Course Descriptions

APY101 Introduction to Anthropology
3 credits Offered Fall and Spring Semester
A broad overview of archaeology, cultural anthropology, biological anthropology, and
linguistics.


APY201 Principles of Archaeology
3 credits Offered Fall and Spring Semester
History, methods, and theory of archaeology with an outline of the main
characteristics of the prehistoric record throughout the world.


APY202 Principles of Cultural Anthropology
3 credits Offered Fall and Spring Semester
Cultural anthropology, including such topics as economics, politics, kinship and
families, health systems, religion, and personality.


APY203 Principles of Physical Anthropology
3 credits Offered Fall and Spring Semester
The origin and biological development of the human species; human evolution
explored by means of the fossil record of prehistoric population; differentiation and
adaptation of contemporary populations in various world environments; the
comparison of humans and other primates with respect to biological and behavioral
variability.


APY204 Principles of Linguistic Anthropology
3 credits Offered Fall Semester
Human linguistic principles of phonology, morphology, and grammar to construct a
framework for understanding the operation of language in cultural context. The
functions of human language in structuring ideological, economic, and political
realms.


APY210 Physical Anthropology and Society
3 credits Offered By Announcement
An evolutionary analysis of the human species from a social science perspective.
History, methods, major theories, and key findings of Physical Anthropology.


APY301 World Prehistory
3 credits Offered Fall Semester
The global prehistoric record, with emphasis on the development of social complexity
and ancient states. Prerequisite: APY 201.


APY306 Human Evolution
3 credits Offered Spring Semester
The macroevolution of humans using the fossil record of vertebrates, including the
development of uniquely human behavioral and anatomical adaptations, and of
diversity in living populations. Prerequisite: APY 201, OR 203, OR permission of the
instructor.


APY307 Human Adaptation
3 credits Offered Spring Semester
Human biological adaptation to different environments and stress is examined
anthropologically within an evolutionary framework. Mechanisms of adaptation to
temperature extremes and other climatic variables, high altitude, disease, nutritional
stress, urbanization, extraterrestrial conditions, and other environmental challenges
are described in relation to biological and behavioral variations among human
populations. The limits of human performance and human adaptive potential in the
present and future are explored. Prerequisite: Sophomore standing and any one of the
following: APY 201, 202, 203: BIL 101, 109.


APY308 Human Variation: Anthropology of Race
3 credits Offered Fall Semester
Human biological diversity is viewed historically within a cross- cultural, evolutionary
framework. Patterns of variation in human morphological, anatomical, physiological,
biochemical, genetic, and behavioral characteristics are investigated in peoples living
in different environments throughout the world. Observed differences among human
populations are discussed with reference to traditional theories of racial taxonomy and
modern perspectives inhuman classification. Prerequisite: Sophomore standing and
any one of the following: APY 201, 202, 203: BIL 101, 109.


APY309 Evolution of Human Behavior
3 credits Offered Spring Semester
Origins and evolution of human behaviors as determined by fossil and archaeological
evidence, primate research, and the cross-cultural analysis of behavioral variations in
contemporary societies. The interaction of human biological and behavioral evolution.
Prerequisite: APY 201 or 202 or 203 and three additional credits in Anthropology.


APY310 Primate Behavior and Adaptation
3 credits Offered Spring Semester
The taxonomy, distribution, anatomy, social behavior and adaptations to habitats of
human and non-human primates as seen from an evolutionary perspective.
Prerequisite: APY 203 or BIL 150 or permission of instructor.


APY315 Folk and Alternative Medicine
3 credits Offered Spring Semester
Historical and cultural backgrounds of health therapies, including theoretical bases of
traditional ethnomedical, nonwestern, and complementary medical systems.
Prerequisite: Any 200 level Anthropology course, OR any 300 level Nursing course, OR
permission of the instructor.


APY326 Paleolithic Cultures
3 credits Offered By Announcement
The emergence of technology, the process of domestication, and the development of
symbolic systems. Prerequisite: APY 201 and three additional credits in Anthropology.


APY330 Bronze Age Cultures
3 credits Offered By Announcement
An analysis of the cultural milieu of Bronze Age Greece, the Aegean Islands, and Crete
from the introduction of copper and bronze down to the introduction of iron and the
ethnic invasions. Archaeological history of the sites, artifact examination and recent
developments in decipherment of Linear B script. Prerequisite: APY 201 and three
additional credits in Anthropology.


APY332 Old World Archaeology
3 credits Offered By Announcement
Pre-Classical Greek cultures following the Bronze Age, emphasizing archaeological
excavations, general methodology, artifact analysis, and cultural diffusion route
theories. Prerequisite: APY 201 and three additional credits in Anthropology.


