Search Website
Summer 2026 courses
Below is a list of courses the Department of Anthropology offers in the Summer 2026 academic term. Note that the course outlines posted here are provisional and subject to change. A full course outline will be available on Brightspace prior to the first day of class.
Registration for summer courses begins in late February. For information regarding summer term activation and registration, including registration dates and add/drop deadlines, please visit the Office of the Registrar website.
You can also check Academic Timetables of Scheduled Classes on the Office of the Registrar website as well.
Online, Summer Distance 6 week term to start in June
An introductory course teaching basic concepts in the study of sociocultural and linguistic practices worldwide. It underscores shared human experiences as well as our rich diversity. Topics include:
- changing sociocultural and economic institutions,
- political and religious systems,
- and the role of language in the workings of power, indexicality and identity.
Online, Summer Distance 6 week term to start in May
An introduction to aspects of biological anthropology and archaeology which help us to understand the place of humankind in nature. Topics to be covered include:
- heredity,
- human evolution and variability,
- archaeological method,
- the development of culture,
- the domestication of plants and animals,
- and the rise of civilization and the state.
Professor: L. Bell
In-Person, Intersession 6 week term to start in May
Click the image below to view a Brief Course Outline
Professor: K. Olsen
Online, Summer Day 6 week term to start in June
This course draws on cultural, medical, archaeological, and biological fields in anthropology to engage students in critical reflections on the human body. Bodies are physical and sensual, personal, and public, the result of evolution, and yet flexibly attuned to local histories and desires. This course will take a biocultural approach to exploring what bodies are, how they are used, by whom, for what purposes, and how we come to know such things.
Professor: N. Ferris
Intersession 3 week Term 1 to start in May
This course is a detailed, hands-on introduction to field archaeology and site management. Students will participate in survey, excavation and field laboratory work on a series of archaeological sites on the island of Nevis, in the country of St Kitts Nevis, in the eastern Caribbean. These archaeological sites include ancient indigenous and historical material culture associated with community households, colonial and post-Emancipation settlements, and the earliest formal hotel in the eastern Caribbean. This course will be taught intensively for three weeks on Nevis. The course requires students to learn to live and work together as a crew in a foreign country, to experience Nevisian society and culture, and to learn field methods while contributing to the larger research project this fieldwork supports. Students should be prepared to cover necessary travel and living expenses.
Extra Information: Limited enrollment. Permission by application to the Department of Anthropology. Students intending to apply to participate in this course are strongly encouraged to prepare by taking a relevant second year area course in archaeology.