Course Descriptions and Student Learning Outcomes
Below are descriptions of the courses I teach, in most cases including Student Learning Outcomes (SLO) which provide students with a more detailed picture of what the course content and expectations are.
ANT 2000: Introduction to Anthropology
ANT 3101: Principles of Archaeology
ANT 3153: North American Archaeology
ANT 3311: Indians of the Southeast: An Anthropological Perspective
ANT 4115: Method and Theory in Archaeology
ANT 4172: Historical Archaeology
ANT 4180L: Laboratory Methods in Archaeology
ANG 4824: Terrestrial Archaeological Field Methods
ANG 5154: Spanish Florida in Anthropological Perspective
ANG 5172: Historical Archaeology Seminar
ANG 5173: Historical Research Methods in Archaeology
ANG 6002: Proseminar in Anthropology: Anth. Persp. on Colonialism
ANG 6110: Advanced Method and Theory in Archaeology
ANG 6183L: Advanced Laboratory Methods in Archaeology
ANG 6824: Advanced Terrestrial Archaeological Field Methods
Undergraduate Classes
ANT 2000: Introduction to Anthropology
Introduction to subdivision of anthropology and anthropological thought, basic treatment of human evolution, origins of civilization, world archaeology and modern work cultures, stressing the continuities of human nature.
Student Learning Outcomes:
- Define and explain anthropology as a discipline which seeks to explain similarities and differences among humans in time and space using holistic and comparative analysis.
- Identify and describe the four subfields of Americanist anthropology, including cultural anthropology, archaeology, biological anthropology, and linguistics.
- Define and explain the attributes and importance of human culture.
- Describe the biological basis of evolutionary theory as it relates to human variation and adaptation.
- Identify the relationship between humans and other primates, and describe the evidence for the evolutionary sequence leading to modern humans.
- Describe and explain the importance of major steps in the cultural evolution of humans, including the emergence of food production and political complexity.
- Describe and explain the anthropological perspective on human language and communication, ethnicity and race, subsistence and trade, political systems, gender, social organization, religion, and art.
- Identify and describe the historical relationship between colonialism and globalization, and the continuing impact of these issues on the modern world.
ANT 3101: Principles of Archaeology
Detailed explanation of the principles and methodology of current archaeology in U.S.; includes a brief history and theoretical orientation development of American archaeology.
Student Learning Outcomes:
- Identify and describe archaeology as a subfield of anthropology, its relationship to other related disciplines.
- Describe the origins and history of Americanist archaeology, as well as the major theoretical paradigms that have influenced it.
- Identify and describe the methods and techniques archaeologists employ to locate archaeological sites through survey, remote sensing, and testing.
- Identify and describe the methods and techniques archaeologists use to conduct excavations and recover archaeological specimens and samples using appropriate record-keeping.
- Describe and explain the principles of archaeological stratigraphy, and how they relate to site formation processes.
- Identify and describe the methods and techniques archaeologists use to date finds and develop chronologies, including both relative and absolute dating.
- Describe and explain the relationship between the dimensions of time, space, and form, and how they relate to archaeological classification and typology.
- Describe and explain the importance of taphonomy, experimental archaeology, and ethnoarchaeology in relating the modern archaeological record to past human behavior.
- Identify and describe the methods and techniques employed by zooarchaeologists, archaeobotanists, and bioarchaeologists to study animal, plant, and human remains from archaeological sites.
- Describe and explain how archaeology contributes to the understanding of different dimensions of past human cultures during both the prehistoric and historic eras, including technology, social and political systems, and belief systems.
- Identify and describe other important roles for archaeology as applied in the modern world, including cultural resource management, repatriation, forensics, and heritage education.
ANT 3153: North American Archaeology
Overview of archaeology of North America. Emphasis on patterns of development of regional cultures based on the archaeological record. Open to students in all majors.
Student Learning Outcomes:
- Identify and describe historical attempts to explain the origins of North America’s indigenous peoples, culminating in modern archaeological science.
