Basic concepts of sociocultural anthropology and study of cultural differences among peoples of the world. Poses questions about how lives are touched by media images and information, transnational markets, consumer desires, global ecology, conflicting aspirations, religious revivals, and rewritten histories. History of human cultural development, from the stone tool and cave art of early modern Homo sapiens , through the growth of complex pre-industrial agricultural societies in the Near East, Europe, Africa, India and East Asia, and North and South America.
Emphasis is on cultural forms as adaptations to the biocultural environment.
Two hours of lecture and one hour of discussion per week. Dr. Clark, Dr. Cook. Examines how speech shapes understanding of our humanity, our species' past, our relation to primates, and growth of our young. Among the most dramatic archaeological relics are ruins of prehistoric citiesin the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Europe. This course will introduce the archeological documentation of prehistoric states and empires, focusing on changes in settlement patterns, social organization, the establishment of political office, and the evolution of primitive economic and ideological systems that help define early civilization.