ANT 2140 – Introduction to World Archeology


General Education Credit: Elective
College Credit: 3

About The Course

The global study of human culture from its origins to the present through the recovery, description, and analysis of archaeological remains. This course explores the totality of human experience on earth, as known through archaeology, from the beginnings of humankind into the present. Course content is not organized chronologically or regionally, but thematically, focusing on how humans have made themselves and their worlds in the past and continue to do so today.

Course Goals

Through lectures, readings, films, assignments, and discussions, you will develop the basic skills and knowledge to:

  • Recognize basic archaeological concepts, methods, and techniques used to interpret the lifeways and histories of past peoples.
  • Apply those concepts, methods, and techniques to the analysis of archaeological remains.
  • Identify major changes in culture and technology in human history and explain their material and historical impacts on a global scale, especially those that have resulted in cross-cultural commonalities and differences.
  • Justify that “the past” is produced in the present and is subject to change as knowledge, methods, and attitudes change.
  • Discriminate more plausible interpretations and explanations of past phenomena that contribute to accumulated knowledge using evidence-based procedures, and correspondingly recognize interpretations that are less plausible.
  • Appreciate how cultural heritage is an important resource and source of identity among virtually all peoples at the national, subnational, ethnic, and local levels, and thus the ethical considerations of preserving tangible and intangible heritage.
  • Recognize the diversity of experiences, formations, and impacts of human societies since the beginning of humankind on a global scale.
  • Understand that our contemporary world is a result of a long history of separate developments and interdependencies, of continuities and transformations that are still ongoing.
  • Evaluate how archaeological approaches to studying the human past are relevant to understanding the present and future in a diverse and dynamic global context.

Satisfied High School Graduation Requirement Subject: Elective
High School Credit: 0.5