Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World Course Offerings 2012-2013
Spring Term
(Jump to Fall Term)
Primarily for Undergraduates
ARCH 0030 Art in Antiquity: An Introduction [CRN: 24360] [Course Website]
What went into the creation of the Parthenon? Who lived in the Tower of Babel? Why do we still care? This course offers an introduction to the art, architecture, and material culture of the ancient world. Things of beauty and of power will be explored, from Egyptian pyramids and Near Eastern palaces, to the 'classical' art of Greece and Rome. MWF 11:00-11:50. Instructor: Omur Harmansah.
ARCH 0155 'People Without History': Archaeology of Atlantic Africa and the Diaspora [CRN: 26043]
Too often 'Western' historical narratives consider Africans and African Diasporans as 'People Without History'. Such a notion also refers to peoples who cultures do not, or possess few formally written histories. This class employs archaeological evidence in order to dismantle the colonial library, exploring local histories that have been erased, silenced and marginalized, investigating histories of imperialism, colonialism, genocide, slavery, resistance and black nationalism. MWF 1:00-1:50. Instructor: Rachel Engmann.
ARCH 0405 State of Siege! Walls and Fortifications in the Greek and Roman World [CRN: 26044] [Course Website]
Warfare was endemic in the ancient world, and walls were therefore ubiquitous. This course will examine the most spectacular fortifications of the Graeco-Roman world, from Bronze Age citadels in Greece to the Roman frontiers. We will learn how to build walls and fortresses, how to defend them, and how to breach them by studying some of the best walls and famous sieges of Antiquity. MWF 2:00-2:50. Instructor: Sylvian Fachard.
ARCH 0530 Hannibal ad Portas! Fact and Fiction on Carthage and the Punic World [CRN: 25922] [Course Website]
"Hannibal stands at the gates": Roman parents would terrify their children
with these words. And many others have been haunted by Hannibal Barca: the
Carthaginian general still fascinates the European imagination, not least
his epic trek over the Alps with three dozen elephants. This course explores
fact and fiction about Hannibal and his world, holding up historical and
mythical records against hard archaeological evidence. MWF 12:00-12:50. Instructor: Peter van Dommelen.
For Undergraduates and Graduates
ARCH 1010 Archaeology's Dirty Little Secrets [CRN: 25924]
Admit it -- you wanted to be an archaeologist when you grew up... This course
builds on that enthusiasm, while radically expanding your notions about just
what archaeology is and just what archaeologists do. This class
is a hands-on introduction to the often-fraught process of doing archaeology, and a hands-on collaborative workshop to develop one of Brown's three pilot on-line classes for Coursera, to be offered free to the world in summer 2013. Instructor permission is required to register for this course, and will be given following the first meeting. W 3:00-5:20. Instructor: Susan E. Alcock.
ARCH 1052 Global Historical Archaeology (ANTH 1620) [CRN: 24050]
Interested students must register for ANTH 1620.
The course examines historical archaeology as a multidisciplinary approach to the study of the historic past. Draws in recent research from different parts of the world, including North America, South Africa, Australia, the Caribbean, and South America, to illustrate historical archaeology's contributions to interpreting peoples' everyday lives and the diversity of their experiences in the post-1500 era. TTh 10:30-11:50. Instructor: Colin Porter.
ARCH 1101 Age of Augustus: Topography, Architecture, and Politics (CLAS 1120T) [CRN: 25458]
Interested students must register for CLAS1120T-S01.
Augustus Caesar boasted that he had found Rome a city in brick, but left it in marble. This course explores the transformation of Rome from an unadorned village to the capital of an empire. Was Rome's first emperor trying to fashion himself a Hellenistic monarch on the model of Alexander and his successors? Was he simply operating within republican traditions, which had been established through centuries of aristocratic competition at Rome? Our source materials will include ancient works of art and architecture, literary accounts, maps, and critical urban theory. TTh 2:30-3:50. Instructor: Lisa Mignone.
ARCH 1155 Cities, Colonies and Global Networks in the Western Mediterranean [CRN: 25925] [Course Website]
Urban life as we know it in the Mediterranean began in the Iron Age, a
period that witnessed the rise of long-distance networks and the foundation
of colonies by several Mediterranean powers. What happened when new
settlers, visiting traders, and local inhabitants came into direct and
unprecedented contact? This course will explore this and other
transformations in the West Mediterranean during the first half of the first
millennium BC. TTh 10:30-11:50. Instructor: Peter van Dommelen.
