Anthropology (ATY)

ATY 100 Modern Cultural Diversity 3

Why are people different? In this course you will encounter the rich cultural diversity of people around the world today. Discover distinctive traditions from all around the globe and the common characteristics that unite us all as humans.

MAC: MAC Global and Intercultural

ATY 113 Engaging Culture 3

Human cultures exhibit diverse belief systems, economic structures, languages, social identities, and even eating habits. But why? This course provides a holistic approach to this question, including what culture is, how anthropologists study it, and how anthropology can be applied to solve local and global problems.

MAC: MAC Global and Intercultural

Prerequisites: None.

Notes: Students cannot receive credit for both ATY 113 and HSS 138.

ATY 153 The Human Species 3

Why are humans, well, human? We have culture and language, we walk upright on two legs, we have populated nearly every habitat on Earth, and we exhibit diverse social and sexual behaviors. This course explores the human species through genetics, evolution, and the biology/behavior of nonhuman primates and humans.

MAC: MAC CritThink Nat Sci

Corequisites: ATY majors: ATY 153L.

ATY 153L The Human Species: Laboratory 1

Laboratory supporting ATY 153.

Notes: Only required for ATY majors.

ATY 158 Adventures in Time-Travel through Archaeology 3

Go back in time more than 2 million years when our pre-human ancestors started making stone tools, tour the painted caves of Paleolithic Europe, explore the mysteries of Maya pyramids, and much more. This course introduces students to the clues archaeologists use to understand ancient societies before written histories.

MAC: MAC Global and Intercultural

ATY 204 Anthropology through Film 3

This course uses the medium of visual anthropology, and in particular, documentary ethnographic film, to explore human cultural, social, and behavioral diversity around the globe in order to understand the human experience through an anthropological lens.

MAC: MAC CritThink Soc and BehavSci

ATY 205 The World of the Neandertals 3

A survey of the cultures and biology of Neandertals, including their technology, diet, treatment of the dead, communication systems, genetic code, and ultimate demise some 30,000 years ago. Application of this knowledge to an understanding of the modern human cultural experience.

MAC: MAC Global and Intercultural

ATY 208 Lost Tribes and Sunken Lands 3

Using the scientific method and techniques from archaeology, students critically assess the evidence supporting popular myths such as sunken Atlantis, pyramid power, and extraterrestrial encounters.

MAC: MAC CritThink Soc and BehavSci

ATY 212 How to Human 3

The study of human difference around the world is called Anthropology. In this course you will see how anthropologists explore cultures around the world based on beliefs, behaviors, cuisine, medical practices, art, technology, language, social institutions, family structures, and elements of daily life.

MAC: MAC CritThink Soc and BehavSci

ATY 230 Cultures of Native North America 3

Traditional ways of life of indigenous people of North America.

MAC: MAC Global and Intercultural

ATY 231 Race and Human Diversity 3

Critically examines human biological diversity and the notion of "race" from a biocultural perspective and through an historical lens to understand the role that race has played and continues to play within the field of anthropology with a focus on the American experience.

MAC: MAC Diversity and Equity

ATY 235 Cultures of Africa 3

Study of the peoples of Africa emphasizing family, organization, religion, political organization, languages, and urbanism. Includes a study of African novelists.

MAC: MAC Diversity and Equity

ATY 240 Indigenous Towns and Temple Mounds: North American Archaeology 3

Transformation and resiliency in North American indigenous complex cultures are explored using data drawn from art, archaeology, ethnohistory, anthropology, and oral histories. Northwest and southwest town cultures are compared/contrasted to the mound cultures of the mid-west/east. Their varied adaptive strategies for dealing with social, political, and climatic upheaval are revealed.

MAC: MAC Diversity and Equity

ATY 259 Pandemics, Plagues & Outbreaks 3

By examining present day and historical pandemics, this course will outline the relevance of archeological, biological, cultural, linguistic and applied anthropological approaches to understanding the role of outbreaks in shaping the human experience.

MAC: MAC Health and Wellness

ATY 300X Experimental Course 1-6

This number reserved for experimental courses. Refer to the Course Schedule for current offerings.

ATY 311 Reading Culture and Society 3

Examines key sociocultural issues through classic literary and cinematic works, emphasizing notions of modernity, the contemporary world, and the relationship they entertain; provides foundational reading and critical thinking skills.

