ANT 500 through ANT 699
Not all courses are offered on a regular schedule. See the Class Schedule on MaineStreet for courses offered each semester.
ANT 500 – Advanced Social Theory
Seminar for students with and without exposure to social science theory at undergraduate level. Brief, intensive review of basic, undergraduate-level, social theory followed by advanced social theory. Emphasis on core ideas relevant to environmental policy. Focus on basic ideas and frameworks rather than minutiae.
Credits: 3
ANT 510 – Climate, Culture, and the Biosphere
Explores the coupled dynamics of humans and the biosphere through time, from hominid evolution more than 2.5 million years ago to the present era. Curriculum draws from anthropology, geography, paleoecology, and climate science to inform on the integrated human-environment relationship in the context of global change. This course is identical to BIO 510.
Prerequisites & Notes: Graduate standing or permission.
Cross-listed as BIO 510
Credits: 3
ANT 521 – Geographic Information Systems I
Students will build an understanding of the fundamentals of a GIS through lecture, readings, and computer activities. Students will learn to use a specific GIS software system, ArcGIS, and to define and complete a simple GIS project using existing data. This computer-intensive course includes a detailed discussion and related computer activities on the following topics: basic geography and map concepts, what a GIS is, data sources, data quality, databases, data classification, vector and raster data, spatial analysis, project management, cartographic communication, projections, datums, coordinates, and ethics.
Credits: 3
ANT 522 – Geographic Information Systems II
An intermediate/advanced course for students who have had some introduction to GIS and wish to pursue applications in the natural sciences. The focus will be on grid-based data models for visualization, modeling, and analysis. Assessment will be based on problem sets, lab work, and a final project. Topics will include the raster data model; generating and working with grid data; georeferencing images and grids; remote sensing technologies and data; visualizing and managing raster datasets; interpolation methods for generating continuous surface data; mathematical operations with grid data for spatial analysis; map algebra and grid-based modeling; modeling to assess or predict habitat, development, and risk; basic change analysis with satellite imagery; evaluating and documenting error and uncertainty; ethics and accountability in spatial analysis; and modeling and visualization.
Prerequisites and notes: ANT521 or permission.
Credits: 3
ANT 530 – Human Dimensions of Climate Change
Multi-disciplinary overview of selected social science topics on humans and climate change. Critical anthropological attention to what this literature overlooks and how these omissions can be dealt with.
Credits: 3
ANT 550 – Anthropological Dimensions of Environmental Policy
Seminar on basic principles of environmental policy and analysis in both industrialized and Third World societies. Covers policies and institutions of states, local governments and co-management systems. Emphasis on anthropological case studies on the management of key common-pool resources, including fisheries, wildlife, irrigation systems and forests.
Credits: 3
ANT 553 – Governance of the Commons and Global Change
Examines different theoretical perspectives on environmental governance through the lens of diverse common pool resources such as forests, fisheries, pastures, water, agricultural systems, and oceans. This course uses comparative perspectives to explore how diverse institutions or embedded cultural practices facilitate the ability of certain societies to self-organize, overcome collective action problems, and avoid a tragedy of the commons at different scales. Provides theoretical insights into challenges and opportunities for commons governance in the context of global capitalism and change.
Prerequisites & Notes: Senior or Graduate Standing
Cross-listed as SMS 553
Credits: 3
ANT 555 – Resource Management in Cross-cultural Perspective
Examines the institutions used to reduce risk and uncertainty in selected societies dependent on renewable resources. Emphasis on fishing societies around the world with some discussion of the utilization of forests and rangeland by different societies. Studies the governance structures used to manage common pool resources including state systems, local level management systems and co-management systems.
Prerequisites & Notes: Senior or Graduate Standing
Cross-listed as SMS 555
Credits: 3
ANT 560 – Research Design and Methods
This seminar course for graduate students emphasizes the integration of social science theories and methods for the development of research proposals. In this course, students define a research problem, identify a set of research questions or hypotheses, and design a plan of action to carry out their own research. In the process, students become familiar with research ethics, IRB protocols, and a suite of methodological tools used by anthropologists and others to produce social science research. In-class discussions allow students to critically assess benefits and limitations of various field methods, qualitative vs. quantitative approaches, and analytical techniques. In-class workshops allow students to discuss their own research ideas on a regular basis with classmates and instructor while turning those ideas into a proposal potentially worthy of funding. By the end of the course, students will have a solid research proposal that can be adapted for submission to various funding agencies.
Prerequisites & Notes: Graduate standing or permission.
Satisfies the Graduate School’s Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) requirement.
Credits: 3
ANT 564 – Ecological Anthropology
Comparative study of human populations in ecosystems. Topics include the adaptive nature of culture, implications of the ecological approach for anthropological theory, sociocultural evolution and change, and contemporary problems. Case studies from simple and complex societies.
ANT 464 and ANT 564 cannot both be taken for degree credit.
Prerequisites & Notes: Graduate standing or permission.
Credits: 3
ANT 566 – Economic Anthropology
Comparative study of production, consumption and exchange in selected Western and non-Western societies. Emphasis on factors influencing economic decisions in a variety of social and cultural settings.
ANT 466 and ANT 566 cannot both be taken for degree credit.
Prerequisites & Notes: Graduate standing or permission.
Credits: 3
ANT 576 – Method and Theory in Archaeology
The history of and current debates in archaeological methods and theory, with a focus on Americanist archaeology.
Prerequisites & Notes: ANT 317, ANT 372.
Credits: 3
ANT 597 – Advanced Topics in Anthropology
Advanced students study selected topics with a staff member. Credits to be arranged with instructor.
Prerequisites & Notes: Graduate student standing and advanced undergraduates by permission. Departmental approval required.
Credits: 1-3
ANT 598 – Independent Studies in Anthropology
Advanced students study selected topics with a staff member. Credits to be arranged with instructor.
Prerequisites & Notes: Graduate student standing and advanced undergraduates by permission. Departmental approval required.
Form: Independent Study In Anthropology (PDF)
Credits: 1-3
