Digital Methods for Archaeology and Anthropology

Digital tools can be a powerful way of collecting, analyzing and presenting data in social-cultural anthropology and archaeology. This survey course is designed for students from all backgrounds interested in developing practical skills in computational methods, no previous computational experience is required. Over the span of four 2.5 week units, we will develop foundational skills for 1) text processing, 2) geospatial analysis (e.g GIS), 3) bioinformatics and paleogenetics, and 4) data visualization. Each unit will take a deep dive into the way these approaches have been used in anthropology in published case studies. This will be complemented by digital lab activities (suitable for remote or in-person learning) to develop skills and complete an independent project of your choosing with the tools learned in this course. The goal is to set you up with digital tools that are useful to you in academic, journalistic, and other related endeavors.