CIC: CIC College Writing

Notes: Same as SOC 311.

ATY 312 The Anthropology of Children 3

A cross-cultural and evolutionary approach to the study of childhood from conception to adolescence that incorporates the five field perspective of anthropology.

ATY 315 World Ethnographies 3

Examines the primary genre and practice of cultural anthropology—ethnography—through a range of geographically and thematically diverse texts.

ATY 321 Qualitative Data & Anthropological Knowledge 3

Anthropology offers key insight into the human experience. This course explores what constitutes anthropological data and introduces qualitative data analysis. As questions of evidence and authority are central within the sciences, this class will guide students through in-class methods workshops, outline academic writing styles, and foster improved scientific literacy.

Prerequisites: ATY 100 or ATY 113 or ATY 212. ANTH major or permission of instructor.

ATY 333 Latin American Societies and Cultures 3

Tribal and peasant groups with special emphasis on their place in contemporary Latin America.

ATY 334 Latin American Art and Archaeology 3

Explores the art, architecture, religious beliefs, technologies, and political organization of the Pre-Columbian societies of Mesoamerica and South America such as the Maya, Moche, Aztec, and Inca.

ATY 341 Paleolithic Archaeology 3

A survey of the archaeology of stone-tool-using peoples from the first Paleolithic cultures to the agricultural revolution.

Prerequisites: Junior or senior standing .

ATY 350 Human Origins and Evolution 3

This course examines the evidence from fossils, genes, and artifacts to outline the human evolutionary journey from an ape-like ancestor some six million years ago to the appearance, expansion, and eventual global dominance of our own species, Homo sapiens.

Prerequisites: ATY 153 or BIO 105 or BIO 111.

ATY 353 Music, Sound, and Power 3

Introduction to the anthropology of music. Cultural analysis of music and sound in resistance, protest, and government. This course examines relationships between music, sound, and power. We will examine the connections between various types of power (political, resistance, religious, charismatic, etc.) and various types of sound (concert music, protest, chant, propaganda, etc.). The course will serve as an introduction to the anthropology of music. We will focus on multiple case studies and examine the role of music/sound in asserting, maintaining or challenging a variety of beliefs or ideologies. Students will complete a power/music/sound project of their own choosing.

ATY 354 Modern Asia through its Music 3

Introduction to the musical traditions of Asia. Traditions are examined within their religious, philosophical and socio-political contexts allowing comparison of musical activity, concepts and sounds. No musical training required.

ATY 357 Monkeys, Apes, and Humans 3

An overview of primatology—the study of prosimians, monkeys, apes, and humans. Involves in-depth study of selected primates as well as discussion of major theoretical issues and ways in which the study of nonhuman primate behavior helps illuminate human evolutionary history.

CIC: CIC College Writing

ATY 359 Forensic Anthropology 3

Methods of recovery and analysis of human remains in medicolegal contexts, including human and nonhuman skeletal material, decomposition, crime scene recovery, and skeletal signs of age, sex, and trauma.

ATY 360 Methods in Archaeology 3

Analysis and evaluation of methods, theories, and concepts necessary for recovery and interpretation of cultural information about past societies relevant for anthropological goals. Includes issues of historiography, epistemology, and ethics.

ATY 361 Methods in Biological Anthropology 3

Provides students with an understanding of the basic research techniques utilized by physical anthropologists through hands-on experience and an introduction to the literature in the field.

Prerequisites: ATY 153.

ATY 362 Methods in Cultural Anthropology 3

Cultural anthropology methods provides hands-on opportunities to learn qualitative and quantitative methods in data collection and analysis. Students engage in data collection techniques, such as fieldnotes, participant and casual observations, interviews, dietary recall and photovoice. With time permitting we engage in some text and descriptive statistical analyses.

CIC: CIC College Writing

Prerequisites: ATY 113.

ATY 363 History of Anthropological Theory 3

Developments in history of Western thought and study of culture leading to the emergence of anthropology as a scientific field.

Notes: Not open to freshmen.

ATY 369 Statistics for Anthropology 3

Validity and reliability, variables and constants, independence and dependence, scales, frequency distribution and graphs, variance of central tendency and dispersion, probability, hypothesis testing, difference between means, analysis of variance, comparison of samples, simple regression correlation analysis, and analysis of frequencies.

