Course Descriptions

Listed below are the course descriptions for the selected subject.
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ANTHROPOLOGY



ANTH 1110 -- Introduction to Sustainability,   3 credits Search Current Course Schedule
Common Course Outline
(Cross-listed as GEOG 1110)

(MnTC Goals 5 and 10)

Recommended Skills, Abilities, or Coursework: College-level skills in Mathematics, Reading, and Writing.

This course introduces students to the concept of sustainability and explores how today's human societies can adapt in the face of global climate change, ecosystem degradation, and resource limitations. The course focuses on key knowledge areas of sustainability theory and practice including population, ecosystems, global climate change, energy, agriculture, water, environmental economics and policy, ethics, and cultural history. It will include discussions on maintaining ecological and environmental health, creating economic welfare, instituting cultural change, and ensuring social justice. Case studies and/or case simulations will be used to provide the student with real world examples and applications.


ANTH 1189 -- Topics:,   Search Current Course Schedule
Common Course Outline
This course has been developed as a potential permanent course. The course must follow all the same policies and procedures related to curriculum outlined by the college. It does not duplicate existing course offerings. Refer to course notes for specific course description.


ANTH 2201 -- Introduction to Cultural Anthropology,   3 credits Search Current Course Schedule
Common Course Outline
(MnTC Goals 5 and 8)

Recommended Skills, Abilities, or Coursework: Students should be prepared to do college-level reading, analysis, and writing.

Cultural anthropology is the study of culture and its structure and variation as revealed by cross-cultural comparisons of different societies. It includes, but is not limited to, the analysis of social interaction, language, reproduction and the family, subsistence, political organization, religion, and artistic expression. Emphasis will be placed on global issues.


ANTH 2202 -- Introduction to Biological Anthropology,   3 credits Search Current Course Schedule
Common Course Outline
(MnTC Goals 5 and 10)

Recommended Skills, Abilities, or Coursework: Students should be prepared to read, analyze, and write at a college-level.

This course focuses on the study of humans as biological beings subject to the forces of both evolution and culture. The physical changes documented in early human species are considered in relation to environmental adaptation and diverging primate and hominid behaviors. A concluding survey of the Paleolithic and Neolithic Periods connects human biological origins to the early stages of human prehistory.


ANTH 2251 -- Environmental Anthropology,   3 credits Search Current Course Schedule
Common Course Outline
(MnTC Goals 5 and 10)

Recommended Skills, Abilities, or Coursework: College-level skills in Mathematics, Reading, and Writing

This course focuses on the study of past and present human societies and their interaction with the environment. Societies are analyzed in anthropological terms according to their modes of production, social organization, and worldview. Environmental constraints and opportunities acting on cultural development are examined. Students will learn how successful adaptation to factors of climate and geography, the conservation of species, and management of available resources have contributed to sociocultural survival or collapse in documented cases.


ANTH 2261 -- Principles of Archaeology,   3 credits Search Current Course Schedule
Common Course Outline
(MnTC Goals 5 and 8)

Recommended Skills, Abilities, or Coursework: Students should be prepared to read, analyze, and write at a college-level.

This course focuses on the fundamentals of interpretation in archaeology including fieldwork methods and the uses of laboratory analysis. Students will gain an understanding of the purposes of archaeological research through the study of theory and research examples, both prehistoric and historic, drawn from cultures worldwide. Major trends in cultural evolution and ecological adaptation in various areas of the world will be explored. Students will demonstrate knowledge of the legacy of prehistoric cultures and the implications for contemporary culture and its problems. Emphasis will be placed on how knowledge of past peoples can be gained from their material remains. The course will prepare interested students for participation in excavations.


ANTH 2299 -- Independent Study,   Search Current Course Schedule
Common Course Outline
Independent Study allows a student to earn credit while participating in a supervised learning experience in a community-based or work setting. Students must have successfully completed two courses in the discipline in which they want to undertake independent study. Forms are available in the Educational Services Office. All arrangements must be made prior to registration for the semester in which the project is scheduled and must be approved by the appropriate Dean of Educational Services. In addition, a project outline must be approved by the instructor who will supervise the student's work.