Course listings are taken from the 2006-2008 Wagner College Undergraduate Bulletin. Courses added since this bulletin are partially listed in the Registrar's section of this website.
Anthropology
101 Introduction to Anthropology. A survey course to acquaint students with the basic principles of anthropological thinking, as well as with some of the discipline's research techniques. These will be explored through work in the four traditional subfields of anthropology: human biology, archaeology, linguistics and cultural anthropology. Offered fall and spring semesters.
201 Comparative Cultures. An introduction to the comparative study of culture through analysis of data from both simple and complex societies. Offered fall and spring semesters.
202 Biological Anthropology and Human Evolution. An introduction to the study of biological anthropology. This course explores the role evolutionary processes that account for modern human biologial variability and adaptation, including the concept of race. Students will examine the evolutionary history of the human species through the study of the fossil record, DNA, and comparative anatomy with our closest relatives, the primates. Current debates in human evolution will be discussed. Offered alternate fall semesters.
212 Archaeology An introduction to archaeology as a method of studying the human past. This course also explores some of the discipline's achievements in unearthing and interpreting the record of human cultural remains from earliest times through the advent of civilization. Offered spring semester.
221 Kinship and Society (I). A survey of the broad range of possibilities in kinship forms in various parts of the world and in subcultures of American society. Offered spring semester.
233 Archaeology and Cultures of Mesoamerica (I). An introduction to the archaeology and cultures of Mesoamerica, a geographic area that encompasses modern day Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduraa, and El Salvador. This course provides a survey of archaeological and cultural developments in Mesamerica, beginning with the earliest settlers to the region and continuing through colonial times following the Spanish conquest. Mesoamerica is home to a long and complex cultural traditions that encompasses such advanced civilization as the Olmec, Maya, Teotihuacan, Zapotec, Toltec, and Aztec.
An introduction to the archaeology and cultures of Mesoamerica, a geographic area that encompasses modern day Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduraa, and El Salvador. This course provides a survey of archaeological and cultural developments in Mesamerica, beginning with the earliest settlers to the region and continuing through colonial times following the Spanish conquest. Mesoamerica is home to a long and complex cultural traditions that encompasses such advanced civilization as the Olmec, Maya, Teotihuacan, Zapotec, Toltec, and Aztec.
234 Land of the Inca: Peru Past and Present (I). The rugged Andes Mountain range of South America provides an exceptionally difficult environment for human settlement and survival. Yet over the course of thousands of years, this area has produced some of the world's greatest civilizations and a unique and distinct cultural adaptation. This course focuses on the culture of the Peruvian Andes and traces its evolution from prehistoric to modern times. Themes explored include the development of Andean culture, a cultural description of the Incas and their empire which represent the zenith of independent Andean social evolution, and the survival and persistence of this culture to the present day despite nearly five hundred years of vigorous attempts to destroy it. Offered alernate spring semesters.
235 North American Indians (D). A survey of the native cultures of North American from the first appearance of humans in the Western hemisphere, through the confrontation with Europeans and the rise of Native American power movements. Offered alternate spring semesters.
241 Forensic Anthropology and Human Osteology. This course is an introduction to the field of forensic anthropology, the application of biological anthropolgy in legal contexts. This course will introduce students to human osteology, the study of the human skelton. Students will explore the principles and methods of forensic anthropology through lecture, reading, and laboratory experience. The course will focus not only on the sciences of human osteology and forensic anthropology, but will examine the legal framework in which they are applied, including criminal contexts, mass disasters, and human rights violations. Offered alternate fall semesters.
251 Sex, Gender and Culture. This comparative course emphasizes the varying ways in which sex and gender are culturally interpreted and socially organized among different human groups. An initial brief investigation of the biological foundations of human sexuality will provide the background for considering such culturally determined elements as: what defines masculinity verses femininity and heterosexuality verses homosexuality in various cultures; the roles and rituals that may be assigned to each gender; and the meanings attached to sexual behavior. Data will be drawn from both Western and non-Western societies. No prerequisites. Offered fall semester.
