university of miami phd anthropology

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David W. Forrest

Research associate professor.

University of Miami

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INTRODUCTION

Anthropology is the scientific study of humankind, from its beginnings to the present. Of the many sciences that study aspects of humans and their behavior, only anthropology attempts to understand and integrate the entire panorama of human biology and culture in all times and places. The Anthropology Department offers a wide range of courses for students in pursuit of the Bachelor of Arts degree, from the basic four fields of cultural anthropology, linguistics, physical anthropology, and archaeology, to advanced study of topics such as Maya archaeology, medical anthropology, Caribbean cultures, primatology, and the evolution of language.

Anthropological training concentrates on broadly transferable skill areas such as understanding human diversity, building research skills for collecting and making sense of information, and communicating effectively. The skills developed through completing a degree in anthropology are useful for living and working in today’s world, which increasingly means interacting with people from many different cultural backgrounds and nations. The field is especially suited to a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, and multi-cultural urban center such as Miami, and the research programs of the department faculty reflect the compositions and concerns of the larger community.

Anthropological knowledge has taken an increasing role in the solution of practical problems in public health, cultural resource management, economic development in the Third World, business relations with immigrant and overseas populations, State and Federal programs, and many other areas.

A major in Anthropology consists of 30 credits in Anthropology, passed with a grade of C- or higher with an overall GPA of 2.0.

APY 201 ,  APY 202 ,  APY 203 ,  APY 204  (or approved alternatives), APY 484   and five anthropology courses numbered 205 or higher. 

Majors are strongly encouraged to enroll in one of our many fieldwork opportunities or to obtain training in field methods specific to their interests.

The remainder of the program will be developed with the student's departmental advisor.

A minor in Anthropology consists of 15 or more credits, passed with a grade of C- or higher with an overall GPA of 2.0 including any two 200-level anthropology courses.

EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES

Students who graduate from our program in anthropology will have achieved: 1) Basic familiarity with each of the four subfields of our discipline: archaeology, cultural anthropology, linguistic anthropology, and physical or biological anthropology. 2) Extended familiarity with one or more of these subfields in terms of knowledge of content, e.g. area ethnology in Latin America and/or the Caribbean; topical knowledge such as substance use and abuse, gender, food, primate behavior, art, ritual, museums and collections, material culture, and/or world languages; and methodological skills involving field research in one or more of the subfields. 3) The ability to articulate the anthropological view of the human condition in terms of an operational definition of culture and a holistic perspective on how humans behave. 4) Sufficient skill in research to be able to produce a research paper based on original anthropological investigation.

Contact: Dr. Traci Ardren, Undergraduate Director

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Department of Anthropology

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Going Global: Resident Studies Ayurvedic Medicine in India

Medical residents gain clinical experience rotating through specialties like general medicine, emergency medicine and critical care. But they don’t often have an opportunity to learn about medicine practiced in a culture unlike their own.

Gala Godoy Brewer, M.D., a third-year resident in the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine’s Department of Internal Medicine, took advantage of that opportunity last year when she spent one month in Varanasi, India, at Banaras Hindu University. The future gastroenterologist observed and participated in Western medicine and traditional Indian medicine at the School of Ayurveda. Among the oldest known medical systems, Ayurvedic treatment is a holistic approach to health that focuses on natural products like plants, as well as diet, exercise and lifestyle.

Medicine from a Different Cultural Viewpoint

Dr. Brewer’s experience in India was through the Global Health Pathway offered by the Miller School’s Global Institute . Residents learn aspects of global health, policy and cultural competency before assignment to global health experiences at the National Institutes of Health, in a U.S. hospital or abroad.

“I wanted to go somewhere to learn how a different culture approaches medicine,” Dr. Brewer said.

India, she added, was perfect because many people there rely on traditional approaches. Banaras Hindu University is one of the few in India that links allopathic and Ayurvedic medicine. The departments are next to each other. Patients can choose one or both.

“The integration was super interesting to me because I could see a culturally competent approach to Ayurvedic medicine for patients who want it, and also allopathic medicine, like we are used to,” said Dr. Brewer.

She was impressed with the Ayurvedic rotations.

“Ayurvedic has approaches like in OB/GYN,” she said. In the allopathic department, “they do C-sections, but the Ayurvedic post-care is from plants or other things. It’s a very good integration.”

The Ayurvedic approach goes beyond symptom treatment, as well.

“With Ayurvedic, there is the medical part and the spiritual part,” Dr. Brewer said. “They take good care approaching lifestyle for patients.”

Lifestyle recommendations may be anything from moderate exercise to taking ginger every day for three months. The goal, Dr. Brewer said, is to balance body, spirit and emotions.

Early Exposure to Indigenous Culture

Growing up in rural Venezuela, Dr. Brewer witnessed poverty up close. She saw people who needed doctors and learned about Indigenous cultures from her grandfather, Charles Brewer-Carias, an explorer, naturalist and author.

“My grandfather lived with Indigenous communities,” said Dr. Brewer, whose first experience with Indigenous medicine was on a trip with her grandfather. “He has written many books about anthropology.”

As a high school student, Dr. Brewer volunteered to help children from a rural area with their homework. Next door to their school was a small community clinic.

“They seldom had doctors,” she said, “I saw there was a big need for health care in that community. I feel that I can give some of myself to those people through health care.”

Western culture, she said, has made great strides in expanding its understanding of alternate approaches to health, but the work is not done.

“We can bring the best health care to Indigenous people while respecting their beliefs,” she said. “I believe in medicine, but I approach it with respect and cultural competency.”

