UIndy Anthropology & Archaeology Courses and Subfields

UIndy's Department of Anthropology wants its students to be as well-rounded as possible, which is why it focuses on all four of the discipline's primary subfields. As you will find below, each subfield offers students exciting and relevant courses, including occasional special topics classes. Full course descriptions are available through the academic catalog.

Cultural Anthropology

This subfield considers modern societies around the world and is by far the most heavily represented field in terms of number of anthropologists.

  • ANTH 100 Cultural Anthropology
  • ANTH 200 Global Problems
  • ANTH 211 Anthropology of Health
  • ANTH 229 East Asia Through Ethnography & Film
  • ANTH 240 Human Sexuality & Intimacy
  • ANTH 310 Witchcraft, Ritual & Religion
  • ANTH 320 Anthropology of Crime and Criminalization*
  • ANTH 335 Global Health
  • ANTH 340 Human Migration & Trafficking*
  • ANTH 410 Ethnographic Field Research*
  • ANTH 430 Topics in Anthropology
  • ANTH 445 Cross-Cultural Research
  • ANTH 470 Issues in Anthropological Theory
  • ANTH 475 Ethnographic Writing

*Course with a major ethnographic service-learning research component

Biological (Physical) Anthropology

This subfield is broadly concerned with human beings, their biological nature and variation around the world, and their ancestors (hominids, apes and monkeys).

  • ANTH 130 Monkeys, Apes & Humans
  • ANTH 137 Biological Anthropology
  • ANTH 205 Human Biological Variation
  • ANTH 345 Human Evolution
  • ANTH 411 Evolutionary Medicine
  • ANTH 425 Dental Science
  • ANTH 442 Bioarcheology
  • ANTH 450 Human Osteology

Archaeology (also spelled Archeology)

Archaeology usually concentrates on prehistoric peoples, but it really emphasizes material remains that people leave behind. Therefore, archaeologists could also look at modern societies by examining contemporary material culture.

  • ANTH 110 Archeology Methods and Theory
  • ANTH 220 Archeology of Indigenous Americans
  • ANTH 251 Classical Archeology
  • ANTH 325 Historical Archeology
  • ANTH 365 Mortuary Archeology
  • ANTH 370 Archeology Lab Methods 
  • ANTH 375 Archeology Field Methods
  • ANTH 380 Field Archeology
  • ANTH 408 Archeology of Gender
  • ANTH 460 Historical Perspectives on Indigenous North America
  • ANTH 480 Advanced field archeology

Anthropological Linguistics

Anthropological linguists focus on people's use of language and how languages change, spread, relate to each other, and serve people's needs. This field has the fewest practicing anthropologists.

ANTH 360 Cultural Linguistics
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