Course Descriptions 2017-2018: Department of Anthropology

Course Descriptions 2017-2018

Courses primarily for:

Courses Primarily for First-Year and Sophomore Students

101-6-21 – First Year Seminar: How the 99% Live

In this seminar, students will read about, discuss, write about, and thus gain the intellectual tools to begin to evaluate past and present American urban inequalities—including not only those of class, but also race/ethnicity, gender & sexuality, nationality. We will read across several different academic disciplines and journalism to become familiar with key analytic concepts, methods, and historical phenomena, such as the Great Compression, the War on Poverty, urban regimes, ethnography, political economy. Using them, we will explore arenas of inequality: employment; urban space, housing, migration, and neighborhoods; schooling, criminal justice, the public sphere. We will watch two highly relevant videos. And for one class session, we will host and read work written by noted crusading Chicago Reader journalist Ben Joravsky, an expert on many of these issues in Chicago.

101-6-21 – First Year Seminar: Making the Fittest: Issues in Evolution

We recently celebrated the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth. But what would he think of our world today? We have a sophisticated understanding of genes and the ability to trace our ancestry over generations. Yet despite this knowledge, conclusive and irrefutable proof that we have or are continuing to evolve has not been found. In this course we will address where we might have come from and where we might be going. We will cover some of the major "issues" in biological evolution ranging from those of originating in Darwin's time to the many questions that persist today.

101-6-21 – First Year Seminar: Natives Beyond Nations

Indigenous peoples around the world are often imagined as "traditional" and "local" with customs "as old as time." But in reality Indigenous peoples engage with the globalizing processes of the 21st century just as the rest of their fellow humans do. This course surveys key issues in Indigenous peoples' lives as related to globalization, transnationalism, and diaspora. We will explore theoretical approaches from Native American and Indigenous Studies as well as ethnographic examples from Asia, Oceania, Europe, and throughout the Americas.

ANTH 101-6-22 – First Year Seminar: An Anthropology of Westeros: Theorizing a Game of Thrones

George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire (ASOIAF) deliberately poses questions, but also embeds assumptions about the nature of humanity. How do elites maintain power? How do cultures develop such vastly different technologies, worldviews, and expectation of gender and sexuality? Is violence inevitable in a world of conflicting interests and limited resources? Do ‘great players’ dictate the course of history or are our fates tied to the unassailable power of climatic forces? Anthropologists pursue these same questions as they strive to understand human diversity on earth. In this course students will examine ASOIAF from an anthropological perspective and learn to identify and evaluate theories of human nature that the saga poses. Discussion will center upon six major themes – ORIGINS, OTHERS, BODIES, VIOLENCE, MATERIAL/IMMATERIAL, ENVIRONMENT AND ECONOMY. “Power is a curious thing”, and inspired by the riddle Varys poses to Tyrion, we will question throughout: where does power reside? How do the stories we tell about ourselves hold the power to shape our destinies for good or ill?

101-6-22 – First Year Seminar: Anthropology of Time

This seminar for freshmen will stress critical thinking and writing. Its theme will be deriving and applying social and cultural frameworks for understanding the dynamics of time or, more generally, temporalities. Ideas about time pervade human experience. Time also provide templates for academic theory -- anthropological theory of the past, for example, depicted societies in an evolutionary continuum from primitive to modern. Among the domains in which temporal dimensions of experience loom large are bodily and farming cycles, memory, history, and ritual. The forms that time and temporalities can take, however, are immensely variant. The course will touch on these and other themes. Of particular interest will be society\'s views of the ordering and pacing of life events. The course will center on an ethnographic research project based on field notes, observations, and participant observation. Sessions and readings are designed to work toward this, focusing on ideas of time, plus skills in framing a research question, developing a bibliography of readings to accompany it, and establishing a point of view. Student projects will concern something close at hand involving time.

101-6-22 – First Year Seminar: Fantastic Archaeology: Science & Pseudoscience

Did astronauts from another planet establish ancient civilizations on Earth? Were the Americas discovered by Columbus, a Ming dynasty fleet or by Vikings much earlier? Did the Maya Aztec build their pyramids to resemble those of dynastic Egypt? Television is replete with stories of ancient aliens and archaeological mysteries. The impact of such alternative realities on society and history cannot be discounted. They have been used to support nationalistic agendas, racial biases, and religious movements, all of which can have considerable influence on contemporary society.