ARCH 1162 Anthropology in/of the Museum (ANTH 1901) [CRN: 25034]
Interested students must register for ANTH 1901.
This course will provide an introduction to the history, purposes, transformations, and internal workings of museums from an anthropological perspective. Students will learn about museums that focus on natural and cultural history related to anthropological studies of archaeology, human evolution, and world ethnography. It will cover the relevance of anthropological training to careers in the museum field, as well as the importance of conducting anthropological investigations in the museum environment. W 3:00-5:20. Instructor: Jennifer Stampe.
ARCH 1211 The Body in Medieval Art (HIAA 1440E) [CRN: 25777]
Interested students must register for HIAA 1440E.
The seminar considers the contradictory aspects of embodiment in the visual and material culture of the Middle Ages. We will examine the veneration of holy bodies through living holy individuals, and through body parts (relics) and the Eucharist enshrined in sumptuous containers. We will look at the iconography of death and resurrection, the representation of the body in painting and sculpture, attitudes toward sexuality, the performance of identity through clothing, and the sumptuary laws that governed clothing and behavior. We will investigate funerary rituals and burial, and the movement of living bodies in dance and in civic and religious processions. Enrollment limited to 25. F 3:00-5:20. Instructor: Sheila Bonde.
ARCH 1214 The Viking Age (HIST 1031) [CRN: 25169]
Interested students must register for HIST 1031.
For two centuries, Viking marauders struck terror into the hearts of European Christians. Feared as raiders, Norsemen were also traders and explorers who maintained a network of connections that stretched from North America to Baghdad and who developed a complex civilization that was deeply concerned with power and its abuses, the role of law in society, and the corrosive power of violence. This class examines the tensions and transformations within Norse society between AD 750 and 1100 and how people living in the Viking world sought to devise solutions to the challenges that confronted them as their world expanded and changed. MWF 10:00-10:50. Instructor: Jonathan Conant.
ARCH 1220 Byzantine Archaeology and Art: Material Stories of a Christian Empire [CRN: 26045] [Course Website]
The world of Byzantium is often considered as a dark age separating the glories of Rome and the Renaissance. Yet Byzantium was among the longest living empires in world history, with an artistic and cultural impact felt far beyond its borders. The course will introduce students to a series of art works, architectural masterpieces, and archaeological discoveries that illuminate our understanding of the much underestimated, and much misunderstood, Byzantine Empire. TTh 1:00-2:20. Instructor: Fotini Kondyli.
ARCH 1441 Ancient Synagogues, Churches, and Mosques in Palestine (JUDS 1440) [CRN: 23672]
Interested students must register for JUDS 1440.
Reviews the discoveries and related scholarship of ancient synagogues, churches, and mosques in ancient Palestine. Focuses on their architectural and decorational as well as their spiritual and religious characteristics, and examines how those institutions influenced each other throughout their history of development. M 6:00-8:20 pm. Instructor: Katarina Galor.
ARCH 1444 What is Islamic Art (HIAA 1410C) [CRN: 24065]
Interested students must register for HIAA 1410C.
Is there such a thing as modern Islamic Art? This course draws on Brown's Minassian collection of Islamic Art to help clarify these complex questions. Focusing on 3 forms from the collection -manuscripts, painting, and pottery- the course introduces students to key concepts in Islamic Art History. Enrollment limited to 20. T 4:00-6:20. Instructor: Shiva Balaghi.
ARCH 1608 Sacred Spaces and Sacred Times: Religious Travels and Pilgrimages in the Ancient Near East (AWAS 1200) [CRN: 25782]
Interested students must register for AWAS 1200.
The course will focus on the cultural and religious-historical interpretation of physical displacements among sacred places, including urban processions, visits to temples and journeys to sacred places within the context of the Ancient Near Eastern religions. We will attempt to sketch a map of the holy centers and cultic itineraries, focusing on case studies from Babylonia, Assyria and Syria from the third to the first millennium BC as well as comparative case studies from surrounding cultures. These topics will be explored with an emphasis on how written and archaeological sources can be interpreted with the help of theoretical literature. MWF 12:00-12:50. Instructor: Cinzia Pappi.
