ANTHROPOLOGY COURSES

Description: Cultural Anthropology explores different cultures in all of their manifestations - from how people make a living to what people live for. This course examines the diversity of people around the world, and how different aspects of culture (such as economics, politics, family structures, and religion) influence one another, and explore the possibilities and challenges of our increasingly globalized world. This course will help you recognize your own cultural biases and questioning the assumptions, beliefs, concepts, and ideas you may have previously taken for granted. There is also an online version of the course available. ANTH 210 is an Honors course, and only available in fall semesters.

Go to ANTH101.com for more details about the course, offered on campus & distant ed (enroll through Global Campus).

Taught by: Wesch, Durbin, Falcone, and Klataske

Offered: Fall, Spring.

Requirements Fulfilled: (1) KS-8: Global issues and perspectives, Social sciences, and; (2) Basic: Social science, International studies overlay.

Description:Broadly-based entry-level introduction to linguistic anthropology stressing the interactions between language and culture, and between language and social identity. Through this course students become acquainted with the basics of linguistic analysis, fundamental similarities and differences among all human languages, and become informed perspective on issues of language that have an impact on our society. Students in this class acquire the essential tools for learning and analyzing languages in social and cultural contexts, and for understanding the basics of cross-cultural communication.

Taught by: Champagne

Offered: Occasional.

Requirements Fulfilled: (1) KS-8: Human diversity within the U.S., Social Sciences, and; (2) Basic: Social Sciences, International Studies Overlay.

Description: Archaeology strives to understand past human societies through the systematic study of their material remains. In this course students are introduced to the goals of anthropological archaeology and general methods and approaches to interpreting our human past. Through a survey of past human societies in various parts of the world, students will not only learn about people and cultures of very ancient times, but develop an understanding of how and why humanity developed into the diverse world of today.

Taught by: Ritterbush

Offered: Fall, Spring.

Requirements Fulfilled: (1) KS-8: Historical perspectives, Social Sciences; (2) Basic: Social sciences, International studies overlay, and; (3)NRES: Social Sciences and Humanities.

Description: This course explores the scope of Biological Anthropology, our biocultural nature, evolutionary origins, and relation to non-human primates. Students in this course will develop an understanding of: (1) evolutionary theory and evolutionary processes, (2) patterns of adaptation to the environment in primates, and (3) human evolution, human adaptation and human variation.

Note: Required for Life Science majors.

Taught by: Alfonso-Durruty

Offered: Fall, Spring.

Requirements Fulfilled: (1) KS-8: Historical perspectives, Natural and Physical Sciences, and (2) Basic: Natural Sciences, Life Science with a lab.

Description: Identify and apply the core elements of the anthropological perspective while learning professional and academic writing and presentation skills.

Note: Required for Anthropology Majors.

Requisites: Declared Anthropology Major/Minor or instructor's permission.

Taught by: Durbin

Offered: Spring.

Requirements Fulfilled: (1) KS-8: Social Sciences; (2) Basic: Social Sciences.

Description: Supervised field experience of at least three weeks full time or 150 hours part time with an organization or institution in the application of anthropological approaches to problem solving and working in a professional setting. Emphasis is on anthropological skills in relation to the objectives and operations of an institution.

Note: Open to Anthropology major only. May be repeated once for credit.

Requisites: Instructor's permission, Junior, and permission from program coordinator.

Taught by: Klataske

Offered: Fall, Spring & Summer.

Requirements Fulfilled: None.

Description: Practical professional museum experience of at least three weeks full time or 150 hours part time in the processing of collections, conservation, cataloging, archive and library maintenance, and/or planning and preparation of exhibits.

Note: Open to anthropology majors only. May be repeated once for credit if at a different museum.

Requisites: ANTH 200, or ANTH 210 or ANTH 260, or instructor's consent.

Taught by: Ritterbush or Alfonso-Durruty

Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer.

Requirements Fulfilled: None.

Description: Guided reading and research on a specific anthropological topic of student interest, leading to preparation of a research paper.

Note: Repeatable.Topic and credit to be arranged.

Requisites: 3 hours of anthropology and instructor's permission.

Taught by: Varies.

Offered: Fall, Spring.

Requirements Fulfilled: None.