- Describe and evaluate differing theories regarding the nature and timing of humankind’s arrival in North America.
- Describe the cultural characteristics of the first North American Indians, and explain how regional cultures emerged over the course of time.
- Identify and describe the major cultural and geographical regions of prehistoric North America, and delineate the cultural chronology of each region, comparing and contrasting them with one another.
- Identify the major episodes and trajectory early European contact, colonization, and territorial expansion across North America, and describe the cultural transformations that have affected both indigenous and immigrant groups since first contact.
- Identify and describe major archaeological sites and discoveries that have contributed to scholarship for different regions, periods, and cultures in North America.
ANT 3153: North American Archaeology
Overview of archaeology of North America. Emphasis on patterns of development of regional cultures based on the archaeological record. Open to students in all majors.
Student Learning Outcomes:
- Identify and describe historical attempts to explain the origins of North America’s indigenous peoples, culminating in modern archaeological science.
- Describe and evaluate differing theories regarding the nature and timing of humankind’s arrival in North America.
- Describe the cultural characteristics of the first North American Indians, and explain how regional cultures emerged over the course of time.
- Identify and describe the major cultural and geographical regions of prehistoric North America, and delineate the cultural chronology of each region, comparing and contrasting them with one another.
- Identify the major episodes and trajectory early European contact, colonization, and territorial expansion across North America, and describe the cultural transformations that have affected both indigenous and immigrant groups since first contact.
- Identify and describe major archaeological sites and discoveries that have contributed to scholarship for different regions, periods, and cultures in North America.
ANT 3158: Florida Archaeology
Archaeology of Florida with emphasis on general patterns of development of Florida Indians. Field trips to area archaeological sites.
Student Learning Outcomes:
- Identify and describe the major geographical and chronological parameters used by archaeologists to study Florida’s prehistoric and historic past.
- Describe the origins of the Florida Indians during the Ice Age, and trace the archaeological evidence of their cultural evolution through the European colonial era, including material culture, subsistence, settlement patterns, social organization, and belief systems.
- Identify the major episodes of early European contact, colonization, and missionization in Florida, and describe the range and extent of their impact on Florida’s indigenous populations based on archaeological and ethnohistorical evidence.
- Identify and describe the contribution of archaeology toward understanding the post-colonial era in Florida.
- Identify and evaluate current issues surrounding the preservation and interpretation of the archaeological record in the modern era.
A survey course of the Native American groups in the Southeastern U.S. and their culture. It begins with an overview of prehistory and continues into the early 19th century. Examines such key areas as socio-cultural archaeology, archaeology, biological anthropology and history.
Student Learning Outcomes:
- Describe and explain the prehistoric origins of the Southeastern Indians, and identify the major culture periods defined by archaeologists for this region.
- Identify the major episodes of early European contact and colonization in the Southeast, and describe the range and extent of their impact on the Southeastern Indians.
- Explain and evaluate the origins of the well-known historic Southeastern Indian tribes during the historic period, and compare and contrast their histories and cultures.
- Identify and describe cultural characteristics common to most Southeastern Indian groups, including social organization, subsistence, belief systems, ceremony, art, music, recreation, and language.
- Describe and explain the cultural transformations and accommodations experienced by the Southeastern Indians during the later historic period, including Removal.
- Identify the major surviving Southeastern Indian groups in the present day, and describe current affairs and concerns pertinent to their future.
History and evolution of archaeological methods and theory in the United States. Major schools of thought and currently developing ideas are compared and contrasted.
Student Learning Outcomes:
- Explain the importance of method and theory in archaeological inquiry, defining and distinguishing the difference between data, techniques, methods, and theory.
- Describe the differences between low-, middle-, and high-level theory.
- Identify and evaluate the relationships between past human culture, past human behavior, and resultant archaeological deposits both in the past and the present.