In this course, we will study "fantastic" stories, puzzles, hoaxes, imaginative worlds and alternative theories. We will learn when, how and what kinds of evidence these alternative theories have used to fascinate the public and illustrate their hoaxes. We will question such theories by using critical thinking and analytical tools to diagnose what is fact and fiction. We will utilize the surviving evidence that archaeologists find to understand cultural contact and interactions.

101-6-23 – First Year Seminar: Modern Plagues

At the height of the 2013-2016 West African Ebola epidemic, it was often said that the fears of the disease globalized more quickly than the disease itself. These kinds of statements - and the proliferation of official efforts to control Ebola outbreak in West Africa and elsewhere - show the significance of cultural, social, political and economic dimensions of epidemics. This first-year seminar privileges a critical medical anthropology perspective on the dynamics of epidemics: from disease transmission to prevention and control. Together, we will investigate how complex interactions among social, cultural, political, economic, and environmental factors influence the natural history of infectious disease and public health efforts to understand and address them. The seminar focuses on contemporary problems and issues with the explicit purpose of addressing questions of equity and justice.

101-6-24 – First Year Seminar: Wrestling

Professional wrestling is often disparaged as "fake" and its fans are seen as dim-witted, low-class rednecks. But in many ways professional wrestling reflects the society in which it is created and enjoyed. This class looks at wrestling in a variety of contexts, including the United States, Mexico, Japan, India, and Bolivia, to examine what we might learn about broader social contexts from this form of pop culture. Taking an anthropological eye to wrestling, we will examine issues of race, class, gender, sexuality, and citizenship through ethnographic accounts of various forms of exhibition wrestling. The course will teach students basic anthropological concepts, critical observation and thinking, as well as research and writing techniques.

105 – Evolution and Social Behavior: The Basics

Introduction to anthropology; the biological evolution of humankind; the evolution of culture; and the comparative study of existing or historically recorded societies.

211-0-20 – *Culture and Society

How do cultural anthropologists ask and answer questions about the vast diversity of human life and experience? This course introduces the history, methods, and concepts of cultural anthropology. Topics include the study of kinship, gender and sexuality, economic exchange, race and ethnicity, religious practice, music and art, and applied/medical anthropology. We explore a set of questions such as: How do humans organize their lives? How do social differences and hierarchies impact those lives? How do people relate to one another and create meaning about those relationships? How do cultures change and travel over time and space? What kinds of solutions can anthropology offer for human problems? We look at case studies from contemporary cultures worldwide, including our own.

211-0-61 – Discussion Section

Discussion

213-0-1 – *Human Origins

Anthropology is a holistic analysis of the human condition. The study of human origins, or paleoanthropology, is a subfield of physical anthropology that focuses on the biological history of the human species including their evolution, emergence and radiation. We will explore the scientific method and how theories like evolution have come about and expanded over time. We will learn about our closest living relatives - primates - and how an appreciation of their life history and behavior reflect the modern human condition. Many of the principles and concepts that comprise our understanding of how humans have evolved and adapted over time involve an appreciation of ecology, genetics, physiology, adaptation and cultural development that will also be explored. Lastly we will look at modern human diversity and discuss how we are continuing to evolve today.

213-0-61 – Discussion Section

Discussion

214-0-01 – *Archaeology: Unearthing History

The Pyramids, Stonehenge, Cahokia, and Great Zimbabwe: who built these monuments, and why? They are often associated with buried treasure, lost civilizations, and a forgotten past. But archaeologists look beyond a Romantic view and ask questions about why they were built, and what they tell us about humankind. By learning about past cultures, what made them different and what made them similar, we gain a better understanding of human history and the state of the world today. People in the past were very different, but they shared one thing in common -- they left behind stones and bones, pottery fragments, great monuments and burial offerings. These fragments of the past are used by archaeologists to build an understanding of what it means to be human. In this class, you will be introduced to the questions, theories, and methods of archaeology. You will learn about how archaeologists locate, survey and excavate the great monuments of the past; how they study artifacts in the lab; and how they use the stuff they find to piece together stories about the past, and test those stories against the evidence. You will learn about the diversity of ancient and modern peoples, their cultures, and the past they inhabited. You will also learn about the place of archaeology in the modern world -- how archaeologists engage with questions such as long-term climate change and human response, sustainability, and inequality.