Description:Introduces evidence-based thinking and the scientific method in archaeology through evaluation of “mysteries” of our human past. Explores social factors affecting interpretation of past cultures. Case studies include who “discovered” the Americas, ancient alien intervention, Atlantis, myth of the mound builders, and more. This course is designed for non-anthropology mayors.

Requisites: None

Taught by: Ritterbush

Offered: Fall 2024 - First Year Seminar

Requirements fulfilled: A&S College Social Science for BS or BA (at 300-level)
KS-8: Historical Perspectives, and Basic: Social Sciences.

Description: Exploration of the archaeological record of past Native peoples of Kansas and the Central Plains and their diverse lifeways.

Requisites: None.

Taught by: Ritterbush

Offered: Occasional.

Requirements Fulfilled: (1) KS-8: Historical Perspective, Human Diversity within the U.S. and (2) Basic: Social Sciences.

Description: Exploration of the prehistory of the British Isles, with special emphasis on sites in Ireland. Taught in summer 2023 in Dublin as part of KSU in Ireland. (Visit with K-State Education Abroad advisor in 304 Fairchild Hall, overseas@ksu.edu)

Note: Repeatable.

Taught by: Ritterbush and Logan (Summer 2023)

Offered: Occasional.

Requirements Fulfilled: (1) KS-8: Historical Perspective, Social Sciences, and (2) Basic: Social Sciences.

Description:Many of us are fascinated by the "mysteries" of our human past, devouring popular literature and news stories about archaeological discoveries and long-held ideas about ancient "exotic" cultures. How valid are the interpretations of past discoveries and long-held ideas? Hone your critical thinking and research skills through the evaluation of varied claims about the human past and explore the effects of our interpretations of the past on modern societies! A wide range of archaeological case studies are explored including the moundbuilder myth, ancient North American inscriptions, Vikings in the Americas, lost civilizations, advanced prehistoric technologies, archaeology and politics, and much more.

Requisites: ANTH 260 or equivalent.

Taught by: Ritterbush

Offered: Fall (odd years).

Requirements Fulfilled: (1) KS-8: Empirical and Quantitative Reasoning, Social Sciences, and (2) Basic: Social Sciences.

Description: This field class introduces students to archaeological field methods, including basic artifact identification, pedestrian survey; GPS, total station, and unit mapping; excavation and associated skills and interpretation; various forms of record-keeping, and more through hands-on training and experience in a field research situation. The field school is commonly held in June in even-numbered years. (This is an essential course for anyone considering a career in archaeology, but also a useful course for anyone interesting in experiencing archaeology first hand.) Supplementary fees are required to cover field supplies and daily transportation. Students must be in good physical condition, prepared to spend the entire day outdoors, have had a tetanus shot within the past 10 years, and carry health insurance. Consent of instructor through an application process is required prior to enrolling. Further information and the application form are available through the course website (http://www.k-state.edu/sasw/anth/field-school/index.html). See a brief story and video of the 2016 field school here and 2010 field school here.

Requisites: None.

Note: May be repeated once if the areas or problems involved are different.

Requisites: Instructor's permission (application required).

Taught by: Ritterbush

Offered: Summer (occasional).

Requirements Fulfilled: (1) KS-8: Empirical and Quantitative Reasoning, and (2) Basic: Social Sciences.

Description:After initial collection of archaeological remains and associated contextual information through fieldwork, data collection, analysis, and interpretation continues in the lab. This class, held in the K-State archaeology lab, provides hands-on experience with sorting, classifying, and analyzing actual archaeological remains. Students learn about different types of archaeological documentation, common artifacts, and basic analyses while working with materials from a site in Kansas. This is an essential course for anyone considering a career in archaeology, but also for those simply interested in exploring archaeological remains through hands-on analysis, material culture and its interpretation, learning about the process of archaeological analysis, and regional archaeology.

Requisites: ANTH 260 or its equivalent.

Taught by: Ritterbush

Offered: Spring 2023

Requirements Fulfilled: (1) KS-8: Empirical and Quantitative Reasoning, and (2) Basic: Social Sciences.

