Maria Franklin

This course is a senior seminar for students who are pursuing studies in archaeology, and satisfies the “theory” requirement for the Anthropology degree. It is a broad survey of the major theoretical trends that have shaped anthropological archaeology over time. As such it is a course on the history of archaeological thought that highlights the major debates and key issues that have influenced the ways in which we diversely claim to know what we know about the past.

Why a course on theories of archaeology? We tend to envision archaeology as the discovery of sites and the pursuit of artifacts since field excavations dominate its public persona in the media. Yet archaeologists actually spend more time dealing with the analyses of excavated materials and moving from data to interpretations or explanations of the past than we do digging. The various intellectual approaches that we take towards drawing conclusions, if even tentative ones, are influenced by the different perspectives we have of the relationship between the past and the present, what kinds of information or meaning we believe can be derived from the archaeological record, the questions we seek to answer, and indeed, how much of the past each of us posits is knowable. Thus, what we often refer to as “archaeological theory” is best stated in the plural since there are multiple and competing ways that archaeologists theorize archaeological remains in order to interpret past societies and lifeways. That is to say, there is not a single, proven “archaeological theory” widely accepted by all. Theories are intertwined with practice/methodologies and are what frames and drives our interpretations, or what serve as the basis for our generalizing explanations of the past. Rather than bemoan the discipline’s heterogeneity, it is hoped that students will come to appreciate its diversity and breadth.

While we will spend the majority of the semester addressing how archaeologists use theory to learn about past cultures and societies, we will also explore the politics of the discipline. That is, what role does archaeology play in the contemporary world with respect to urgent issues such as inequality and nationalism? Some of the topics that are now central in archaeology that will be addressed include professional ethics, social responsibility, working with the public, and Indigenous rights over their past.

A note on the format and workload of this course:

This course was designed to provide students with sufficient background knowledge of archaeological theories in order to prepare them for graduate studies in archaeology where the subject will be a core feature of the curriculum. Moreover, it will be taught mainly in the style of a graduate seminar, where student-led discussions are an integral part of the learning process. Thus, students will be expected to give careful consideration to the assigned readings in preparation for discussions. Please note that there is a relatively heavy reading load for this course, and that most of the readings are advanced and may be complicated (i.e., these are not introductory readings).

An introduction to archaeology as a discipline.  Three major themes that deal with issues of the past will be covered:

1.  A brief history of the discipline, changing theories about various aspects of the past, and the role that the reconstructions of the past play in national and/or group identities.

2.  A survey of the development of human culture from its beginnings to the rise of civilizations and proto-historical cultures in most areas of the world.  Prehistoric cultures, archaeological sites, and areas of Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe , and the Pacific will be covered.

3.  Archaeological methods of recovery of information about the past.  Scientific procedures involved in excavation, dating, and preservation of the material record.

An introduction to archaeology as a discipline.  Three major themes that deal with issues of the past will be covered:

1.  A brief history of the discipline, changing theories about various aspects of the past, and the role that the reconstructions of the past play in national and/or group identities.

2.  A survey of the development of human culture from its beginnings to the rise of civilizations and proto-historical cultures in most areas of the world.  Prehistoric cultures, archaeological sites, and areas of Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe , and the Pacific will be covered.

3.  Archaeological methods of recovery of information about the past.  Scientific procedures involved in excavation, dating, and preservation of the material record.

This course will introduce you, via archaeology, to the social & cultural institutions, politics & everyday life ways of people of African descent. As an entry-level course, it’s not my intent to provide a comprehensive survey of the field; there’s simply too much to cover adequately in one semester. Instead, we’ll explore a number of case studies across the U.S. dating from the colonial era of slavery to the early 20th century so that you’ll have a working knowledge of archaeology and its contributions to Black history. The course is organized chronologically, and some of the major topics will include slavery & resistance, social life, race and racism, cultural practices, household economies, gender roles, Black communities, heritage & politics of the past. You’ll learn about the kinds of evidence that archaeologists rely on to interpret the past, including artifacts, the built environment, the WPA ex-slave narratives, and oral histories.

This course is a senior seminar for students who are pursuing studies in archaeology, and satisfies the “theory” requirement for the Anthropology degree. It is a broad survey of the major theoretical trends that have shaped anthropological archaeology over time. As such it is a course on the history of archaeological thought that highlights the major debates and key issues that have influenced the ways in which we diversely claim to know what we know about the past.