Registration Requirements:

214-0-61 – Discussion Section

Discussion

214-0-62 – Discussion Section

Discussion

214-0-63 – Discussion Section

Discussion.

214-0-64 – Discussion Section

Discussion.

214-0-66 – Discussion Section

Discussion.

215-0-1 – *The Study of Culture Through Language

The scope of linguistic anthropology from the study of language as an end in itself to the investigation of cultures through the medium of human languages.

215-0-1 – Discussion Section

Discussion

221 – Social and Health Inequalities

Definitions of and trends in social (e.g., class, gender, and racial/ethnic) and health outcomes and inequalities; discussion of a bi-directional relationship between social and health inequalities, including institutional/structural, individual/family/psychosocial, and biological mechanisms.

232 – Myth and Symbolism

Introduction to different approaches to the interpretation of myth and symbolism, e.g., Freudian, functionalist and structuralist.

255-0-1 – Contemporary African Worlds

Use of key anthropological insights about value judgments and cultural relativism to examine the survival strategies and turbulent histories of contemporary African societies.

255-0-61 – Discussion Section

Discussion

255-0-62 – Discussion Section

Discussion

270-0-1 – Anthropology of Social Media

In barely a decade, social media has transformed the world around us, the way we learn, the way we communicate, and our relationships. The changes have inspired claims about the ways social media are changing our lives. Yet most of these claims are very general. Taking an anthropological view, this course looks at a variety of forms of social media in very different social contexts, concentrating on content of social media rather than platforms. We will also use social media as a research method for understanding people's lives as they converge in both online and offline spaces. We will see not only how social media has changed people's lives but also how these people have changed social media. Interestingly, this course challenges many of the claims that are made about what social media is by showing the incredible variation in social media that emerges on different continents, among people of different class and religious backgrounds, for people with different gender identities and sexual preferences, for producers, consumers, and students. As we will find, social media can tell us much about the contemporary world at large.

Courses Primarily for Junior and Senior Students

308 – Global Health in Human History

This course explores paleopathology including records of pre- and proto-historic adaptations to human disease, health, and medicine. A biocultural perspective on patterns of disease will provide a link between past perspectives and current realities. Prerequisite: 200-level anthropology, global health or biology course or consent of instructor. Taught with GBL_HLTH 308.

309-0-1 – Human Osteology

Knowledge of human osteology forms the basis of physical and forensic anthropology, bioarchaeology, paleoanthropology and clinical anatomy. This course will provide an intensive introduction to the human skeleton; particularly the identification of complete and fragmentary skeletal remains.

316-0-20 – Forensic Anthropology

Forensic anthropology focuses traditional skeletal biology on problems of medicolegal significance, primarily in determining the personal identity and trauma analysis from human remains. Prerequisite: 200-level anthropology or biology course or consent of instructor.

324 – Archaeological Survey Methods

Archaeological surveys and their unique contributions to research about past peoples and places. This course will utilize geospatial technologies, such as shallow geophysics and GIS.

334-0-1 – Anthropology of HIV-AIDS

This course examines HIV/AIDS from an anthropological perspective, looking critically at the history of anthropology's involvement with the AIDS crisis from the disease's discovery to the present day. It offers a broad overview of the social, cultural, political and economic factors shaping the global HIV/AIDS epidemic, and of the policy responses that the epidemic has generated in different settings.

343 – Anthropology of Race

Anthropological approaches to the analysis of race, racialization, and anti-racism. Human variation, space, segregation, comparative analysis, and language ideologies.

370-0-61 – Discussion Section

Discussion

370-0-62 – Discussion Section

Discussion

381 – North African Prehistory

An Intensive field study of a cultural history of one or more areas of the continent, from archeological evidence.

395 – Field Study in Anthropology

Ethnographic field experience in the United States (e.g., the Southwest) or abroad. Offered in conjunction with summer field schools for exceptional students. Prerequisite: consent of instructor.

396-7 – Junior Tutorial

Intensive work on a topic not normally offered.

398-0-1 – Senior Seminar

Supervised group discussion of research in preparation of senior capstone paper.

399 – Independent Study

Open with consent of department to juniors and seniors who have completed, with distinction, at least two-quarter courses or equivalent in anthropology. Under the direction of individual members of the department.

