Spring 2019
(Jump to Fall Term)
Primarily for Undergraduates
ARCH 0161 Arts of Asia (HIAA 0021) [CRN: 24444]
Interested students must register for HIAA 0021.
From sacrificial cauldrons to sunflower seeds, and Roman Buddhas to five-toed dragons, this course introduces the incredible diversity of traditions that collectively constitute the arts of Asia. Organized around a series of case studies of exemplary objects, the course explores the temporal, geographic, material, and thematic range of Asian art through the life stories of individual things. Tracing histories of human ingenuity and value, we will examine the ways these things changed the people who saw them and were themselves changed in the process of being seen. And we will come to know them through the ways they change us. WRIT. TTh 10:30am-11:50am. Instructor: Jeffrey Moser.
ARCH 0760 Palaces: Built to Impress [CRN: 26511] [Course Website]
Ancient palaces capture the imagination as grand, breathtaking manifestations of power and wealth. These were the residences of kings, queens, and courtiers, built to impress with their echoing halls, exquisite paintings and statuary, fragrant gardens, and sumptuous reception rooms. This course explores the palaces of ancient Egypt, Sudan, Syria, Israel, Turkey, Greece, and beyond, delving into how these monumental structures manipulated the senses, the body, behavior, and the mind. We also visit “palaces” in and around Providence, exploring firsthand how such architecture is designed to inspire awe, respect, and subservience. MWF 2pm-2:50pm. Instructor: Carl Walsh.
ARCH 0763 The Private Life of the Privy: A Secret History of Toilets [CRN: 26486] [Course Website]
It’s usually unspoken, but we all know the truth: everybody poops. This class starts with some basic questions: what is poo; what are toilets, cesspits, and latrines; and how have these changed over time. But where we go, what "equipment" we use, what goes into the loo, and the morals and ideals imbued in that act vary vastly between cultures – touching on complex questions of gender, religion, disease, technology, and science. Combining advanced scientific approaches with material and cultural analyses, this course will demonstrate that even a seemingly simple biological act can reveal a culture’s most fundamental secrets. MWF 1pm-1:50pm. Instructor: Jennifer Bates.
For Undergraduates and Graduates
EAST 1030 Words on Things: Literature and Material Culture in Early Modern China [CRN: 25552]
This course examines Chinese literary representation of artifacts written between 1000 to 1900 CE. Our discussion will highlight international trade and the transforming science and technology in early modern China. The course aims to guide students to conduct inter-artistic analysis as a means to decipher the political, religious, gendered, and technical significance embedded in literary representation of material objects. To emphasize a comparative perspective, we will also draw on scholarship outside of the field of Chinese literature. We will explore artifacts in the following categories: illustration, painting and calligraphy, seals, ceramics, furniture, and textile.
ARCH 1125 Building an Empire: The Sacred and Civic Architecture of Ancient Rome [CRN: 26330] [Course Website]
The Colosseum, Pantheon, and imperial palaces loom large in our impression of Roman civilization. Roman architecture set the standard for some of the most iconic buildings in the West. This course will examine the rise and development of Roman architectural principles and analyze how they were employed to create such a lasting image of empire. We will consider technological advancements and territorial expansion, as well as the shifting political and religious dynamics that shaped Rome’s buildings. MWF 11-11:50am. Instructor: Katia Schorle.
ARCH 1153 Cities by the Sea: An Economic, Structural, and Social Examination of Mediterranean Ports [CRN: 26512] [Course Website]
Athens, Alexandria, Carthage, Ostia. Ports circled the ancient Mediterranean, and the sea infused these cities’ hierarchies, structures, and daily patterns. This course will analyze the architecture and economy of key harbor cities of the Roman Empire by discussing their genesis or antecedents, their dynamics, and their role in the imperial era. To contextualize urban maritime landscapes across both time and space, we will consider issues pertaining to urbanism, trade, production, infrastructure, epigraphy, and iconography. Students will evaluate the traditional “port model” and other theoretical approaches, to reach a more complex understanding of these cities by the sea. T 4pm-6:30pm. Instructor: Katia Schorle.