Why a course on theories of archaeology? We tend to envision archaeology as the discovery of sites and the pursuit of artifacts since field excavations dominate its public persona in the media. Yet archaeologists actually spend more time dealing with the analyses of excavated materials and moving from data to interpretations or explanations of the past than we do digging. The various intellectual approaches that we take towards drawing conclusions, if even tentative ones, are influenced by the different perspectives we have of the relationship between the past and the present, what kinds of information or meaning we believe can be derived from the archaeological record, the questions we seek to answer, and indeed, how much of the past each of us posits is knowable. Thus, what we often refer to as “archaeological theory” is best stated in the plural since there are multiple and competing ways that archaeologists theorize archaeological remains in order to interpret past societies and lifeways. That is to say, there is not a single, proven “archaeological theory” widely accepted by all. Theories are intertwined with practice/methodologies and are what frames and drives our interpretations, or what serve as the basis for our generalizing explanations of the past. Rather than bemoan the discipline’s heterogeneity, it is hoped that students will come to appreciate its diversity and breadth.

While we will spend the majority of the semester addressing how archaeologists use theory to learn about past cultures and societies, we will also explore the politics of the discipline. That is, what role does archaeology play in the contemporary world with respect to urgent issues such as inequality and nationalism? Some of the topics that are now central in archaeology that will be addressed include professional ethics, social responsibility, working with the public, and Indigenous rights over their past.

A note on the format and workload of this course:

This course was designed to provide students with sufficient background knowledge of archaeological theories in order to prepare them for graduate studies in archaeology where the subject will be a core feature of the curriculum. Moreover, it will be taught mainly in the style of a graduate seminar, where student-led discussions are an integral part of the learning process. Thus, students will be expected to give careful consideration to the assigned readings in preparation for discussions. Please note that there is a relatively heavy reading load for this course, and that most of the readings are advanced and may be complicated (i.e., these are not introductory readings).

This course is a comprehensive survey of African diaspora archaeology, an interdisciplinary field that emerged during the late 1960s. As the civil rights and Black power movements fueled the founding of Black studies programs, so too did they influence this pivot in Americanist archaeology toward, initially, the study of slavery. Early research questions focused on the survival of African worldviews and practices, or Africanisms, within the context of plantation slavery. In recognizing the inherent biases of the historical record, archaeologists excavated the material remains that enslaved Africans and blacks left behind in order to write histories from “the bottom up.” The field has since expanded rapidly, as practitioners conduct excavations across the Americas and the Caribbean, with related studies on West African societies within the global context of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. With growth, the discipline has also diversified in terms of its questions, theoretical frameworks, lines of evidence, and political agendas. Students will first learn the basics of archaeology: how we conduct fieldwork, where we dig and why, and the various kinds of evidence we work with. The readings, lectures, etc, that follow will introduce students to how we use artifacts, architecture, the remains of plants and animals, and other evidence to interpret African diasporic societies and cultures in the past. The majority of the case studies will focus on African Americans (since most of this research takes place in the U.S.), although we will cover Canada, Brazil, Jamaica, the Bahamas, and research in other nations. Some of the major topics we’ll consider include: - the role that the material world plays in identity formation and inequality, especially with respect to race, gender and class. - the ways in which landscapes serve to naturalize power relations, and how African-descended peoples have used them as sites of resistance - Black cultural production from slavery through emancipation and beyond - Post-emancipation Black consumer practices, and social and economic mobility - the politics of the past, and the role of heritage preservation and archaeology in contemporary life

This course is a senior seminar for students who are pursuing studies in archaeology, and satisfies the “theory” requirement for the Anthropology degree. It is a broad survey of the major theoretical trends that have shaped anthropological archaeology over time. As such it is a course on the history of archaeological thought that highlights the major debates and key issues that have influenced the ways in which we diversely claim to know what we know about the past.

Why a course on theories of archaeology? We tend to envision archaeology as the discovery of sites and the pursuit of artifacts since field excavations dominate its public persona in the media. Yet archaeologists actually spend more time dealing with the analyses of excavated materials and moving from data to interpretations or explanations of the past than we do digging. The various intellectual approaches that we take towards drawing conclusions, if even tentative ones, are influenced by the different perspectives we have of the relationship between the past and the present, what kinds of information or meaning we believe can be derived from the archaeological record, the questions we seek to answer, and indeed, how much of the past each of us posits is knowable. Thus, what we often refer to as “archaeological theory” is best stated in the plural since there are multiple and competing ways that archaeologists theorize archaeological remains in order to interpret past societies and lifeways. That is to say, there is not a single, proven “archaeological theory” widely accepted by all. Theories are intertwined with practice/methodologies and are what frames and drives our interpretations, or what serve as the basis for our generalizing explanations of the past. Rather than bemoan the discipline’s heterogeneity, it is hoped that students will come to appreciate its diversity and breadth.