291 Special Topics in Anthropolgy. May be repeated once. Discussion and analysis of problems not covered in regular course work. The specific content of the course will remain flexible in response to student and departmental interests. Offered as required.
330 Native Cosmology and Worldview in the Andes (I). In this course we will explore the unique worldviews of the native inhabitants of the Andes of South Ameirca. Andean belief systems are principally represented in Spanish documents of the sixteenth century that describe the Inca, but are also illuminated by the modern practices of contemporary Andean peoples who are the Incas' descendants. Archaeology sheds further light on Andean beliefs and demonstrates their great antiquity. Through these sources we will examine beliefs and practices regarding life and death, religious worship, and the network of reciprocal obligations that encompass the individual and govern their lives. Pre-requisites: AN 101, 201 or 212. Restricted to juniors and seniors except by special permission of the instructor. Offered alternate fall semesters.
332 Archaeological Perspectives on the Ancient State (I). Why do we find the modern world composed of state-level complex societies? What processes and factors have caused human societies to organize in increasingly complex ways, often at the expense of individual autonomy and freedoms. Through written works, videos, and discussion, participants in this course will examine theories of the origin of the state and complex society. Pre-requisites: AN 101 or AN 212, and AN 331. Restricted to juniors and seniors except by special permission of the instructor.Offered alternate fall semesters.
333 Chiefdoms: An Archaeological Perspective on the Origin of Social Complexity. Since the Neolithic revolution some ten thousand years ago, chiefdoms have represented one of mankind's most common and successful governing structures. this course examines the questions of what a chiefdom is, how it is structured, and how it functions. A variety of chiefdoms, both simple and complex, and their operational strategies are examined. Pre-requisites: AN 101 or AN 212, restricted to juniors and seniors except by special permission of the instructor.
342 Bioarchaelogy and the Archaeology of Death. From the pyramids of ancient Egypt to the cemeteries of medieval Europe, from the tombs of Maya kings to the graves of colonial African American slaves, few aspects of the archaeological record offer more clues about the history, culture, and biology of past societies than the study of human burials. In this course, we will survey the array of anthropological approaches to the study of mortuary practices and human remains. We will begin the course by examining anthropological theories of death and the field of mortuary archaeology. Topics in mortuary archaeology will include the social role of funerary rites, cross-cultural differences in mortuary behavior, and the determination of social stratification from burials. Then we will move to bioarchaeology, the study of the human skelton from archaeological contexts. Topics in bioarchaeology will include paleopathology, paleodiet, paleodemography, and population affinity/ancient DNA. We will also adress important anthropological themes, such as migration, the biological consequences of agriculture and urbanization, the rise of social inequaltiy, conflict and warfare, and ethical issues in the study of human burials. Prerequisite: AN 202 or 241, or permission of the instructor. Offered alternate Spring semesters.
345 Practicum in Archeology (I). This is an intensive exposure designed to provide the student with practical experience in archaeological field methods. Students will participate in an actual archaeological project and explore a number of facets of archaeological fieldwork. Surveying, mapping, excavation, photography, scientific recording, and data analysis are among topics to be addressed. Offered summer session as required.
400 Senior Reflective Tutorial. This seminar course offers students the opportunity to apply anthropological practice through an experientiall learning experience. This may involve either an anthropological research project or an internship at a relevant field site. Students will meet weekly to discuss their field/research experience, drawing connections with their earlier coursework in anthropology, the Anthropology Theory course, and other current issues/debates in atnthropology. Students will prepare a major research paper that synthesized the results of their field/research experience. Pre-requisites: AN 201, 202, and 212. Offered fall semester.
491 Senior Seminar: Anthropological Theory. This course examines high points in the development of anthropological theory from the nineteenth to the the twenty-first century. Among the major schools fof thought included are nineteenth century evolutionism, the Boasian reaction, British and French social anthropology, neo-evolutionism, cultual materialism, symbolic anthropology, political economy, gender theory, practice theory, and post-modernism.
593 Independent Study in Anthropology. Designed to provide the advanced student an opportunity to pursue an anthropological problem in a relatively independent manner. Prerequisite: permission of the instructor. Offered fall and spring semesters.