Dr. Brewer is planning a second global health rotation at a primary care clinic in Antigua, Guatemala.

“I wanted to be in South America, somewhere that has a big Indigenous population,” she said. “I will be practicing mostly Western medicine, but I want to see a low-income, rural community clinic’s approach to health care. I want to serve Latin American communities and understand health care mistrust and hesitancy. I want to see how they approach it there.”

Tags: Global Institute for Community Health and Development , internal medicine residency , resident training

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Every student in the Unversity of Miami Miller School of Medicine graduating class matched with residencies during Match Day 2024.

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Department of Anthropology

Anthropology is a holistic, interdisciplinary science of humanity. It is the study of people--their origins, adaptations and ecology, distribution, customs, languages, and social and religious beliefs. Anthropological study includes the prehistoric past as well as the global present, indigenous peoples as well as cosmopolitan migrants, the customs of ancient civilizations as well as the beliefs of peoples today and the study of our evolutionary relatives, the non-human primates.

Our Mission

Anthropology is an exciting and broadening choice as your major in Miami's liberal arts education. Anthropology Majors are together in many classes during their years at Miami and get to know each other well. Most classes are small enough to allow interaction between student and teacher on an individual basis

Anthropology

Anthropology is the study of all aspects of humanity at all times. Majors will explore human evolution, reconstruct societies and civilizations of the past, and analyze the cultures and language of modern peoples, while learning how to make connections, and think outside the box. Anthropological studies range from human genetics to personality and society, the prehistoric past to the present, preliterate tribes to modern industrial urbanites, the customs of ancient civilizations to the beliefs of folk peoples today.

Anthropology and Emerging Technology in Business + Design (ETBD) Integrated Major

The integrated Anthropology and ETBD program is built to combine anthropological skills with design skills to better research and accomodate customer needs, all within four years.

The Anthropology minor is designed to help students pursue their interests in human communication, biology, and culture, in the past and present, without fulfilling the full range of requirements for the major. Anthropology is the ideal complement to a number of majors and pre-professional degrees. 

Archaeology

The Archaeology Minor is ideal for students interested in focusing their studies on the deep and diverse history of humans by analyzing and preserving the material remains of past communities. The transdisciplinary minor combines critical thinking, scientific methods, and experimental research, making it a fitting and unique complement to a variety of student majors. 

Global Health

Miami University's Global Health Minor offers a unique, transdisciplinary learning environment that fosters collaboration, innovation, and ethical engagement to devlop future leaders with the essential tools to understand complex global health problems and participate in developing sustainable solutions. 

Why Study Anthropology?

Intercultural awareness, research methods, critical thinking skills, personal and professional development, ethical values in anthropology, give to the anthropology department.

Help us prepare the next generation of leaders. We have numerous scholarships, grants, and programs accepting contributions from donors like you.

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Brittany anderson is awarded the clas dissertation writing fellowship.

The CLAS Dissertation Writing Fellowship is awarded annually to 10 graduate students, providing time and funding for the completion of a PhD dissertation.

• Brittany Anderson , Department of Anthropology, “Attunements of Care: The Role of Housekeeping and Laundry Staff in Midwest Continuing Care Retirement Communities”  Anderson’s dissertation explores the roles of housekeeping and laundry staff in continuing care retirement communities play in the complexity of providing care for residents. 

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Introduction

Anthropology is the scientific study of humankind, from its beginnings to the present. Of the many sciences that study aspects of humans and their behavior, only anthropology attempts to understand and integrate the entire panorama of human culture and biology in all times and places.

The Anthropology Department offers a wide range of courses for students in pursuit of the Bachelor of Arts degree, from the basic four fields of cultural anthropology, linguistics, biological anthropology, and archaeology, to advanced study of topics such as  Maya archaeology, non-Western medical practices, primatology, gender and sexuality, and the evolution of language, among many others.

Anthropological training concentrates on broadly transferable skill areas such as understanding human diversity, building research skills for collecting and making sense of information, and communicating effectively.  The skills developed through completing a degree in anthropology are useful for living and working in today’s globalized world, which increasingly means interacting with people from many different cultural backgrounds and nations.

The field is especially suited to a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, and multi-cultural urban center such as Miami, and the research programs of the department faculty reflect the compositions and concerns of our larger community.

Anthropological knowledge has taken an increasing role in the solution of practical problems in public health, cultural resource and heritage management, international business, legal and human rights issues, and many other areas.  The anthropological view challenges ethnocentric perspectives and encourages the rigorous exploration of the world's cultural diversity.

Educational Objectives

Students who graduate from our program in anthropology will have achieved:

• Basic familiarity with each of the four subfields of our discipline: archaeology, cultural anthropology, linguistic anthropology, and physical or biological anthropology.
• Extended familiarity with one or more of these subfields in terms of knowledge of content related to, for example, gender, food, primate behavior, art, ritual, museums and collections,  the interaction of language and thought, material culture, the sounds of languages;  and methodological skills involving field research in one or more of the subfields.
• The ability to articulate the anthropological view of the human condition in terms of an operational definition of culture and a holistic perspective on how humans behave.
• Sufficient skill in research to be able to produce a research paper based on  original anthropological investigation.

Advanced Writing and Communication

To satisfy the College of Arts and Sciences writing requirement in the discipline, students majoring in anthropology should take at least two courses designated as W (writing intensive) offered in the department. Writing courses are regularly offered by the department; however, it is the student's responsibility to plan accordingly and to incorporate writing-designated courses into their graduation plans.

Degree Programs

The Department of Anthropology offers a major and a minor in the University’s array of Bachelor of Arts Degrees.