While we will spend the majority of the semester addressing how archaeologists use theory to learn about past cultures and societies, we will also explore the politics of the discipline. That is, what role does archaeology play in the contemporary world with respect to urgent issues such as inequality and nationalism? Some of the topics that are now central in archaeology that will be addressed include professional ethics, social responsibility, working with the public, and Indigenous rights over their past.

A note on the format and workload of this course:

This course was designed to provide students with sufficient background knowledge of archaeological theories in order to prepare them for graduate studies in archaeology where the subject will be a core feature of the curriculum. Moreover, it will be taught mainly in the style of a graduate seminar, where student-led discussions are an integral part of the learning process. Thus, students will be expected to give careful consideration to the assigned readings in preparation for discussions. Please note that there is a relatively heavy reading load for this course, and that most of the readings are advanced and may be complicated (i.e., these are not introductory readings).

This seminar will attempt to map the development of historical archaeology, and will delve into themultiplicity of theoretical and methodological approaches currently in vogue.  The focus will be onAmericanist historical archaeology and its relationship to anthropology, prehistoric archaeology,and history.  By discussing a number of topics and divergent theories and methods, this ambitious seminar will be both comprehensive and critical.  We will cover subjects ranging from the basics of artifact analysis and the role of documentary sources, to issues such as the sociopolitics of archaeology,social inequality, and cultural contact.

This is a lab-based course where students will work directly with artifacts recovered from a historic site in central Texas. The assemblage largely consists of a wide spectrum of household-related artifacts including ceramics, container glass, decorative objects, personal effects, and so on. The general goal is to train students in basic archaeological lab methods, technical report writing, and preliminary artifact analysis. These are foundational skill sets applicable to all practices of archaeology.

Individuals who are interested in material culture studies and archaeology may find this course of interest and useful to pursuing further study in these related fields. Students who are looking for opportunities to learn a subject through a more active, “hands on” approach where working independently is encouraged may also find this course a good fit. Students will discover that the course will test – and help them to develop – their organizational skills, attention to detail, competence in problem solving, and their ability to describe, categorize, and synthesize data.

Course Objectives:

By the end of the semester, students should be able to demonstrate…:

…proficiency in identification and dating of historic artifacts from circa 1900 to the 1960s. Students should have the ability to distinguish between major artifact categories, identify common diagnostic traits, and know which sources to seek out in order to accurately identify and date various artifact types. 

…the proper procedures for cataloging artifacts for curation by filling out lab forms and labels accurately, and entering data into Excel.

…how to employ Excel to create artifact tables and graphics.

…the process for synthesizing archaeological data to conduct a preliminary descriptive analysis of historic artifacts.

…basic skills in technical report writing in archaeology.

The purpose of this course is to provide you with theoretical and practical knowledge

about teaching and learning at the postsecondary level, ultimately to help prepare you for a

teaching position in a higher education setting. Major topics that we will cover include (1)

teaching effectiveness, (2) modes of learning, (3) teaching philosophy, (4) course design, (5)

lecture design and delivery, and (6) graduate education and the demands of academia.

The “household” is one of the most ubiquitous forms of social units across space and time, and the study of how households are organized, what they do, and their roles in past societies now constitutes an established, major research agenda in archaeology. As Ruth Tringham has noted, “The aim of household archaeology is to create a context in which humanized reconstruction of the past may be nurtured, through the study of intrasettlement relations.” This emphasis on humanizing the past, bringing back into focus the historical actors who once inhabited sites, has had transformative impacts in archaeology as researchers have questioned the positivist paradigm that has dominated archaeology for decades.

The goals of this seminar are to consider the development of household archaeology within the shifting contours of processual and post-processual archaeologies, and to critically evaluate the various theoretical and methodological approaches to household studies. By the end of the semester, seminar participants will be able to 1) demonstrate their comprehension of the literature on household archaeology, 2) define and assess divergent perspectives on households, and 3) produce a research design for their dissertation project that focuses on microscale analysis and interpretation at the household level. To help meet these goals, the class will consider the seminal studies on households and families, the wide array of evidence for household organization and social relations, practices, and their attendant meanings, attempt to define the current major lines of inquiry in household archaeology, and debate its achievements and shortcomings. Questions concerning the “domestic” nature of households, households as spheres of conflict (especially along gender lines), and its active roles in broader social and economic processes are some of the specific topics that will be addressed.