Graduate-level Courses Available to Undergraduates

302 – Agriculture: Its Origins, Environmental Impacts, and Social Transformations

Beginnings of agriculture, one of the great revolutions in human history. Domestication of plants and animals, dispersal of domesticates, long-term intensification of agriculture, environmental consequences of agriculture, and related social and cultural transformations. Archaeological evidence from Mesopotamia, Europe, Mesoamerica, and North America.

Prerequisites: One of the following: 214, 225, Biological Science 204, or Environmental Sciences 235.

306-0-1 – Evolution of Life Histories

This course introduces life history theory as an integrated framework for understanding the biological processes underlying the human life cycle and its evolution. After constructing a solid foundation in life history theory and the comparative method, the class will address questions such as: Why do humans grow and develop much more slowly than other primate species? Why do we have so few offspring? What is the significance of puberty? What is the function of menopause? In-depth analysis of several case studies will allow the class to examine in detail the utility of life history theory for explaining aspects of human development and behavior from an evolutionary perspective.

310 – Evolution and Culture

Introduction to the application of theory from evolutionary biology to cultural anthropology; principles of evolutionary biology; application of principles to human social behavior and culture. Prerequisite: 213 or equivalent.

311 – Indians of North America

Survey of indigenous cultures of northern Mexico, continental United States, Alaska, and Canada. Languages, art, and social, economic and religious life of representative Native North Americans.

312-0-1 – Human Population Biology

This course will provide an overview of current theory and research in human population biology. The course will focus on the influence of ecological and social factors on various aspects of human biology (e.g. metabolism, growth, nutritional status, disease patterns). The adaptation concept will first be presented, discussed, and critiqued. We will then examine how adaptation to different ecological stressors (e.g. temperature, solar radiation, high altitude, diet/nutrition) promotes human biological diversity. Prerequisite: 213.

313 – Anthropological Population Genetics

Principles of population genetics applied to primates. Mathematical models, analyses of small populations and interaction of social and genetic processes. Prerequisite: consent of instructor.

314-0-1 – Human Growth and Development

In this course we will examine human growth and development. By its very nature this topic is a biocultural process that requires an integrated analysis of social construction and biological phenomena. To this end we will incorporate insight from evolutionary ecology, developmental biology and psychology, human biology and cultural anthropology. Development is not a simple matter of biological unfolding from birth through adolescence; rather, it is a process that is designed to be in sync with the surrounding environment within which the organism develops. Additionally we will apply these biocultural and socio-ecological insights to emerging health challenges associated with these developmental stages. Prerequisite: 100- or 200-level course in anthropology, psychology, or biology or consent of instructor.

315-0-1 – Medical Anthropology

Theories of interactions between culture and biology that affect human health. Beliefs and practices for curing illness and maintaining well-being. The Cross-cultural study of infectious and chronic diseases, mental illness, infant/maternal mortality, poverty, and gender. Prerequisite: 100- or 200-level anthropology or sociology course, or consent of instructor.

317 – Human Evolution

Fossil record and reconstruction of phylogeny, morphological and behavioral adaptation of early hominids and forebears.

318 – Material Worlds of the Middle Ages

The landscapes, buildings, and material culture of medieval Europe, as seen through archaeology and related disciplines. Villages, fields and peasant communities; castles, houses, and churches great and small; pottery, artifacts, dress and foodways.

319 – Material Life & Culture in Europe, 1500-1800AD

The landscapes, buildings, and material culture of early modern Europe, as seen through archaeology and related disciplines. Villages, fields and rural communities; towns; houses and churches great and small; pottery, artifacts, dress and foodways.

320 – Peoples of Africa

A survey of the cultures of Africa and the significant similarities and differences among the indigenous societies of the continent.

321 – Archaeological Field Methods

Practical training in archaeological field methods and techniques at an excavation site; given with Summer Archaeological Field School.

322-0-1 – Introduction to Archaeology Research Design and Methods

Quantitative and numerical approaches to the description and analysis of patterns in archaeological data, including typology, sequence ordering and attribute analysis. Prerequisite: 301 or 302 or equivalent.

325 – Archaeological Methods Laboratory

Analysis of archaeological methods (faunal, botanical, artifact, or soil analysis) with various techniques. May be repeated for credit.

