ANTH Course Descriptions

Anthropology (2009-2010)

A survey of the discoveries of Physical Anthropology and Anthropological Archaeology. Lectures on living and fossil primates, the fossil evidence for the origins and development of humans, and archaeological evidence concerning the origins and development of culture from the earliest tool making through the beginnings of civilization.

The dynamic nature of socio-cultural systems is examined. Topics include language, technology, social organization, economics, politics, and religion. Data are drawn from a broad ethnographic base, including both 'primitive' cultures and modern, developed societies.

A general introduction to the scientific study of language. Lectures on the nature of human language as compared with animal communication, some of the basic methods of historical and descriptive linguistics, and the importance of language in culture and society.

An introduction to the working assumptions, analytic approaches, and integrative and descriptive methods of archaeological anthropology.

An introduction to basic concepts used by social and cultural anthropologists for the analysis of social, economic, political and ideational systems.

This is a general introduction to North American Archaeology. The traditional cultural ecological approach is used.

Basic anthropological concepts, such as evolution, culture, gender adaptability and culture contact will be explored through examples from science fiction and related anthropological studies.

A comparative survey of selected societies in Africa. Topics covered include traditional and changing religious, social, economic and political systems, colonialism and its legacy and current issues and culture as reflected in art, literature and the media.

First Nations of the Subarctic, Northeast, Plains, Plateau, and Northwest Coast culture areas are described as they existed when initially contacted by Europeans. Consideration is given to economic adaptation, social organization, political structure, material culture, ritual and mythology.

An examination of Inuit and Eskimo cultures of Alaska, Canada and Greenland from their prehistoric origins to the present. Administrative systems imposed upon the Inuit and Eskimo will be analysed and compared, as will the contemporary problems these communities face.

Data, methods and theory in the study of the origin and evolution of humans are surveyed. Topics will include genetic theory, primate evolution, human fossils and modern human adaptation.

An introduction to the behaviour of non-human primates and its relevance to human development. Topics will include social organization, role behaviour, and communications patterns, as well as the history of primate studies.

The ability of audio-visual media to convey valid and accurate information on other ways of life is evaluated. Emphasis will be on recent attempts to record other cultures on motion picture film and video tapes. Pioneering efforts at 'scientific' illustration, as on voyages of exploration, as well as early still photography and sound recording, are also examined.

This course systematically examines research design and methodology in anthropology.

Anthropological approaches to magic, witchcraft, ritual, cosmology, and other aspects of the system of behaviour and belief known as religion.

Detailed consideration of prehistoric cultural developments from earliest toolmaking to the transition to agriculture. An examination of the human mode of adaptation and the increasing complexity of cultural systems among prehistoric hunters and gatherers. Areas and periods of emphasis will vary from year to year.

Cultural development from the agricultural revolution to the rise of literacy. Special attention to the development of agriculture as a means of subsistence and to the rise of early civilization. Areas and periods of emphasis will vary from year to year.

An in-depth study of the archaeological evidence for prehistoric cultures in the Great Lakes area from their arrival ca. 11,000 years ago to the coming of Europeans. Cultural ecology and cultural evolution will be stressed.

An examination of the relationships among environment, technology, society, and culture. The increasing levels of complexity will be considered in the context of hunting and foraging bands, horticultural tribes and chiefdoms, pastoral tribes and agricultural peasantry.

A detailed examination of the prehistoric development of human adaptations to the Inuit-Eskimo region of Arctic North America, eastern Siberia and Greenland. Topics covered will include the ecology of the Arctic and the culture history of the peoples who first colonized the region as revealed by archaeological research.

Directed independent research on or off campus.

This course is a survey of the field of medical anthropology. Topics will focus on contemporary global health issues, and will include international health NGO's, reproductive health and demographic change, epidemiological transitions, infectious disease transmission and treatment, culture and disease narratives, organ transplantation and the international trade in body parts, and environmental threats to human health.

This course examines the nature of tourism as cross-cultural contact and critiques the phenomena of mass travel and globalized tourism. The various perspectives of anthropologists and tourists in understanding culture will be explored.

An examination of the ways in which gender categories, sex roles and sexual behaviour are considered in the literature of cultural and physical anthropology.

An examination of the legal, social and cultural position of native minorities within the larger nation-state. The course will compare and contrast Canada's relation with its indigenous populations to those of the United States and other countries such as New Zealand and/or Australia.

An examination of the historical origins and development of culture theory. The major emphasis is on the period from the appearance of anthropology as a distinct discipline in the nineteenth century until the emergence of modern perspectives in the 1950s.

This laboratory course will survey the osteology of humans and common domestic animals, with an emphasis on recovery and identification of skeletal material at archaeological sites.

A detailed examination of the fossil evidence for human evolution with particular emphasis on interpretation and reconstruction.

Selected aspects of the contemporary native experience as defined by the local native community. The topics examined will be placed in historical perspective. Specially selected course lecturers will be representative of the wider native community.

This course features a combination of academic content and field experience.

The presence of kinship groups based upon matrilineal descent was a widespread, if scattered, phenomenon in aboriginal North America and the place of matrilineal kin groups in the evolution of human society has been subject to debate within anthropological theory. Selected societies - such as the Iroquois, Cherokee, Crow, Navajo, Hopi, and the Haida - will be examined to reveal the impact of a matrilineal system of descent on the economic, socio-political, and ideological structure of these groups.

Guided reading in a selected portion of the anthropological literature.

Guided reading in a selected portion of the anthropological literature.

Guided reading in a selected portion of the anthropological literature.

Guided reading in a selected portion of the anthropological literature.

This course features a combination of academic study and first-hand field study of cultures and visits to or work experience at museums and archaeological sites.

Seminar on current topics in method and theory in Anthropology. Focus will vary from year to year.

Seminar in current issues in the anthropology of the life cycle. This course will deal with child rearing, young adulthood, aging and the female and male life cycles, among other topics, from the perspectives of various cultures.

This course is an advanced version of ANTH 311, restricted to Honours students in Anthropology. Students will attend lectures in ANTH 311 and complete the readings for that course, but will also be required to write a substantial research paper and gain broader and deeper familiarity with the anthropological literature in this field.

An analysis of contemporary thought on culture contact and cultural evolution. The concepts explored might include integration, assimilation, conflict, nativistic reactions, and general and specific evolution.

A study of contemporary archaeological method and theory, with emphasis on the process of deriving inferences concerning past peoples and societies from different kinds of archaeological materials and data. Students will be required to carry out an analysis of an actual archaeological assemblage. Specific topics will vary from year to year.

This laboratory course will focus on the evaluation of human skeletal remains in archaeological and forensic contexts. Topics will include determination of basic biological categories, e.g. age, sex, race, evaluation of paleopathological conditions, and aspects of forensic anthropology.

An examination of the Principles of Variation in human evolution past and present. This will include the development of the genus Homo, adaptation of modern populations to heat, cold, altitude and stress, and the continuing micro-evolutionary development of humans.

This course focuses on methodological and ideational aspects of studying primate behaviour. Topics include fieldwork methods, comparative theoretical approaches, mother-infant interaction, infanticide, socialization and communications patterns.

Data gathering techniques will be studied and applied in field work on archaeological sites. Enrolment is limited.

Guided reading in a selected portion of the anthropological literature.

Guided reading in a selected portion of the anthropological literature.

Guided reading in a selected portion of the anthropological literature.

Guided reading in a selected portion of the anthropological literature.

Directed reading and research in a selected area of anthropology inquiry.

Directed reading and research in a selected area of anthropology inquiry.