Departmental Honors

A student with junior or senior standing and a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or higher may earn honors in anthropology by completion of  a qualifying senior thesis encompassing an original research agenda under the direction of a member of the faculty in the Department of Anthropology.  The scope of work will be set in a thesis proposal approved by at least two faculty (one may be from outside the Department) which will result in a submitted (although not necessarily accepted) manuscript/conference paper.  Students who wish to complete a senior thesis shall enroll in senior thesis/independent study classes for at least two semesters (with three being ideal, or two plus summer), such that one semester could be devoted to a directed reading, one to data collections/analysis, and the final semester to writing. 

Extraordinary Anthropology majors are also recognized via an invitation to join Lambda Alpha, the international honors society for anthropology.  Lambda Alpha was founded with the purpose of encouraging and recognizing outstanding scholarship and research in anthropology.  Each year the Department recognizes a graduating senior with the highest academic achievement both in and outside of the classroom with the Zora Neale Hurston Award in Anthropology.

Major in Anthropology

APY 100. Introduction to Forensic Investigation (EXP). 3 Credit Hours.

Students will go into the field to gain an introductory understanding about skelatal identification and crime lab processes. Requisite: Plan of Summer Scholar Program. Components: LEC. Grading: GRD. Typically Offered: Spring.

APY 101. Introduction to Anthropology. 3 Credit Hours.

A broad overview of archaeology, cultural anthropology, biological anthropology, and linguistics. Components: LEC. Grading: GRD. Typically Offered: Fall & Spring.

APY 105. HIV: Sex, Science, and Society. 3 Credit Hours.

The important role that science plays and has played in amellorating suffering for mankind. We will include an analysis of the scientific, human, and policy-related issues associated with HIV/AIDS. Components: LEC. Grading: GRD. Typically Offered: Offered by Announcement Only.

APY 109. Anthropology of Religion. 3 Credit Hours.

Through themes such as myth, word and text, symbol, gender, pilgrimage, embodiment, and ritual, students learn about lived religion through anthropological research and field methods. The course also exposes introductory-level students to diverse world religious traditions: Korean folk religion, Indonesian Islam, Hinduism in diaspora, Judaism across cultures, Japanese temple Shinto traditions, and more. Components: LEC. Grading: GRD.

APY 200. Introduction to Forensic Anthropology (EXP). 3 Credit Hours.

Students will learn the basics of the human bone structure and how it relates to anthropology and forensic studies. Requisite: Plan of Summer Scholar Program. Components: LEC. Grading: GRD. Typically Offered: Offered by Announcement Only.

APY 201. Principles of Archaeology. 3 Credit Hours.

History, methods, and theory of archaeology with an outline of the main characteristics of the prehistoric record throughout the world. Components: LEC. Grading: GRD. Typically Offered: Fall & Spring.

APY 202. Principles of Cultural Anthropology. 3 Credit Hours.

Cultural anthropology, including such topics as economics, politics, kinship and families, health systems, religion, and personality. Components: LEC. Grading: GRD. Typically Offered: Fall & Spring.

APY 203. Principles of Physical Anthropology. 3 Credit Hours.

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. Components: LEC. Grading: GRD. Typically Offered: Fall & Spring.

APY 204. Principles of Linguistic Anthropology. 3 Credit Hours.

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. Components: LEC. Grading: GRD. Typically Offered: Fall.

APY 205. Medicine and Health Care in Society. 3 Credit Hours.

A sociohistorical analysis of the intersection between medicine, health care and society, using examples throughout the world. It will reflect on 'taking-for-granted' concepts such as the 'body, risk, illness and healing' and their relationships to culture, power, and society, as well as the plurality of narratives and discourses on health and healing practices. Components: LEC. Grading: GRD. Typically Offered: Fall, Spring, & Summer.

APY 208. Short-Changed in the City. 3 Credit Hours.

Marginalization plagues sub-populations in almost every large city. An anthropological view of this problem and its origins, presented through readings, discussions, lectures and field trips. Components: LEC. Grading: GRD. Typically Offered: Fall.

APY 230. The Sounds of the World's Languages. 3 Credit Hours.

The range of sounds produced by the speakers of the world's languages. An introduction to phonetics, with a focus on acoustically-oriented methods used in contemporary phonetics. Prerequisite: APY 204 . Components: LEC. Grading: GRD. Typically Offered: Offered by Announcement Only.

APY 301. World Prehistory. 3 Credit Hours.

The global prehistoric record, with emphasis on the development of social complexity and ancient states. Prerequisite: APY 201 . Components: LEC. Grading: GRD. Typically Offered: Spring.

APY 302. Ethnographies of Black Life. 3 Credit Hours.

Themes that have shaped Anthropology's engagement with Black Life. Critique between Black Studies and the social Sciences with particular focus on the discipline of anthropology, interrogation of the methods and theoretical frameworks employed to empirically distill the social conditions and political formations of black diasporic peoples. Components: SEM. Grading: GRD. Typically Offered: Fall.

APY 306. Human Evolution. 3 Credit Hours.

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 APY 203 . Components: LEC. Grading: GRD. Typically Offered: Spring.

APY 307. Human Adaptation. 3 Credit Hours.

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: APY 201 and APY 202 and APY 203 and BIL 101 and BIL 109 . Components: LEC. Grading: GRD. Typically Offered: Spring.

APY 309. Evolution of Human Behavior. 3 Credit Hours.

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. Components: LEC. Grading: GRD. Typically Offered: Spring.

APY 310. Primate Behavior and Adaptation. 3 Credit Hours.

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 . Components: LEC. Grading: GRD. Typically Offered: Fall.