Prerequisites: Anthropology (ANTH) or Humanities (SPLS) major.

ATY 370 Historical Archaeology of the Modern World 3

This course applies archaeological, geographical, and historical evidence to examine the cultural consequences of European expansion as deduced from landscape, material culture, and documentary studies. The “Columbian exchange,” or transfer of people and their plants, animals, material goods, ideas, diseases, and institutional systems within diverse landscapes is explored.

ATY 377 Disaster, Self, and Society 3

The anatomy of disasters examined from both anthropological and sociological perspectives. Case studies are presented through several conceptual lenses for clarifying individual, social, cultural, and political responses to catastrophic events.

CIC: CIC College Writing

Prerequisites: 3 s.h. of course work with a prefix of ATY or SOC or permission of instructor.

Notes: Same as SOC 377.

ATY 385 Language and Culture 3

A survey of verbal and non-verbal behavior cross-culturally. Emphasis on the use of language in the speech community, gestures, body language, expressive behavior, verbal art, and language learning.

ATY 400 Cults and Conspiracy Theories 3

An anthropological survey of cults, brainwashing, conspiracies, conspiracy theories, and the process of identity construction, initiation, and cultural practice as socio-cultural phenomena.

ATY 401 Witch Hunts and Legal Anthropology 3

A survey and exploration of the way that law produces culture and culture produces law through witch-hunts, European and American witch trials, and significant legal cases in American Law.

ATY 403 Selected Topics in Anthropology 3

Opportunity for advanced students to study in depth topic or issue of special interest.

Prerequisites: Permission of instructor.

Notes: May be repeated for credit when topic varies.

ATY 420 Economic Anthropology 3

An analysis and critique of modern economics from the perspective of Economic Anthropology. Anthropologists provide a formal and substantive critique of Smith’s “invisible hand,” and Marx’s unilineal “historical materialism.” Using case studies, this course examines how Economic Anthropology addresses environmental issues, health disparities, structural racism, and neoliberal development policy.

Prerequisites: ATY 363 or permission of instructor.

ATY 423 Applying Archaeology in the Real World 3

Overview of theory and skills needed to work as an applied archaeologist in the public sector. Topics include cultural resource management and public outreach projects.

Notes: Open to sophomores, juniors, and seniors only.

ATY 424 Applying Anthropology in the Real World 3

Applied Anthropology emphasizes the application of anthropology to the needs of communities, organizations and institutions in attempts to aid real life problems and issues. Applied anthropology relates to activism, advocacy, and community-based, engaged, participatory, practicing, and public anthropologies. Working together we examine ways one specializes in an applied career.

Prerequisites: Not open to freshmen.

ATY 426 Food and Culture in a Global Context 3

The course examines the paradox of hunger in an abundant world from historical and contemporary perspectives by reviewing industrialized agriculture, genetic engineering, impacts on health and the environment, and local efforts to achieve sustainability of the agro-food system.

CIC: CIC College Writing

Prerequisites: Not open to freshmen.

ATY 434 Archaeology of South America 3

Survey of the archaeology of South America from earliest evidence of human habitation up to the arrival of the Spanish. Emphasis placed on the Andean area of western South America.

ATY 440 Colliding Worlds: Forming America 3

Historical archaeological approach documenting the American experience for immigrant, enslaved, and freed African, Chinese, Irish, and other workers who crossed the seas, contributing to American culture.

ATY 444 Archaeology of Power/Politics 3

This course examines complex political organizations and power relations since the emergence of inequality. Archaeological and historical examples will be compared to evaluate competing models of political development.

CIC: CIC College Writing

Prerequisites: ATY 158.

ATY 447 Myth, Magic, and Religion 3

Examination of sacred and secular beliefs in cross-cultural perspective. Emphasis on symbols, ritual, and their functions.

ATY 449 Gender Archaeology 3

Through material culture this course examines gender in prehistoric, classical, and historic societies as an integral aspect of human societies and the social relations in families, communities, and complex polities.

CIC: CIC College Writing

Notes: Open to sophomores, juniors, and seniors only.

ATY 450 Environmental Anthropology 3

Through an anthropological lens we examine how humans shape the environment and the environment shapes its inhabitants from different cultures, genders, locations, and social classes. From various approaches to the cultural and environmental interface we examine land and natural resource use, social and environmental justice, climate change, ethnobotany, and sustainability.