ARCH 1633 Black Pharaohs: Nubian Rule over Egypt in the 25th Dynasty (EGYT 1455) [CRN: 25770]
Interested students must register for EGYT 1455.
The course will cover Egypt's 25th Dynasty (728-657 BC), when rulers of Nubia, located in the region of modern Sudan, added Egypt to their territories. Using a wide range of textual and archaeological evidence, students will learn about the history of famous 'black pharaohs' such as Taharqa and study some of Africa's most impressive archaeological remains. This fascinating period is not well understood and has often been afflicted in the past by racist, colonialist scholarship; using primary sources and recent theory on ethnic identity, this class will re-examine the complex and changing relationship between Egypt and Nubia. MW 8:30-9:50 am. Instructor: Kathryn Howley.
ARCH 1772 The Human Skeleton (ANTH 1720) [CRN: 24048 or CRN: 24049]
Interested students must register for ANTH 1720.
More than simply a tissue within our bodies, the human skeleton is a gateway into narratives of the past--from the evolution of our species to the biography of individual past lives. Through lecture and hands-on laboratory, students will learn the complete anatomy of the human skeleton, with an emphasis on the human skeleton in functional and evolutionary perspective. We will also explore forensic and bioarchaeological approaches to the skeleton. By the course conclusion, students will be able to conduct basic skeletal analysis and will be prepared for more advanced studies of the skeleton from medical, forensic, archaeological, and evolutionary perspectives. Enrollment limited to 20. Not open to first year students. Instructor permission required. MWF 10:00-10:50 or 11:00-11:50. Instructor: Andrew K. Scherer.
ARCH 1775 Animals in Archaeology [CRN: 26046] [Course Website]
Food, foe, friend: animals play all these roles, and more, in their relationship to humans, in the past as well as the present. This course will explore how zooarchaeology — the study of animal remains (bones, teeth, and shells) — allows us to reconstruct ancient human-animal-environmental interactions. We will cover a range of topics and analytical techniques, including hands-on sessions for the identification and quantification of faunal remains. TTh 2:30-3:50. Instructor: Suzanne Pilaar Birch.
ARCH 1852 Material Culture Practicum (ANTH 1621) [CRN: 25151]
Interested students must register for ANTH 1621.
Combines theory with hands-on study of material culture in historical archaeology. Students gain skills and experience in identifying, dating, recording, analyzing, and interpreting artifacts and conduct individual or team research projects. Enrollment limited to 15.
M 3:00-5:20. Instructors: Patricia Rubertone and Felipe Gaitan-Amman.
ARCH 1860 Engineering Material Culture: An Introduction to Archaeological Science [CRN: 25912]
Unlikely bedfellows? No way! This course demonstrates how well the humanities (e.g. archaeology, anthropology, art history) and the hard sciences (e.g. engineering, geology, chemistry, physics) can do business together. An introduction to the world of archaeological science, presented from the dual perspectives of material culture studies and materials science. Students will be introduced to a range of methodologies, instrumentation, and interpretive approaches through a combination of hands-on laboratory work, guest lectures, and interdisciplinary group research. Students must have already completed at least two university courses in archaeology, engineering, or any related discipline. Enrollment is limited to 20. TTh 1:00-2:20. Instructor: Jennifer Meanwell.
Primarily for Graduates
ARCH 2041 Mesoamerican Archaeology and Ethnohistory (ANTH 2520) [CRN: 24060]
Interested students must register for ANTH 2520.
Seminar focusing on current issues in the archaeology and history of Mesoamerica, including Mexico and Northern Central America. Draws on rich resources at Brown, including the John Carter Brown Library. W 3:00-5:20. Instructor: Stephen Houston.
ARCH 2235 One Sea for All: Economic, Social and Artistic Interaction in the Medieval Mediterranean [CRN: 26116] [Course Website]
This seminar explores the phenomenon of interaction in the Medieval Mediterranean. We will study how, even in times of conflict, Byzantines created and maintained networks of ideological, commercial and artistic communication with the Arabs, the Slavs, the Latins, and the Ottomans. How did such encounters, among people of such different faiths, languages, and world-views, influence the political, economic and social transformations of the Medieval world? T 4:00-6:20. Instructor: Fotini Kondyli.
