The UW Anthropology Collection provides instructional content for department courses, to encourage expanded pedagogical opportunities for our undergraduate and graduate students. This can take the form of specialized teaching kits, covering specific topics, to extensive collections stored and managed in the classroom in which they are most used. Our collections routinely serve a number of offered courses, including:
ANTHRO 100, “General Anthropology”
ANTHRO 102, “Archaeology and the Prehistoric World”
ANTHRO 105, “Principles of Biological Anthropology”
ANTHRO 212, “Principles of Archaeology”
ANTHRO 302, “Hominoid Evolution”
ANTHRO 303, “Human Skeletal Anatomy”
ANTHRO 310, “Topics in Archaeology”
ANTHRO 354, “Archaeology of Wisconsin”
ANTHRO 370, “Field Course in Archaeology”
ANTHRO 391, “Bones for the Archaeologist”
ANTHRO 405, “Introduction to Museum Studies in Anthropology”
ANTHRO 411, “The Evolution of the Genus, Homo”
ANTHRO 490, “Undergraduate Seminar”
ANTHRO 690, “Problems in Anthropology”
ANTHRO 696, “Archaeological Methods of Curation”
ANTHRO 698/699, “Directed Study”
Biological Teaching Labs
The Anthropology Department manages two classrooms that are used for teaching biological anthropology classes. Both rooms were renovated in 2009 through a UW-sponsored ILM (Instructional Lab Modernization) grant. The Biological Anthropology Teaching Lab was renovated again, through another ILM grant, in 2021.
Human Skeletal Anatomy Lab
The Human Skeletal Anatomy Lab is the primary classroom where Anthropology 303, "Human Skeletal Anatomy," is taught, providing a space that accommodates productive small group discussion and hands-on learning.
Biological Anthropology Teaching Lab
The Biological Anthropology Teaching Lab serves a majority of the Anthropology Department's biological classes. This room was renovated again in 2021, primarily to accommodate the continued enrollment increase of Anthropology 105, "Principles of Biological Anthropology." This extremely popular course has seen a marked increase in class size, averaging about 160 students per semester in 2009, to over 400 students per semester in 2019, and currently serves about 650 students per semester.
Archaeological Teaching Labs
The Anthropology Department manages one classroom that is used for teaching archaeological classes. This room was renovated in 2008 through a UW-sponsored ILM (Instructional Lab Modernization) grant.
Archaeology Teaching Lab
Traditionally named the "Old World Archaeology Classroom," this Department-managed classroom serves many of the topics-based archaeology classes. A majority of the archaeology teaching collections are stored here in secure cabinets. Access to these collections provides a unique and diverse hands-on learning experience to UW students.
Collections Teaching Labs
Curation Teaching Lab
The Curation Lab was recently renovated in 2020 to accommodate curation-related activities in the Department. This is where new collections are processed and existing collections are evaluated, analyzed, and rehoused as needed to meet current museum best practices. Students enrolled in Anthropology 405 (Introduction to Museum Studies in Anthropology) and Anthropology 696 (Curation Methods in Archaeology), in particular, utilize this space through internships and class projects.
Teaching Kits
The Anthropology Collection also includes a collection of teaching kits. These kits include objects from the collection, and cover a specific set of topics of interest in our 100- and 200- level courses. Management if these kits allows the Department to provide a hands-on learning component to a significant number of UW students each year.
Anthropology Collection Internships
Supervised by the Anthropology Museum Director, for-credit semester internships (1-3 credits) are available to undergraduate students interested in anthropology, curation, and museum studies. Enrolled students commit to an on-site schedule equating to 3 hours/week per credit enrolled (ranging from 3-9 hours/week, M-F, between 8am and 4pm) and completion of an end-of-semester report. During the internship, independent projects are completed that expose each student to unique skills specific to an anthropology subdiscipline of the student’s choosing (archaeological, biological, cultural, or a combination of these). Projects are identified for each student prior to the start of the semester and expectations are finalized based on a combination of collection task needs and specific student interest.
Internship spots are limited by availability (almost exclusive preference is given to students who have completed ANTHRO 405) and instructor consent. Internships are only available in the spring/summer semesters. Interested students should email the Anthropology Museum Director during the fall semester to inquire about position availability and fit.
Introduction to Museum Studies in Anthropology (ANTHRO 405)
This 3-credit accelerated honors upperclass course, taught by the Anthropology Museum Director, is offered once per year (traditionally during the fall semester) to provide an intensive introduction to curation and collections management topics. Students discuss readings and complete hands-on exercises focusing on museum topics such as: registration (like accessions and loans), collection management (including cataloging and labeling), and laws and ethics. While a general overview of standards and best practices is discussed, the course, as a whole, focuses on how these are operationalized in anthropology collections. This course is ideal for future museum professionals.
Occasionally, this course also includes a Community-Based Learning (CBL) project, performing a unique service to a partner Wisconsin community organization. Examples of these projects (often assisting small, community museums) have included: performing a collections assessment, designing and installing a small exhibit, and creating draft policies.