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Online Winter Session Courses

 

Catch up or speed ahead with our online winter session courses:

 

SSH/ASB 100    Introduction to Global Health    

Dr. Ana Magdalena Hurtado
General Studies: SB & G; and fulfills CLAS Science and Society requirements.
Online, #90375 & #70376 Girl wearing medical mask and reading a book

 

Global health is the study of human health differences and similarities in past and present environments, and the ways in which the complex human and animal networks and activities that exist across the planet influence them. Within a framework that brings together anthropological, evolutionary and public health sciences, we explore a variety of topics, including  the ongoing wars between pathogens and human hosts. These wars over nutrients have (1) existed since ancient times and are unlikely to ever end; (2) shaped not only human biology, but also the culture, institutions, built environments and division of labor we inherited from our ancestors; (3) influenced, and have been influenced by, the emergence of novel and diverse cultural, social and biological phenomena; and (4) shaped present-day health-related institutional and technological innovations.

Dr. Hurtado infuses into the course over 20 years of transdisciplinary work in anthropology, evolutionary behavioral ecology, life history theory, demography, epidemiology, surveillance and community-based research among Ache, Hiwi and Machiguenga indigenous groups of Paraguay, Venezuela – her country of origin – and Peru, and Hispanics and Native Americans in the U.S.


Past Student Comments:

“Everything was done perfectly! It is the best online class I have taken so far!!!”

“I appreciated how all instructors extended themselves in being accessible and gave rapid responses to any questions and/or concerns.”

“I think this is an excellent course; I don't see any need for improvement.”

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SSH/ASB 200    Food and Culture    

Dr. Jonathan Maupin 
General Studies: (L or SB) & C
Online, #90377 & #90427

 

Food represents the most basic of human needs, and yet its very pervasiveness in our everyday lives often prevents us from seeing how extensively it defines us socially and culturally. This course examines the relationships between humans and food across cultures and through time using perspectives from both anthropology and related fields. Topics to be addressed include evolution and nutrition; food and ethnicity; and food production/ distribution. This cross-cultural and historical focus provides a framework for understanding current national and global issues, including obesity and food insecurity. 

 

Course Format: Online lectures, written assignments, outside-class activities. 

 

Prerequisites: None; the course is intended for majors and non-majors alike. 

 

Dr. Maupin’s research focuses on issues of community participation in health programs, variation in illness concepts and cultural competency among the Kaqchikel Maya in Guatemala, Purépecha groups in Western Mexico and Hispanic migrants in the U.S.

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ASB 222    Buried Cities & Lost Tribes: Our Human Heritage    

Dr. Steven Falconer 
General Studies: (HU or SB) G & H
Online, #90428

This course is an introduction to archaeology through a dozen of the greatest discoveries and the researchers who conducted the work. Emphasis will be on the methods of archaeological fieldwork and what these discoveries have revealed about world prehistory. Subjects covered will include Pompeii, Troy, Crete, cities and civilizations, the origin of agriculture, the Mediterranean Basin, Meso­potamia, Egypt and the Holyland.

 

Course Format:  Online lecture, videos, three exams.


Prerequisites: None; the course is intended for majors and non-majors alike. 

Dr. Falconer has directed ground-breaking archaeological investigations of the causes and consequences of early cities and states four and five thousand years ago at a variety of locales in the Middle East (along the Jordan Rift) and the eastern Mediterranean (on the island of Cyprus). His work illuminates the nexus of prehistory and history and displays a special flair for applying the legacies of the deep past to the formation of the modern world, as seen in the rise of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.  

Past Student Comments:

“This class was one of the best online course experience that I have ever had.”

“I have taken a lot of online courses. This was the first one that I feel I gained sufficiently from the lectures. Also, the choice of textbook was phenomenal; I enjoyed the reading assignments thoroughly and did not find them tedious or boring as I do with most textbooks.”

“I think Dr. Falconer should teach more courses. I really enjoyed the teaching style and set up of this course.”

“Very good videos and presentations. Professor really knows the material.”

“Best online class I have taken thus far.”

“The commentary on the PowerPoint presentations was excellent. This is the first time this type of information was available in an online class that I have taken, and it was much like being in the classroom.”

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ASB 223    Buried Civilizations of the Americas     

Dr. Kelly J. Knudson 
General Studies: (HU or SB) G & H
Online, #90419

Archaeology is the primary source of information about many of the most spectacular cultural achievements of the Americas. This course introduces the methods, logic and history of archaeology through an examination of several ancient civilizations, as understood through their architecture and artifacts. Subjects covered for Middle America include the Aztec, Teotihuacan, Maya and Olmec; for South America, the Inca, Moche, Nasca and Chavin; and for North America, the Hohokam, Chaco and Casas Grandes cultures of the Southwest and the Mississippian mound builders in the eastern U.S.