ARCH 1475 Petra: Ancient Wonder, Modern Challenge [CRN: 26224]
The rose-red city of Petra in southern Jordan is a movie star (Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade). It is a tourist mega-hit (over half a million visitors annually). It was recently voted one of the New 7 Wonders of the World. This class will explore the history and archaeology of Petra and debate how best to present and preserve the site, as well as discussing (and planning!) Brown's ongoing fieldwork at this beautiful, but fragile, place. TTh 2:30pm-3:50pm. Instructor: Felipe Rojas.
ARCH 1494 Southeast Asia: Excavated, Curated, Contested [CRN: 26541] [Course Website]
Behind the caricature of Southeast Asia as an exoticized land of temples and tradition lies a conflicted past entangled with competing claims to power, identity, and territory. This course explores the history of that region (Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, and the Philippines), examining how ancient ruins were used to justify postcolonial national states; how museums and monuments have bolstered authoritarian regimes and sparked democratic protests; and how circulation of artifacts and artworks sets off diplomatic disputes and connects diasporic communities. Students will also engage with relevant material cultures and artistic practices in the Providence area. TTh 2:30pm-3:50pm. Instructor: Lauren Yapp.
ARCH 1536 Ethnographies of Heritage: Community and Landscape of the Mediterranean and Beyond (ANTH 1126) [CRN: 25799] [Course Website]
Interested students must register for ANTH 1126.
Archaeologists study objects and (socio-cultural) anthropologists investigate culture is how stereotype and conventions have long had it. As material culture studies have increasingly blurred these boundaries, the distinction is entirely meaningless when it comes to archaeological heritage. Taking its cue from material culture studies, this course explores how local communities experience the material remains from the past and (re)incorporate them into their contemporary lives. DPLL LILE. W 3pm-5:30pm. Instructor: Peter van Dommelen.
ARCH 1538 Divided Places: From Conflict to Understanding, Memory, and Reconciliation [CRN: 26571]
This course examines the intricate relationships between history and contemporary archaeology in divided places such as Cyprus, Jerusalem, Kosovo, and Belfast. Discussions will include the political and moral issues entangled in cultural heritage preservation, biases inherent in the archaeology of divided places, the use of archaeology to legitimize division, and ethics of archaeological research of places of conflict. How can we reconfigure imbalances resulting from decades of hiatus in archaeological research in divided places? How can archaeology contribute to fostering reconciliation? TTh 1pm-2:20pm. Instructor: Georgia Andreou.
ARCH 1670 The Beginning of the End? Neolithic "Revolutions" and the Shaping of the Modern World [CRN: 25793]
How did the first farmers and settled human communities live their lives? How did they reshape the landscape, invent new forms of elaborate dwelling, and establish new relationships with plants and animals? And are the roots of some of our contemporary problems, including social inequality and patriarchy, to be found in the Neolithic? These are some of the questions we will be exploring in this course, using material from the European and Anatolian Neolithic and other, global, contexts. TTh 1pm-2:20pm. Instructor: Yannis Hamilakis.
ARCH 1769 Unearthing the Body: History, Archaeology, and Biology at the End of Antiquity (HIST 1835A) [CRN: 25518]
Interested students must register for HIST 1835A.
How was the physical human body imagined, understood, and treated in life and death in the late ancient Mediterranean world? Drawing on evidence from written sources, artistic representations, and archaeological excavations, this class will explore this question by interweaving thematic lectures and student analysis of topics including disease and medicine, famine, asceticism, personal adornment and ideals of beauty, suffering, slavery, and the boundaries between the visible world and the afterlife, in order to understand and interpret the experiences of women, men, and children who lived as individuals—and not just as abstractions—at the end of antiquity. MWF 11am-11:50am. Instructor: Jonathan Conant.
ARCH 1775 Animals in Archaeology [CRN: 26331] [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 10:30-11:50am. Instructor: Katherine Brunson.
ARCH 1797 A Migration Crisis? Displacement, Materiality, and Experience (MGRK 1210) [CRN: 25732]
Interested students must register for MGRK 1210.
