Topic: Reading BonesoftheAncient Dead

Appropriate for First Year students.

TimeDaysLocationInstructorGERCreditOPUS Class NumberSyllabus (Tentative)
1:00pm-2:15pm
TuTh
Anthropology Building 110
George Armelagos. FSEM. 41010 TBA.

January 12, 2011- April 25, 2011

Catalog Description: Seminar on various anthropological topics. Satisfies general education requirement I.C.1.

Semester Details:

Dead men (and women) do tell tales.  We will use the methods of Paleopathology (the study of disease in prehistory) to reveal patterns of trauma, nutritional disease, evidence of antibiotic use, infections, markers of activity found on the human skeleton. You will learn the essentials of skeletal biology such as the determination of age, sex, stature, pathology, and activity markers by “hands-on” examination of the human skeleton. The pattern of pathological indicators will be used to reconstruct how our ancestors lived and died.  Patterns of disease are not a matter of chance but reflect the culture and environment in which we live.  You do not need to have a background in science.  An incredible curiosity, the deductive ability of a detective and the tenacity of a scientist are required.  A case study approach will be used.  Readings will be available on-line. You will be required to write six one page reports and a term paper on an issue raised in the class research.     

Required Textbooks, Articles, and Resources

  1. Reading material will be available online.

The schedule of courses on O.P.U.S. is the official listing of courses, including days and times they meet and the General Education Requirements they satisfy. Students should use course descriptions as general guidelines. Course requirements, grading details, book lists, and syllabi are subject to change.