An introduction to current anthropological theories and methods for understanding human cultures from a comparative perspective; includes an analysis of human institutions such as religion, politics, and kinship, and the forces that change them in a variety of societies, small and large scale.

An exploration of the science of archaeology, the study of past human behavior through material remains. Examines the ways archaeologists gather data and the methods used to analyze and interpret these data to learn about the past and how human societies evolved.

This course will examine the biological history of the human species culminating with an exploration of human biological variation in the modern world. Principles of evolutionary theory and genetics will first be presented to provide a framework for the study of human evolutionary biology. The fossil evidence for human evolution will then be considered using comparative data from nonhuman primate ecology to help reconstruct prehistoric lives. Finally, features of biological modernity will be discussed. Particular attention will be given to how human populations utilized biological and behavioral mechanisms to adapt to their environments throughout evolutionary history. The course includes labs.