APY 312. Primate Cognition. 3 Credit Hours.

Examination of the cognitive capacities of non-human primates and the implications of current research for understanding the evolution of human cognition. Example topics include knowledge of categories, space and quantities; curiosity and innovation; causality and mechanical reasoning; memory and planning; theory of mind; imitation and culture; and communication and language. Prerequisite: APY 203 or APY 310 Or PHI 246 Or PSY 250 . Components: LEC. Grading: GRD.

APY 315. Folk and Alternative Medicine. 3 Credit Hours.

Historical and cultural backgrounds of health therapies, including theoretical bases of traditional ethnomedical, nonwestern, and complementary medical systems. Components: LEC. Grading: GRD. Typically Offered: Spring.

APY 320. The Evolution of Language. 3 Credit Hours.

Popular contemporary hypotheses on the origins and development of language. Components: LEC. Grading: GRD. Typically Offered: Spring.

APY 340. Marine Archaeology. 3 Credit Hours.

Location, excavation, and study of submerged sites. Prerequisite: APY 201 . Components: LEC. Grading: GRD. Typically Offered: Spring.

APY 345. Blood and Chocolate: Ancient Civilizations of Mesoamerica. 3 Credit Hours.

An archaeological approach to understanding the major pre-Columbian cultures of Mesoamerica, from Olmec to Aztec periods, with emphasis on the ancient Maya. The particular accomplishments of this area such as the domestication of chocolate and corn, hieroglyphic writing, and elaborate sacrificial rituals will be explored. Components: LEC. Grading: GRD. Typically Offered: Fall.

APY 356. Florida Archaeology. 3 Credit Hours.

Archaeological remains of ancient cultures in the Florida pensinula, from initial occupation to the Colonial Period. Components: LEC. Grading: GRD. Typically Offered: Fall.

APY 360. Anthropology of Food. 3 Credit Hours.

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 the biocultural evolution of our species. Components: LEC. Grading: GRD. Typically Offered: Fall.

APY 361. Gender and Language. 3 Credit Hours.

The ways in which language is used in the constitution of gender from a cross-cultural perspective. Course is co-listed with WGS 361. Components: LEC. Grading: GRD. Typically Offered: Fall, Spring, & Summer.

APY 362. The Languages of the World. 3 Credit Hours.

The world's languages. The primary focus is on major differences and similarities among the structural properties of languages from diverse regions and linguistic families. In short, an introduction to linguistic typology. Prerequisite: APY 204 . Components: LEC. Grading: GRD. Typically Offered: Spring.

APY 376. Economic Anthropology. 3 Credit Hours.

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. Components: LEC. Grading: GRD. Typically Offered: Offered by Announcement Only.

APY 377. Anthropology of Political Systems and Discourse. 3 Credit Hours.

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. Components: LEC. Grading: GRD. Typically Offered: Offered by Announcement Only.

APY 384. Caribbean Archaeology. 3 Credit Hours.

An examination of human lifeways in the Antillean archipelago from first settlement through the development of complex socio-political structures in the Late Ceramic Age and ultimately the arrival of European and African migrants. Prerequisite: APY 201 . Components: LEC. Grading: GRD. Typically Offered: Offered by Announcement Only.

APY 385. Caribbean Cultures. 3 Credit Hours.

Caribbean societies, including ethnic diversity, production and exchange, domestic organization, and belief systems. Components: LEC. Grading: GRD. Typically Offered: Spring.

APY 390. Dead Bodies & Bioethics. 3 Credit Hours.

The ethical dilemmas faced by those who work or interact with dead bodies. We will explore dead bodies in multiple forms-decomposing, skeletonized, mummified, plastinated, etc. to address such topics as commercialization, public display, heritage and dark tourism, politicization, exhumation, consent, ownership, violence, and descendant communities. Our approach will be an anthropological one, though we will also draw from the fields of medicine, philosophy, law, history, and the humanities. Components: LEC. Grading: GRD. Typically Offered: Fall.

APY 391. Gender in Ancient Cultures. 3 Credit Hours.

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. Components: LEC. Grading: GRD. Typically Offered: Spring.

APY 392. Sex and Culture. 3 Credit Hours.

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. Components: LEC. Grading: GRD. Typically Offered: Fall.

APY 393. Drugs and Culture. 3 Credit Hours.

Cross cultural review of human drug use with special attention to the use of drugs in cultural context. Components: LEC. Grading: GRD. Typically Offered: Offered by Announcement Only.

APY 394. Comparative Religion. 3 Credit Hours.

A cross-cultural investigation of differing levels of religious belief systems examined from both etic and emic points of view. Components: LEC. Grading: GRD. Typically Offered: Fall.

APY 395. Gender, Race, and Class. 3 Credit Hours.

To explore human differences, we will interrogate common sense as: thinking about gender, race, and class. Certain queries will be addressed. What roles do scientific practice, political systems, and popular media play in shaping our thinking about differences? Where do we draw the line between biological fact and social construction? How do these facets of identity intersect and inform individuals' everyday experiences? How might knowledge allow us to speak truth to power when institutional oppression occurs? An anthropological perspective will provide the central frame, though feminism, history, medicine, biology, psychology, and law will inform our considerations. Prerequisite: APY 202 or GSS 201 . Components: LEC. Grading: GRD. Typically Offered: Fall.

APY 396. Youth Culture, Identity, and Globalization. 3 Credit Hours.

Youth cultural practices and experiences in various urban contexts in the world. Particular emphasis is placed on marginalization, identity and commodification of violent practices as embedded in the globalization processes. Components: LEC. Grading: GRD. Typically Offered: Spring.

