Classes

    ANTHRO 1130 - Archaeology of Harvard Yard

    Semester: 

    Fall

    Offered: 

    2023

    Profs. Diana Loren and Patricia Capone
    Thurs 12:00 PM - 02:45 PM
    Vanserg 23

    Archaeological data recovered from Harvard Yard provide a richer and more nuanced view of the 17th through 19th century lives of students and faculty in Harvard Yard, an area that includes the Old College and Harvard Indian College. Students will excavate in Harvard Yard, process and analyze artifacts, and report on the results. Additional topics to be covered include regional historical archaeology, research design, surveying, archival research, stratigraphy, and artifact analysis.

    ANTHRO 1208 - Prehistoric Technology: Ancient China

    Semester: 

    Fall

    Offered: 

    2021

    Prof. Rowan Flad
    Tues. and Thurs. 10:30 AM - 11:45 AM
    Peabody 561

    In this course we examine prehistoric technology through the lens of case studies from Chinese archaeology. We will begin with a focus on general concepts in the archaeology of technology. After providing this thematic foundation, we explore specific examples of technologies that have become a focus of archaeological attention in China: lithics, ceramics, plant and animal domesticates, architecture, hydrological engineering, textiles, metallurgy, divination technology and writing.

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    ANTHRO 2250B - Proseminar in Archaeology

    Semester: 

    Fall

    Offered: 

    2021

    Prof. Jason Ur
    Thurs. 9:00 AM - 11:45 AM
    Peabody 12

    This graduate seminar reviews critical issues in archaeological approaches to the study of complex societies, including writing, trade, craft specialization, technology, landscape, urbanism, and political organization.

    ANTHRO 98A - Junior Tutorial in Anthropology

    Semester: 

    Fall

    Offered: 

    2023

    Prof. Damina Khaira
    By Arrangement

    This course is focused on preparing students to do anthropological fieldwork and develop their own research projects. Through concrete case studies and practical exercises students will be introduced to different approaches to developing research problems, conducting research, and ethnographic writing. Topics covered will include defining research questions and objects of study, situating projects within scholarly literature, and bringing together research data and analysis in different forms of anthropological writing.

    The aim...

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    ANTHRO 99A - Thesis Tutorial in Anthropology

    Semester: 

    Fall

    Offered: 

    2023

    Prof. Damina Khaira
    By Arrangement

    This is a full year research and writing seminar limited to senior honors candidates. The course is intended to provide students with practical guidance and advice during the thesis writing process through structured assignments and peer feedback on work-in-progress. It is intended to supplement not replace faculty thesis advising (with the requirement of consulting regularly with the advisor built into the assignments) and, most importantly, allow students to share their work and experiences with other thesis writers in a collegial and...

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    FYSEMR 30G - Digging Egypt's Past: Harvard and Egyptian Archaeology

    Semester: 

    Fall

    Offered: 

    2023

    Prof. Peter Der Manuelian
    Tues. 12:45 PM - 2:45 PM
    Emerson Hall 318

    Mysterious pyramids, colossal royal statues, tiny gold jewelry, decorated tomb chapels, temples, settlements, fortresses, and hieroglyphic inscriptions. This was the excavation legacy in Egypt and Sudan of the Harvard University–Boston Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) Expedition. Led by Egyptologist George Reisner (1867–1942; new biography just published), this expedition revolutionized archaeological method, and put Harvard Egyptology on the world stage, all during British control of the Egyptian...

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    GENED 1044 - Deep History

    Semester: 

    Fall

    Offered: 

    2021

    Profs. Matthew Liebmann and Daniel Smail
    Tues. and Thurs. 1:30 PM - 2:45 PM
    Harvard Hall 202

    When does history begin? To judge by the typical history textbook, the answer is straightforward: six thousand years ago. So what about the tens of thousands of years of human existence described by archaeology and related disciplines? Is that history too?

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    GENED 1105 - Can We Know Our Past?

    Semester: 

    Fall

    Offered: 

    2021

    Profs. Rowan Flad and Jason Ur
    Mon. and Wed. 10:30 AM - 11:45 AM
    CGIS South S010

    What happened in the past? How do you know? Even though today we take great pains to document every major event that occurs, more than 99% of human history is not written down. How, then, can we determine with any certainty what people did, let alone thought about, hundreds, thousands, and even millions of years ago?

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    ANTHRO 1033 - Archaeology of Inequality

    Semester: 

    Fall

    Offered: 

    2021

    Prof. Jess Beck
    Tues. and Thurs. 1:30 PM - 2:45 PM
    Peabody 561 

    In 2018, Oxfam reported that the 26 richest people on the planet had the same net worth as half of the global population. The rampant wealth disparities in the modern world lead us to ask whether inequality is an inescapable component of all societies. Through its unique access to the deep time of human prehistory, archaeology allows us to question myths and just-so stories about the origins and inevitability of inequality.... Read more about ANTHRO 1033 - Archaeology of Inequality