APY333 Ancient Celtic Society
3 credits Offered By Announcement
Early Celtic culture and technology as reflected in the Iron Age archaeological remains
of Europe. Prerequisite: APY 201 AND three additional credits in Anthropology.


APY340 Marine Archaeology
3 credits Offered Spring Semester
Location, excavation, and study of submerged sites. Prerequisite: APY 201 or
permission of instructor.


APY345 Ancient Civilizations of Mesoamerica
3 credits Offered Spring Semester
Major pre-Columbian cultures of Mesoamerica, from Olmec to Aztec periods, with
emphasis on ancient Maya. Prerequisite: APY 201 and three additional credits in
Anthropology.


APY350 Ancient Cultures of the New World
3 credits Offered By Announcement
The prehistoric record of the Americas, emphasizing the belief systems and social
development of ancient chiefdoms and states. Prerequisite: APY 201 AND three
additional credits in Anthropology.


APY355 Ancient People of North America
3 credits Offered By Announcement
The archaeological record of North America prior to European contact, exploring the
relationship of art and oral history to material remains. Prerequisite: APY 201 and
three additional credits in Anthropology.


APY356 Florida Archaeology
3 credits Offered By Announcement
Archaeological remains of ancient cultures in the Florida peninsula, from initial
occupation to the Colonial Period. Prerequisite: APY 201 AND three additional credits
in Anthropology.


APY360 Anthropology of Food
3 credits Offered Fall Semester
Evolution of human diet, basic nutrition, food taboos, effects of domestication, effects
of diet on skeletal remains, analysis of your own food habits, and the impact of certain
foods on our biocultural evolution of our species. Prerequisite: Any 200 level
Anthropology course or permission of instructor.


APY376 Economic Anthropology
3 credits Offered By Announcement
The structure and operation of the small-scale economy in the social system is
examined. The interrelationship between social and economic systems, and the
formation of non-market economies. Prerequisite: APY 202 and three additional
credits in Anthropology.


APY377 Anthropology of Political Systems and Discourse
3 credits Offered By Announcement
Political systems and processes in tribal societies, with special emphasis on dispute
settlement, the organization of political control, and the use of oratory. Case studies
from Latin American and African examples. Prerequisite: APY 202 and three additional
credits in Anthropology.


APY385 Caribbean Cultures
3 credits Offered Spring Semester
Caribbean societies, including ethnic diversity, production and exchange, domestic
organization, and belief systems. Prerequisite: APY 202 and three additional credits in
Anthropology.


APY386 Psychological Anthropology
3 credits Offered Fall Semester
The interaction between personality and cultural settings. Topics include
cross-cultural child rearing and enculturation, behavioral development and
adjustment, “deviance,” and ethnopsychiatry. Prerequisite: APY 202 OR PSY 110 and
three additional credits in either Anthropology or Psychology.


APY387 Cultural Evolution
3 credits Offered Spring Semester
Evolution of social systems and technologies, from hunting and gathering bands
through industrial states. Prerequisite: APY 202 and three additional credits in
Anthropology.


APY390 African Cultures
3 credits Offered By Announcement
Political and domestic organization, production, exchange, and belief systems of
traditional African cultures, and the changes caused by increasing urbanization and
modernization. Prerequisite: APY 202 and three additional credits in Anthropology.


APY391 Gender in Ancient Cultures
3 credits Offered By Announcement
A cross-cultural examination of the role gender played in ancient complex culture
areas, such as Mesoamerica, Mesopotamia, and the Mediterranean, with emphasis on
using the archaeological record to reconstruct social roles. Prerequisite: APY 201 AND
three additional credits in Anthropology.


APY392 Sex and Culture
3 credits Offered Fall Semester
A cross-cultural examination of sex roles and sexuality; gender identity, division of
labor, functions of marriage, sexual practices, reproductive control, and political
relationships between the sexes. Prerequisite: APY 202 and three additional credits in
Anthropology.


APY393 Drugs and Culture
3 credits Offered By Announcement
Prerequisite: APY 202 and three additional credits in another social/behavioral
science.


APY394 Comparative Religion
3 credits Offered Fall Semester
A cross-cultural investigation of differing levels of religious belief systems examined
from both etic and emic points of view.


APY398 Coastal Cultures
3 credits Offered Spring Semester
Fishermen and their special relations to the environment, from Thailand and Sri Lanka
to Alaska and the West Indies. Decision-making processes among fishermen,
business concepts, responses to technology, and myths of the sea. Prerequisite: APY
202 and three credits in Anthropology, or permission of instructor.