APY 397. Violence and Ritual. 3 Credit Hours.

Various theories of ritual and violence with reference to ethnographically-based topics. It will explore the role of symbols, rituals and ideologies in shaping and contesting power within nations and other political communities. Prerequisite: APY 202 . Components: LEC. Grading: GRD. Typically Offered: Offered by Announcement Only.

APY 398. Coastal Cultures. 3 Credit Hours.

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. Components: LEC. Grading: GRD. Typically Offered: Spring.

APY 399. The Anthropology of Kinship and Family in America. 3 Credit Hours.

Theories of kinship and the family. It will examine emergence of new patterns of kinship networks and construction of individuals. Ethnographic materials will be drawn from the Americas and the Caribbean, particularly Brazil, Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica and the United States. Components: LEC. Grading: GRD. Typically Offered: Fall.

APY 405. Readings in Anthropology. 1-3 Credit Hours.

Supervised readings on special topics in Anthropology. Components: THI. Grading: GRD. Typically Offered: Fall.

APY 406. Readings in Anthropology. 1-3 Credit Hours.

Supervised readings on special topics in Anthropology. Components: LEC. Grading: GRD. Typically Offered: Spring.

APY 413. Medical Anthropology. 3 Credit Hours.

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. Components: LEC. Grading: GRD. Typically Offered: Fall.

APY 414. Human Osteology. 3 Credit Hours.

Identification and interpretation of the human skeleton, including age, sex, hard tissue pathology and traumas. Prerequisite: APY 203 . Components: LEC. Grading: GRD. Typically Offered: Fall.

APY 415. Forensic Anthropology II: Fieldwork. 3 Credit Hours.

The investigation, analyses, and legal aspects of human remains recovered from crime scenes and mass disasters. Prerequisite: APY 203 or APY 414 . Components: LEC. Grading: GRD. Typically Offered: Fall & Spring.

APY 416. Bioarchaeology-Peopling the past. 3 Credit Hours.

Contextualization of bodies in space, cultural milieu and time are the primary focus of this course. Students will explore bioarchaeology's history, development and major topical concerns. Prerequisite: APY 201 or APY 203 . Components: LEC. Grading: GRD. Typically Offered: Offered by Announcement Only.

APY 417. Archaeometry: The Science of Material Culture. 3 Credit Hours.

The archaeological application of a physical science (physics, chemistry, geology, etc.) techniques to answer pertinent anthropological questions about past societies. Prerequisite: APY 201 . Components: LEC. Grading: GRD. Typically Offered: Offered by Announcement Only.

APY 418. Seminar in Anthropology. 3 Credit Hours.

Consideration of special topics in physical anthropology, linguistics, archaeology and ethnology and their interrelationships. Components: LEC. Grading: GRD. Typically Offered: Fall & Spring.

APY 419. Politics of the Past. 3 Credit Hours.

The intersection of archaeology, politics, capitalism, and discrimination to consider the presentation, misconstrual, revision, and reclamation of the past. Lecturing will be kept to a minimum, as the bulk of the class will be devoted to discussion and debate. Components: SEM. Grading: GRD. Typically Offered: Spring.

APY 420. Archaeology, Architecture, and the City. 3 Credit Hours.

Ancient architectural remains in the global anthropological perspective, emphasizing the role of architecture in shaping the evolution of social and political interactions. Components: LEC. Grading: GRD. Typically Offered: Offered by Announcement Only.

APY 421. Interpreting Bodies. 3 Credit Hours.

Perceptions, represenations, and regulation of the physical body as a gendered and sexual site, as a source of pleasure, as a means of social validation, and as an object of coercion. Writing Credit. Lecturing will be kept to a minimum, as the bulk of the class will be devoted to discussion and debate. Prerequisite: APY 202 and GSS 201 . Components: LEC. Grading: GRD. Typically Offered: Spring.

APY 422. Pseudoscience in Archaeology. 3 Credit Hours.

Reconstructions of how people lived in the past that claim scientific validity, use the terminology of science, but are unsupported by evidence, can be called pseudoscientific. This course critically evaluates the field of pseudoscientific archaeology by applying the scientific method, logic, and common sense. Components: LEC. Grading: GRD. Typically Offered: Spring.

APY 423. Paleopathology: Health and disease in ancient peoples. 3 Credit Hours.

Paleopathology aims to familiarize students with the range of health conditions that present in preserved human remains and to explain the linkages between disease prevalence and culture, economics, and politics. Prerequisite: APY 414 and APY 416 . Components: LEC. Grading: GRD. Typically Offered: Offered by Announcement Only.

APY 435. Anthropology of Nature and Environment. 3 Credit Hours.

This course is an introduction to the anthropological investigation of nature, biology, and environment. Taking examples from cultural anthropology and the subfields of environmental anthropology, political ecology, and the anthropology of science, the course builds an understanding of the various ways in which ideas about nature and human nature and nature making practices shape our contemporary world: its places, spaces, life forms, and forms of life. Prerequisite: APY 202 . Components: LEC. Grading: GRD. Typically Offered: Spring.

APY 480. Undergrad Internship Anthrology. 3-9 Credit Hours.

The purpose of the undergraduate internship is practical application of coursework to hands-on learning with field and laboratory research conducted in partnership with an academic, governmental, non-profit and/or private sector business entity. The goal is to acquire and practice skill sets required for advancement in professional careers. Students may elect to participate in more than one internship because of the four-field approach of the discipline of Anthropology. Prerequisite: APY 201 or APY 202 or APY 203 or APY 204 . Components: DIL. Grading: GRD. Typically Offered: Summer.

