Undergraduate Course Listing

Anthropology is the study of humankind and anything to do with humans across time and space. This course surveys anthropology as a whole, emphasizing how biological, archaeological, linguistic, and cultural anthropology's topics, methods, and findings combine to create a holistic understanding of humanity's origins, prehistory, languages, and ways of life. Excludes ANTH 1000Y, 1020H.

This course surveys uses of anthropology to solve problems and achieve goals in business, sustainability, technology, development, health, education, forensics, politics, and careers. It explores ways anthropological research can improve the effectiveness of anything people set out to achieve, since humans are always part of the process. Offered only at Trent University Durham.

Explores the origin, development, challenges, and lessons of archaeological practice around the world, with a focus on specific, illustrative case studies drawn from the history of the discipline. Excludes AHCL 1001H.

Cross-listed: AHCL-1030H

Provides an introduction to the study of Classics through the story of the Trojan War, focusing on such topics as the nature of epic, the archaeology of the Bronze Age, and the reception and transmission of the Trojan War story in Greek art and literature. Excludes AHCL 1000Y, 1401H, 1402H.

Cross-listed: AHCL-1200H

An introduction to the history, theory, methods, and findings of cultural anthropology, the ethnographic study of contemporary peoples' ways of living and thinking. This course surveys systems of exchange, kinship, politics, and belief across cultures. Excludes ANTH 2000Y.

What is it like to live in different cultures and come to see the world as they do? Through in-depth encounters with several of the world's cultures through ethnographies, this course provides a cross-cultural understanding of humankind. Excludes ANTH 2000Y.

An overview of articulatory and instrumental phonetics, including the mechanics of speech production, the accurate transcription of speech in any language, and the use of instruments to study the physical nature of speech sounds. Students learn all characters and values of the International Phonetic Alphabet, an indispensable tool for linguistic study and research. Prerequisite: LING 1000Y or 1002H (or MODL 1000Y or 1001H). Excludes MODL 2010H.

Cross-listed: LING-2010H

An overview of the field of historical linguistics. Students are exposed to the principles and methods of historical research on languages, including topics related to language change and the reconstruction of extinct languages from their known daughter languages. Prerequisite: LING 1000Y or 1002H (or MODL 1000Y or 1002H). Excludes MODL 2020H.

Cross-listed: LING-2020H

An introduction to the origin, development, and diversity of technologies in human prehistory and ethnology. Includes archaeological, biological, cultural, and linguistic anthropological perspectives on the role of technologies in human evolution and culture change. Offered only at Trent University Durham.

Archaeology is a science that attempts to reconstruct and explain the evolution of cultural behavior in humans. This course surveys major topics in archaeology beginning with the earliest records of human culture to the emergence and expansion of agricultural societies. Excludes ANTH 2120Y.

A comparative survey of how archaeologists have documented and interpreted the evidence related to the emergence of proto-urban and urban settlements, city-states, and empires. Major themes addressed include political and social organization, craft production, art, religion, trade and exchange, social elites, and military power. Excludes ANTH 2120Y.

Archaeology is a complex discipline requiring an understanding of both the practical aspects of working on archaeological sites and material. This course introduces the practical aspects of archaeology of archaeological excavation methods and equipment. It is designed to provide students with an understanding of the fundamentals of archaeological work.

An exploration of archaeological science (dating techniques, isotopic analysis, ancient DNA, material characterization) through case studies with an emphasis on the articulation of scientific techniques and archaeological research questions. Themes explored include human origins, diet, migration, status, and trade. Prerequisite: 4.0 university credits.

The methods and achievements of archaeologists and the art history of Egypt from the period of the Pharaohs, through the Persians and the Greeks to the Romans. Prerequisite: 4.0 university credits.

Cross-listed: AHCL-2201H

An introduction to the major sites, monuments, and artefacts of ancient Greece from the Bronze Age through the Hellenistic Period, focusing on how material remains are used to reconstruct various aspects of ancient society. Topics include art and architecture, trade and exchange, religion, burial customs, economy, and state formation. Prerequisite: 4.0 university credits.