ARCH 2313 Art & Visual Culture in the Ancient Near East (AWAS 2750) [CRN: 25769] [Course Website]
Interested students should register for AWAS 2750.
Peoples of the Ancient Near East from prehistory to the Hellenistic period produced a unique corpus of production technologies and visual culture. Cultures from Anatolia to the Iraqi southern alluvium, from the Levant to Iran and the Caucasus shared this common pictorial language in a variety of ways. In this seminar, we will investigate bodies of archaeological, architectural and pictorial evidence from the Near East while also debating relevant art and architecture historical methodologies and discourses in direct relationship to that material. Conceptual issues such as narrative, representation, perspective, agency, technology, style, symbolism, landscape, space, and power will be explored. Enrollment limited to 15. Th 4:00-6:20. Instructor: Omur Harmansah.
ARCH 2335 In the Wake of Empire: Anatolia after the Hittites, before Alexander [CRN: 25923]
Kings Croesus, Midas, and the much lesser known Warpalawas… Who were these people, when and where did they rule, and why does any of this matter? During the first millennium BCE, Anatolia was an astonishingly varied, multicultural and multilingual environment. This course will tackle head on the myriad archaeological, historical, and even linguistic challenges posed by this fascinating, but often-overlooked period in the history of the region. M 3:00-5:20. Instructor: Felipe Rojas.
ARCH 2406 The Body in Medieval Art and Architecture (HIAA 2440B) [CRN: 25947]
Interested students must register for HIAA2440B.
The seminar considers the contradictory aspects of embodiment in the visual and material culture of the Middle Ages. We will examine the veneration of holy bodies through living holy individuals, and through body parts (relics) and the Eucharist enshrined in sumptuous containers. We will look at the iconography of death and resurrection, the representation of the body in painting and sculpture, attitudes toward sexuality, the performance of identity through clothing, and the sumptuary laws that governed clothing and behavior. We will investigate funerary rituals and burial, and the movement of living bodies in dance and in civic and religious processions. Enrollment limited to 20. F 3:00-5:20. Instructor: Sheila Bonde.
ARCH 2602 Visual Humor (HIAA 2980 S08) [CRN: 21761]
Interested students must register for HIAA 2980 S08.
Can humor be a serious topic of inquiry? What images made the ancient Romans
laugh? What evidence do we have of wit, irony, and visual puns from various
cultures? Humor takes many shapes, and can be deployed to many ends. But what
are we laughing at? Humor can be subversive or reactionary. When is it consensual?
What is the sense of humor in visual art works? Registration by permission only, arranged by emailing [email protected]. W 3:00-5:20. Instructor: Rebecca Molholt.
Fall Term
(Jump to Spring Term)
Primarily for Undergraduates
ARCH 0203 Who Owns the Past? (ANTH 0066D) [Register]
Interested students must register for ANTH 0066D.
Examines the role of the past in the present. Using examples from the U.S. and other parts of the world, we will look at how archaeological evidence is implicated in contemporary cultural and political issues. Students will learn that the past is not just the focus of archaeologists' interest and scientific inquiries, but is also a subject romanticized by antiquarians, mobilized in nation-building, marketed for profit, re-enacted as entertainment, consumed by tourists, and glorified in commemoration. Understanding these different and competing valuations, claims, and uses of the archaeological past will provide an introduction to why the past matters in the present and to the future. Enrollment limited to 20 first year students. FYS. M 3:00-5:20. Instructor: Patricia Rubertone.
ARCH 0270 Troy Rocks! Archaeology of an Epic [Register] [Course Website]
What do Brad Pitt, Julius Caesar, Dante, Alexander the Great, and countless sports teams have in common? The Trojan War! This course will explore the Trojan War not only through the archaeology, art, and mythology of the Greeks and Romans but also through the popular imaginings of cultures ever since, to figure out what "really" happened when Helen ran off and Achilles got angry and the Greeks came bearing gifts. This is a first-year seminar. Other students may register with the permission of the instructor, which will be given after the first day of class. TTh 9:00-10:20. Instructor: Sylvian Fachard.
