Course Offerings

201. Introduction to Cultural Anthropology. Comparative study of culture as key to understanding human behaviors in different societies. Using a global, cross-cultural perspective, patterns of family life, economic and political activities, religious beliefs, and the ways in which cultures change are examined.

202. Introduction to Biological Anthropology & Archaeology. Human biological and cultural evolution, survey of the evidence from fossil forms and archaeology; as well as living primates and traditional cultures; introduction to methods of study in archaeology and biological anthropology.

230. Globalization and the Human Condition. An introduction to understanding key global issues in the contemporary world. Focuses on social relations, cultural practices and political-economic linkages among Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and the Pacific.

250. Contemporary Muslim Societies. An introduction to regional and global issues facing and shaping contemporary Muslim Societies. Discussion of history, cultures, and societies of the Islamic World. Emphasis is on the exploration of major topics: colonialism, nationalism, resurgence of Islamic politics, human rights and democracy, gender, social movements, new media, conflicts, threats of terrorism, and sustainable development.

257. Introduction to Museums. The history and theory of museums. An overview of museum in modern society, careers in museum and future needs.

306. Cultural Anthropology. Survey of the major theoretical, methodological and empirical foundations of cultural anthropology. Participatory lab: focus on ethnographic methods through individual research projects.

307. Biological Anthropology. Human evolution as known from fossil evidence, comparative primate studies, and genetic variations in living populations. Laboratory-tutorial sessions include study and discussion of human osteology, fossil hominids, simple Mendelian traits, and bioethics in applied biological anthropology.

308. Archaeology. Methods and techniques for the recovery and interpretation of archaeological evidence, its role in reconstructing human behavior and past environments. Laboratory sessions include experience in the interpretation of archaeological evidence, the use of classification systems, and prehistoric technologies such as ceramics and stone tools. Field trips.

309. Linguistic Anthropology. Language as a human attribute; language versus animal communication; human communication in cultural context; paralanguage, kinesics, proxemics, artifacts as communication; language and culture; cross-cultural sociolinguistics; ethnoscience; and language policies. Participatory lab; focus on linguistic analysis of non-Western language and communication system.

313/513. The Family and Kinship in Cross-Cultural Perspective. Comparative and historical overview of family, marriage and kinship crossculturally; discussion of differences in the structure, cycle, and functioning of family and kin relations through ethnographic readings, including Euro-American examples; current critical and theoretical issues in kinship studies, especially integrating work on gender, sexuality and representation.

315/515. Archaeology of North America. Prehistory and early history of North America as reconstructed from archaeological evidence; peopling of the New World; culture-historical sequences of major culture areas; linkages of archaeological traditions with selected ethnohistorically known Native American groups.

319/519. Skeletal Biology. Comprehensive study of the skeletal anatomy, physiology, genetics, growth, development and population variation of the human skeleton. Applications to forensic anthropology, paleopathology and bioarchaeology are introduced.

321/521. World Prehistory. An introduction to archaeological sites from around the world including the Near East, Africa, Europe, Mesoamerica, and North and South America. Emphasis is on the interpretation of material cultural remains in reconstructing past societies.

322/522. Peoples and Cultures of Native North America. Origin, distribution, and traditional life of native peoples of North America. Survey of culture areas; ecology and subsistence, language, kinship, life cycle, political, economic, and religious systems; impact of European contact.

323/523 Peoples and Cultures of Latin America. Exploration of contemporary cultural dynamics of Latin America within specific historical, political and economic contexts; discussion of current anthropological approaches to studying key issues of race, ethnicity, class and gender in Latin America.

325/525. Peoples and Cultures of Africa. Origins and distribution of peoples of Africa; geographical characteristics as related to culture types, including early civilizations; a comparative examination of economic, subsistence, language, social and political organization, and religious systems throughout the continent; change processes, the impact of colonialism, and the nature of contemporary African societies.

326/526. Peoples and Cultures of East and Southeast Asia. Origin and development of early civilizations on the western rim of the Pacific Ocean, including China, Japan and mainland and insular Southeast Asia. Survey of current issues among these societies in ecological, historical, and ideological contexts.