In the past few years, we have all experienced, most of us through the media, what has been called a migration crisis. And yet, migration as a phenomenon did not appear in 2015; it is as old as humanity, and displacement and contemporary forced migration have also a long history. In this course, we will examine the historical, material and experiential dimensions of contemporary displacement and migration. Many of the examples will be from Greece but also other parts of Mediterranean and beyond, including from the Mexico-US border. TTh 10:30am-11:50am. Instructor: Yannis Hamilakis.
ARCH 1852 Material Culture Practicum (ANTH 1621) [CRN: 24479]
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 3pm-5:30pm. Instructor: Patricia Rubertone.
ARCH 1876 How to Do Things with Maps: Cartography, Power, and Political Imagination, from Gilgamesh to Google (HMAN 1973V) [CRN: 26077]
Interested students must register for HMAN 1973V.
Maps do not merely represent reality; they both create and exceed it. This course critically examines the history and future of cartography, devoting particular attention to the role that maps and map-making have played in the emergence and persistence of social power and political imagination. Among other topics, we consider how maps have shaped property and class relations; state sovereignty and royal authority; colonialism and imperialism; national and ethnic identities; migration and citizenship; and the relationship between humankind and nature, earth and the cosmos. Classes include visits to historic map collections and experimentation with critical mapping techniques. M 3pm-5:30pm. Instructor: Parker VanValkenburgh.
ARCH 1883 Global Environmental Remote Sensing (GEOL 1330) [CRN: 25941]
Interested students must register for GEOL 1330.
Introduction to physical principles of remote sensing across electromagnetic spectrum and application to the study of Earth's systems (oceans, atmosphere, and land). Topics: interaction of light with materials, imaging principles and interpretation, methods of data analysis. Laboratory work in digital image analysis, classification, and multi-temporal studies. One field trip to Block Island. Recommended preparation courses: MATH 0090, 0100; PHYS 0060; and background courses in natural sciences. MWF 2:00-2:50. Instructor: John Mustard.
Primarily for Graduates
ARCH 2151 Slow Archaeology: Thinking Things through in Archaeological Theory and Philosophy [CRN: 26653]
This course questions the so-called paradigm shifts in our discipline -- ‘the spatial turn’, ‘the material turn’, or the ‘the ontological turn’ -- to discuss the way archaeological theory has developed in academia. Students will explore theoretical angles other than the ‘usual suspects’ in archaeological theory to creatively rethink individual research. We will take a philosophical approach to critically and carefully discuss academic archaeology and our roles, our engagement, and future as scholars within an institutional culture that often seems to be dominated by individual achievement, speed, and efficiency. What ideas might emerge if we all just slowed down? M 3pm-5:30pm. Instructor: Eva Mol.
ARCH 2156 Other Pasts: Alternative Ontologies in the Study of What Was [CRN: 25807]
Archaeologists, historians, and anthropologists have become increasingly aware that “the past” is not a self-evident concept. What counts as a meaningful trace of former times is under constant negotiation, and strategies of exploring such traces are shaped by dizzyingly variable cultural norms and individual interpretations. This class asks what “the past” was (and is) in other times and places, especially among communities whose notions of materiality, temporality, causality, and agency differ fundamentally from modern western scientific ones. Can we study those pasts? If so, how? Th 4pm-6:30pm. Instructor: Felipe Rojas.
ARCH 2406 The Body in Medieval Art and Architecture (HIAA 2440B) [CRN: 24835]
Interested students must register for HIAA 2440B.
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. Th 4pm-6:30pm. Instructor: Sheila Bonde.
ARCH 2501A Problems in Archaeology: Archaeology of Colonialism (ANTH 2500A) [CRN: 25503]
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 4pm-6:30pm. Instructor: Patricia Rubertone.
Fall 2018
(Jump to Spring Term)
Primarily for Undergraduates
ARCH 0033 Past Forward: Discovering Anthropological Archaeology (ANTH 0500) [CRN: 16941]
Interested students must register for ANTH 0500.
This course offers a broad journey through the human past, from material culture crafted by our evolutionary ancestors to the remnants of the recent historic past. To facilitate this journey, the class explores the methods, concepts, and theories that anthropologists employ in the study of past peoples, places, and things. Case studies stretch across the globe. As a hands-on endeavor, archaeology focuses on tangible evidence. In this course, small-group discussion, laboratory, and field exercises will complement lectures, leading to an understanding of how anthropologists study the past and how that knowledge affects the present. LILE. TTh 10:30am-11:50am. Instructor: Parker VanValkenburgh.
