Search Results
Your search for courses · during 2025-26 · tagged with ARCN Pertinent · returned 28 results
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ARCN 101 The Human Story: Archaeology and the Anthropocene 6 credits
What are the origins of our species? How did our ancestors evolve in Africa and disperse to nearly every corner of the globe? How did people create tools and homes, transform landscapes, and build cities? What are the origins of art? Of agriculture? Of mass-transport and communication technologies? Writing is about 5000 years old, meaning over 99% of the human past (c. 4 million years) is documented only through the material record of fossils, artifacts, and environmental impacts. This course examines the material worlds of humanity, and how archaeology provides a unique, “big-picture” story of our shared past.
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ARCN 111 Archaeology of the Americas 6 credits
This class will examine how archaeologists know the past, focusing on North and South America. The course is organized by themes including migration (first peopling of the Americas, trans-Atlantic slave trade), early cities (Caral in South America, Teotihuacan in Central America, Cahokia in North America), and the environment (domestication, over hunting). Remember–the past is not something natural and static that waits to be “discovered.” The past changes depending on who gets to tell the story–it is not neutral! Whose past is legitimate? Which voices get heard or ignored? In this course, you will find out!
Not offered in 2025-26
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ARCN 112 Archaeology of Native North America 6 credits
When did humans first migrate to North America? How long have people lived in Minnesota? This course will examine the material culture of Indigenous peoples throughout the North American continent above Mexico, from c. 20,000 years ago to present. Cultural groups include the Inuit, Iroquois, ancient Puebloans, Cahokia, Great Plains villages, and Pacific Northwest (Kumash) peoples. We will study Indigenous oral histories, genetic data, linguistics, material remains, and ethnohistorical accounts to examine migration, trade, and contact, with an emphasis on decolonization and Indigenous archaeologies.
Not offered in 2025-26
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ARCN 211 Coercion and Exploitation: Material Histories of Labor 6 credits
What do antebellum plantations, Spanish missions, British colonies in Australia, mining camps in Latin America, and Roman estates all have in common? All are examples of unfair/unfree and forced labor in colonial and imperial settings. This class will review archaeological, archival, and ethnographic cases of past coerced and exploitative labor, and compare them with modern cases such as human trafficking, child slavery, bonded labor, and forced marriage. Case studies include the Andes under Inka and Spanish rule, North American and Caribbean plantations, British colonial Australia, and Dutch colonial Asia.
Not offered in 2025-26
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ARCN 222 Experimental Archaeology and Experiential History and Lab 6 credits
This course offers an experiential approach to crafts, technologies, and other material practices in premodern societies. Through hands-on activities and collaborations with local craftspeople, farmers, and other experts, this course will examine and test a variety of hypotheses about how people in the past lived their lives. How did prehistoric people produce stone tools, pottery, and metal? How did ancient Greeks and Romans feed and clothe themselves? How did medieval Europeans build their homes and bury their dead? Students will answer these questions and more by actively participating in a range of experimental archaeology and experiential history projects. Lab required.
During registration, students will register for both the lecture and a corresponding lab section, which will appear on the student's academic transcript in a single entry.
- Spring 2026
- LS, Science with Lab
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Student has completed any of the following course(s): One Archaeology Pertinent (tagged ARCN Pertinent) course with a grade of C- or better.
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ARCN 246 Archaeological Methods & Lab 6 credits
As a field that is truly interdisciplinary, archaeology uses a wide range of methods to study the past. This course provides a hands-on introduction to the entire archaeological process through classroom, field, and laboratory components. Students will participate in background research concerning local places of historical or archaeological interest; landscape surveying and mapping in GIS; excavation; the recording, analysis, and interpretation of artifacts; and the publication of results. This course involves real archaeological fieldwork, and students will have an opportunity to contribute to the history of the local community while learning archaeological methods applicable all over the world.
During registration, students will register for both the lecture and a corresponding lab section, which will appear on the student's academic transcript in a single entry.
Sophomore priority
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ARTH 101 Introduction to Art History I 6 credits
An introduction to the art and architecture of various geographical areas around the world from antiquity through the “Middle Ages.” The course will provide foundational skills (tools of analysis and interpretation) as well as general, historical understanding. It will focus on a select number of major developments in a range of media and cultures, emphasizing the way that works of art function both as aesthetic and material objects and as cultural artifacts and forces. Issues include, for example, sacred spaces, images of the gods, imperial portraiture, and domestic decoration.