- Trace the origins and history of the development of archaeological method and theory from antiquity to the present day, describing the historical relationships between major schools of thought, particularly as related to the development of broader anthropological theory.
- Identify, describe, compare, and contrast the major theoretical approaches used by archaeologists in the twentieth century and today, citing notable practicioners and published work.
- Describe and evaluate the present state of theoretical development in archaeology, focusing on the contrast between processual and postprocessual approaches.
ANT 4172: Historical Archaeology
Principles and methodology of historical archaeology; includes history of this specialty and theoretical development. Course is detailed and is required for Historical Archaeology graduate students prior to taking ANG 5172.
Student Learning Outcomes:
- Identify and describe historical archaeology as a specialty within the archaeological subfield of anthropology, and its relationship to other specialties, subfields, and disciplines.
- Trace the origins and history of historical archaeology as it is practiced in North America and elsewhere in the world.
- Identify and describe the types of sites investigated by historical archaeologists, comparing and contrasting the data and methods associated with each.
- Describe and explain how artifacts are studied and utilized by historical archaeologists, and how they situate their data in time and space, distinguishing those methods and techniques that are unique to historical as opposed to prehistoric archaeology.
- Identify and describe the methods and techniques that historical archaeologists use to find and document sites prior to excavation, including documentary research, oral interviews, survey, and architectural fieldwork.
- Identify and describe the methods and techniques that historical archaeologists use to conduct field excavation and followup labwork.
- Describe and explain the major theoretical approaches used by historical archaeologists to interpret the historical past, including the identification and analysis of groups distinguished by social class, gender, ethnicity, and race.
- Describe and explain the role of historical archaeology in cultural resource management, and the range of other career options available to historical archaeologists.
- Identify and evaluate ethical and political issues commonly confronted by historical archaeologists, particularly as relates to relationships with living descendant groups.
ANT 4180L: Laboratory Methods in Archaeology
A practical introduction to laboratory methods in archaeology, including review of material culture identification and laboratory procedures. Students are required to complete laboratory analysis on actual materials recovered in the field as a class project.
ANG 4824: Terrestrial Archaeological Field Methods
On site training in terrestrial field methods includes use of hand tools, surveying equipment, and some power equipment. Emphasized in the field are excavation techniques in a variety of situations, field scale drawings, and documentation. Field lab methods are often included. Permission is required. Material and Supply Fee will be assessed..
Student Learning Outcomes:
- Describe and explain the purpose of archaeological fieldwork, and the relationship of data gathered in the field to the anthropological research goals of an archaeological project.
- Demonstrate the proper use of survey instruments such as a total station or transit in archaeological fieldwork, including topographic mapping, horizontal and vertical grid layout, laying in excavation units, and elevation control during excavation.
- Demonstrate the proper use of a range of hand tools in archaeological excavation, including unit and level excavation, feature excavation, and plan and profile cleaning.
- Demonstrate proper archaeological record-keeping practices through field notes, forms, bag labeling, photographs, and scale drawings.
- Demonstrate the proper care of archaeological field equipment, including inventory, cleaning, maintenance, and repair.
ANT 4905: Directed Study
Content adapted to individual student needs.
Graduate Classes
ANG 5154: Spanish Florida in Anthropological Perspective
A comprehensive anthropological exploration of the origins and evolution of Spanish Florida as a colonial society between 1513 and 1763. Draws upon the results of historical, ethnohistorical, archaeological (terrestrial and maritime), bioanthropological, and other research disciplines to present the Florida colony as a geographically-extensive multi-ethnic society within the context of the global Spanish empire.
Student Learning Outcomes:
- Describe and explain the chronological and geographical dimensions of Spanish Florida during the First Spanish Period (1513-1763), relating local settings and specific events to broader patterns and processes with multi-regional and even global implications.
- Identify and describe the diverse ethnic groups which comprised greater Spanish Florida, including indigenous Native Americans and settler populations from Spain, Africa, and elsewhere.