APY 484. Anthropological Theory. 3 Credit Hours.

Theoretical frameworks directing data collection and research methodology in anthropology. Components: LEC. Grading: GRD. Typically Offered: Spring.

APY 485. Archeological Theory and Technique. 3 Credit Hours.

Theoretical traditions that shape modern archaeological research design and interpretation. Components: THI. Grading: GRD. Typically Offered: Offered by Announcement Only.

APY 486. Advanced Colloquy in Black Feminist Theory and Praxis: Major Works of 7 Black Feminist Thinkers. 3 Credit Hours.

Black feminist theory, produced primarily by Black women scholars, artist and activists, throughout the diaspora, constitutes a distinctive and influential body of politics and thought. Black feminist’s uninvited interventions in Black politics, arts and letters-- produced at the interstices of violence, silence, invisibility, or forgetting-- exposes and makes available a wider horizon of possibilities than had been proposed before its emergence. The central theoretical innovation of this praxis (later claimed by theorists of various stripes), is the multiple—‘interlocking’, ‘intersectional’, ‘compounded’--constitution of “identity,” oppression, aesthetic sensibilities, for example, and therefore of roads toward freedom. This distinctive body of work is not only interdisciplinary, multilingual; but also constitutive to specific geographies, politics, experiences, and particular intellectual and political streams. Components: SEM. Grading: GRD. Typically Offered: Fall.

APY 501. Methods of Anthropological Research. 3-6 Credit Hours.

Concentration on research methods for Cultural, Archaeological, Linguistic, and/or Biological Anthropology. Components: LEC. Grading: GRD. Typically Offered: Spring.

APY 502. Field Studies in Anthropology. 3-6 Credit Hours.

Field research in advanced topics in Cultural, Archaeological, Linguistic and/or Biological Anthropology. Preparation of data for professional presentation and publication is stressed. Components: LEC. Grading: GRD. Typically Offered: Fall, Spring, & Summer.

APY 505. Museum Internship. 3 Credit Hours.

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: APY 201 . Components: LEC. Grading: GRD. Typically Offered: Spring.

APY 506. Workshop in Anthropology. 3-6 Credit Hours.

This course is designed for upper level and graduate students to participate in special topics in Anthropology and related fields. Components: THI. Grading: GRD. Typically Offered: Fall & Spring.

APY 511. Artlab At Lowe. 3 Credit Hours.

Organizing an art exhibition at the Lowe Art Museum. Taught by a different faculty member each year. Components: LEC. Grading: GRD. Typically Offered: Spring.

APY 512. Advanced Medical Anthropology. 3 Credit Hours.

Applications of theories and methods of medical anthropology to problems in human health and disease. Components: LEC. Grading: GRD. Typically Offered: Fall & Spring.

APY 518. Advanced Seminar in Anthropology. 3 Credit Hours.

Specialized topics in Anthropology to involve students into current research specializations. Components: LEC. Grading: GRD. Typically Offered: Fall & Spring.

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Miami in the Anthropocene

Rising seas and urban resilience.

Stephanie Wakefield

Miami in the Anthropocene explores the social, environmental, and technical transformations involved in climate adaptation infrastructure in a global city seen as climate change ground zero. Grounding her work in the dynamic landscape of Miami but reaching far beyond its shores, Stephanie Wakefield illuminates the path toward a future where cities embrace opportunities for evolution rather than merely for survival.

Geography , Environment , Sociology , Urban

Between its susceptibility to flooding and an ever-expanding real estate market powered by global surges of people and capital, Miami is an epicenter of the urban Anthropocene and a living laboratory for adaptation to sea level rise. Miami in the Anthropocene explores the social, environmental, and technical transformations involved in climate adaptation infrastructure and imaginaries in a global city seen as climate change ground zero.

$26.95 paper ISBN 978-1-5179-1718-0 $108.00 cloth ISBN 978-1-5179-1717-3 256 pages, 20 b&w photos, 5 1/2 x 8 1/2, January 2025

Stephanie Wakefield is assistant professor of urban planning and environmental design at Florida Atlantic University. She is author of Anthropocene Back Loop: Experimentation in Unsafe Operating Space and coeditor of Resilience in the Anthropocene: Governance and Politics at the End of the World .

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VIRTUAL OPEN HOUSE Thursday, Nov. 9 Event Details Register Now

UB is a member in good standing of the Association for Advancing Quality in Educator Preparation (AAQEP) , a national accrediting organization recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. The programs on our accreditation page have been awarded full accreditation by AAQEP through Dec. 31, 2028. Full accreditation acknowledges that a program prepares effective educators who continue to grow as professionals and has demonstrated the commitment and capacity to maintain quality.

Combined Anthropology, BA / Social Studies Education, EdM

The UB Teach social studies education program is an accelerated, combined degree program that allows you to earn an  anthropology BA and a social studies education EdM in five years. The program focuses on providing you with content expertise in anthropology while preparing you to teach social studies at the adolescence level (grades 5 to 12).

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Why anthropology and social studies education at ub.

In this combined program, you will study in the Department of Anthropology in the College of Arts and Sciences, as well as the Department of Learning and Instruction in the Graduate School of Education. While in the Department of Anthropology, you benefit from a dedicated focus on the study of humans and humankind as a whole; in the Department of Learning and Instruction, you learn how to bring social studies to life in the grades 5 to 12 classroom.

UB prepares highly-qualified teachers who lead their classrooms, shape students’ lives and positively engage with the communities they serve.