Cross-listed: AHCL-2205H

An introduction to Roman material culture from the Iron Age through the Late Empire. Topics include the development of a distinctively Roman culture, the influence of the Greek world, the spread of Roman imperialism, the impact of Christianity, and the continuing relevance of Roman institutions in modern society. Prerequisite: 4.0 university credits. Excludes AHCL-ANTH 2200Y.

Cross-listed: AHCL-2206H

Students learn about the roles of evolution, disease, and death in shaping modern human and non-human primate biology, behaviour, and distribution. Students learn more about research methods and applications of this research. Topics covered include evolution, infectious disease, growth and development, forensic anthropology, skeletal anatomy, and nutrition. Prerequisite: ANTH 1001H or 1010H (or 1000Y) or permission of instructor. Excludes ANTH 2400Y.

Focuses on the origins of plagues and the biological and social impact of major epidemics, past and present, on human societies. Themes explored include the role of human behaviour in the outbreak of disease, responses to epidemics, and human evolution and disease. Prerequisite: ANTH 2410H (or 2400Y) or permission of instructor. Excludes ANTH 3450H.

A general survey of the Order Primates, focusing on their history, classification, distribution, ecology, and behaviour within an evolutionary/adaptive context, with emphasis on the comparisons of non-human primates with the human species. Prerequisite: ANTH 1010H. Excludes ANTH-BIOL 3470H.

Cross-listed: BIOL-2470H

An interdisciplinary and comparative analysis of the impact of transformations in the world food system on contemporary agrarian societies. Prerequisite: 4.0 university credits or permission of instructor. Excludes IDST-ANTH 2210Y.

Cross-listed: IDST-2500H, SAFS-2500H, SOCI-2500H, GEOG-2500H

An examination of the impact of processes of commodification, market integration, and globalization on the social organization of food-producing rural communities in developing countries. Prerequisite: 4.0 university credits or permission of instructor. Excludes IDST-ANTH 2210Y.

Cross-listed: IDST-2600H, SAFS-2600H, SOCI-2600H

Geophysics is the study of geologic properties, processes and phenomena using non-destructive physical and mathematical methods, including reflection and refraction seismology, gravity and magnetics, and electrical and electromagnetic methods. This course emphasizes how geophysical techniques can be used for resource and archeological exploration, climate change detection, and environmental investigations. Prerequisite: PHYS 1001H or 1.0 MATH credit. Typically offered every other year.

Cross-listed: EGEO-3001H, FRSC-3001H

Buddhism is based in a canonical tradition. Buddhist practice, however, is embedded in-transformed by and transforming-local contexts. We explore ethnographic accounts of how the ideas of Siddhartha (The Buddha) variously exist in different cultural and social contexts. Prerequisite: ANTH 2001H (or 2000Y) or 9.0 university credits including ANTH 1020H or permission of instructor. Excludes ANTH 3780H on the topic of Buddhism, Culture, and Society.

Cross-culturally, people voluntarily go on journeys. In this course we consider the range, reasons, and cultural contexts of these journeys. Prerequisite: ANTH 2001H or permission of instructor.

Explores classic and contemporary anthropological discussions of the relationship between gifts and commodities. We explore a wide range of topics from personhood, identity, labour/work, gender, class, nature, and love, and examine how each of these are implicated in and constituted by the production, exchange and consumption of gifts, commodities and gift-commodity hybrids. Prerequisite or co-requisite: ANTH 3991H (or 3990Y) or permission of instructor. Excludes ANTH-SOCI 4100H.

Covers the archaeology of North America, from Paleoindians through the nineteenth century. Subjects include the shift from hunting and foraging to agriculture, the development of complexity, trade relationships and interregional interaction, shifting religious beliefs and practices, and the consequences of European contact and settlement. Prerequisite: ANTH 2121H and 2122H (or 2120Y), or permission of instructor. Excludes ANTH 3110Y.

