study (1-6 sem. hrs.) Specialized aspect or topic in anthropology chosen by student and appropriate faculty member for study. PREREQ: junior or senior standing.
594 -
Topics: Anthropology (3,0,3) A special topic in any area of anthropology. For graduate students and advanced undergraduates. Repeatable up to 12 semester hours when topics vary.
640 -
Ethnographic Methods for Educational Research (3,0,3) Basic issues and problems in the design and conduct of ethnographic and other qualitative research methods as applied to education; proposal writing, ethics, entree, gathering field data, data management and analysis, and final writing and presentation of results. Offered every spring.
694 -
Topics: Anthropology (3,0,3) A special topic in any area of anthropology. Repeatable up to 12 semester hours when topics vary.
699 -
Independent Study: Anthropology (1-6 semester hours) Specialized topic in anthropology chosen by student and appropriate faculty member for study. Repeatable up to 12 semester hours when topics vary.