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ARTH 120 Art and Archaeology of Ancient Egypt and West Asia 6 credits
This course will provide students with foundational knowledge in the art, architecture and archaeology of Egypt, East Africa, Asia Minor, Mesopotamia, Iran and Central Asia from the Neolithic through Late Antiquity (ca. 7,000 B.C.E. – 650 C.E.). Students will gain an understanding of the relationship between the visual material and the social, intellectual, political and religious contexts in which it developed and functioned. In this regard, students will also gain an understanding of the evolution of, and exchanges and differences among, the visual cultures of these time periods and regions. It will also expose them to the preconditions for contemporary geopolitics in the region.
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CLAS 123 Greek Archaeology and Art 6 credits
This course explores the archaeology and art of the Ancient Greek world. Beginning with prehistory, we will track the development of the material culture of Ancient Greece through the Classical and Hellenistic periods, and conclude by discussing aspects of the Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman empires that followed. We will focus throughout on aspects of archaeological practice, material culture and text, art and society, long-term social change, and the role of the past in the present.
Not offered in 2025-26
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CLAS 145 Ancient Greek Religion 6 credits
Greek religion played a crucial role in how the ancient Greeks understood the world around them. Mythology and cosmology shaped their understanding of how the world worked, while the ritual of sacrifice formed the basis of the social fabric underpinning all aspects of Greek society. In this course we will learn about Greece’s polytheistic belief system–its gods and religious rites–as well as examining how religion shaped the daily lives of ordinary Greeks, often in surprising ways. We will read the works of ancient authors such as Homer and Hesiod, study the archaeological remains of sacred sites, inscriptions, and curse tablets, as well as engage with experimental archaeology.
Not offered in 2025-26
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CLAS 200 Greece at a Crossroads: History, Landscape, and Material Culture 6 credits
This course provides a long-term view of the history, landscape, and material culture of Greece, from prehistory to the present day. While the monuments of ancient Greece are cultural touchstones, Greece has a remarkably diverse past, occupying a borderland between continents, empires, and cultures, both ancient and modern. Classroom study and on-site learning examine the wide range of sources that inform us about the Greek past (texts, archaeology, the environment), and focus especially on the stories told by places and things. Site visits in Athens and on trips throughout Greece highlight the importance of local and regional contexts in the “big histories” of the eastern Mediterranean.
Requires participation in OCS Program: Greece at a Crossroads: History, Landscape, and Material Culture
- Spring 2026
- HI, Humanistic Inquiry IS, International Studies
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Acceptance in the Carleton OCS Greece at a Crossroads program.
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CLAS 384 Food and Foodways of the Ancient Mediterranean 6 credits
We need food to live, but food also plays a crucial cultural, social, and economic role in our lives. As such, the study of food and foodways offers a cornucopia of approaches and insights into the lives of ancient peoples. This seminar will explore what, why, and how food was consumed, produced, traded, and thought about in the ancient Mediterranean world. We will study archaeological and literary sources of ancient evidence alongside modern scholarship and theoretical frameworks. Topics in the second half of the course will be driven by student interests as they develop their own research and present it at the department Symposium.
Not offered in 2025-26
- HI, Humanistic Inquiry
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Student has completed any of the following course(s): Two Classics (CLAS) courses with a grade of C- or better.
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DGAH 210 Spatial Humanities 6 credits
Spatial analysis is central to the digital humanities and a valuable methodology within history, literature, archaeology, anthropology, and many other disciplines. This course provides an introduction to Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and the key concepts, debates, and technologies behind digital mapping in the humanities and social sciences. We will learn technical GIS skills that include visualizing, analyzing, and managing various types of spatial data, digitizing historical maps, interactive web mapping, and basic cartographic design. This course is open to all students, regardless of prior experience, and covers the fundamental skills needed to produce spatial humanities projects within any discipline.
Not offered in 2025-26
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DGAH 264 Visualizing the Ancient City 6 credits
What makes a city, well, a city? This course examines urban society across different regions of the ancient world from the 2nd millennium BCE to 1st millennium CE. Taking a comparative approach to examples from the Mediterranean, Near East, Mesoamerica and China, we will reconstruct social, political, and topographic histories of urban space from a kaleidoscope of sources that include archaeological excavations, art & architecture, inscriptions, and literature. We will approach this source material using digital methods such as 3D modeling, GIS mapping, and digital storytelling to reconstruct both the physical environments and lived experiences of past cities.
Not offered in 2025-26
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ENTS 120 Introduction to Geospatial Analysis & Lab 6 credits
Spatial data analysis using Geographic Information Systems (GIS), remote sensing, global positioning, and related technologies are increasingly important for understanding and analyzing a wide range of biophysical, social, and economic phenomena. This course serves as an overview and introduction to the concepts, algorithms, issues, and methods in describing, analyzing, and modeling geospatial data over a range of application areas.