APY401 Archaeology and the Evolution of Culture
3 credits Offered Fall Semester
A survey of man’s cultural evolution from prehistoric times, with emphasis given to his
art and artifacts as revealed through archaeology. Focus is primarily on Old World
culture of the Mediterranean area, with attention given to diffusion theories regarding
culture transmission to the New World.


APY405 Readings in Anthropology
1- 3 credits Offered Fall Semester
Supervised readings on special topics in Anthropology. Prerequisite: Permission of
instructor.


APY406 Readings in Anthropology
1- 3 credits Offered Spring Semester
Supervised readings on special topics in Anthropology. Prerequisite: Permission of
instructor.


APY413 Medical Anthropology
3 credits Offered Fall Semester
Cross-cultural and historical perspectives on health and illness in human evolution.
Effects of heredity, environment, and culture upon human disease ecology. Biological
and behavioral adaptations to disease. Prerequisite: Three credits in Anthropology,
and three credits from Biology OR Nursing.


APY414 Forensic Anthropology I: Human Osteology
3 credits Offered Fall Semester
Identification and interpretation of the human skeleton, including age, sex, hard
tissue pathology and traumas. Prerequisite: APY 203, or permission of the instructor.


APY415 Forensic Anthropology II: Fieldwork
3 credits Offered Spring Semester
The investigation, analyses, and legal aspects of human remains recovered from
crime scenes and mass disasters. Prerequisite: APY 203 AND 414 or permission of the
instructor.


APY418 Seminar in Anthropology
3 credits Offered Fall and Spring Semester
Consideration of special topics in physical anthropology, linguistics, archaeology and
ethnology and their interrelationships.


APY420 Archaeology, Architecture, and the City
3 credits Offered By Announcement
Ancient architectural remains in the global anthropological perspective, emphasizing
the role of architecture in shaping the evolution of social and political interactions.
Prerequisite: APY 201 AND three additional credits in Anthropology.


APY440 Environmental Archaeology
3 credits Offered By Announcement
Theory and methodologies in the reconstruction of Quaternary environments from the
archaeological record. Techniques of geoarchaeology, zooarchaeology, and
paleoethnobotany. Prerequisite: APY 201 and three credits in Biology or Marine
Science or permission of instructor.


APY445 Archaeology of the Ancient Maya
3 credits Offered By Announcement
Seminar in ancient Maya culture, including examination of archaeological remains,
epigraphy, lifeways, and art. Prerequisite: APY 201 AND three additional credits in
Anthropology.


APY477 Sacrifice and Ritual
3 credits Offered Fall Semester
Rituals from both tribal and other societies considered in a framework of a general
theory of symbols and practice. Structure and function of sacrifice in the definition of
cultural categories, concepts of morality, and the general relationship of humans to
the supernatural. Prerequisite: APY 394 or permission of the instructor.


APY484 Anthropological Theory
3 credits Offered Spring Semester
Theoretical frameworks directing data collection and research methodology in
anthropology. Prerequisite: APY 202 and three additional credits in Anthropology.


APY485 Archeological Theory and Technique
3 credits Offered By Announcement
Theoretical traditions that shape modern archaeological research design and
interpretation. Prerequisite: APY 201 AND three additional credits in Anthropology.


APY501 Methods of Anthropological Research
3- 6 credits Offered Spring Semester
Concentration on research methods for Cultural, Archaeological, Linguistic, and/or
Biological Anthropology. Prerequisite: Six credits in Anthropology at 300 level or
above.


APY502 Field Studies in Anthropology
3- 6 credits Offered Fall and Spring Semester and First
Summer Session
Field research in advanced topics in Cultural, Archaeological, Linguistic and/or
Biological Anthropology. Preparation of data for professional presentation and
publication is stressed. Prerequisite: Six credits in Anthropology at 300 level or above
AND written permission from instructor.


APY505 Museum Internship
3 credits Offered Fall and Spring Semester
Field work and on-site experience in museum studies conducted in conjunction with
the major museums in Miami. Training and research in methods and techniques in
museology. Prerequisite: Permission of instructor.


APY506 Workshop in Anthropology
3- 6 credits Offered Fall and Spring Semester
This course is designed for upper level and graduate students to participate in special
topics in Anthropology and related fields. Prerequisite: Permission of instructor.


APY512 Advanced Medical Anthropology
3 credits Offered Fall and Spring Semester
Applications of theories and methods of medical anthropology to problems in human
health and disease. Prerequisite: APY 413, three credits in Nursing, or three credits in
Epidemiology and Public Health.


APY518 Advanced Seminar in Anthropology
3 credits Offered Fall and Spring Semester
Specialized topics in Anthropology to involve students into current research
specializations. Prerequisite: Six credits in Anthropology at 300 level OR above or
permission of instructor.