Anthropology
Collectively, we study human diversity across time and space. As a discipline, Anthropology attempts to understand the human past, present, and future using tools and techniques from the sub-fields of sociocultural anthropology, biological anthropology, and archaeology. We aim to educate students to address real-world problems through a combination of classroom learning, seminars, and hands-on field and laboratory research opportunities. This can include, for example, examining fossil casts or modern human bones, studying at the zoo or in villages in developing countries, and digging for artifacts in the field, or just facts in the library.
- Anthropology (General Anthropology), B.A.
- Anthropology (Archaeology), B.A.
- Anthropology (Environmental Anthropology), B.A.
- Joint Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and Master of Arts in Museum Studies
- Anthropology (General Anthropology), B.S.
- Anthropology (Forensic Anthropology), B.S.
- Anthropology (Health), B.S.
- Anthropology - Secondary Major
- Anthropology Minor
- Archaeology Minor
- Forensic Science Minor
Anthropology (ANT)
A survey of human past and present physical and cultural diversity. The student is introduced to cultural anthropology, physical anthropology, archaeology, and linguistics, which provide a basis for understanding cultural diversity both within the U.S.A. and abroad.
An introduction to global cultures with emphasis on socio-economic arrangements, religious beliefs, and responses of indigenous groups to modernization.
Explores the big-picture questions of how and why human societies evolved the way that they did and what factors contributed to the distinct trajectories in which those societies developed, and equally, those issues that contributed to their decline.
An introductory course in human or cultural geography. Topics include geographical concepts and factors; systematic and regional approaches; geographic tools and techniques, stressing spatial interactions; reciprocal relations between peoples and geographical environments; geographical graphics; major earth regions and their interrelations.
An introduction to global health and illness from a cross-cultural and cross-border perspective.
Cross-cultural variability in beliefs and practices related to the supernatural, including theories about social, psychological, and ecological functions.
An introduction to the study of humans as biological organisms. Emphasis on evolutionary theory and natural selection as driving forces in human evolutionary history.
A survey of archaeology, including the nature of archaeology, what archaeologists do, and major milestones in human cultural evolution.
Undergraduate research undertaken under the supervision of a faculty member. May be taken for a maximum of 6 hours.
See ARC 2302 for course information.
A survey of the sub-field of biological anthropology, including anthropological genetics, primatology, paleoanthropology, human ecology, and bioarchaeology.
. Undergraduate research undertaken under the supervision of a faculty member. May be taken for a maximum of 6 hours.
Anthropological perspectives on controversial issues in the history of scientific thought as conveyed through original texts, popular films, and cultural critique.
Methods in contemporary archaeology.
See ENG 3310 for course information.
Interrelationships between cultural and ecological systems, with focus on food production, economic exchange, and religious beliefs.
The detailed examination of the elements of the human skeleton, with an emphasis on identifying and siding individual bones and their bony structures.
The cultural history of the indigenous peoples of central Mexico, including their adaptation to, and conflict with, forces of modernity.
A study of the natives of North America including prehistory, cultural development, and contemporary relationships with other cultural ethnic groups.
The emergence and evolution of Meso-American civilizations in Mexico and Central America. Focus on Olmecs and Teotihuacan, as well as the Toltecs, Mayas, and Aztecs.
The multiple ethnographic methods used in cultural anthropological field research.
Texas prehistory, from the first inhabitants to the arrival of the Europeans. Chronology, theoretical approaches, and regional developments in North America affecting the cultures of the prehistoric peoples of Texas.
Undergraduate research undertaken under the supervision of a faculty member. May be taken for a maximum of 6 hours.
Anthropology assessment test for graduating seniors. Credit is given upon completion of the test.
Thesis project planning, including topic identification, literature review, bibliography compilation, and thesis proposal.
Primary data collection, processing, and analysis, culminating in the thesis.
Use of archaeological data in reconstruction of past human cultural systems, with an emphasis on the role of archaeological theory in the process of interpretation.
Theoretical approaches to modern-day anthropology, with emphasis on political economy, Marxism, hermeneutics, ecology, and feminism.
Traditional food production systems worldwide are compared to patterns in modern capitalist societies.
Cultural traits and social structures of China, Korea, and Japan in the context of their development from the traditional to the modern. Special attention on Japanese society in comparison with American society.
Current social issues and policies in the light of historical and cultural foundations of selected African countries.
Mechanisms that contribute to biological diversity between and among human populations.
A thorough investigation of the relationship between the individual and culture/society, with emphasis on the "culture and personality" school of contemporary humanistic social science.