During registration, students will register for both the lecture and a corresponding lab section, which will appear on the student's academic transcript in a single entry.
- Fall 2025, Spring 2026
- QRE, Quantitative Reasoning SI, Social Inquiry
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GEOL 110 Introduction to Geology & Lab 6 credits
An introduction to the fundamental and wondrous processes that shape the Earth. We approach learning through outdoor and laboratory problems, which are often complicated and messy, like the planet itself. Topics may include the formation of rocks, minerals, and mountains, the water cycle, plate tectonics, climate change, volcanoes, and earthquakes. One all-day weekend field trip is typically required. No previous outdoor experience or gear is needed.
During registration, students will register for both the lecture and a corresponding lab section, which will appear on the student's academic transcript in a single entry.
Note: Movement between sections is not possible, if sections fill during registration, seats that open are filled from that waitlist first.
- Fall 2025, Spring 2026
- LS, Science with Lab
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Not open to students who have taken another 100-level Geology course.
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GEOL 125 Introduction to Field Geology & Lab 6 credits
This course introduces fundamental principles of geology and geological reasoning using the geology of southern Minnesota as a guide. Weather permitting, much of the classroom and lab time will be spent outdoors at nearby sites of geological interest. Using field observations, descriptions, data-gathering and interpretation, supplemented by lab work and critical reading, students will piece together the most important elements of the long and complex geologic history of southern Minnesota. Field trips, including one or two all-day weekend trips, and laboratories included.
During registration, students will register for both the lecture and a corresponding lab section, which will appear on the student's academic transcript in a single entry.
Extra Time Required: Weekend field trips
- Fall 2025
- LS, Science with Lab QRE, Quantitative Reasoning
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Not open to students who have taken another 100-level Geology course.
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GEOL 210 Geomorphology and Lab 6 credits
A lab and field-focused introduction to water resources–the processes driving the water cycle, the methods used to quantify and understand the flow of water, and the relationship between humans and water. Weekly field trips to nearby locations such as streams, wellfields, caves, and water infrastructure to develop skills including streamflow measurements, water quality monitoring, pump tests, and measuring soil properties. No previous outdoor experience required.
During registration, students will register for both the lecture and a corresponding lab section, which will appear on the student's academic transcript in a single entry.
- Fall 2025
- LS, Science with Lab QRE, Quantitative Reasoning
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Student has completed any of the following course(s): One 100-Level GEOL course with grade of C- or better.
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HIST 201 Rome Program: Building Power and Piety in Medieval Italy, C.E. 300-1150 6 credits
Through site visits, on-site projects, and readings, this course explores the ways in which individuals and communities attempted to give physical and visual form to their religious beliefs and political ambitions through their use of materials, iconography, topography, and architecture. We will also examine how the material legacies of imperial Rome, Byzantium, and early Christianity served as both resources for and constraints on the political, cultural, and religious evolution of the Italian peninsula and especially Rome and its environs from late antiquity through the twelfth century. Among the principal themes will be the development of the cult of saints, the development of the papal power and authority, Christianization, reform, pilgrimage, and monasticism.
Acceptance in the Carleton OCS History in Rome Program.
Not offered in 2025-26
- HI, Humanistic Inquiry IS, International Studies
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Acceptance in the Carleton OCS History in Rome Program.
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HIST 233 The Byzantine World and Its Neighbors 750-ca. 1453 6 credits
The Byzantine world (eighth-fifteenth centuries) was a zone of fascinating tensions, exchanges, and encounters. Through a wide variety of written and visual evidence, we will examine key features of its history and culture: the nature of government; piety and religious controversy; art and music; the evolving relations with the Latin West, Armenia, the Slavic North and West, and the Dar al-Islam (the Abbasids and Seljuk and Ottoman Turks); gender; economic life; and social relations.Extra Time for special events and a group project (ecumenical council).
Extra Time for special events and a group project (ecumenical council).
Not offered in 2025-26
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HIST 238 The Viking World 6 credits
In the popular imagination, Vikings are horn-helmeted, blood-thirsty pirates who raped and pillaged their way across medieval Europe. But the Norse did much more than loot, rape, and pillage; they cowed kings and fought for emperors, explored uncharted waters and settled the North Atlantic, and established new trade routes that revived European urban life. In this course, we will separate fact from fiction by critically examining primary source documents alongside archaeological, linguistic and place-name evidence. Students will share their insights with each other and the world through two major collaborative digital humanities projects over the course of the term.