A survey of the ancient Native civilizations of Mexico and Central America from the earliest settlement to the European conquest. Includes a study of Aztecs, Maya, Olmec, and other societies of Mesoamerica. Prerequisite: ANTH 2121H and 2122H (or 2120Y), or permission of instructor. Excludes ANTH 4120Y.

Examines the history of archaeological thought and practice, in addition to addressing archaeology's role in the contemporary world. Topics may include those related to evolution, the environment, health, identity, race, ethnicity, gender, urbanism, repatriation, and ethics, in addition to current and emerging debates in the discipline. Prerequisite: ANTH-AHCL 1030H and ANTH 2123H or permission of instructor. Excludes ANTH 3100Y.

The description and analysis of materials from archaeological contexts, including stone tools, bone tools, shell, and ecofacts. This course focuses on hands-on analysis of materials. Fundamental techniques of recording and cataloguing, such as drawing and photography of artifacts, are taught throughout. Prerequisite: ANTH 2121H and 2122H (or 2120Y), or permission of instructor. Excludes ANTH 3150Y.

Introduces students to basic methods for analyzing of archaeological ceramics and historic artifacts, focusing on ceramic technology and the production of glass and metal artifacts as technologies that transform raw materials into new substances. Prerequisite: ANTH 2121H and 2122H (or 2120Y), or permission of instructor. Excludes ANTH 3150Y.

Ancient biomolecules (proteins, lipids, DNA), the conditions under which they preserve, how they are isolated and analyzed. Topics include stable isotopes, ancient DNA, proteomics, and organic residue analysis. Labs provide students with hands-on experience with techniques commonly used in archaeological science (emphasis on bone chemistry). Prerequisite: ANTH 2150H, or 2.5 ANTH credits and three of BIOL 1020H, BIOL 1030H, CHEM 1000H, GEOG 1040H, or PHYS 1001H.

Cross-listed: BIOL-3153H, FRSC-3153H

Lectures and readings examine the science of climate change, outline how climate change influenced cultural development in the past, and assess how human perceptions of the environment conditioned the varying responses to climate change. Seminars focus on key methodological and/or theoretical issues, and specific case studies from the archaeological record. Prerequisite: 10.0 university credits or permission of instructor.

Cross-listed: ERSC-3185H, GEOG-3185H

The material culture of the Etruscans, who rivalled the major Mediterranean powers in trade and warfare and whose art, architecture, and beliefs profoundly influenced ancient Roman culture. Prerequisite: 4.0 university credits including ANTH-AHCL 2205H or 2206H (or 2200Y).

Cross-listed: AHCL-3240H

Although cultures are diverse, people of all cultures die. We explore the questions of death from the perspectives of many cultures as interpreted by anthropologists. In light of this cross-cultural examination, we ask what it means to be "mortal." Prerequisite: ANTH 2001H (or 2000Y) or permission of instructor.

By critically comparing archaeological and textual evidence with scholarly publications, we will examine attitudes toward culture and self-identification in ancient North Africa (ca. 700 BCE-450 CE), as expressed by both ancient peoples and scholars of the past circa 150 years, a period of tremendous change in political and academic thought. Prerequisite: 6.0 university credits. Excludes AHCL 3961H.

Cross-listed: AHCL-3275H, HIST-3275H

Covers the basic issues involved in situating diverse languages within diverse cultures and societies, placing the study of genres or ways of speaking in socio-cultural contexts of use, attending to the way people's ideas about what language is and what it is for shape the ways they speak. Prerequisite: 3.0 university credits. Excludes ANTH 2310Y, 2311H.

Cross-listed: MDST-3311H

A cross-cultural comparative anthropological exploration of how people's ideas about different media shape the ways they use these media in North America and Asia. The course focuses on the ethnographic exploration of East and Southeast Asian mobile media cultures and youth media subcultures (Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia). Prerequisite: 3.0 university credits. Excludes ANTH 2312H.