ARCH 0156 Architecture and Urbanism of the African Diaspora (HIAA 0770) [CRN: 15833]
Interested students must register for HIAA 0770.
This lecture course introduces the built environments in and of "Africa," from the earliest known examples to the contemporary moment. Through a consideration of texts and images, we will interrogate "Africa" as both a construct and concrete geographical entity characterized by diverse cultures, contexts, and histories. In addition to exploring the content of various architectural and urban traditions, we will approach our topic from the point of view of the theoretical paradigms that have governed the historiographical interpretation of particular periods, regions, and cultures. Readings will be arranged thematically and according to chronology and geography. Weekly one-hour section required. DPLL WRIT. TTh 10:30am-11:50am. Instructor: Itohan Osayimwese.
ARCH 0270 Troy Rocks! Archaeology of an Epic [CRN: 17127] [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. FYS. TTh 9:00-10:20.
ARCH 0295 Crafts and Production in the Ancient World: Making Material Culture [CRN: 17251] [Course Website]
The manufacture of artifacts distinguishes us from all other species. However, archaeologists often struggle with interpreting material culture without understanding its origins and production. This course will examine how things are made, considering craftsmanship and agricultural production, from raw materials to finished objects: sculpture and mosaics, bricks and concrete, ceramic and glass, metallurgy, tanneries, oil, wine, and perfumes. Through case studies and hands-on activities, students will consider the importance of the technological processes that produce artifacts for archaeology’s investigation of our human past. MWF 11am-11:50am. Instructor: Katia Schorle.
ARCH 0317 Heritage in the Metropolis: Remembering and Preserving the Urban Past [CRN: 17524] [Course Website]
Urban heritage – from archaeological sites and historic architecture to longstanding cultural practices – is increasingly threatened by the exponential growth of cities around the globe. Most critically, the complex histories and lived experiences of the diverse communities who have inhabited and shaped cities are often in danger of being erased and forgotten today. This course examines how we might remember and preserve this urban past – and the tangible sites and artifacts that attest to it – in light of the social and political dynamics of cities in the present. MWF 12pm-12:50pm. Instructor: Lauren Yapp.
ARCH 0682 Powering the Past: Environmental Histories of Energy Use and Social Change (ENVS 0710) [CRN: 16012]
Interested students must register for ENVS 0710.
From wood, water, and muscles, to coal, oil, and nuclear power, humans have a long history of reshaping their environments to access energy. The nature of these energy sources also influences the form and distribution of political and economic power. Using environmental history methods, this course examines the ties between energy, power, environmental change, and inequality, from before the agricultural revolution to the present. Readings and lectures link the United States and Europe to the rest of the globe, with particular emphasis on the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Each class combines lecture and discussion. No prerequisites. TTh 2:30pm-3:50pm. Instructor: Bathsheba Demuth.
ARCH 0683 From Fire Wielders to Empire Builders: Human Impact on the Global Environment before 1492 (HIST 0270A) [CRN: 16966]
Interested students must register for HIST 0270A.
This is a new lecture course intended to introduce the field of environmental history to students with no previous experience in it. The study of prehistoric, ancient and medieval environments is a heavily interdisciplinary research field, and the course will emphasize the variety of sources available for studying it. We will combine textbook readings with primary source readings from scientific and archaeological reports and, especially, contemporary texts. P. MWF 1pm-1:50pm. Instructor: Brian Lander.
ARCH 0730 The Secrets of Ancient Bones: Discovering Ancient DNA [CRN: 17399] [Course Website]
New analyses of ancient DNA preserved for millennia in bones and soils have revolutionized the field of archaeology. Suddenly, archaeologists have gained new insight into human origins and migrations, diseases, agriculture, and even the slave trade. Recent genetic case studies will provide a lens for learning about the archaeology of diverse world regions and time periods, from Oceania to Mesoamerica and from the Paleolithic through recent history. Topics will include: genetic relationships between humans, Neanderthals, and Denisovans; the peopling of the globe; diasporas; extinction and de-extinction; and plant and animal domestication. MWF 10am-10:50am. Instructor: Katherine Brunson.