Not offered in 2025-26
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HIST 276 In Search of Moctezuma: Reimagining Mexico’s Indigenous Past 6 credits
Even while still on the campaign trail, Spain’s conquistadors endeavored to describe Mexico's native societies to other Europeans. Thus began a centuries-long fascination with all things Mesoamerican, real and imaginary. This course explores how the Mesoamerican past has been imagined by indigenous and non-indigenous people. Potential subjects include Spanish conquistadors and missionaries, early Mexican nation-builders and artists, professional and pseudo-archaeologists, apocalyptic doomsayers, promoters of the Mexican tourist industry, and the counterculture and Chicano movements of the 1960s. Importantly, we will also consider how Mexico's indigenous groups have come to understand their own past from the time of Spanish rule to the present day.
Not offered in 2025-26
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HIST 338 Digital History, Public Heritage & Deep Mapping 6 credits
How do new methods of digital humanities and collaborative public history change our understanding of space and place? This hands-on research seminar will seek answers through a deep mapping of the long history of Northfield, Minnesota, before and after its most well-known era of the late nineteenth-century. Deep mapping is as much archaeology as it is cartography, plumbing the depths of a particular place to explore its diversity through time. Students will be introduced to major theories of space and place as well as their application through technologies such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS), 3D modeling, and video game engines. We will mount a major research project working with the National Register of Historic Places, in collaboration with specialists in public history and community partners.
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LTAM 113 Archeology of Ancient Latin America 6 credits
This course examines ancient peoples of the large, geographically and culturally diverse region of Latin America. Focused on Central America, South America, and the Caribbean, we will examine the material culture of Indigenous peoples from c. 20,000 years ago to the time of European contact (1500 AD), including the Olmec, Maya, Aztec, Moche, Inka, Taíno, and Rapa Nui peoples. Themes include migration, the environment, settlement, long-term social change, and daily life. We will also review current debates and ethical issues, with an emphasis on Indigenous perspectives and cross-disciplinary dialogues between archaeology and related fields.
- Spring 2026
- IS, International Studies SI, Social Inquiry
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LTAM 220 Eating the Americas: 5,000 Years of Food 6 credits
Food is both a biological necessity and a cultural symbol. We eat to survive, we “are what we eat,” and delicious foods are “to die for.” What does this all mean in the context of Latin America, which gave us the origins of peanut butter (peanuts), spaghetti sauce (tomatoes), avocado toast (avocados), french fries (potatoes), and power bowls (quinoa)? In this class, we will explore the long history humans have had with food in Latin America, drawing from archaeology, ethnohistory, and anthropology to explore the relationship between food, culture, power, identity, gender, and ethnicity.
Not offered in 2025-26
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LTAM 230 Ancient People of the Andes 6 credits
Who were the first settlers of South America? Was Caral the first city on earth? Who made the Nazca Lines? How did the Inka build Machu Picchu? Which societies flourished or collapsed in the Andean region of South America? This course will examine these questions using archaeology to understand the sociopolitical arrangements that existed among ancient Andean peoples prior to the arrival of the Spanish. Evidence used to explore these themes comes from a range of prehispanic societies, including the Chavin, Tiwanaku, Wari, Moche, Chimu, and Inka. Offered at both the 200 and 300 levels; coursework will be adjusted accordingly. Students who have previously taken any 200-level LTAM social science or humanities course should register for LTAM 330; students who have not should register for LTAM 230.
Offered at both the 200 and 300 levels; coursework will be adjusted accordingly. Students who have previously taken any 200-level LTAM social science or humanities course or a 200-level ARCN course should register for LTAM 330; students who have not should register for LTAM 230.
Not offered in 2025-26
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LTAM 330 Ancient Peoples of the Andes 6 credits
Who were the first settlers of South America? Was Caral the first city on earth? Who made the Nazca Lines? How did the Inka build Machu Picchu? Which societies flourished or collapsed in the Andean region of South America? This course will examine these questions using archaeology to understand the sociopolitical arrangements that existed among ancient Andean peoples prior to the arrival of the Spanish. Evidence used to explore these themes comes from a range of prehispanic societies, including the Chavin, Tiwanaku, Wari, Moche, Chimu, and Inka. Expected preparation: Any 200 LTAM social science or humanities course.
Not offered in 2025-26
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SOAN 110 Introduction to Anthropology 6 credits
Anthropology is the study of all human beings in all their diversity, an exploration of what it means to be human throughout the globe. This course helps us to see ourselves, and others, from a new perspective. By examining specific analytic concepts—such as culture—and research methods—such as participant observation—we learn how anthropologists seek to understand, document, and explain the stunning variety of human cultures and ways of organizing society. This course encourages you to consider how looking behind cultural assumptions helps anthropologists solve real world dilemmas.
Sophomore Priority.
- Fall 2025, Winter 2026
- IS, International Studies SI, Social Inquiry WR2 Writing Requirement 2 CX, Cultural/Literature