A proseminar for all incoming archaeology graduate students. Course may be repeated for credit. Critical examination of a selected aspect of contemporary archaeological research and theory. Topics will vary from year to year. A review of basic issues in physical anthropology for graduate students in archaeology.
Modern science claims to produce value-free, universal knowledge.
This course uses feminist and other critical anthropological analyses of scientific activity and discourse to examine how scientific knowledge is produced and the extent to which it reproduces cultural values and social hierarchies. An in-depth coverage of prehistoric cultures of the south coast of Peru, with particular emphasis on Paracas, Nasca, and Wari. Course will stress both data and its interpretation, and is aimed at understanding the trajectory of cultural evolution in this part of Andean South America. The purpose of this course is to read and assess some of the major ethnographic works by anthropologists within the area of cultural studies. Emphasis is upon understanding both conceptual and methodological foundations of this research.