GE Review: ANTH 202: Archeology: Our Human Past

by Lanie Brice ‘24

ANTH 202: Archeology: Our Human Past ranks among the favorite GE-C options for fulfilling one of the two Social Analysis requirements to graduate. This likely comes down to the beloved professor at the helm of it, Tracy Mayfield. At the start of my senior year, I had two GE requirements left to complete, and I’d been casually checking Web Reg all summer to survey my options for just getting them out of the way in the Fall. I also picked up a new interest in the world of anthropology, specifically, over the summer since many of my coworkers had majored in anthropology, and I was fascinated by what they learned in their classes. I knew I wanted to take an anthropology class before I graduated, and I got on the waitlist to try for a spot in this class. Even if you’ve never heard of anthropology or archeology, this is a fascinating class, and Professor Mayfield places a heavy emphasis on giving you tools from anthropology that can be applied to any major.

About the Class

ANTH 202 offers a basic introduction to anthropology, archeology, and a quick survey of a variety of archeological sites, practices, and cultures across Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas. Some major topics we covered in this class include:

Learning about the proper ways to conduct fieldwork through Professor Mayfield’s own experiences working on digs and getting familiar with the various tactics and equipment used on an archeological dig.
Understanding the importance of getting to know and working with local communities in the area you’re working in and combining ethnography with the artifacts to gain a more complete picture.
Digging into how human society has developed throughout time from migratory hunter-gatherers to sedentary farmers and ranchers while also learning about the artifacts left behind like arrowheads, pottery, and tools that we use today to learn about how various societies evolved and changed.

The Professor

The first thing you’ll learn about Professor Mayfield, even from looking at her syllabus, is that she’s extremely organized, thoughtful, and caring. She wants her students to succeed, and she gives them a clear roadmap to get there outlining assignments, participation expectations, and paths to receive extra credit points in great detail from the very beginning. As a student, I know that it’s rare to receive such a clear outline from a professor, so it’s greatly appreciated.

Professor Mayfield is also extremely passionate about her work and her field. She’s always happy to answer questions related to the class or broader points and is very approachable. Another great thing about Professor Mayfield is that she tries to make her lectures and discussion presentations interesting as she makes history come alive and offers tiebacks where the knowledge could apply to whatever discipline you’re studying. As much as she loves her subject, she’s aware that most people in the class will never take another anthropology course again, and I always appreciate when professors can meet students where they’re at like that.

I’m clearly not alone in appreciating her approach because she has a high 4.9/5 on Rate My Professor with plenty of glowing reviews. Another bonus is that Professor Mayfield runs her own discussion sections and does all her own grading, so you won’t be left at the mercy of a TA.

Grading Breakdown

Difficulty Level: 2/5

Your grade in this class comes from an open book online midterm and final, two assignments related to completing a final research paper, weekly quizzes over the lecture and reading content, and a final research project on a topic of your choice. While there is a lot of information thrown at you in this course, memorization is not required. As long as you keep good notes throughout the class and attend the discussion sections, exams should be a breeze. The weekly quizzes are short and just make sure you’ve watched that week’s film or lecture and done the assigned reading. You can even review the quiz before going into the lecture and reading to know what to look for because the quizzes can be taken as many times as you’d like before the due date. You do have to either purchase or get a digital rental of the textbook, which cost me about $50. There are also 3 extra credit opportunities with various options if you need to give your grade a boost. As long as you’re willing to devote a decent amount of time and effort to your work, you’ll be more than satisfied with your grade.

Class Structure

ANTH 202 has a unique structure for a GE that will be ideal for some and unpopular with others. Instead of making students attend in-person lectures, Professor Mayfield uses the lecture times to create basically on office hours/study hall with her in-person on Tuesdays and virtually on Thursdays that students have to attend only 6 times over the course of the semester. This is called a flipped classroom.

Video lectures or required films are then posted on Blackboard to be viewed on your own time (or while you’re attending the scheduled lecture-time study session, if you want), and there is quite a bit of reading guided by specific reading questions to help you sift through dense chapters. Most weeks, the only time you’ll have to physically attend class is the 50 minute discussion sections. I personally love being able to work at my own pace and on my own schedule, so this format worked well for me. Content and quizzes are uploaded two weeks ahead and the final project information is available from the very beginning, so you’re encouraged to work at your own pace. It’s also helpful to be able to pause the lectures to take notes so you don’t feel like you’re missing any of the information. This class might not be a good fit for you, though, if you have a hard time motivating yourself to do work outside of in-person class hours. For commuter students, though, this definitely takes some of the pressure off!

Takeaways

I feel like my K-12 education really skipped out on teaching about history, especially prehistoric times, from a global perspective beyond starting off each year with the Aztecs. I learned so many interesting facts about how society and cultures around the world have evolved and developed and how certain progressions happened almost simultaneously around the world without these civilizations having contact with one another. I was constantly awed and excited about the facts that I learned even in this quick survey format.

While I took this class as a senior with a lot of experience with college level research and writing, this would be a super helpful course for freshman and sophomores because there’s so much time dedicated to learning about how to do quality research using a variety of sources. The course also encourages you to make sure you’re including a wide variety of voices and viewpoints in creating your thesis, and the anthropological approach offered me a different perspective on interviewing subjects that I’ll be taking into my capstone project in the spring.
I’ve learned so much about the town I grew up in through this class! Though that’s not part of the curriculum, the research paper is given a significant amount of time during the semester, and Professor Mayfield encourages you to dig into a topic that you already find fascinating or is related to your major. Getting to choose a subject close to my heart, I gained a true enthusiasm for digging into the project, and it enhanced my experience with making connections between my life and the class.

Take This Class If…

You’re interested in learning about anthropology or archeology program at USC.

You want to broaden your understanding of the world and how societies function, or you feel like your high school history classes failed you.
You are a good note taker and can organize a large amount of information.
You are highly motivated to complete work and lectures on your own time and get fully immersed in learning new things.
You need flexibility within your class schedule or the chance to complete assignments and work online.

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