Although readings will be assigned, in order to ensure that the scholarship covered is more closely related to the research interests of students, there is some flexibility in the schedule to add and substitute readings.

This is a lab-based course where students will work directly with artifacts recovered from a historic site in central Texas. The assemblage largely consists of a wide spectrum of household- related artifacts, including ceramics, container glass, decorative objects, personal effects, and so on. The general goal is to train students in basic archaeological lab methods, technical report writing, and artifact analysis. These are foundational skill sets applicable to all practices of archaeology.

By the end of the semester, students should be able to demonstrate:

• -  basic identification and cataloging of artifacts, mainly dating from circa 1900 to the

  1960s.

• -  How to create tables and graphics and write a descriptive analysis of artifacts for a

  typical archaeological site report.

• -  How to assess various artifact types in terms of their potential to address different

  research questions (e.g., site dating, site transformation processes, household economy, identity, etc.). 

The purpose of this course is to provide you with theoretical and practical knowledge

about teaching and learning at the postsecondary level, ultimately to help prepare you for a

teaching position in a higher education setting. Major topics that we will cover include (1)

teaching effectiveness, (2) modes of learning, (3) teaching philosophy, (4) course design, (5)

lecture design and delivery, and (6) graduate education and the demands of academia.

An introduction to archaeology as a discipline.  Three major themes that deal with issues of the past will be covered:

1.  A brief history of the discipline, changing theories about various aspects of the past, and the role that the reconstructions of the past play in national and/or group identities.

2.  A survey of the development of human culture from its beginnings to the rise of civilizations and proto-historical cultures in most areas of the world.  Prehistoric cultures, archaeological sites, and areas of Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe , and the Pacific will be covered.

3.  Archaeological methods of recovery of information about the past.  Scientific procedures involved in excavation, dating, and preservation of the material record.

This is a lab-based course where students will work directly with artifacts recovered from a

historic site in central Texas. The assemblage largely consists of a wide spectrum of householdrelated

artifacts, including ceramics, container glass, decorative objects, personal effects, and so

on. The general goal is to train students in basic archaeological lab methods, technical report

writing, and artifact analysis. These are foundational skill sets applicable to all practices of

archaeology.

By the end of the semester, students should be able to demonstrate:

- basic identification and cataloging of artifacts, mainly dating from circa 1900 to the

1960s.

- How to create tables and graphics and write a descriptive analysis of artifacts for a

typical archaeological site report.

- How to assess various artifact types in terms of their potential to address different

research questions (e.g., site dating, site transformation processes, household

economy, identity, etc.).

The purpose of this course is to provide you with theoretical and practical knowledge

about teaching and learning at the postsecondary level, ultimately to help prepare you for a

teaching position in a higher education setting. Major topics that we will cover include (1)

teaching effectiveness, (2) modes of learning, (3) teaching philosophy, (4) course design, (5)

lecture design and delivery, and (6) graduate education and the demands of academia.

An introduction to archaeology as a discipline.  Three major themes that deal with issues of the past will be covered:

1.  A brief history of the discipline, changing theories about various aspects of the past, and the role that the reconstructions of the past play in national and/or group identities.

2.  A survey of the development of human culture from its beginnings to the rise of civilizations and proto-historical cultures in most areas of the world.  Prehistoric cultures, archaeological sites, and areas of Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe , and the Pacific will be covered.

3.  Archaeological methods of recovery of information about the past.  Scientific procedures involved in excavation, dating, and preservation of the material record.

Please check back for updates.

The purpose of this course is to provide you with theoretical and practical knowledge

about teaching and learning at the postsecondary level, ultimately to help prepare you for a

teaching position in a higher education setting. Major topics that we will cover include (1)

teaching effectiveness, (2) modes of learning, (3) teaching philosophy, (4) course design, (5)

lecture design and delivery, and (6) graduate education and the demands of academia.

A capstone course fpr AFR majors focusing on black intellectual traditions.