- Describe and evaluate the systemic relationships betweeen constituent populations and groups within and beyond greater Spanish Florida, including political, economic, and social relationships at many different scales of analysis.
- Identify short- and long-term changes and variations in the colonial system of Spanish Florida, relating them to historical, systemic, and evolutionary processes affecting Florida from within and without.
- Compare and contrast the colonial system of Spanish Florida with those of surrounding European colonial powers, exploring the implications and effects of these differences on constituent and neighboring populations.
- Identify and describe the diverse evidentiary basis for understanding Spanish Florida as a distinctive human society, and the many academic disciplines and subdisciplines that employ this data in different and complementary ways.
ANG 5172: Historical Archaeology Seminar
Emphasizes the goals, methods and theoretical base of historical archaeology. Particular emphasis is placed on theoretical development, acculturation, ethnicity, archaeological methods and documentary research. The class is an organized seminar with readings and discussions of specific topics.
Student Learning Outcomes:
- Describe and evaluate the theoretical basis for the historical archaeology as a discipline, including its relationship to general anthropology, prehistoric archaeology, and history.
- Identify and describe the distinctive methodology of historical archaeology, particularly in comparison and contrast to that employed by prehistoric archaeologists.
- Compare and contrast archaeological (material) and documentary (textual) sources of evidence regarding the human past, and how each relates to the practice of historical archaeology.
- Compare and contrast the techniques, methods, and theoretical emphases of terrestrial and maritime historical archaeology, and explain how each subdiscipline complements the other.
- Identify and describe how historical archaeology has contributed to our understanding of the emergence of the modern world, focusing on the colonial expansion of Europe since 1492 and the increasing degree of systemic interconnectivity across the globe.
- Describe and evaluate the extent to which archaeological evidence for material culture contributes to our understanding of human variation in areas such as ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status.
ANG 5173: Historical Research Methods in Archaeology
A practical introduction to the use of historical documents in archeological research, both as primary sources of data for understanding the past, and as a complement to archaeological and other types of data. Examples and case-studies will center on the history of Florida during Spanish, British, and early American periods.
Student Learning Outcomes:
- Identify and describe disciplinary relationships between anthropology and history, and the theoretical and methodological context of historical archaeology.
- Describe the many sources of evidence that are employed in historical archaeology, identifying the distinguishing features of historical documents as one source of evidence.
- Identify and classify the various types of primary historical documents, how and why they were generated, and how originals and/or copies were distributed and archived.
- Evaluate the extent to which we gain access to primary documentary texts considering issues of paleography, transcription, translation, and paraphrasing.
- Explain various methods for evaluating the credibility or reliability of documentary texts, distinguishing primary and secondary sources of evidence.
- Describe methods for employing historical documents as data for archaeological research in a rigorous scientific manner.
- Appraise the extent to which the documentary and archaeological record complement one another, and how apparent differences can be reconciled.
ANG 5173: Historical Research Methods in Archaeology
A practical introduction to the use of historical documents in archeological research, both as primary sources of data for understanding the past, and as a complement to archaeological and other types of data. Examples and case-studies will center on the history of Florida during Spanish, British, and early American periods.
Student Learning Outcomes:
- Identify and describe disciplinary relationships between anthropology and history, and the theoretical and methodological context of historical archaeology.
- Describe the many sources of evidence that are employed in historical archaeology, identifying the distinguishing features of historical documents as one source of evidence.
- Identify and classify the various types of primary historical documents, how and why they were generated, and how originals and/or copies were distributed and archived.
- Evaluate the extent to which we gain access to primary documentary texts considering issues of paleography, transcription, translation, and paraphrasing.
- Explain various methods for evaluating the credibility or reliability of documentary texts, distinguishing primary and secondary sources of evidence.
- Describe methods for employing historical documents as data for archaeological research in a rigorous scientific manner.
- Appraise the extent to which the documentary and archaeological record complement one another, and how apparent differences can be reconciled.