An introduction to the causes and effects of climate change as it relates to people and power, ethics and morals, environmental costs and justice, and cultural and spiritual survival.
Biological and sociocultural aspects of human health, disease, development, aging, and health care. Especially emphasized are the developmental, holistic, and cross-cultural perspectives on disease and the life cycle.
Impact of major catastrophes on human society with emphasis on coping strategies and the utility of disaster theory to help in the recovery process. Issues include disaster, toxic disaster, famine, epidemic, war and natural oppression.
Epidemiological concepts and skills pertinent to the understanding of diseases. Assessment of cultural, ecological, environmental, occupational, and behavioral factors.
Focus on the ethics of global health to examine the motivations and worldviews driving how we define, research and address global health problems.
Principles of modern medical, biological, and psychological theory are applied to understand how economic and social inequities affect child development and health.
Introduction to formal decision analysis, the administrative allocation of scarce resources in health care, and the application of decision-making strategies in public policy among indigenous peoples.
Principles of modern medical practice and evolutionary biology are used to understand family relationships and how/why they affect child development and health in global context.
Seminar on the evolutionary history of humans. Emphasis on fossil evidence and primary texts.
History, theory, and practice of global health policies from the perspectives of public health, economics, and anthropology.
Distributional patterns of archaeological sites within specific environments. Archaeological/environmental field work in Texas, with respect to recent conservation laws protecting nonrenewable archaeological resources.
Environmental and cultural factors that led to the rise and fall of civilizations in the Mediterranean region.
A survey of the African archaeological record, from emergence of stone tool technology 2.6 million years ago to the rise of complex civilizations and the African Diaspora.
See ENV 4350 for course information.
Biological and cultural forces that will likely shape humankind's future. Emphasis on trends in demography, globalization, science, and technology.
An archaeological survey of human societies in the United States and Canada from their earliest appearance in the New World to the arrival of Europeans. One-third of the course will focus on historical archaeology.
Forensic anthropological techniques used in civil and criminal court cases, including analysis of skeletal material for sex, age, stature, and biological affinity.
See FORS 4359 for course information.
Myth, ritual and religion in social and cultural anthropology. Emphasis on structural and functional analysis, including critiques of pertinent classical and contemporary works.
See MUS 4360 for course information.
An introduction to applied anthropology where major research components are identified and specific fields such as medical, nutritional, environmental anthropology, and Third World development are discussed.
The complex social behavior of primates. Includes field trips. Graduate students produce a comprehensive research paper.
Debate of current theoretical issues that reflect the continually changing nature of the discipline. Students will address all sides of a currently debated issue, drawing upon their studies in anthropology and related fields. Faculty participation.
Application of evolutionary theory to medicine using insights from evolutionary theory (biology) and human evolutionary ecology (biological and cultural anthropology) to inform our understandings of human health, development, and disease.
Recent developments in human reproductive biology, human reproductive ecology, and fertility analysis. The major features of the human reproductive process are considered using a combination of demographic, physiological and evolutionary approaches.
Analysis of the collaborative efforts among physicians, public health professionals, veterinarians, and social scientists to understand infectious disease exchange at the interface of human, wildlife, and livestock populations, and the varying ecological and cultural contexts in which these disease spillovers take place.
Advanced osteological approaches to the study of human skeletal remains from archaeological sites, with an emphasis on the study of human diet and health in prehistory.
Integration of knowledge and experiences acquired from anthropology courses, research, and field school.
Survey of regional and systemic human anatomy viewed from a comparative evolutionary perspective. Non-human primate and non-primate vertebrates will be used to illustrate the unique characteristics of human anatomical structures that have been honed by natural selection throughout our evolutionary history.
Field training in archaeological excavation, survey, artifact processing, and analysis of material culture.
Residence for five to six weeks in a selected area to observe and analyze social, economic, and environmental systems.
Training in research techniques to gain an understanding of the methodology and its application in field research in various topics related to biological anthropology.
Lecture and field experience in the methods and techniques of social and cultural anthropology. May be repeated for a total of six semester hours with different topics.
Independent library and lab research focused on a current topic in archaeology. May be repeated for a total of six semester hours with different topics.
Lecture and lab experience in the methods and techniques of biological anthropological research. May be repeated for a total of six semester hours with different topics.
Application of epidemiological skills and methods to research questions. Emphasis on designing studies that will address real world clinical problems in cross-cultural context. May be repeated for a maximum of 6 hours.
A reading-research project in selected areas of ethnology, archaeology, or physical anthropology. May be repeated for credit up to a total of six semester hours, provided topic is different.
Undergraduate research undertaken under the supervision of a faculty member. May be taken for a maximum of 6 hours.