Course Description:

This course is a comparative survey of the institution of slavery on the American mainland from thecolonial through the antebellum periods. An interdisciplinary perspective will be employed through readings, exercises, lectures and discussions related to the archaeology and history of slavery. We will begin with discussions of some of the key issues and questions that scholars of American slavery have addressed over time, and consider a few of the theories concerning identity formation and enslaved Africans. Following lectures/discussions focus on the development of plantation societies, particularly among the English, and later, the Americans. While plantation economies will be covered, the emphasis will be on issues related to society and culture from the viewpoint of enslaved Africans and blacks. Further, rather than view slavery as a dominant institution, the class will consider the ways in which those in bondage covertly and overtly resisted their enslavement. Their social and cultural practices,it will be argued, were crucial in carrying out these acts. By considering a variety of case studies from the 17th to the 19th centuries, covering diverse regions and locales, we can study the development of race-based slavery, understand its role in the transformation of American society and culture, and recognize the diversity of experiences that shaped, and were shaped by, this institution.

Topics to be covered include the following:

I. Race and gender

II. Life within the enslaved community

A. Cultural practices (for example, foodways, landscapes, religion, and craft production).

B. Social institutions (for example, families, slave quarter communities, and marriage practices).

III. Relationships between slaveowners and the enslaved.

IV. Plantations: cotton, sugar, rice, and tobacco.

V. Institution of slavery: legal codes, planter ideologies, relationship to race and racism.

VI. Labor diversity within the system of slavery: urban vs. rural, artisans and skilled labor, field labor,domestic work.

VII. Opposition and resistance: slave uprisings, abolitionism, the Underground Railroad, maroonage, runaways, etc.

VIII. Interpreting historical sources related to slavery.

Course Goals:

By the end of the semester, you should be able to do the following:

? Compare and contrast the diversity of plantation systems by considering the following factors: settlement patterns, built environments, labor forces, and planting/processing techniques involved in sugar, rice, cotton, and tobacco agriculture.

? Discuss the diversity of experiences of enslaved blacks and Africans with regard to different sociohistorical contexts (e.g., 17th-century Chesapeake, Spanish Florida, 19th-century Louisiana, etc.).? Critically analyze the role of gender in shaping the experiences of enslaved individuals.

? Demonstrate how enslaved groups actively participated in the creation of cultural practices and socialinstitutions.? Assess the various strategies of resistance used by both the free and the enslaved to challenge the system of slavery.

? Possess some basic knowledge on how to use primary historical documents and material culture to interpret the lifeways, experiences, and perspectives of slaveowners and the enslaved.

Course Requirements: Final grades will be based on the percentage of points scored out of a possible “100”. The total points possible are divided as follows:

(1) Two in-class group exercises (5 pts. each) = 10 points

(2) Journal entries (4 pts. each) = 40 points

(3) Discussion (5 pts. each) = 10 points

(4) Wiki project = 40 points

Group exercises

You must arrive on time to class in order to receive full credit for completing each group assignment. The handouts needed for both will be posted on Blackboard. Please print these out (bring the handouts to class), read them over and be prepared to start the assignment at the beginning of class.

Journals

The “Journal” tool in Blackboard has been set up. I will post the questions and/or issues that you should address foreach entry on Blackboard (under Announcements), and announce them in class (or via email).The journals will help me to evaluate and keep track of your progress over the semester in comprehending course content and in meeting course goals. Focus on the readings when journaling. The main things that I am looking for when grading (but you don’t have to incorporate all 3 for each entry) are: comprehension of the author’s objectives and your ability to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of his/her arguments, your ability to relate the reading to the day’s topic(s) and contextualize it more broadly within the major course goals, and, importantly, how well you address the issue/question assigned for each entry using specific evidence from the reading(s). Please feel free to provide your reflections on how well you’re doing in the course. Your journals will only be viewable by you and I.

Due dates for journal entries are listed in the schedule below; you must complete your entry by 11am on the due date or it will be considered late. Each entry should be around 250 words.

DiscussionsGoal: To provide a forum for class discussion of course materials as a means of ensuring that students are wellversed on the subject matters to date before moving forward. This is an opportunity to engage in friendly debate, ask questions that still linger for you, and to try and grasp how specific readings, etc. relate to broader course goals.

You will be assigned two discussion dates; there are six altogether. You are required to coordinate with your codiscussants (you can email one another via Blackboard) in completing the following:

1) Each co-discussant must come up with 2 questions/topics/debates related to the readings, video, and to a lesser extent, the lectures assigned to your group. These should be grouped by themes (e.g., plantation labor, resistance to slavery, women’s experiences, cultural production, etc.). Please do not recycle questions assigned for journal entries.

Your questions should be aimed towards generating a productive class discussion, so don’t make them too easy. Feel free to post questions that you yourself don’t know the answer to!