As a student enrolled in this program, you will:

• Follow your passion for anthropology while gaining skills critical for your future.
• Enhance your ability to unlock the secrets of the past to better understand the world around you.
• Complete intensive clinical education experiences in collaboration with Western New York schools across diverse settings, while learning the nuances of the teaching profession.
• Gain the skills, expertise and confidence to implement evidence-based practice in the classroom and co-teach alongside an expert teacher in a one-year residency.

Anthropology BA/Social Studies Education EdM Program Overview

See dates for open house, orientation, test submissions, tuition deposit deadlines and more.

›    Important fall dates for incoming freshman

Program Requirements

This is a sample course schedule. These courses are subject to change. As a student in the UB Teach program, you must work closely with your advisor before registering for classes.

Anthropology BA Courses

• APY 106 Intro Cultural Anthropology
• APY 107 Intro to Biological Anthropology
• APY 108 Intro to Archaeology
• APY 210 Music of the World
• APY 326 Near East and Mideast Prehistory
• APY 330 Prehistory of Europe
• APY 338 Field Research in Archaeology
• APY 356 Cultural Evolution
• APY 357 Primate Diversity
• APY 369 People of Sub-Saharan Africa
• APY 401 Theory in Anthropology
• APY 494 Senior Seminar

Additional BA Courses Needed for New York State Social Studies Teacher Certification

• Economics (ECO 181 or ECO 182 Macro or Microeconomics recommended)
• Human Geography (GEO 100 or GEO 102 recommended)
• Political Science (PSC 101 Intro to American Politics recommended)

You will not apply separately to graduate study; instead, there are a series of progression points that you must meet.

Advancement to the graduate portion of the program requires that you:

• maintain a 3.0 GPA
• earn a “C” grade or higher in content courses (courses in the major)
• earn a “B-” or better in all education and graduate-level coursework

Social Studies Education EdM Courses

• Two: APY 500/600 level courses
• CEP 400 Educational Psychology
• ELP 405 Sociology of Education
• LAI 414 Adolescent Writing Across the Curriculum
• LAI 474 Teaching the Exceptional Learner
• LAI 515 Action Research, Teaching and Learning
• LAI 520 Introduction to Social Studies Education
• LAI 521 Improving Social Studies Instruction in the Elementary Classroom 
• LAI 523 Social Studies Curriculum
• LAI 552 Middle Childhood–Adolescent Literacy Methods
• LAI 595 Supervised Teaching 2
• LAI 620 Teaching Social Studies in Grades 5–12
• LAI 667 Field Experience
• LAI 668 Supervised Teaching 1
• LAI 674 Seminar in Teaching
• LAI 698 Instructional Strategies in Secondary Schools

For more information about coursework and requirements, please contact: Office of Educator Preparation ,  [email protected] , 716-645-2461

Mansfield police detective's daughter says TV's 'Bones' led her to forensic anthropology

M ansfield police Detective Rob Skropits and his daughter have worked together on several death scenes in Mansfield and Richland County.

Unlike her father, Hannah Skropits is a forensic anthropologist.

Hannah Skropits, 24, who graduated from Ontario High School in 2018, has come back home as a graduate student on several occasions volunteering with Mercyhurst University Forensic Scene Recovery Team to help identify human remains and search for causes of trauma alongside Mansfield police.

More: Human remains identified as missing person Billy Bays III

Hannah Skropits will graduate in May from with a master's in science in forensic and biological anthropology. She earned her bachelor's degree in forensic chemistry from Bowling Green State University.

Daughter and father have a lot in common. They're both problem solvers. They both rely on evidence to solve cases.

Although she is still looking for jobs in death investigation, she knows wherever she lands will be science based.

"I've always loved crime shows," she said recently. She fell in love with the TV show,"Bones." Her parents encouraged her to look into similar careers in the real world since she loved problem solving.

So she job-shadowed Dr. Dennis Dirkmaat, the director of Mercyhurst Forensic Science Department, on a couple of death investigation scenes in Mansfield so she could see how graduate students worked. And she liked it.

In April, she and other volunteers with the Mercyhurst team came to Mansfield to help police and the Richland County Coroner's Office identify human remains found inside a house. Hannah Skropits has been part of the team for two years and traveled around Ohio, Pennsylvania and western New York.

"We spend a lot of time in our big passenger van," she said.

Trained to identify a person, and figure out the manner of death, Hannah Skropits said the team also looks to see if there is any trauma.

"We're able to provide closure to the family," which is rewarding, she said.

She said she is interested in investigative work and what it entails. "It is a field always in need of workers," she said.

Part of the attraction of the career is that she loves doing something different every day, whether it is performing a scene recovery or a lab analysis.

"Usually people don't know what a forensic anthropologist is," she said. "Sometimes it's not a murder but police don't have ID. Dental records help ID people."

In the graduate program, some classmates will continue their education and become board certified. She is interested in becoming a certified analyst with the American Board of Forensic Anthropology.

The team has taken her to some interesting locations.

She's typically out in the woods or in the basement of a house. She's been on about 20 scenes, she said. Graduate students travel to scenes and return to Mercyhurst in Erie, Pennsylvania, the same day. There are no overnight trips.

In high school she loved science, chemistry, math and anatomy. She knew she wanted to go to college and study forensic chemistry,

"I actually went in wanting to be a forensic anthropologist and came out still wanting to be a forensic anthropologist," she said.

Dirkmaat is in charge of both the undergraduate program in Applied Forensic Sciences and the Masters of Science in Anthropology, Forensic and Biological Anthropology Concentration, considered one of the top master's programs in the discipline in North America. He is a professor of anthropology and teaches courses in physical anthropology, human skeletal biology and forensic anthropology.

