Anthropology

This Introduction to Archaeology course will initiate students to a wide range of topics in archaeology, a sub-discipline of anthropology. Origins of human society and culture will be central to the course as well as an overview of archaeological theory and current approaches to the practice. Topics will include: origin of our species, the life-ways of hunting and gathering people, the beginnings of agriculture and settled life as well as more complex societies using a global context. In addition, the course will explore some of the present issues within the field of archaeology such as site stewardship, professional ethics, relationships between archaeologists and stakeholders of the past, as well as the display of culture to the general public. Class will use lectures, class discussions, reading materials, visual media, and field trips to explore the topics discussed above.

The task of decolonizing the practice of archaeology for a collaborative community project in the public sector is one that is at times easier said than done. While many archaeologists working in federal, state and local agencies may subscribe to a postcolonial approach to research and dissemination of data, political bureaucracy, budget cuts, limited staff and time, among other issues, all make this endeavor challenging to say the least. However, for federal agencies, a variety of laws and ordinances requiring public outreach provide opportunities to pursue a community-centered practice. Compared to many academic community archaeology projects, a federal approach appears to be more top-down ‘outreach’ rather than dialogic ‘engagement’ with the community. Consequently, this paper will discuss ways in which ‘outreach’ can be a stepping-stone to a community-based approach to these projects. It will highlight several successes and hardships in conducting community-engaged archaeology in the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Given this agency’s mission to support citizens and first responders in all stages of disasters from preparation to recovery, it is not the first agency one thinks of when imagining public sector archaeology, yet it provides a unique setting in which to conduct community archaeology.

How do we know what we believe to know about the past? This class will dive into this question by introducing students to archaeology, a sub-discipline of anthropology that explores the human past through materiality. An overview of archaeological method and theory and current approaches to the practice in a postcolonial lens will be central to the course. Topics will include: history of the discipline, how societies were organized, subsistence patterns, technology and trade, and analytical approaches. In addition, the course will explore some of the present issues within the field of archaeology such as site stewardship, professional ethics, relationships between archaeologists and stakeholders of the past, as well as the display of culture to the general public. Class will use lectures, class discussions, reading materials, visual media, and field trips to explore the topics discussed above. Student Learning Outcomes: • Demonstrate the understanding of the relationship between and importance of the four subfields of anthropology for the field as a whole. • Demonstrate the understanding of human diversity and unity of humans. • Demonstrate the appreciation of individual and social diversity

The circular walk through Eli Petel's exhibition at the Bat Yam Museum resembles a railing, rope, or chain onto which one holds. Each link passes through one's fingers (like prayer beads, the Orientalist would say), and the chain is (always) a chain of signifiers. Yet the thing refuses to be decoded. It is a code, but what the artist shares with those similar to him is not the decoded text, ejected by a machine, but rather a misunderstanding. This is a chain of signifiers on acid. It is psychedelic. Not in the common sense of this term, not because it is read through a familiar aesthetic of bright, replicated colors, but because it constantly presents us with something that resembles something, but is not the thing itself. The idea that o en, too o en, underlies our observation of art, our writing or creating-the idea that if we quarry enough we will reach a kernel of meaning, the thing itself-is an illusion. Petel in the realm of visual imagery, and others in the realm of language, engage in a ceaseless act of quarrying. They put on their hats and arm themselves with tools, le with all of the layers in their hands. One thing contains another, to infinity. Hats and tools: when se ing out to work on the exhibition, Petel determined, as he reveals, a visual