327/527. Peoples and Cultures of South Asia. Provides a historical, cultural and political-economic understanding of the people of the South Asian region comprising the countries of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and Maldives. Covers issues such as ancient roots, colonialism and its impacts, caste and class, development, religions and communalisms, gender, social movements, and the issue of South Asians in diaspora.

333/533. African American Ethnology. Ethnographic approaches to the study of African Americans in a cross-cultural and historical perspective; race relations in the Americas.

335/535. Peoples and Cultures of the Middle East. Anthropological approaches to the study of Middle East cultures. Survey of major culture areas. Discussion of economic, political, and social and religious issues and systems. Examination of contemporary social movement.

337/537. Andean Archaeology. Survey of prehistoric Andean cultures of Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador; the archaeology of the Incas and their ancestors. Emphasis on prehistoric economic, religious, and political organization, the rich material culture recovered through archaeological records; and the use of ethnohistoric texts and modern ethnographies to reconstruct the prehistory of Andean societies.

340/540. Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion. Origin and development of indigenous magico-religious systems; myth and ritual; therapeutic aspects; symbols and meanings; religion and sociocultural change, including acculturation, nativistic and revitalization movements.

411/511. Culture Change and Applied Anthropology. Theoretical and practical considerations of human cultural development. Examination of theories of cultural change, culture contact and acculturation. Dynamics of directed change in contemporary world cultures. Principles, theories, and ethics of international development projects from a sociocultural perspective.

412/512. Psychological Anthropology. Relationship of cultural, social, and personality factors in human behavior. Cross-cultural comparisons of child rearing practices, cognitive development, mental health, deviancy, ethno-psychiatry, altered states of consciousness, and psychological dimensions of culture change.

414/514. Southwestern Archaeology. Prehistoric archaeology of the American Southwest, including the Paleo-indian and Archaic periods; the adoption of agriculture; the emergence of pueblo societies; relationships with contemporary Southwest cultures.

416/516. Environmental Archaeology. Examination of relationships between the biophysical environment and socio-cultural organization in the archaeological record. Survey of methods used in environmental sciences by archaeologists to understand the human ecosystem.

418/518 Global Cultures, Consumption and Modernity. Cross-cultural study of the impact of globalization, with an emphasis on economic consumption and the movement of goods, ideas and peoples across cultural and national boundaries.

420/520. Cultural Continuity and Change in the Prairie-Plains. Ecological adaptations, sociocultural changes, and continuities of traditions among Prairie and Plains Indian groups through time; impacts of Euro-American society and technology on Indians of the Great Plains; perspectives from ecology, archaeology, ethnology, history and contemporary literary sources.

424/524. Forensic Anthropology. Comprehensive study of forensic anthropology, a specialized subfield of biological anthropology. Emphasis is placed on personal identifications from extremely fragmentary, commingled, burnt, cremated and incomplete skeletal remains. All parameters of forensic study are included as they pertain to anthropology, including human variation, taphonomy, entomology, archaeology, pathology, epidemiology; genetics and the non-biological forensic disciplines. An appreciation for the wide range of medicolegal and bioethical issues will also be gained.

427I. Archaeology. ( Iowa Lakeside Laboratory)

428/528. Archaeological Laboratory Methods and Techniques. Laboratory processing, analysis, and interpretation of archaeological materials such as lithics, ceramics, and faunal remains. Laboratory sessions emphasize analytical techniques including classification, data acquisition and organization, and computer applications
A. Lithics
B. Ceramics
C. Faunal remains
D. General

429/529. Archaeological Field School. Summer field school for training in archaeological reconnaissance and excavation techniques; documentation and interpretation of archaeological evidence.

432/532. Current Issues in Native North America. Conditions and issues of contemporary Native Americans, historical background of eighteenth and nineteenth century Indian-White relationships; examination of legal status, the reservation system, treaty violations, Indian militancy, education and urbanization, self-determination, social impact of resource development, and other current concerns.