2) One student will be responsible for putting together a handout of the above and forwarding the document to me via email by 9am on the day of the discussion. I will bring copies to hand out in class. Please be sure that the name of each student who contributed to the assignment is listed on the handout. This is the document that I’ll use for grading.3) Finally: you must be present on the days that you are assigned or you will receive no credit even if you contributed to this assignment.

Wiki project

Your major project for this class is to create a wiki page based on interpretations of a selection of ex-slave narratives from the Federal Writer’s Project. You are responsible for coming up with a research question on life during antebellum slavery, choosing a minimum of 7 narratives and 3 scholarly readings to address it, and then writing an essay based upon your interpretation of the sources. Your essay should be between 1,700 to 2,000 words (about 3.5- 4 single-spaced pages).

Do not use the narratives assigned to our class for this project. As for articles/books, you can use one from class, but you are expected to conduct research for this paper in finding appropriate source materials.

You will be given a tutorial on working with Dupral wikis, which are very user friendly. The wiki editor allows you to incorporate hyperlinks, images, sound bites, etc., into your text. Be creative in constructing your wiki page by using these features since part of your grade will be based upon your resourcefulness in finding relevant media to integrate into your essay. There are ample sources on the web that can be used.

A 100-150 word abstract of your project, stating your main question and listing your 3 scholarly reference works, is due on November 1. The abstracts will allow me to assess whether or not you have a suitable question and supporting references. You may be asked to revise your topic or find alternate readings. Note: Abstracts will not be graded, but 6 points will be deducted from your wiki assignment for failure to turn this in.

A handout with more specifics will be made available in October. If you prefer to get started on this assignment sooner, there are plenty of books at the PCL containing the ex-slave narratives, or you can simply go to:

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/snhtml/snhome.html

Policy on late assignments: A late assignment will only be accepted with prior approval from the instructor.

In this case, only a one-week extension of the deadline will be granted and 50% of the points possible will be deducted from the final assignment grade.

Grading Scale:

90 – 100 = A

80 – 89 = B

70 – 79 = C

60 – 69 = D

59 and below = F

Required Texts available at the UT Co-op:

1. Ira Berlin, “Generations in Captivity,” 2003. This book is also available electronically via UTnetcat.

2. Leland Ferguson, “Uncommon Ground”, ([1992]2004).

The purpose of this course is to provide you with theoretical and practical knowledge

about teaching and learning at the postsecondary level, ultimately to help prepare you for a

teaching position in a higher education setting. Major topics that we will cover include (1)

teaching effectiveness, (2) modes of learning, (3) teaching philosophy, (4) course design, (5)

lecture design and delivery, and (6) graduate education and the demands of academia.

The summer field school in Texas archeology will take place on a private ranch in southeastern Travis County—within commuting distance to and from campus.  We will begin excavations of a previously uninvestigated prehistoric archeological site and undertake a comprehensive archeological survey of the remainder of the property.   As a student, you will obtain hands-on experience in general aspects of field archaeology, including excavation, survey and mapping.  You will also gain first-hand experience in Texas archeology while contributing to our knowledge of Texas’ cultural heritage.     

This course is a senior seminar for students who are pursuing studies in archaeology, and satisfies the “theory” requirement for the Anthropology degree. It is a broad survey of the major theoretical trends that have shaped anthropological archaeology over time. As such it is a course on the history of archaeological thought that highlights the major debates and key issues that have influenced the ways in which we diversely claim to know what we know about the past.

Why a course on theories of archaeology? We tend to envision archaeology as the discovery of sites and the pursuit of artifacts since field excavations dominate its public persona in print, documentaries, and of course in Hollywood movies. Yet archaeologists actually spend more time dealing with the analyses of excavated materials and moving from data to interpretations or explanations of the past than we do digging. The various intellectual approaches that we take towards drawing conclusions, if even tentative ones, are influenced by the different perspectives we have of the relationship between the past and the present, what kinds of information or meaning we believe can be derived from the archaeological record, the questions we seek to answer, and indeed, how much of the past each of us posits is knowable. Thus, what we often refer to as “archaeological theory” is best stated in the plural since there are multiple and competing ways that archaeologists theorize archaeological remains in order to interpret past societies and lifeways. That is to say, there is not a single, proven “archaeological theory” widely accepted by all. Theories are intertwined with practice/methodologies and are what frames and drives our interpretations, or what serve as the basis for our generalizing explanations of the past. Rather than bemoan the discipline’s heterogeneity, it is hoped that students will come to appreciate its diversity and breadth.