Prerequisites: Not open to freshmen.

ATY 453 Human Osteology 3

Detailed coverage of anatomical structures on bone and methods involving inventory, description, data collection, and analysis of human remains. Topics include functional and comparative skeletal anatomy, bone microstructure, and physiology.

Prerequisites: ATY 153 or BIO 105 or BIO 111.

ATY 453L Human Osteology Lab 0

Laboratory supporting ATY 453.

Corequisites: ATY 453.

Notes: No grade is awarded with this course number. Grades are awarded with the lecture course.

ATY 457 Primate Behavior 3

An overview of primatology and of methods for studying the behavior of prosimians, monkeys, and apes. Involves experience in data collection, computerized data analysis, and producing a scientific report.

Prerequisites: ATY 357 or ATY 361.

ATY 459 Anthropology of Global Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) 3

Exploration of the importance of water for human and environmental health. This course draws on critical medical anthropology to situate resource inequity in its political, environmental, and cultural context. We explore anthropological and human geographical contributions to global water, sanitation, and hygiene initiatives.

ATY 462 Archaeology of the Southeastern United States 3

Investigation of indigenous cultural development in North America from earliest Paleo-Indian evidence to the European Contact Period, with special emphasis on the archaeology of southeastern North America including North Carolina.

CIC: CIC College Writing

Prerequisites: ATY 158 or permission of instructor.

ATY 465 Medical Anthropology 3

Medical anthropology covers a range of topics that focus on sickness and healing, and access to healthcare from various bio-cultural practices. We draw from cultural and political ecologies of disease, ethnomedical systems, social construction of illness and social production of health, structural violence, syndemics and global health.

Prerequisites: Not open to freshmen.

ATY 469 Anthropology of Infectious Disease 3

Exploration of emergent and re-emergent infectious disease in a global context. This course draws on critical medical anthropology and situates infectious disease in its political, environmental, and cultural context. We explore anthropological contributions to public health and infectious disease prevention.

ATY 475 Research Methods in Historical Archaeology 3

Advanced training in research methods in Historic Archaeology, involving on-site training in field, laboratory, and library components of Historic Archaeology.

Notes: Not open to freshmen and sophomores. Same as HIS 478.

ATY 477 Zooarchaeology 3

The identification and analysis of animal bones in archaeological contexts.

Prerequisites: ATY 158.

ATY 478 Field Methods in Archaeology 3

Methods, techniques, and theories of archaeological field investigation. Includes site survey, mapping, systematic sampling, and controlled excavation.

Prerequisites: Permission of instructor.

ATY 479 Analysis of Archaeological Data 3

Instruction on proper treatment of material recovered through archaeological investigation. Includes classification, statistical manipulation of data, seriation, and analysis of spatial and temporal dimensions. Attention to special analytical techniques (e.g., C14 dating, chemical analysis, faunal analysis) with stress on ecological interpretation.

Prerequisites: Permission of instructor.

ATY 493 Honors Work 3-6

Prerequisite: Permission of instructor; 3.30 GPA in the major; 12 s.h. in the major;

Notes: May be repeated for credit if the topic of study changes.

ATY 495 Contemporary Issues in Anthropology 3

A capstone seminar focusing on current issues in anthropology, how they relate to the discipline, and their significance to anthropology's role in today's world.

Prerequisites: ATY 363 and ATY 360 or ATY 361 or ATY 362. Open to Seniors only.

ATY 497 Special Problems in Anthropology 1-3

Opportunity for students to have directed instruction on problems of special interest.

Prerequisites: Permission of instructor.

ATY 498 Special Problems in Anthropology 1-3

Opportunity for students to have directed instruction on problems of special interest.

Prerequisites: Permission of instructor.

ATY 499 Internship in Anthropology 3

Faculty supervised practicum experience in an off campus setting. Host organization will provide the student with applied experience directly relevant to a specific subfield of anthropology.

Prerequisites: Permission of instructor .

ATY 501 Selected Topics in Anthropology 3

Opportunity for advanced students to study in depth topic or issue of special interest.

Prerequisites: Permission of instructor.

Notes: May be repeated for credit when topic varies.

ATY 595 Contemporary Issues in Anthropology 3

A capstone seminar focusing on current issues in anthropology, how they relate to the discipline, and their significance to anthropology's role in today's world.