North American Archaeology: course design and learning outcomes 

PART 1:  UNDERSTANDING WHAT ARCHAEOLOGY IS AND HOW IT IS PRACTICED 
Our focus at the beginning of the course is understanding what archaeology is and how it is practiced.  I emphasize the scientific practice of archaeology and how we "know what we know" using the scientific method.  The information presented in these initial chapters and in class are essential for understanding the rest of the course.  For example, if you are told that something happened 10,000 years before present, how do we know that?  How certain and exact is this date?  In brief, this section of the course covers the space-time framework of the past: where things happened and when they happened.  
LEARNING OUTCOMES
After completing this section, you should be able to: 
  • Discuss what archaeology is and how it is practiced 
  • Define an inference, the role of inference in archaeology, and the strengths and weaknesses of inference as a way of knowing
  • Describe what materials archaeologists study, where these might be found, and how they are dated
  • Explain how the scientific method is applied in archaeological research
ACTIVITIES & METHODS OF ASSESSMENT
PART 2:  ASKING QUESTIONS AND FINDING ANSWERS ABOUT THE PAST 
Understanding the past involves asking questions and finding answers.  Throughout the course, you will learn how to conduct a cross-cultural research study. The methods you will learn are applicable beyond archaeology.  
LEARNING OUTCOMES
After completing this section, you should be able to: 
  • develop empirically supported, valid generalizations about human behavior and culture using comparative research methods.  
  • describe how cross-cultural methods can be applied beyond archaeology
ACTIVITIES & METHODS OF ASSESSMENT
PART 3: PRE-CONTACT NORTH AMERICA: WHAT WAS IT LIKE? 
Throughout the course you will learn about the peoples and places of North America (and select areas of Mesoamerica and South America) before the arrival of Europeans.  
LEARNING OUTCOMES
After completing this section, you should be able to: 
  • Describe the major culture areas of North America prior to European contact. 
  • Describe the ecological diversity over time and space that pre-contact American Indian cultures encountered, adapted to, and transformed.
ACTIVITIES & METHODS OF ASSESSMENT
Part 3:  DOES ARCHAEOLOGY MATTER? 
We conclude the course by considering the relevance of archaeology in the world today.  We consider the questions:  who "owns" the past and who should take care of it?  We will also struggle with the dilemmas these questions pose.  Finally, we consider how and if the past can provide insights into the present to address modern problems such as the sustainability of social and ecological systems.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
After completing this section, you should be able to: 
  • employ a scientifically-informed understanding of the North American past that will help you consider current social and environmental challenges (e.g., problems of population level increases, climate change, and sustainability) in their long-term context. 
  • Describe archaeology's relevance in the world today
  • Evaluate if and how the past can inform the present
ACTIVITIES & METHODS OF ASSESSMENT