ARCH 0785 Of Dice and Men: Games in Human Societies Past and Present [CRN: 17362] [Course Website]
From ancient dice games, marathons, and gladiator battles to virtual worldbuilding and mobile phone games, students in this course will explore the roles of competition and play in cultures. But, equally importantly, students will play games! We will consider games through the lenses of anthropology, archaeology, psychology, and philosophy. And by playing games, both ancient and modern, students will question how games are a distinctly human phenomenon and play essential parts in human lives, in ways that are not entirely obvious or expected. MWF 1pm-1:50pm. Instructor: Carl Walsh.
For Undergraduates and Graduates
ARCH 1054 Indians, Colonists, and Africans in New England (ANTH 1624) [CRN: 16103]
Interested students must register for ANTH 1624.
The course explores the colonial and capitalist transformation of New England's social and cultural landscapes following European contact. Using archaeology as critical evidence, we will examine claims about conquest, Indian Extinction, and class, gender and race relations by studying the daily lives and interactions of the area's diverse Native American, African American, and European peoples. TTh 10:30am-11:50am. Instructor: Patricia Rubertone.
ARCH 1178 Archaeology and Social Justice: Un-disciplining the Past, Changing the Present [CRN: 17258] [Course Website]
The contemporary world is at a breaking point. Deepening social inequality, environmental crises, and neo-colonialism exacerbate global injustices. The stories that archaeologists tell about the past, more often than not, contribute to these injustices. In this course, we will use global case studies to explore the possibilities for other, decolonial archaeologies which can liberate the material past from its colonial/racial disciplinary straightjacket, and at the same time provide essential tools for the necessary struggles for social justice today. TTh 1pm-2:20pm. Instructor: Yannis Hamilakis.
ARCH 1492 The Priest-Kings and Village Life of Ancient Pakistan and India [CRN: 17893] [Course Website]
The Indus Civilization was the largest culture in the Bronze Age, extending over Pakistan and much of India. It produced sculptures of priest-kings and dancing girls, seals imprinted with magical beings, vast water systems, and monumental structures. But it remains such a mystery that archaeologists can’t even read its texts: the Indus script is still undeciphered. This course will look at the remarkable material culture of the Indus and famous sites like Harappa and Mohenjo Daro, but will also introduce current research examining grassroots change effected by villagers in their daily lives. TTh 10:30am-11:50am. Instructor: Jennifer Bates.
ARCH 1500 Classical Art from Ruins to RISD: Ancient Objects/Modern Issues [CRN: 17128] [Course Website]
The RISD Museum's collection of Greek and Roman art will be studied first-hand and in light of recent scholarship in art history, archaeology, and museum studies. Through the lens of bodies in Classical art, the course will take a critical look at the materiality of art, particularly around issues of representation and display. Students will explore original contexts for museum objects; issues of cultural property and museum ethics; visitors’ perception and experience of exhibitions; and notions of historical interpretation in museum display. Enrollment limited to 25. TTh 10:30am-11:50am. Instructor: Eva Mol.
ARCH 1622 Art, Secrecy, and Invisibility in Ancient Egypt (HMAN 1973M) [CRN: 17194]
Interested students must register for HMAN 1973M.
Ancient Egypt is well known for having produced large and eminently visible art and architecture. But a persistent theme in Egyptian visual culture is that of invisibility, of art made and then deliberately hidden or destroyed. The range of examples is vast and varied, suggesting a complex relationship between visibility and meaning. This seminar will explore how unseeable art intersects with themes of audience, agency, and time in ancient Egypt, utilizing examples from other cultures - including our own - to examine the meanings of the invisible. W 3pm-5:30pm. Instructor: Laurel Bestock.
ARCH 1707 The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World (CLAS 1120Q) [CRN: 16170] [Course Website]
Interested students must register for CLAS 1120Q.