While we will spend the majority of the semester with a focus on how archaeologists deal with the archaeological record and past cultures and societies as subjects of inquiry, we will also explore the politics of the discipline. That is, what role does archaeology play in the contemporary world with respect to urgent issues such as inequality and nationalism? Some of the topics that are now central in archaeology that will be addressed include professional ethics, social responsibility, working with the public, and Indigenous rights over their past.

A note on the format and workload of this course:

This course was designed to provide students with sufficient background knowledge of archaeological theories in order to prepare them for graduate studies in archaeology where the subject will be a core feature of the curriculum. Moreover, it will be taught mainly in the style of a graduate seminar, where student-led discussions are an integral part of the learning process. Thus, students will be expected to give careful consideration to the assigned readings in preparation for discussions. Please note that there is a relatively heavy reading load for this course, and that most of the readings are advanced and may be complicated (i.e., these are not introductory readings). 

Almost three decades ago, anthropologist and pioneer of African Diaspora Studies, St. Clair Drake, asserted, “the diaspora analogy...needs constant critical analysis if it is to be a useful guide to research as well as a striking metaphor.” This seminar is designed to introduce students to the variety of ideas that underlie the articulation of the construct of the “African diaspora.” Although structured through the understanding of the African diaspora as an historical formation, the focus is on the African diaspora as a distinct intellectual project as well as a political one. As such, we will explore the ways scholars have conceptualized and theorized the “diasporadic condition” of Black peoples, and how the community is imagined. These questions have undergirded the contemporary struggle over the meanings of race, place, identity, and consciousness within the African diaspora. Thus, their full examination necessitates intensive discussions and explorations of a number of issues.

In our engagement with theorizations of the African diaspora, we will explore, among other things, global/transnational understandings and articulations of Blackness; the (indispensable?) role of Africa in diasporic identity formations; the relationship between politics and Black cultural production and expression; the interrelationship of race, culture, gender, sexuality and ethnicity; notions of “roots” and “routes” in structuring the diasporadic condition; issues of cultural syncretism and hybridity; and the unstable contradiction between notions of “essentialist” origins and social constructions of Black identities.

This seminar meets the Dept. of Anthropology’s core requirement. As a “sixth” core course, it addresses both the anthropology and archaeology of the African Diaspora. 

This course is a comparative survey of the institution of slavery on the American mainland (with some discussion of the Caribbean) from the era of seventeenth-century European colonialism through the antebellum period.  We will begin by exploring Portuguese, French, Dutch, British and Spanish colonizing efforts in the Americas, and their varying roles in the trans-Atlantic slave trade.  The class proceeds with discussions of the Middle Passage, and the development of plantation societies.  Whileplantation economies will be covered, the emphasis will be on issues related to society, culture, and identity formation, particularly amongst the enslaved.Thus, the course will cover the daily life experiences of enslaved peoples within a variety of sociohistorical contexts marked by relations of domination and resistance.  Through historical and archaeological evidence, one begins, however, to understand that there existed no monolithic enslaved experience.  Rather, a diversity of experiences, and a range of cultural and social institutions characterized enslaved life.  The issue of identity formation is central here: race, as a social construct, was variously instituted and negotiated under different colonial powers, but nonetheless served as a powerful marker in slave societies.  We will, therefore, consider racial formation from a comparative perspective. 

This seminar will attempt to map the development of historical archaeology, and will delve into themultiplicity of theoretical and methodological approaches currently in vogue.  The focus will be onAmericanist historical archaeology and its relationship to anthropology, prehistoric archaeology,and history.  By discussing a number of topics and divergent theories and methods, this ambitious seminar will be both comprehensive and critical.  We will cover subjects ranging from the basics of artifact analysis and the role of documentary sources, to issues such as the sociopolitics of archaeology,social inequality, and cultural contact.

This course is a comparative survey of the institution of slavery on the American mainland (with some discussion of the Caribbean) from the era of seventeenth-century European colonialism through the antebellum period.  We will begin by exploring Portuguese, French, Dutch, British and Spanish colonizing efforts in the Americas, and their varying roles in the trans-Atlantic slave trade.  The class proceeds with discussions of the Middle Passage, and the development of plantation societies.  Whileplantation economies will be covered, the emphasis will be on issues related to society, culture, and identity formation, particularly amongst the enslaved.Thus, the course will cover the daily life experiences of enslaved peoples within a variety of sociohistorical contexts marked by relations of domination and resistance.  Through historical and archaeological evidence, one begins, however, to understand that there existed no monolithic enslaved experience.  Rather, a diversity of experiences, and a range of cultural and social institutions characterized enslaved life.  The issue of identity formation is central here: race, as a social construct, was variously instituted and negotiated under different colonial powers, but nonetheless served as a powerful marker in slave societies.  We will, therefore, consider racial formation from acomparative perspective. 