Cross-listed: MDST-3312H

A lab-based introduction to the anatomy and biology of the human skeleton. Topics include basic skeletal anatomy, bone biology and development, the functional morphology of bones, identification of complete and fragmentary bones, and skeletal pathology. Prerequisite: ANTH 2410H (or 2400Y). Excludes ANTH-BIOL-FRSC 3415Y, 3420H.

Cross-listed: BIOL-3404H, FRSC-3404H

An introduction to forensic anthropology. Focuses on the methods used by forensic anthropologists to analyze unidentified skeletal remains, including sex determination, age estimation, stature estimation, assessment of ancestry, and identification of trauma and pathology. Prerequisite: ANTH-BIOL-FRSC 3404H. Excludes ANTH-BIOL-FRSC 3415Y, 3420H.

Cross-listed: FRSC-3405H

A survey of the human life course through a bio-cultural lens, focusing on life history theory, demography, growth and development, adaptive human biology, determinants of health, and aging. The human species on the individual and population levels is seen as a product of evolutionary and biological forces, and of culture and and society. Prerequisite: ANTH 1001H or both 1010H and 1020H (or 1000Y), or permission of instructor.

Cross-listed: BIOL-3460H

Examines the act of burial from an archaeological perspective. We focus on temporal trends in mortuary customs from Neandertals to modern humans. Gender, age, ethnic, and social differences in burial patterns are also explored. Prerequisite: ANTH 2001H (or 2000Y) or both 2121H and 2122H (or 2120Y) or 2410H (or 2400Y); or ANTH-AHCL 2205H or 2206H (or 2200Y); or permission of instructor. Excludes ANTH-AHCL 4410H.

Introduces the analysis and interpretation of animal remains in archaeological sites. Students become familiar with the interpretation of faunal assemblages and learn through hands-on practice and discussions to think critically about the implications that can be drawn from these remains. Limited enrolment. Prerequisite: ANTH 2121H or 2122H (or 2120Y) or 2410H (or 2400Y) or permission of instructor. Excludes ANTH 3730Y.

Focuses on worlds creating in playable media (games), including both massively multiple online games (MMOGs) and tabletop role-playing games. "Virtual" society is now an increasingly taken-for-granted aspect of everyday sociality. This course develops tools and theories for the study of virtual worlds, online and offline. Prerequisite: 4.0 university credits.

Cross-listed: COIS-3745H, MDST-3745H

Explores anthropologically the concept of animation-the attribution of human agency and life to nonhumans or media forms that create such an "illusion of life"-covering animated nonhumans from religious images, dolls, puppets, automatons, and robots to animated characters and brand mascots across different animated media (cel animation, rotoscopy, stop-motion, puppetry). Prerequisite: ANTH 2001H or 2002H (or 2000Y) or 2312H (or 2310Y) or CUST 1535H (or 1035Y) or permission of instructor.

Cross-listed: CUST-3748H, MDST-3748H

Contemporary ("urban") legends are just one of many genres of storytelling analyzed by anthropologists and folklorists across cultures. This course uses linguistic anthropology to locate contemporary legends in relation to other narrative genres of folklore, including myths and fairytales, and new media forms, including the folklore of the internet. Prerequisite: One of ANTH 2001H, 2002H, 2311H, or 2312H (ANTH 2311H strongly recommended); or permission of instructor.

Examines classic issues in the anthropology of food. We focus on etiquette of food consumption, food and sex, food and religion and morality, food exchange and preparation, vegetarianism and meat eating, and cannibalism. Prerequisite: ANTH 2001H (or 2000Y) or permission of instructor.

Cross-listed: SAFS-3820H

Explores a practice at the center of human life everywhere: mobility. Explores how practices of mobility vary widely according to culture and historical period. Considers how people use their bodies as vehicles, and other vehicles and infrastructures of movement or its obstruction. Prerequisite: ANTH 2001H.

Structured thematically, this course surveys the principal theoretical developments in the discipline. Prerequisite: ANTH 2001H (or 2000Y). Excludes ANTH 3990Y.

Students gain practical experience in the processes of scholarly investigations and dissemination of findings by engaging in the ongoing research project of the instructor. Prerequisite: 10.0 university credits, including AHCL course(s) to be specified on a course-by-course basis.