"Everyone has heard of the Seven Wonders of the World," wrote Philo of Byzantium two millennia ago, and it's still true today. But what is a "Wonder"? And why seven of them? Why make such a list anyway, then or now? This class will use ancient texts, explorers' accounts, and archaeological investigations to travel through several thousand years of history in the Mediterranean and Near Eastern world. We will consider how the Seven Wonders captured past imaginations; the aura of technological achievements; the intersections of history, memory, invention, and myth; and how members of one culture view another culture's monuments. MWF 2pm-2:50pm. Instructor: John F. Cherry.
ARCH 1772 The Human Skeleton (ANTH 1720) [CRN: 16104]
Interested students must register for ANTH 1720.
More than simply a tissue within our bodies, the human skeleton is 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. TTh 9am-10:20am. Instructor: Andrew Scherer.
ARCH 1822 Anthropology of Place (ANTH 1910B) [CRN: 16915]
Interested students must register for ANTH 1910B.
The anthropology of place serves as a unifying theme for the seminar by bridging anthropology’s subdisciplines and articulating with other fields of knowledge. Through readings and discussion, students will explore how place permeates people’s everyday lives and their engagement with the world, and is implicit in the meanings they attach to specific locales, their struggles over them, and the longings they express for them in rapidly changing and reconfigured landscapes. Enrollment limited to 20. W 3pm-5:30pm. Instructor: Patricia Rubertone.
ARCH 1837 The Origins of Things: Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Early Human Worlds [CRN: 17226]
Were the first architects in the Orkneys subterranean-dwelling dwarves? What did Greek and Roman intellectuals have in mind when they spoke of ages of gold, silver, and bronze? Why did pots and brooms revolt against their owners in the ancient Americas? Accounts of bygone times have existed for millennia offering insightful, perplexing, and often astonishing glimpses into early human experience. Using a combination of literary, visual, and archaeological evidence from around the world, students will explore the epistemological challenges and ethical dilemmas that people have confronted when imagining life in the remote past. TTh 2:30pm-3:50pm. Instructor: Felipe Rojas.
ARCH 1871 Geoaesthetics and the Environmental Humanities (HMAN 1973Q)
Interested students must register for HMAN 1973Q.
This seminar critically examines the ecological turn in the humanities. Proceeding from close examination of historically-specific artistic practices, it excavates the predispositions and assumptions embodied in particular “geoaesthetics,” and situates these aesthetics in the long history of human efforts to make sense of the earth. Moving from the immanent rocks of Tiantai Buddhism and the thinking forests of the Amazonian Runa to the nature writing of Emerson and the formation of modern geological science, it considers the challenge of a deep history of geo-thinking to recent theorizations of hyperobjects, Gaia, and the Anthropocene. M 3pm-5:30pm. Instructor: Jeffrey Moser.
ARCH 1874 The Anthropocene: The Past and Present of Environmental Change (ENVS 1910) [CRN: 15944]
Interested students must register for ENVS 1910.
Scholars in many disciplines have begun using the term the Anthropocene to signal a geological epoch defined by human activity. This seminar examines the Anthropocene idea from the perspective of environmental history. What activities might have changed the planet – the use of fire thousands of years ago, or agriculture, or fossil fuels? Is the Anthropocene another term for climate change, or does it include pollution and extinction? Is it a useful concept? Drawing on anthropology and the sciences as well as history, we will use the Anthropocene to think through environmental change and the human relationship with the non-human world. WRIT. Th 4pm-6:30pm. Instructor: Bathsheba Demuth.
ARCH 1881 An Introduction to GIS and Spatial Analysis for Anthropologists and Archaeologists (ANTH 1201) [CRN: 16942]
Interested students must register for ANTH 1201.
This course serves as an introduction to the concepts, techniques, and (to a lesser extent, the histories) that motivate geographic information systems and their employment in anthropological and archaeological scholarship. GIS brings together traditional cartographic principles, computer-assisted analytical cartography, relational database design, and digital image processing and analysis to enable people to develop geospatial databases, analyze those databases, and use maps and other visual representations as part of this analysis. No previous work in GIS or computer programming is necessary. Previous computer experience with MS Windows operating systems is helpful. DPLL LILE. TTh 2:30pm-3:50pm. Instructor: Parker VanValkenburgh.