ARCH 0295 Artifacts in Archaeology: Understanding Material Culture and Ancient Technologies [Register] [Course Website]
The manufacture of artifacts distinguishes us from all other species. However, archaeologists often struggle with interpreting material culture. This course will use case-studies to examine the artifacts that archaeologists most commonly recover: lithics, pottery and metallurgy, as well as glass, wood and bone. Students will consider the importance of archaeological material culture and the technological processes that produce these artifacts in aiding us to comprehend our human past. T 4:00-6:20. Instructor: Clive Vella.
ARCH 0351 Introduction to the Ancient Near East (AWAS 0800) [Register] [Course Website]
Interested students must register for AWAS 0800.
This course offers an introduction to the study of the political, social and cultural history of the ancient Near East, from prehistory to the end of the Iron age (ca. 330 BC). Both literary sources and archaeological evidence are examined as relevant. Near East is understood here in its widest geographic extent, including primarily the Mesopotamian lowlands, Iranian and Syro-Anatolian highlands, as well as the Levantine coast. The course not only offers a foundational survey of the historical developments in the region, but also addresses the broader methodological and historiographic problems involved in Near Eastern studies. State formation and the development of complex societies, cult practices and cuneiform literary traditions, art, architecture and material culture, issues of landscape and settlement systems, agricultural production, regional and interregional trade, and craft production will constitute the central issues in the course. WRIT. TTh 2:30-3:50. Instructor: Matthew Rutz.
ARCH 0404 Cathedrals and Castles (HIAA 0420) [Register]
Interested students must register for HIAA 0420.
The course aims to engage critically with the major architectural features of the medieval world: the cathedral and the castle. In addition to examining specific buildings as case studies, we will also interrogate the cultural context and the material culture associated with the construction, use and meanings of these important spaces. The course is arranged thematically rather than chronologically. MWF 10:00-10:50. Instructor: Sheila Bonde.
ARCH 0425 The Agora: History at the Heart of Athens [Register] [Course Website]
Part city hall, part church, part mall, part stadium, part law court, part red light district, the Agora of ancient Athens has seen it all, from Neolithic to modern times. This "marketplace" is most famous for its Classical history, when figures such as Pericles, Socrates, and Demosthenes walked and talked there. This course, however, will consider the long life and impact of this civic space, including its ongoing and often problematic archaeological heritage. MWF 1:00-1:50. Instructor: Fotini Kondyli.
ARCH 0520 Roman Archaeology and Art [Register] [Course Website]
Anyone who has ever watched "Gladiator", "Spartacus", "Life of Brian", or "Bugs Bunny: Roman Legion Hare" has some image of Rome, the Romans and their empire. This course, while exploring and assessing these influential popular preconceptions, introduces a more balanced view of Roman archaeology and art, examining not only the "eternal city" of Rome, but its vast and diverse imperial domain. MWF 11:00-11:50. Instructor: Susan Alcock.
ARCH 0677 Pirates! Archaeologies of Piracy in the Atlantic World (ANTH 0515) [Register]
Interested students must register for ANTH 0515.
The figure of the pirate is an all-time favorite in Western imagination. It has inspired some of the most popular narratives of the past, solidly grounded in classic literature and contemporary visual culture. Focusing on the mid-17th century, the golden age of piracy in the Atlantic World, this course will use historical and archaeological date to investigate the way in which the image of the pirate has been constructed in the West, as an embodiment of cultural, legal, moral and sexual transgression, and as an object of both fascination and fear which is still current in the contemporary, global world. MW 8:30-9:50 am. Instructor: Felipe Gaitan-Amman.
ARCH 0771 Foragers, Farmers, Feasts, and Famines: An Anthropology of Food (ANTH 0680) [Register]
Interested students must register for ANTH 0680.
An exploration of the human experience of food and nutrition from evolutionary, archaeological, and cross-cultural perspectives. The course will review the various approaches employed by anthropologists and archaeologists to understand diet and subsistence in the past and present. Starting with the evolutionary roots of the human diet in Plio-Pleistocene Africa, we will trace patterns of human subsistence to the present, including the social and health implications of the agricultural revolution. We will then explore modern foodways in cross-cultural perspective, focusing on the interplay of ecology, politics, technology, and cultural beliefs.
MWF 2:00-2:50. Instructor: Jessaca Leinaweaver.