ANG 6002: Proseminar in Anthropology: Anthropological Perspectives on Colonialism
An exploration of colonialism and colonial systems throughout history, using the perspectives of cultural anthropology, biological anthropology, and archaeology. The seminar's goals are to introduce students to the subject, provide in-depth understanding of current issues, and examine the variety of theoretical and methodological approaches used by anthropologists.
Student Learning Outcomes:
- Identify and describe the broad range of circumstances, contexts, and cultural systems to which the terms colony, colonization, and colonialism might be applied throughout human history and across the globe.
- Identify and explore the diverse motivations and reasons for colonialism in different times and places.
- Identify and describe the range of strategies that were employed for colonial expansion.
- Describe the relationship between colonial settlers and nearby indigenous groups in a diversity of circumstances.
- Describe and explain the range of mechanisms by which constituent groups were assimilated and integrated into new colonial societies.
- Identify and evaluate the consequences of colonialism from a cultural and biological standpoint.
- Describe and explain how colonial systems come to an end in different times and places.
- Describe and evaluate the legacy of colonialism in the modern world.
ANG 6110: Advanced Method and Theory in Archaeology
Includes an overview of the history and development of American archeology with an emphasis on methodological and theoretical topics. Class is an organized seminar with readings and discussions of specific topics.
Student Learning Outcomes:
- Explain the importance of method and theory to the practice of archaeological inquiry.
- Define and distinguish the difference between data, techniques, methods, and theory.
- Evaluate the methodological and theoretical implications of how archaeologists construct interpretations from the material record of the past, how that material record relates to the living cultures that produced it, and how those cultures can be understood in an anthropological perspective.
- Identify and describe the major theoretical approaches used by archaeologists during the twentieth century up to the present day, citing notable practicioners and published work.
- Describe how these modern theoretical approaches relate to earlier schools of thought from the 19th century and earlier.
- Evaluate and organize these theoretical approaches as to their relationship both to one another, and to broader theoretical paradigms in anthropology and other scholarly disciplines.
ANG 6183L: Advanced Laboratory Methods in Archaeology
Advanced training in the operation of an archaeological laboratory. Activities include laboratory organization and management as well as planning laboratory activities to meet deadlines, assignment of tasks, training, and supervising beginning students. Graduate students will instruct undergraduate students in artifact indentification and documentation.
ANG 6824: Advanced Terrestrial Archaeological Field Methods
Advanced training in field methods including survey, testing, and site excavation. Also includes training in project planning, budgeting, supervision, and integration of information recovered from the field. Material and Supply Fee will be assessed.
Student Learning Outcomes:
- Describe and explain the purpose of archaeological fieldwork, and the relationship of data gathered in the field to the anthropological research goals of an archaeological project.
- Demonstrate the proper use of survey instruments such as a total station or transit in archaeological fieldwork, including topographic mapping, horizontal and vertical grid layout, laying in excavation units, and elevation control during excavation.
- Demonstrate the proper use of a range of hand tools in archaeological excavation, including unit and level excavation, feature excavation, and plan and profile cleaning.
- Demonstrate proper archaeological record-keeping practices through field notes, forms, bag labeling, photographs, and scale drawings.
- Demonstrate the proper care of archaeological field equipment, including inventory, cleaning, maintenance, and repair.
- Demonstrate proper preparatory and followup procedures before and after fieldwork, including assigning provenience numbers to artifact bags, naming and archiving digital photographs, and checking field records on a daily and weekly basis.
- Demonstrate organizational and leadership skills in supervising small groups of undergraduate students in archaeological fieldwork under a variety of circumstances.
- Demonstrate instructional and mentoring skills in providing hands-on training to undergraduate students in a range of archaeological fieldwork techniques.
ANG 6905: Directed Study
Content adapted to individual student needs.
ANG 6971: Anthropology Thesis
Preparation of masters thesis which includes problem identification, review of literature, design, data collection, analysis, and results. Permission of Thesis Committee required. Graded on satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis only.