ARCH 1882 Introduction to Geographic Information Systems for Environmental Applications (GEOL 1320) [CRN: 16905 and 16906]
Interested students must register for GEOL 1320.
Introduction to the concepts of geospatial analysis and digital mapping. The principles of spatial data structures, coordinate systems, and database design are covered. Related work in image databases also discussed. Extensive hands-on training in ESRI-based geographic information system software will be provided. Focal point of class is the completion of student-selected research project employing GIS methods. Instructor: Lynn Carlson.
ARCH 1900 The Archaeology of College Hill [CRN: 17129] [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). W 3:00-5:30. Instructor: Alex Marko.
Primarily for Graduates
ARCH 2006 Principles of Archaeology (ANTH 2501) [CRN: 16112]
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. F 9am-11:30am. Instructor: Robert Preucel.
ARCH 2020E Economy and Trade in the Later Bronze Age Aegean and East Mediterranean [CRN: 17131] [Course Website]
Beginning with an examination of the workings of the Mycenaean palace economy, including the evidence of Linear B documents, this seminar will then turn to a more inclusive consideration of trade and exchange involving Aegean states and their counterparts further east, and of the nature and extent of cultural interaction between them during the later Bronze Age (ca. 1600-1100 BC). Th 4pm-6:30pm. Instructor: John F. Cherry.
ARCH 2553 Introduction to Public Humanities (AMST 2650) [CRN: 16950]
Interested students must register for AMST 2650.
This class, a foundational course for the MA in Public Humanities with preference given to American Studies graduate students, will address the theoretical bases of the public humanities, including topics of history and memory, museums and memorials, the roles of expertise and experience, community cultural development, and material culture. Enrollment limited to 20 graduate students. W 3:00-5:30. Instructor: Steven D. Lubar.
ARCH 2407 Lived Bodies, Dead Bodies: The Archaeology of Human Remains (ANTH 2560) [CRN: 16920]
Interested students must register for ANTH 2560.
Bioarchaeology is the study of human remains from archaeological contexts. We will survey the "state of the art" in bioarchaeology, while exploring its relevance and application to the archaeology of complex societies. We will survey a range of bioarchaeological methods and applications, including paleopathology, stable isotope analysis, population affinity/ancient DNA, perimortem trauma, and body modification. In turn, we will explore how bioarchaeology can be used to approach a wide range of archaeological problems relative to complext societies, including subsistence, economy, migration, urbanism, social inequality, conflict and warfare, and identity. Open to graduate students only. S/NC. LILE. W 5:40pm-7pm. Instructor: Andrew Scherer.
ARCH 2535 The Levant and Egypt: Cultural Contacts and Connections [CRN: 17361] [Course Website]
A land steeped in story and history, the Levant (now Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, and Jordan) was a dynamic crossroads of ancient civilizations, from Mesopotamia and Anatolia and stretching across Europe. But this region is nearly always viewed through the lens of its larger, well-known neighbor: Egypt. This course will shift this viewpoint by exploring the nature and agency of trade, colonization, diplomacy, migration – and even war – between the Levant and ancient Egypt, paying particular attention to the archaeological record in reconstructing these interactions and cultural interconnections. W 3pm-5:30pm. Instructor: Carl Walsh.
ARCH 2630 Global Romans and Indigenous Persistence [CRN: 17204] [Course Website]
The military expansion of the Roman Republic has long been regarded as the starting point for profound cultural transformations around the West Mediterranean, as conquered indigenous societies were assumed to be "becoming Roman" as a result. In contrast with that traditional, profoundly hegemonic interpretation, this seminar will trace the longevity and influence of indigenous traditions -- particularly those of Gallia Narbonensis, the Hispaniae, Africa, and the major islands -- that began well before and extended far beyond the Roman conquests. M 3pm-5:30pm. Instructor: Peter van Dommelen.
Additional Resources
You may also visit Courses@Brown listings for up-to-date information on courses and room assignments. Check under: Area of Study: "Archaeology and the Ancient World”
For a listing of all courses ever taught in Archaeology and the Ancient World (or in Old World Archaeology, its predecessor), please visit the "All Courses" page on this website. To browse the web pages and Canvas sites -- including syllabi -- for most ARCH courses, please see our "Course Websites" page.