Description: This course reviews knowledge required for the practice of archaeology in federal, state, and private sectors and is designed to provide necessary training in professional and ethical practice in cultural resource management (CRM). Topics to be discussed include archaeological (and related) careers, ethical practices, federal legislation that drives much of U.S. archaeology, archaeological preservation issues and laws, survey methods and strategies, site recording and evaluation (e.g., eligibility for the National Register of Historic Places), and others. This course is essential for any student considering archaeology as a possible career and for other land and resource managers (e.g., NRES majors). ANTH 260 or equivalent introductory archaeology course is required.

Requisites: ANTH 260 or its equivalent.

Taught by: Ritterbush

Offered: Occasional

Requirements Fulfilled: (1) KS-8: Ethical Reasoning and Responsibility, and (2) Basic: Social Sciences.

Description: This course explores the archaeological evidence of native peoples of North America prior to European contact. The archaeology of various cultures in different parts of North America are studied, including in the American Southwest and eastern Woodlands. Throughout the semester we confront questions professional archaeologists are addressing through new discoveries and analytical technologies. Among the specific issues we explore are interpreting how, when, and by whom the Americas were first settled; how Puebloan and Hohokam farmers adapted to the diverse environments of the American Southwest and how and why their cultures changed through time; and why did moundbuilding become a major activity of many different groups at different times in the Midwest and Southeastern United States. Broad course objectives include critical thinking, culture change, and cultural diversity in native North America prior to European contact.

Requisites: ANTH 260 or its equivalent.

Taught by: Ritterbush

Offered: Spring (odd years).

Requirements Fulfilled: (1) KS-8: Historical Perspectives, and (2) Basic: Social Sciences.

Description: Intensive exploration of archaeological problems for both major and non-majors with adequate background.

Requisites: ANTH 260.

Taught by: Varies.

Offered: Ocassional.

Requirements Fulfilled: (1) Basic: Social Sciences.

Description: Survey of human prehistory in Europe from the earliest Paleolithic hominins to evolve in Europe, expansion of Homo sapiens and associated cultural developments, post-glacial lifeways, the spread of agriculture across Eruope, diversity of Bronze Age adaptations, to the development of Celtic societies. Studies of archaeological, paleoenvironmental, genetic, and related evidence are investigated to interpret the dynamics of past ways of living. A continuing theme throughout our exploration of the long prehistory of Europe is human migration and formation of new and diverse ways of living.

Requisites: ANTH 260 or comparable introductory archaeology course (Co-enrollment in ANTH 260 possible with instructor permission).

Taught by: Ritterbush

Offered: Spring (even years).

Requisites Fulfilled: (1) KS-8: Historical perspectives, and (2) Basic: Social Sciences.

Description:Survey of the human fossil record, including an introduction to evolutionary theory and a discussion of the place that humans occupy among the other primates.

Taught by: Vilar

Offered: Spring 2021 (Ocassional).

Requirements Fulfilled: (1) KS-8: Natural and Physical Sciences.

Description: This class applies evolutionary theory and principles to the study of health and disease in both past and contemporary populations. This course enhances the student's understanding of diseases and disorders as interactions that occur in a specific cultural and historical setting.

Taught by: Alfonso-Durruty

Offered: Fall.

Requirements Fulfilled: (1) KS-8: Historical perspectives, Natural and Physical Sciences, and (2) Basic: Natural sciences.

Description: In depth exploration of problems/topics in Biological Anthropology

Note: Repeatable.

Taught by: Varies.

Offered: Occasional.

Requirements Fulfilled: (1) KS-8:Natural and Physical Sciences, and (2) Basic: None.

Description: In this course students learn and apply the theories and techniques/methods anthropologists use to identify individuals, and assess the cause of death in a medico-legal setting.

Requisites: A life science with laboratory requirement in the College of Arts and Sciences or instructor's permission.

Taught by: Alfonso-Durruty

Offered: Spring (even years).

Requirements Fulfilled: (1) KS-8: Empirical and Quantitavie Reasoning, Natural and Physical Sciences and, (2) Basic: Natural Sciences.

Description: Anthropological examination of the process of growth and development in humans that emphasizes both the biological, evolutionary, and cultural aspects that have shaped them. Emphasis is given to the evolution of the life cycle, as well as the social and environmental conditions that affect human growth.

Requisites: ANTH280 or instructor's permission.

Taught by: Alfonso-Durruty

Offered: Occasional.