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Almost three decades ago, anthropologist and pioneer of African  Diaspora Studies, St. Clair Drake, asserted, ?the diaspora  analogy?needs constant critical analysis if it is to be a useful guide  to research as well as a striking metaphor.?  This seminar is designed  to introduce students to the variety of ideas that underlie the  articulation of the construct of the ?African diaspora.?  Although  structured through the understanding of the African diaspora as an  historical formation, the focus is on the African diaspora as a  distinct intellectual project.  As such, we will explore the ways  scholars have conceptualized and theorized the ?diasporadic condition?  of Black peoples.  (And, as we will see, the anthropology of the  African diaspora can be traced to the paradigmatic debates on Black  identity formations.)Throughout the semester, we will critically explore the two  fundamental questions that have oriented the bulk of scholarship on  the African diaspora over the years:  who belongs to the diasporic  community and, how is this community imagined?  These questions have  undergirded the contemporary struggle over the meanings of race,  place, identity, and consciousness within the African diaspora. Thus,  their full examination necessitates intensive discussions and  explorations of a number of issues.  In our engagement with  theorization on the African diaspora, we will explore, among other  things, global/transnational understandings and articulations of  Blackness; the (indispensable?) role of Africa in diasporic identity  formations; the relationship between politics and Black cultural  production and expression; the interrelationship of race, culture,  gender, sexuality and ethnicity; notions of ?roots? and ?routes? in  structuring the diasporadic condition; issues of cultural syncretism  and hybridity; and the unstable contradiction between notions of  ?essentialist? origins and social constructions of Black identities.This seminar meets the Dept. of Anthropology?s core requirement. As a  ?sixth? core course, it addresses both the anthropology and  archaeology of the African Diaspora.

This course is a capstone seminar for juniors and seniors who are pursuing

studies in archaeology, and who hope to continue on in either the academic or

non-academic sectors of professional archaeology. It surveys the major

theoretical trends that have shaped the discipline over time.  As such it is a

course on the history of archaeological thought that highlights the major

debates and key issues that have influenced the ways in which we diversely

claim to know what we know about the past. Our focus will be on anthropological

archaeology in the U.S., although major developments in the UK have also been

largely influential in the recent past and will also be covered.

Some of the major issues/topics

that we will address include:

- How has American archaeology transformed through the years, and what factors

have influenced its development?

- How do archaeologists variously bridge method, data, and theory to interpret

the past?

- How is archaeology politicized? What are the ethics of archaeology, and what

are our responsibilities to the public?

This seminar is a survey of theoretical approaches to the issue of
inequality/power/hierarchy in archaeological research and in archaeology as a political practice.
We will begin by considering early case studies of archaeological thought on the rise of social
and political hierarchy, and status, difference and power, in order to familiarize students with the
“roots” of subsequent discourses on inequality in the past (with scholars either building upon or
contesting – sometimes both – these early works). During most of the semester we will focus on
the various trajectories that contemporary archaeologists have taken in theorizing inequality as
they’ve sought to explain or interpret the myriad range of sites, cultures, and time periods that
now represent the field. Rather than organize the seminar by regions or theoretical frameworks,
the topics are organized roughly by the kinds of societies and issues that scholars have typically,
though not exclusively, evaluated when considering power relations. The rationale here is to give
students some sense of the range of approaches, including competing ones, that can be applied to
similar case studies. The relationships between theory, site, method, scale of analysis, and
research objective(s) should be discussed as the semester unfolds.
This seminar’s objective is to also critically assess archaeology’s role in contemporary
social and political discourses and practices. This occurs in two interrelated spheres: 1) within
the discipline itself with respect to knowledge production, unequal relations between
practitioners, etc., and 2) between archaeologists and the societies within which we work. An
intention of this seminar is to get participants to think about the ways in which our scholarship
on inequality in the past can and should be considered relevant to archaeology’s role in today’s
world.

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This course is an exploration of African American culture that provides students with
analytical tools to critically examine and consciously participate in the ongoing
construction of African American culture. Particular attention is given to key terms such
as race, culture, Blackness, hegemony, aesthetics, and politics. Emphasis is placed on
Black agency as demonstrated through the social, political, and representational choices
made by African Americans.

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