Cross-listed: AHCL-4003H

An advanced research seminar in which students engage and contribute to a research question or theme defined by the course instructor. Topics vary by year and instructor. Prerequisite: 10.0 university credits and permission of instructor.

An advanced research seminar in which students engage and contribute to a research question or theme defined by the course instructor. Topics vary by year and instructor. Prerequisite: 10.0 university credits and permission of instructor.

ANTH 4020D is a double credit in Anthropology. ANTH 4010Y is a single credit because the same thesis is submitted to the other department/program in a joint-major. Students undertake a specific research project and write a thesis of 12,000 to 15,000 words on a well-defined topic. Arrangements begin with the chair of the department March 1 of the preceding academic year and departmental approval must be completed before March 31. Prerequisite: 9.0 university credits including ANTH 3100Y or 3991H (or 3990Y); courses directly relevant to the thesis topic; and a minimum 80% cumulative average in ANTH courses completed.

ANTH 4020D is a double credit in Anthropology. ANTH 4010Y is a single credit because the same thesis is submitted to the other department/program in a joint-major. Students undertake a specific research project and write a thesis of 12,000 to 15,000 words on a well-defined topic. Arrangements begin with the chair of the department March 1 of the preceding academic year and departmental approval must be completed before March 31. Prerequisite: 9.0 university credits including ANTH 3100Y or 3991H (or 3990Y); courses directly relevant to the thesis topic; and a minimum 80% cumulative average in ANTH courses completed.

The cultural identity of living peoples and the appreciation of the human past rely on the safeguarding of tangible heritage, yet physical remains of the past are under constant threat of destruction, disappearance, or distortion. What underlies these threats, and how effectively are legal and professional standards addressing them? Prerequisite: 8.0 university credits.

Cross-listed: AHCL-4145H

A critical review of the archaeology of the Great Lakes region of North America, from the earliest evidence of human presence to European colonization. Seminars address the long-term historical and evolutionary nature of landscapes and societies, focusing on environmental change and population history, technology, subsistence, settlement, trade and exchange, and socio-political organization. Prerequisite: ANTH 2121H and 2122H (or 2120Y), or permission of instructor. Excludes ANTH 4151Y.

Cross-listed: CAST-4155H, INDG-4155H

Anthropological collecting and display have made museums an arena for shifting relationships between settler-colonial society and Indigenous peoples. Critically examining recent practice in museum anthropology, including forms of repatriation and the use of anthropological collections by Indigenous researchers, this course explores implications of changing praxis for anthropology as a discipline. Prerequisite: 10.0 university credits.

Cross-listed: INDG-4165H

Considers the senses as culturally mediated, and culture as sensually mediated. Examines a diversity of historical and contemporary sensoria, and how these relate to social life, experience of the world, and claims to knowledge. Prerequisite: ANTH 2001H or 2002H or permission of the instructor. Excludes ANTH 3290H.

Provides students with a critical understanding of the theoretical models and archaeological evidence for the origins and spread of agricultural societies. The course will explore evolutionary, ecological and social theories and review genetic, linguistic, archaeobotanical, zooarchaeological and settlement data from Southwest and Southeast Asia, Europe and the Americas. Prerequisite: 9.0 university credits including ANTH 2121H and 2122H, or permission of the instructor. Excludes ANTH 4209H in 2009.

Cross-listed: SAFS-4350H

Focuses on the study of disease in human skeletal remains. Emphasis is placed on the description and diagnosis of bone pathology, theoretical issues underlying the reconstruction of the health of past populations, and recent molecular and microscopic approaches to the study of disease in bone. Prerequisite: ANTH-BIOL-FRSC 3404H and ANTH-FRSC 3405H (or ANTH-BIOL-FRSC 3420H or 3415Y) or permission of instructor.