434. Internship. Supervised practice in government agencies, museums, and business organizations.

436/536. Development Anthropology. Historical and theoretical basis of the practices of development, applied and economic anthropology. Covers a wide range of topics such as the role of aid and institutions of development, indigenous knowledge, rural development projects, organization of production, migration, health, and environment.

438/538. Primate Evolutionary Ecology and Behavior. Primate behavior and ecology in evolutionary perspective:
biological and social adaptations of prosimians, monkeys, and apes. Introduction to the Order Primates, basic evolutionary concepts, and techniques of behavioral observation. Focus on theory and methods current in Primatology, including applied conservation biology.

439/539. Medical Anthropology. Study of human health in cultural and environmental context; comparison of health and disease patterns of western and non-western populations; healing systems; use of epidemiological models in understanding illness and disease etiologies cross-culturally; interrelationship between diet and culture.

442/542. Ecological Anthropology. Human interactions with the physical environment; Western and non-Western theories and methods of natural resource use and management; institutional, scientific, and linguistic views of nature; contemporary issues of global significance.

444/544. Sex and Gender in Cross-Cultural Perspective. Cross-cultural examination of the social construction of genders out of the biological fact of sex. Emphasis on non-western societies. Topics, presented through examination of ethnographic data, will include the range of gender variation, status and roles, the institution of marriage, and symbols of gender valuation.

445/545. Biological Anthropology Field School. Summer field school for training in behavioral and ecological methods for primatologists. Proposal, collection and analyses, and presentation of research topic in primatology.

450. Survey of Historical and Theoretical approaches in Anthropology. Survey of the historical foundations of anthropology and its interrelated four sub-fields; key figures in 19th and 20th century anthropology with a focus on major theoretical contributions.

451. Practicum in Anthropology. Application of methods under actual laboratory and field conditions, including basic data management, synthesis and analysis.

490 A. Archaeology

490B. Cultural Anthropology

490C. Biological Anthropology

490D. Linguistic Anthropology

490H. Honors

491X. Senior Seminar In Career Development. Transition from student to professional. Career development procedures including self-assessment, short- and long-term goals, strategies for the job search, development of contacts and sources, resumes and interviews.

500. Language and Culture. Approaches to the study of the relationship between language structure, world view, and cognition; social and structural linguistic variation; cross-cultural aspects of verbal and non-verbal communication; linguistic change; contemporary applications of linguistic anthropology.

503. Biological Anthropology. Survey of the history of biological anthropology, current developments and theoretical issues in evolution, human variation and adaptation, population studies, primates and primate behavior and paleoanthropology.

509. Agroecosystems Analysis. Experiential, interdisciplinary examination of Midwestern agricultural and food systems, emphasizing field visits, with some classroom activities. Focus on understanding muliple elements, perspectives (agronomic, economic, ecologic, social, etc.) and scales of operation.

510. Theoretical Dimensions of Cultural Anthropology. Survey of historical and current developments in topical and theoretical approaches to sociocultural anthropology. Examination and assessment of controversies, new research directions and theoretical approaches.

530. Ethnographic Field Methods. Field training experience in ethnography. Problems emphasizing field studies in the contemporary societies of the world. Focus on techniques of data gathering and analysis.

555. Seminar in Archaeology. Examination of the history of anthropological archaeology and current issues and debates concerning methods, theories and the ethics of modern archaeology.

590. Graduate Independent Study.

591X. Orientation to Anthropology. Introduction to the Anthropology program, including the requirements for a successful degree completion and the future trends in the four subfields.

597X. Global Seminar: Environment and Sustainable Food Systems. Analysis and discussion of global issues of sustainability of the environment and food systems, including ecological, social, cultural, economic, political, ethical and technological aspects. Students collaborate with peers at several universities around the world using interactive communication technologies to examine case studies.

610. Economy, Society and Technology in Sustainable Food Systems. Historical, biophysical, socioeconomic, and ethical dimensions of agricultural sustainability. Strategies for evaluating existing and emerging systems of agriculture in terms of core concepts of sustainability and their theoretical contexts.

699. Research