Requirements fulfilled: (1) KS-8: Natural and Physical Sciences, and (2) Basic: Natural Sciences.

Description: This course offers a detailed introduction to the form and function of the human skeleton. Student are instructed on the identification of the different bones and their landmarks. Additional topics include a brief review on estimations of sex and age based on skeletal remains.

Requisites: ANTH 280 or consent of the instructor.

Taught by: Alfonso-Durruty

Offered: Spring (odd years).

Requirements Fulfilled: (1) KS-8: Natural and Physical Sciences and, (2) Basic: Natural Sciences.

Description:This course explores how archaeologists and bioanthropologists approach the study of death, mortuary practices and skeletal remains, to reconstruct past lives and understand the associated behavior.

Requisites: ANTH 280 or instructor's permission.

Taught by: Alfonso-Durruty

Offered: Spring 2021 (occasional).

Requirements Fulfilled: (1) KS-8: Natural and Physical Sciences, Social Sciences and, (2) Basic: Natural Sciences.

Description: An interdisciplinary exploration of some of the cultures of the South Asian region (including nations such as, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, the Maldives, Bhutan, and Sri Lanka). We will examine thematic issues of colonization, religion, nationalism, modernity, sexuality, gender, globalization and social stratification in their various South Asian contexts. By supplementing our scholarly readings about the region with Bollywood films and other popular media, we will trace the cultural contours of contemporary South Asian societies.

Requisites: ANTH 200, 204 or 210.

Taught by: Falcone

Offered: Occasional.

Requirements Fulfilled: (1) KS-8: Global Issues and Perspectives, Social Sciences, and (2) Basic: Social Sciences, International Studies Overlay.

Description: Explores anthropological and human science approaches to the complex causes and consequences of environmental change, including climate change, mass species extinction, industrial pollution, and deforestation. Students learn about economic, cultural, and political drivers of environmental degradation and discuss solutions for a more sustainable future from the perspective of social and cultural theory.

Taught by: Durbin

Offered: Fall.

Requirements Fulfilled: (1) KS-8: Global Issues and Perspectives, Social Sciences, (2) Basic: Social science and, (3) NRES: Social Sciences and Humanities.

Description:Survey of religious beliefs, practices, and experiences from around the world. Emphasis is on religious practices and experiences in different cultural contexts.

Taught by: Wesch

Offered: Fall (in person) and Spring (online).

Requirements Fulfilled: (1)KS-8: Global Issues and Perspectives, Social Sciences and, (2) Basic: Social science.

Description: Medical anthropology provides a unique way of understanding the universal human experiences of sickness and death and the various medical systems that all cultures have for dealing with these inevitabilities. Medical anthropology seeks to understand how health and illness are influenced by environment, genetic inheritance, and socio-economic circumstances. This course will, first, introduce students to the basic vocabularies and conceptual frameworks for understanding human health and illness from an holistic perspective. Second, it will help students learn how to apply this understanding and build cultural competence by studying a series of real cases. Themes include: ethnomedicine and its interactions with biomedicine; social constructions of the body; structural violence and global health; ethnicity, race, and health; gender and health; and culture and nutrition.

Requisites: None.

Taught by: Durbin

Offered: Fall.

Requirements Fulfilled: (1) KS-8: Global Issues and Perspectives, Human Diversity within the U.S., and (2) Basic: Social science.

Description: This course introduces students to the broad applications of anthropology to a variety of real-world problems and diverse fields and professions including business, industry and technology, health and medicine, agriculture, ecology and environment, conservation, indigenous and human rights, international development, and law and government. It also introduces students to the ways in which anthropologists engage with social, political, and environmental movements and campaigns, as well as advocacy efforts, NGOs, and communities. We will explore questions such as: What can I do with anthropology? How can it apply to my career or interests? How can I make the world a better place? How can I make a difference?

Note: repeatable.

Taught by: Klataske

Offered: Spring 22'

Requirements Fulfilled: Requirements Fulfilled: (1) KS-8: Global Issues and Perspective, Social Sciences.