327-0-1 – The Archaeology of Ethnicity in America

History of different ethnic groups in America as shown through living quarters, burials, food remains tools, jewelry, etc. How groups have been portrayed in museums claiming to depict the American past. Focus on African Americans and Native Americans.

328-0-1 – The Maya

The archaeology of the Maya in Latin America; life and society in pre-Columbian Maya civilization.

330-0-1 – Peoples of the World: Ethnography of N. Africa with MENA 390-3-20

While North Africa (the Maghrib) is often considered an appendage of the Muslim Middle East, this Mediterranean region merits study on its own, given its French colonial past and its connections to both sub-Saharan Africa and Europe. This course introduces students to the region through text and expressive culture (visual culture and music). Required readings will include one book or its equivalent in articles per week, drawing from anthropology, related social sciences and humanities, and historical fiction. In-depth study of Amazigh (‘Berber') and rural populations will complement the study of Arab and urban populations in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya. Major themes include language and expression, orality and literacy, colonialism, nationalism, religion, migration, and gender.

332-0-20 – The Anthropology of Reproduction

Marriage and reproduction throughout the world, particularly the developing world and Africa. Conjugal strategies, fertility, contraception.

335 – Language in Asian America

A survey of linguistic anthropological topics that pertain to Asian American communities, including bilingualism, code-switching, language socialization, language shift, style, sociolinguistic variation, indexicality, media, and semiotics. Taught with Asian-Am 335.

339 – Material Culture

The relationship between material objects and social life; review of theoretical approaches to gifts and commodities; ethnographic collecting in colonial and postcolonial settings; the relationship between culture and aesthetics. Prerequisite: 211, or consent of instructor.

341 – Economic Anthropology

Economic organization in small-scale, non-industrialized communities. Traditional structures of primitive and peasant economies.

347 – Political Anthropology

A cross-cultural study of a political organization in stateless and state societies. The state, its origin, and changing role in developing countries.

350 – Anthropology of Religion

The human relationship with the supernatural and action patterns accompanying beliefs. Comparison of nonliterate religions and historical religions.

354 – Gender and Anthropology

Cross-cultural survey of women's roles from three perspectives: biosocial, sociocultural, politicoeconomic. Theory of gender inequality; emphasis on the third world.

355 – Sexualities

Cross-cultural survey of sexuality from an anthropological perspective. Focus on the first half of the 20th century, the 1970s, 1980s, and the turn of the century.

360 – Language and Culture

The relationship between language and culture: language as the vehicle of culture and as the manifestation of thought.

361-0-1 – Talks as Social Action

Combined advanced undergraduate and graduate course. Run as a weekly workshop on methodology and discourse analysis, this course tackles the collection, transcription, and analysis of verbal data. We explore the ways in which conversation, narrative, and other verbal expressive genres can help us better understand cultural processes. Interaction is central to the course, and we are particularly attentive to the power dynamics between interlocutors, situational constraints and conventions, and political economies that condition everyday talk. Each student will collect audio recorded data, transcribe it, and become familiar with data collected by course peers. We use the class corpus in discussion and in written analyses. Each week's readings explore a different analytic approach, and we link microsocial and macrosocial processes to investigate ways in which the seemingly mundane everyday particulars are both reflective of and constitutive of broader meaning. Prerequisite: 215 or consent of instructor.

362 – Advanced Methods in Quantitative of Analysis

A broad range of classical statistical methods, univariate and multivariate, currently being applied to anthropological data. Prerequisite: 200-level statistics course or consent of instructor.

363 – Language Variation and Change

Introduction to the study of language in its social context, with a focus on quantitative sociolinguistics and the frameworks and methods of analysis developed by sociolinguists at work in this area. Prerequisite: consent of the instructor.

365 – Language, Race, and Ethnicity in the United States

Analysis of connections between language ideologies, language use, and meanings of race and ethnicity. Bilingualism, immigration, identity, accented English, African American English, language policy, "English only" movement, education, social change. Taught with ASIAN AM 365; students may not earn credit for both courses.

368 – Latino & Latina Ethnography

The sociocultural analysis of U.S. Latina/o communities. Examines ethnographies by and about Latina/os based in the United States. Draws on a broad disciplinary basis, to critique and elaborate on ethnographic methods and epistemologies. Prerequisite: 211, Latin AM 251, or consent of instructor.