 

Course Format: Online lectures, slides, videos, three exams.

 

Prerequisites: None; the course is intended for majors and non-majors alike. 

Dr. Knudson is an esteemed archaeologist who has conducted research in Peru, Bolivia and Chile for 15 years. She works with Andean mummies and victims of human sacrifice to understand how empires formed.

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ASB 326    Human Impacts on Ancient Environments    

Dr. Steven Falconer
General Studies: SB & H
Online, #90195

This course reviews archaeological evidence on how humans have affected their surroundings from early prehistoric times until 300 years before the present. A global perspective will be taken with examples drawn from diverse regions. The archaeological record will be reviewed for early evidence of animal extinctions, deforestation and soil degradation. The special relationships that have developed based on the introduction of agriculture and the growth of early complex societies are also examined. Examples of successful human adaptations will be presented, as well as evidence of negative impacts.

 

Course Format: Online lectures illustrated with slides and class discussion of key points, two exams, two short papers.

 
Prerequisites: None; however, it is assumed that students have (or are willing to do the extra reading to acquire) a basic knowledge of the operation of archaeology and world prehistory.

Dr. Falconer has directed ground-breaking archaeological investigations of the causes and consequences of early cities and states four and five thousand years ago at a variety of locales in the Middle East (along the Jordan Rift) and the eastern Mediterranean (on the island of Cyprus). His work illuminates the nexus of prehistory and history and displays a special flair for applying the legacies of the deep past to the formation of the modern world, as seen in the rise of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.  

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SSH 400/ASB 410    Poverty, Justice and Global Health

Dr. Amber Wutich 
General Studies: (L or SB) & G; and fulfills CLAS Science and Society requirements.

Routine primary health care activities at Thmor Bang Health Center, Koh Kong Province, Cambodia. Photo By Hen Sokun Charya, USAID/Cambodia-OPH.
Thmor Bang Health Center, Koh Kong Province, Cambodia. Photo by Hen Sokun Charya, USAID/Cambodia-OPH.

Online, #90378 & #90379

The goal of this 3-credit, 400-level course is to explore social justice and ethical issues related to the health of communities in the U.S. and globally. In Part I, we will explore the relationships between social forces and disease, with a special focus on the complicated interactions between poverty and health disparities at both global and local levels. In Part II, the focus is on debating ethics in health research and intervention, with particular focus on case studies related to indigenous, migrant and other vulnerable populations. In Part III, students take a lead in exploring and defining their own personal and professional values related to global health, particularly related to action and advocacy. To succeed in this course, students must be prepared to engage in critical thinking, self-reflection and oral/written argumentation.

 

Prerequisites: ASB 100 (or SSH 100) or ASB 102 with a D or better.

Dr. Wutich is a highly qualified cultural anthropologist. Her research examines how people survive in the face of severe food, water and economic scarcity. She has led research projects in Bolivia, Mexico, China and the U.S.

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ASB 462    Medical Anthropology: Culture and Health

Dr. Daniel Hruschka 
General Studies: C; and fulfills CLAS Science and Society requirements.
Online, #90058

This course examines how people from different cultural backgrounds define health and illness; how cultural practices play a role in prevention and treatment; and how culture influences population health at many levels — from the way people seek care for illnesses to current policy debates about the provision of healthcare. The course focuses on the role that culture plays both at the global level and also in the U.S. in particular.

 

Course Format: Online lecture, slides and discussions, three exams, occasional brief assignments.

 

Prerequisites: None; the course is intended for majors and non-majors alike. 

Dr. Hruschka is a medical anthropologist who studies how cultural and social factors influence health practices and healthcare provision. His current work focuses on maternal and child health in Bangladesh. He has also conducted fieldwork in Mongolia and the U.S.

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ASM 275    Forensic Anthropology

Dr. Chris Stojanowski 
General Studies: SB (pending approval); and fulfills CLAS Science and Society requirements.

This course will discuss the application of anthropological techniques for the purposes of crime scene investigation. We will discuss the full range of details about a person that can be gleaned from analyses of human skeletons. We will also discuss different types of trauma, dismemberment, bite marks and animal scavenging. The course presents information from actual cases and how those cases were solved using forensic anthropology. Human rights, genocides, mass disaster accidents and the recovery of MIA soldiers are also detailed. NOTE: Visuals can be mildly disturbing in their graphic content.

 

Course Format: Online lectures, videos, four multiple choice exams.  

 

Prerequisites: None; the course is intended for majors and non-majors alike.

Dr. Stojanowski, an expert in his field, specializes in the human skeleton. His research focuses on colonial period populations from Florida and Georgia, as well as 10,000-year-old human remains from the Sahara Desert. 

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