In depth exploration of topics/issues in cultural anthropology

Description: This course explores the major religious traditions that developed in Asia. It focuses on traditions, literature and rituals that emerged in India (e.g. Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism) as well as religious movements that developed in Thailand, Tibet, China and Japan (e.g. Confucianism, Taoism, Shinto, and Buddhist sectarian movements). Among other themes, the course explores: the relationship between an individual's religious and social obligations, the role of religion in the legitimization of political entities; transcendent religious ideals and the realities of human existence; renunciant social worlds (e.g. nunneries and monasteries), and meditation practices associated with variable notions of enlightenment.

Requisites: ANTH 200, 204, 210, or its equivalent.

Taught by: Falcone

Offered: Spring (even years).

Requirements Fulfilled: (1) KS-8: Global Issues and Perspectives, and Social Sciences.

Description: This course will take an anthropological approach to the study of art by examining them as forms of embodied and material cultural knowledge that can reveal much about the social worlds in which things are made, as well as the ways that margins are challenged by artists working to make something new. We will explore the construction of representation, aesthetics and artistry in various cultural contexts. Is invention bounded by the genius of an individual, or the limits of a particular cultural milieu? Who decides what is art, and what it should mean? Who gets to define what is authentic, and/or what is innovative?

Requisites: ANTH 200, 204, 210, or comparable introductory cultural anthropology course.

Taught by: Falcone

Offered: Fall (even years).

Requirements Fulfilled: (1) KS-8: Aesthetic Interpretation and (2) Basic: Humanities - Fine Arts, Social science, International studies overlay.

Description: This course takes an anthropological approach to the study of performance arts. While the course will maintain an emphasis on music cultures, the readings also draw attention to the art worlds of dance and theatre. Embodied and performed cultural knowledge can reveal a great deal about the social worlds in which performances take place. We will explore the cultural construction of representation and identity, aesthetics, artistry and power in various performance contexts. Is invention bounded by the genius of an individual, or the limits of a particular cultural milieu? Who gets to define what is authentic, and/or what is innovative? Who decides what a performance should mean to the audience or the performer? Among other things, we will read about Indian performance forms in flux, a Tibetan refugee rock band, brass bands in New Orleans, shamanic artists, and Hawaiian performance arts.

Requisites: ANTH 200, 204, 210, or its equivalent.

Taugth by: Falcone

Offered: Fall (odd years).

Requirements Fulfilled: (1) KS-8: Aesthetic Interpretation, (2) Basic: Humanities - Fine Arts, Social Science, Multicultural overlay.

Description:What will be the next “big thing” in cultural anthropology? Where is the field going, and how can I figure it out? How can I transform my interests into a competitive graduate research project? Trends in Anthropological Theory will help you answer these questions by analyzing influential cultural anthropology blogs, twitter accounts, conferences, and top journals. Students will read widely in both peer-reviewed and non-peer-reviewed scholarly work, participate in two informal scholarly conferences, and write a draft of a graduate school research proposal. If you think you may apply to graduate school or if you are interested in anthropological theory, this class is for you.

Requisites: ANTH 200, ANTH 204, or ANTH 210

Taught by: Durbin

Offered: Spring 2021.

Requirements Fulfilled: (1) KS-8: Social Sciences.

Description: Review and integration of the major theoretical approaches in the principal branches of anthropology.

Requisites: ANTH 200, 204, 210, or comparable introductory cultural anthropology course.

Taught by: Durbin

Offered: Occasional.

Requisites Fulfilled: (1) KS-8: Historical Perspectives and, (2) Basic: Social science.

Description: This advanced cultural anthropology methods course immerses students in the ethnohistoric method, which applies an anthropological perspective to understanding earlier human societies through analysis of primary historic and ethnographic documents. A single semester-long Native American case study is employed with 'hands-on' analysis of historical records and ethnographic studies. This single case-study approach allows deep insight into different ways of living, the dynamic nature of culture and culture change. Methodologically, students learn to extract and critically interpret cultural information from primary documents (e.g., fur trade records, explorer journals, historic sketches & paintings). Assignments include reading and extracting cultural information from historic documents and early ethnographies, a major writing project (an ethnohistoric ethnography), and a proposal and initiation of a project to convey ethnohistoric information to a public audience. Class meetings include lectures presenting background information necessary for understanding the data sources and historical contexts and class discussions about data collection, critique, and interpretation, in addition to approaches and findings.

