Texas Tech University

Archaeological Studies Minor

 

Archaeology students in Greece

Texas Tech University conducts field research in Greece.

Texas Tech University's College of Arts & Sciences offers an interdisciplinary minor in Archaeological Studies. This program combines archaeological courses from Classics and Anthropology to provide students with complementary perspectives on the discipline, focusing on the Mediterranean world and the Americas, respectively.

Texas Tech University conducts research in Binchester, UK

Texas Tech researchers collaborate on an archaeological dig in Binchester, England.

Archaeologists study the material remains of past cultures that survive into the present. Armed with a rich body of theory and a diverse array of methods, archaeologists are able to examine the nature of ancient civilizations and cultures with or without the aid of recorded history.

While grounded by the remains of the past, archaeology is concerned with understanding how cultures change, in both the short and long term. This focus leads to examinations of questions big and small, such as:

  • Why and how did humans domesticate plants and animals?
  • Why did people start to live in cities?
  • Why do civilizations collapse?
  • What can we learn from a single burial or a derelict terrace?

Texas Tech conducts anthropological field research in Belize.

Texas Tech conducts anthropological field research in Belize.

Archaeology, however, is also concerned with connecting the present to the past through the study of cultural heritage and its role in contemporary societies.

Students enrolled in the Archaeological Studies minor take two required classes,

ANTH 2301 (Introduction to Archaeology)

and CLAS 2335 (Archaeologies of the Classical World),

and 12 hours of electives from a list of approved courses.

Texas Tech students visit Xunantunich, an archaeological site in Belize.

Texas Tech students visit Xunantunich, an archaeological site in Belize.

Because field work is an important part of archaeology, students may count one field course toward the minor:

ANTH 4642 (Field Archaeology),

ANTH 4643 (Field Research in Skeletal Biology),

or CLAS 4601 (Classical Field Archaeology).

For more information, please see the course catalog.

To declare the Archaeological Studies minor, email Elizabeth Rangel (if your last name begins with A-L) or Angel Martinez (if your last name begins with M-Z).

A list of approved courses is available through this link. Please email the director, Dr. Brett Houk, if you have any other questions.

 

Anthropology