For Undergraduates and Graduates
ARCH 1128 The Long Fall of the Roman Empire (HIST 1030) [Register]
Interested students must register for HIST 1030.
Once thought of as the "Dark Ages," this period of western European history should instead be seen as a fascinating time in which late Roman culture fused with that of the Germanic tribes, a mixture tempered by a new religion, Christianity. Issues of particular concern include the symbolic construction of political authority, the role of religion, the nature of social loyalties, and gender roles. TTh 1:00-2:20. Instructor: Jonathan Conant.
ARCH 1212 Charlemagne: Conquest, Empire, and the Making of the Middle Ages (HIST 1976Z) [Register]
Interested students must register for HIST 1976Z.
The age of Charlemagne sits at the nexus of antiquity and the middle ages. For two hundred years Charlemagne's family, the Carolingians, welded together fragments of the splintered Roman imperial tradition and elements from the Germanic world to forge a new, medieval European civilization. This seminar examines that process by exposing students to the primary sources, archaeological evidence, and modern scholarly debates surrounding the Carolingian age. Topics include the Carolingians' rise to power; Charlemagne's imperial coronation; interactions with the Islamic and Byzantine worlds; the revival of classical learning; the Church; warfare; the economy; Vikings; and the collapse of the Carolingian Empire. Enrollment limited to 20. Not open to first year students. Th 4:00-6:20. Instructor: Jonathan Conant.
ARCH 1233 Ancient Maya Writing (ANTH 1650) [Register]
Interested students must register for ANTH 1650.
Nature and content of Mayan hieroglyphic writing, from 100 to 1600 CE. Methods of decipherment, introduction to textual study, and application to interpretations of Mayan language, imagery, world view, and society. Literacy and Mesoamerican background of script. MWF 11:00-11:50. Instructor: Stephen Houston.
ARCH 1450 The Archaeology of Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls (JUDS 1450) [Register]
Interested students must register for JUDS 1450.
Qumran is one of the most prominent archaeological sites in the world. Its fame derives from its proximity to a series of caves in which some 800 ancient scrolls were found. Scholars have debated the relevance of this site to the histories of Judaism and Christianity. This seminar will examine the debates regarding the character of Qumran through the material finds from old and new excavations conducted at the site itself and in the Dead Sea region. The lectures and readings are intended to stimulate a discussion about how to use texts and material culture for reconstructing the past. Enrollment limited to 20. M 6:00-8:20. Instructor: Katarina Galor.
ARCH 1500 Classical Art in the RISD Museum (HIAA 1200A) [Register]
Interested students must register for HIAA 1200A.
The RISD Museum's collection of Greek, Etruscan and Roman art will be studied firsthand and in light of recent scholarship in art history, archaeology and museum studies. The course will explore original contexts for museum objects; issues of cultural property and museum ethics; conservation and restoration; design and education components of exhibitions; and notions of historical interpretation in museum display. F 3:00-5:20. Instructor: Gina Borromeo.
ARCH 1551 Who Owns the Classical Past? (CLAS 1120 O)
[Register]
[Course Website]
Interested students must register for CLAS 1120 O.
The purpose of this course is to offer a forum for informed discussion of a variety of difficult questions about access to the classical past, and its modern-day ownership and presentation, seen primarily from the perspective of material culture (archaeology, art, museum displays, etc.). TTh 1:00-2:20. Instructor: John F. Cherry.
ARCH 1615 Art/Artifact: The Art and Material Culture of Africa
[Register]
[Course Website]
The course introduces students to the central ideas and controversies in African art and material culture (pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial). We will explore visual and spatial representations of Africa, such as personal adornment, utilitarian objects, sculpture, textiles, painting, masquerade, rock art, and architecture. Paying attention to issues such as identity, religion, politics, collecting practices, and activist art, students will examine African material culture through the multiple lenses of cultural biography, primitive art, tourist art, heritage ethics, and repatriation. Students will have the opportunity to study, handle, and curate African objects from the Haffenreffer Museum’s collections. TTh 2:30-3:50. Instructor: Rachel Ama Asaa Engmann.
ARCH 1709 Places of Healing: Memory, Miracle, and Storytelling (HMAN1970D S02) [Register]
[Course Website]
Interested students should register for HMAN1970D S02.