Requisites: ANTH 200, 204, 210 or equivalent

Taught by: Ritterbush

Offered:Occasional.

Requirements Fulfilled: (1) KS-8: Historical Perspectives, Social Sciences and, (2) Basic: Social Sciences.

Description: For the messianic prophet, the inventor, the environmentalist, the alien seeker, the fortune-teller and so many other individuals and communities, "the future" pervades and shapes the present moment (and vice versa). In ANTH 616, we will look at distinct notions of time, progress, hope and fear, planning, utopia and dystopia, world-ending and world-renewal from various societies around the world. Nam June Paik, a pioneering Korean-American artist, famously proclaimed, "the future is now," and this course takes that message seriously, inviting students to begin to see the futurity all around us.

Requisites: ANTH 200, 204, 210, or its equivalent.

Taught by: Falcone

Offered: Spring (odd years).

Requirements Fulfilled: (1) KS-8: Global Issues and Perspectives, Human Diversity within the U.S. and, (2) Basic: Social Sciences.

Description: Introduction to religions of the world and anthropological theories for understanding how they relate to other aspects of culture, why they are similar, why and how they are different.

Requisites: ANTH 200, 204, 210, SOCIO 211, or its equivalent.

Taught by: Wesch

Offered: Occasional.

Requirements Fulfilled: (1) KS-8: Social Sciences, and (2) Basic: Social Sciences.

Description: What is an ethnography and how does an anthropologist write one? In this course, we will interrogate issues of truth, representation and ethics vis-à-vis ethnography, creative non-fiction, ethnographic fiction. This course will combine theoretical and critical reading on writing cultures with more practical readings on the normative field methods of cultural anthropologists. The course evolves into a writing workshop towards the completion of a final, polished ethnographic product. This will be an opportunity to do participant observation of a local subculture and write up your results in a cohesive, anthropological, ethical manner. Students have the opportunity to publish their final polished mini-ethnographies in a class book.

Requisites: ANTH 200, 204, 210, or its equivalent.

Taught by: Falcone

Offered: Spring.

Requirements Fulfilled: (1) KS-8: Ethical reasoning and responsibility, Human Diversity within the US, and (2) Basic: Social Sciences.

Description: In this class, you will learn how to actually *do* an ethnographic project using, harnessing, and leveraging the always emerging possibilities of digital media. Over the past 4 years students have moved in to a retirement community (Meadowlark Hills) and done real ethnography, producing several short documentaries, including To Live in This World, which was accepted into the Ethnographilm Festival in Paris, France: https://youtu.be/IlvcTs181eU

There are many more great videos by students you can view here: https://www.youtube.com/user/mwesch Work from this class has been featured on BBC, ABCnews.com, CurrentTV, local ABC and NBC television stations, the Margaret Mead Film Festival, several newspapers and magazines worldwide, and the Chronicle of Higher Education (just to name a few). Several students have gone on into great careers in digital media starting with this class.

Requisites: Instructor's permission.

Taught by: Wesch

Offered: Spring.

Requirements Fulfilled: (1) KS-8: Aesthetic Interpretation, Social Sciences, and (2) Basic: Social Sciences.

Description: Exploration of problems in linguistic anthropology for both majors and non-majors.

Note: Repeatable.

Taught by: Varies.

Offered: Occasional.

Requirements Fulfilled: (1) KS-8: Global Issues and Perspectives, Social Sciences and (2) Basic: Social Sciences.

Description: Study of language and dialect as aspects of social and ethnic group identities. Emphasis on analysis of conversational style in diverse cultural settings. Research project to be determined according to student interests.

Taught by: Varies

Offered: Fall

Requirements Fulfilled: (1) KS-8: Ethical Reasoning and Responsibility, Global Issues and Perspectives and, (2) Basic: Social Sciences.

Description: Intensive exploration of problems in linguistic anthropology for both major and non-majors with adequate background.

Requisites: ANTH 220 or instructor's permission.

Taught by: Varies.

Offered: Occasional.

Note: Repeatable.

Requirements Fulfilled: None.

Description: Techniques of collecting and analyzing linguistic data in the field. Work with language consultants in class, on languages such as Swahili.

Requisites: ANTH 220 or LING 280

Taught by: Varies.

Offered: Occasional.

Requirements Fulfilled: None.