369 – Contemporary Immigration to the United States

Major theories in immigration studies; contemporary processes of immigration and immigrant "community building" in the United States. Prerequisite: 1 200- level course in anthropology or sociology.

370-0-20 – *Anthropology in Historical Perspective

Major schools of thought in social, archaeological and biological anthropology over the last century. Prerequisite: one 200-level course in anthropology or consent of instructor.

372 – Third World Urbanization

Urbanization processes in the Third world. Spatial development, wage labor, the informal sector, gender relations, rural-urban migration, and global and transnational interactions. Prerequisite: 100- or 200-level social science course or consent of instructor.

373-0-1 – Power and Culture in American Cities

Overview of history and present realities of American urban life, with a focus on ethnographic knowledge and stratification by class, race, ethnicity, gender, nationality, and sexuality. Prerequisite: 100- or 200-level cultural anthropology or sociology course or consent of instructor.

374 – The Anthropology of Complex Organizations

Examination of recent research in organizational ethnography based on investigations in industrial ethnology, the anthropology of work, studies of public-sector bureaucracies, and research in multinational corporations. Prerequisite: 100 or 200 level anthropology or sociology course or consent of instructor.

376 – Socialization

The Cross-cultural study of the intergenerational transmission of culture; processes by which social groups pass on social tradition and behavior to succeeding generations. Prerequisite: 211, the introductory psychology course, or consent of instructor.

377 – Psychological Anthropology

Contemporary approaches to cross-cultural behavior: ecocultural aspects of behavior development through maturation and socialization in human and nonhuman primates. Prerequisite: introductory survey courses in psychology or anthropology, or consent of instructor.

378-0-1 – Law and Culture

Introduction to anthropology of law; institutional knowledge as seen in material culture and legal documents; colonial and post-colinial settings; examines the relationships between law and culture, colonialsim, evidence, globalization. Prerequisite: 200-level course in anthropology or consent of instructor.

382 – Households and Everyday Life

The role of households and everyday life in past and present societies throughout the world. Focus on people, gender, social relations, and interpersonal relations.

383 – Environmental Anthropology

Theory of interactions between organisms and their environments, with application to human populations.

384 – Slavery's Material Record

Archaeological approaches to studying Atlantic world slavery; botanical and material legacies of Africans in the Americas; archaeology of resistance.

386-0-20 – Methods in Human Biology Research

A laboratory-based introduction to international research in human biology and health; methods for assessing nutritional status, physical activity, growth, cardiovascular health, endocrine and immune function. Prerequisite: 362 or consent of instructor.

389-0-1 – Ethnographic Methods and Analysis

Descriptive, naturalistic study of the culture of human social groups. Data gathering through observation and interview. Data analysis for ethnographic reporting. Prerequisites: 211 or 215.

390-0-21 – Power and the Public Sphere in America: Inequality, Information, Activism - Cancelled

How do we come to understand ourselves as Americans? How do some visions of American lives deny full citizenship to other Americans? What is the connection between that denial and both enduring domestic political, economic, and social inequalities, and the history and contemporary realities of US foreign policy? This seminar will focus on shifts in the US public sphere over the last half-century, and in particular on its variegated role in the present, and on a range of lively minority counterpublics. We will investigate neoliberal globalization and widening inequalities on American self-understandings of their lives within a world of nations; the roles of corporations and wealthy individuals in the construction of publicly recognized "common sense" understandings; the devastating effect on journalism of the rise of the online world; and recent upsurges of misogyny/homophobia, racism, and xenophobia. What is the history of "fake news"? How have individuals and groups attempted to counter it? Students will read widely on these topics, and engage in their own mini-research projects related to course concerns.

390-0-21 – Primate Behavior & Ecology

Advanced work in areas of developing interest and special significance. Can be repeated for credit with a different topic.

390-0-22 – Archaeology of Food and Drink

Food is a universal requirement for humans to survive, yet different cultures have developed radically divergent cuisines. In this course, we will use archaeology to explore the diversity of human foodways throughout time, and the role of food in human evolution and culture. You will learn about the origins of cooking over 1 million years ago, the `real' Paleodiet, how the Incas used beer at parties to build social alliances, and how Columbus's discovery of the Americas spurred global scale shifts in food and agriculture. The course begins with an overview of how anthropologists and archaeologists study food, and then moves through time, beginning with our early hominid ancestors and ending with colonialism.