Dirkmaat’s many high-profile cases include his role as primary scientific advisor to Somerset County Coroner Wallace Miller in the recovery and identification of remains from the 9/11 crash of United Flight 93 in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, according to the university.

"Hannah will be graduating from our Masters of Forensic and Biological Anthropology program this spring, as one of our best students of the last 10 years," Dirkmaat said.

"We met her while she was still in high school when we conducted a few cases in Mansfield for the Richland County Coroner’s Office (her dad was also working the cases). You could tell then that she had great potential…..," Dirkmaat said this week.

Rob Skropits, who has been with the Mansfield Police Department for 31 years this month, said he and his wife, Amy, recognized early on that science was a subject that came to easily to their daughter.

"She has definitely put the time and energy into it. Now it's the time in her life to make the next step. I don't know where it's going to lead her, but I think she has a path and she definitely knows what she wants to do. She definitely has the drive and determination to move the way she wants to go," Rob Skropits said.

"Until a case in 2016, I didn't even know that even existed, that opportunity," Rob Skropits said. "She knew what she was getting into and she jumped right in there."

2016: Missing Mansfield woman search: Remains found

Human remains believed to be those of a missing Mansfield woman were recovered at multiple sites in northern Richland County in 2016, Skropits said. Mercyhurst students identified the remains.

He said he would be honored if Hannah followed in his footsteps but said he knows there is a lot that she can do in her field.

"These cases just roll in to where I look at it and go. They know what to do," Rob Skropits said. "We have not been trained what to do, but when Mercyhurst comes in and does what they do, it's amazing."

[email protected]

419-521-7223

X (Formerly Twitter): @lwhitmir

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Mansfield police detective's daughter says TV's 'Bones' led her to forensic anthropology

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Initiative will help vulnerable Gulf Coast areas address sea level rise

By Robert C. Jones Jr. [email protected] 01-26-2022

Consider it a glimpse of the future, a crystal ball view of what supply chain networks and the delivery of goods and services in Gulf Coast communities will look like should sea level rise continue unabated in the region.

Last summer, hundreds of thousands of people were left without power when Hurricane Ida took out more than 2,000 miles of transmission lines in Louisiana and Mississippi. The Category 4 storm also shut down roads and ports in the region, affecting the ability of responders to render aid and disrupting the availability of everything from food and gas to electronics. 

Indeed, hurricanes demonstrate without a shred of ambiguity the disorder several feet of water can cause over a short period of time. 

Sea level rise unchecked would have long-term, if not permanent, catastrophic impacts, decimating urban and rural communities in the Gulf of Mexico coastal region that are already among the most susceptible to the effects of rising seas. 

Now, a University of Miami researcher is leading an initiative that has the potential to help those communities respond to and mitigate what is arguably the biggest challenge of the climate emergency. 

“Our goal is to apply principles of systems engineering, such as coordination and integration, to the problem,” said Murat Erkoc, associate professor of industrial and systems engineering in the University of Miami College of Engineering and principal investigator of the project.

“Urban and rural areas along the Gulf are part of a geographical continuum composed of interdependent nodes connected by synergistic linkages, wherein the urban areas depend on the rural areas for natural resources and the rural areas depend on the urban areas for services,” he explained. “While the nodes are each unique in their socioeconomic and environmental context, they are linked by transportation networks, waterborne commerce, oil and gas pipelines, ecosystem-based natural infrastructure, human migration routes, culture, and technology. Sea level rise threatens those links.”

His National Science Foundation-funded project will help those areas maintain connections, employing strategies ranging from sea walls and managed retreat to adaptation.

“Preparing for the risks of sea level rise is a challenge that connects communities throughout the Gulf, from small towns to big cities,” said co-principal investigator Katharine Mach, an associate professor of environmental policy in the University’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science. “We want to create crucial interactions across disciplines and communities—and between the present and the future of sea level rise adaptation.”

Researchers from Florida Atlantic University, Louisiana State University, and Texas A&M University are collaborating with Erkoc and Mach. 

Gulf coast communities in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas are among the most vulnerable to rising seas. While a recent Virginia Institute of Marine Science study reported that the rate of sea level rise along much of the U.S. coastline continues to accelerate, the highest rates have been recorded along the Gulf of Mexico, with one location, Grand Isle, Louisiana, experiencing a nearly 8-millimeter rise per year.

“We looked at the literature, asking ourselves what techniques and approaches were being used to address this important challenge,” Erkoc said. “And what we found was that while the majority of work has been dedicated to predictive models of sea level rise, others that offer solutions have been narrow in scope, focusing on a particular aspect of the problem.”

Through online and in-person charrettes and workshops, and with community members playing active roles in the process, Erkoc’s group will work toward building capacity for a convergent research network that will help stakeholders and policymakers respond to the crisis in coordination with one another. 

“One solution, especially if it’s proposed separately, will not work well for all parties involved,” Erkoc noted. “For example, hard protection like seawalls can reduce the immediate impact of sea level rise, but they can inadvertently put a barrier between communities and other parts of nature. A mix of measures is needed.”

Assisting disadvantaged neighborhoods within Gulf Coast communities will be a major component of the project. “These enclaves compose a large fraction of both the urban and rural population in this region, yielding a high degree of social vulnerability,” Erkoc explained. “The three most typical sea level rise response strategies—protection, accommodation, and retreat—are often practiced differentially across urban versus rural areas. Existing climate adaptation plans indicate that urban areas are more likely to establish protection strategies while rural areas are more likely to ignore the issue altogether or consider abandonment rather than conducting comprehensive, collaborative, and robust planning.” 

He added that relationships formed by the different entities will help sustain research and engagement beyond the project.

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