American popular culture is saturated with pseudoscientific and fictionalized accounts of archaeological discoveries and interpretations. How can students of the past distinguish between fraud, fantasy, hype, and valid archaeological research? What potential merit do films, TV-oriented documentaries, and historical fiction offer? What role has racism played in attempts to deny indigenous peoples credit for their past achievements? This course looks at the popular culture of archaeology, providing tolls for critical evaluation as well as lifetime enjoyment of the field as it is frequently sold to both the informed and the unwary public. Anthropology majors and non-majors are all welcome as are sophomores and motivated first-year students who have not yet declared majors.
Course Attributes: EN S; BU BA; AS LCD; AS SSC; FA SSC; AR SSC