From antiquity to our day, therapeutic landscapes such as mineral and thermal springs, shrines and churches built at sacred springs, volcanic ash mud baths, rocky landscapes emitting odorous gasses, and ponds filled with medicinal leeches attract health pilgrims who search for healing. Storytelling transformed these into places of memory and pilgrimage. This seminar investigates places of bodily healing and miracle from a cultural studies perspective. The case studies will be drawn from the Mediterranean world and Western Asia (including Lourdes in France, Hierapolis in Southeastern Turkey and the Agiasma churches of Byzantine Istanbul). Enrollment limited to 20 juniors and seniors. F 3:00-5:20. Instructor: Omur Harmansah.
ARCH 1835 Inventing the Past: Amulets, Heirlooms, Monuments, Landscapes [Register] [Course Website]
Long before archaeology and art-history were academic disciplines, individuals and communities manipulated the physical traces of the past in order to imagine and explain their own antiquity. Who cared about these objects and why? What did pre-modern excavations, catalogues, and collections look like and what do they tell us about our own engagements with antiquities? This course delves into the origins of antiquarianism and archaeology, from pre-history to the Renaissance. TTh 10:30-11:50. Instructor: Felipe Rojas.
ARCH 1900 The Archaeology of College Hill [Register] [Course Website]
A training class in field and laboratory techniques. Topics include the nature of field archaeology, excavation and survey methodologies, archaeological ethics, computer technologies (such as GIS), and site and artifact analysis and conservation. Students will act as practicing archaeologists through the investigation of local historical and archaeological sites in the College Hill area (e.g. the First Baptist Church of America and the John Brown House). This course is restricted to advanced undergraduate students, and permission to register will be given by instructor after the first class meeting. M 3:00-5:20. Instructor: Alex Knodell.
Primarily for Graduates
ARCH 2006 Principles of Archaeology (ANTH 2501) [Register]
Interested students must register for ANTH 2501.
Examines theoretical and methodological issues in anthropological archaeology. Attention is given to past concerns, current debates, and future directions of archaeology in the social sciences. W 3:00-5:20. Instructor: Stephen Houston.
ARCH 2105 Ceramic Analysis for Archaeology [Register]
The analysis and the interpretation of ceramic remains allow archaeologists to accomplish varied ends: establish a time scale, document interconnections between different areas, and suggest what activities were carried out at particular sites. The techniques and theories used to bridge the gap between the recovery of ceramics and their interpretation within anthropological contexts are the focus of this seminar. F 3:00-5:20. Instructor: Jennifer Meanwell.
ARCH 2240 Key Issues in Mediterranean Prehistory [Register] [Course Website]
This course's scope is the entire Mediterranean basin, from its first peopling until ca. 500 BC. The focus is on key transformations in economic, social, and political structures and interactions; on explanations for these changes; and on current issues where fresh data or new approaches are transforming our understanding. This seminar is intended for students both with and without prior knowledge of this field, and particularly for those preparing for the Mediterranean Prehistory field exam. W 3:00-5:20. Instructor: John F. Cherry.
ARCH 2245 Rural Landscapes and Peasant Communities in the Mediterranean [Register] [Course Website]
The broad aim of this course is to explore rural settlement and agrarian production in the Mediterranean, both in the ancient and the recent past. The archaeological starting-point is provided by the numerous scatters of surface remains that archaeological surveys across the Mediterranean have collected and that are usually interpreted as 'farmsteads' broadly datable to Classical Antiquity. We will look well beyond these scatters to examine the social and economic significance of rural settlement through comparison with ethnographic and historical rural studies from across the Mediterranean and to explore household and community organization as well as agrarian production in Classical Antiquity. Th 4:00-6:20. Instructor: Peter van Dommelen.
ARCH 2501A Problems in Archaeology: Culture, Contact and Colonialism (ANTH 2500A) [Register]
Interested students must register for ANTH 2500A.
Explores the theoretical discourses shaping anthropological approaches and defining archaeological projects on culture contact and colonialism. Attention will be given to examining colonial encounters between Europeans and indigenous peoples as ongoing processes rather than particular historical moments, and to looking at recent efforts at decolonizing archaeological practice. Th 4:00-6:20. Instructor: Patricia Rubertone.
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