Explores how and why past populations are reconstructed from skeletal samples, with emphasis on current theoretical and methodological issues in skeletal biology. Topics include methods of age estimation, growth and development, palaeodemography, palaeopathology, chemical analysis of bones and teeth, population studies, dental anthropology, and ancient DNA. Prerequisite: ANTH-BIOL-FRSC 3404H and ANTH-FRSC 3405H (or ANTH 3420H or 3415Y) or permission of the instructor. Excludes ANTH 3430H.

Analyzes some of the critical global health issues and challenges that face humanity in the new century, and the manner in which global institutions are addressing those issues. Interdisciplinary in scope, the course draws on scholarship from global public health, political economy, biopolitics, and human rights. Prerequisite: 14.0 university credits including 1.0 IDST or ANTH or SOCI credit at the 2000 level or permission of instructor.

Cross-listed: IDST-4512H, SOCI-4512H

Survey of the ancient and modern Maya of Central America. Examines the culture of the contemporary Maya, one of the largest Indigenous groups of the Americas, as well as the archaeology of pre-Columbian Maya civilization. Prerequisite: ANTH 2121H and 2122H (or 2120Y), or permission of instructor. Excludes ANTH 3710H.

An examination of ethnic consciousness and identity formation through theoretical and ethnographic case studies in a variety of settings. Identity construction in relation to the processes of development is explored, as is the articulation and comparison of ethnicity with gender, class, kinship, nationalism, and other markers of social and cultural difference. Prerequisite: 14.0 university credits including ANTH 2001H or 2002H (or 2000Y) or IDST 2000Y or permission of instructor.

Cross-listed: IDST-4750H, SOCI-4750H

Takes a critical anthropological perspective on the category of technology in its historical and social/ cultural contexts. Explores the social/cultural life of technological artifacts from steam engines to the Internet, with an emphasis on media technologies. Prerequisite: ANTH 2001H (or 2000Y) or 2312H (or 2310Y) or CUST 2035Y or 2535H or permission of instructor.

Cross-listed: MDST-4820H

Explores moral and ethical dimensions of food production and circulation. The politics of excess and want, national cuisines, reactions to industrial and fast food (the Slow Food movement, culinary connoisseurship). Food distribution, from home to restaurants and fast food joints, is examined in the context of changing demands of work. Prerequisite: ANTH 2001H (or 2000Y) or permission of instructor.

Cross-listed: POST-4830H, SAFS-4830H

Designed for students to pursue special interests largely through independent study. Signature of instructor and department required. Details to be arranged in advance consultation with faculty in Anthropology and proposals to be submitted to the chair of the department for approval and signature. Completed applications with the appropriate supporting documents will be forwarded to the Office of the Dean of Arts & Science for Approval prior to the add deadline for the requested term.

Designed for students to pursue special interests largely through independent study. Signature of instructor and department required. Details to be arranged in advance consultation with faculty in Anthropology and proposals to be submitted to the chair of the department for approval and signature. Completed applications with the appropriate supporting documents will be forwarded to the Office of the Dean of Arts & Science for Approval prior to the add deadline for the requested term.

Designed for students to pursue special interests largely through independent study. Signature of instructor and department required. Details to be arranged in advance consultation with faculty in Anthropology and proposals to be submitted to the chair of the department for approval and signature. Completed applications with the appropriate supporting documents will be forwarded to the Office of the Dean of Arts & Science for Approval prior to the add deadline for the requested term.

Designed to allow students in the fourth year of their Anthropology or Archaeology Honours program to pursue experiential research activities, either in the field or laboratory, under the direction of a department faculty member, normally within that person's ongoing research program. Prerequisite: Minimum 80% average in completed ANTH courses; 1.0 ANTH credit at the 3000 or 4000 level, and permission of the instructor. Additional specific course prerequisites depending on the faculty supervisor.

An interdisciplinary introduction to the topic of women and gender in science. How is gender difference understood within scientific disciplines? Why are women under-represented in various science and technological fields? How are women, and feminist scholarship, changing science? Prerequisite: 8.0 university credits including 1.0 GESO or WMST credit at the 3000 level or permission of instructor.

Cross-listed: GESO-4932H