[ANTH 2028] Introduction to 21st Century Archaeology

I had Stephen for my Introduction to 21st Century Archaeology class last semester and he was awesome. He's been doing field work in the Andes with Professor D'Altroy, so I don't know if or when he'll be a TA again. If you ever do get the chance to have him for discussion sections, though, I can't recommend him highly enough. My section met at 10am on friday mornings, so the few kids that showed up were usually hungover, as was he, but somehow we still managed to get into some great discussions. He's not a hard grader, and was really helpful in clearing up some of the more abstract/theoretical concepts that I found hard to grasp. Really though, he's rad.

This was, without a doubt, the easiest class I've taken in my 3 years at Columbia. It was also one of the more interesting classes, and Boyd is an enthusiastic speaker that cuts his class times down so as to minimize/eliminate most of the boredom. 90% of the classes ended WELL before 2:25 (1:10-2:25 scheduled), with many classes lasting just over a half hour.

The class structure varies from week to week, and there is no shortage of guest lecturers, films, and even games that keep the feel of the class fresh and unique. That said... attendance is not mandatory, and in a class where participation/paying attention to the lectures earns you an additional 0% for your grade, the # of people who showed up each week dropped substantially.

There is a required recitation section for this class, but even that is a term that should be taken lightly. I, for example, had a conflict w/ all of the originally scheduled recitations, as did about a dozen others. So, the TA (Katie, she was awesome) created an optional recitation that would be supplemented and more heavily weighed by weekly posts about the assigned readings.

During the very first class, Prof. Boyd laughed/wondered why a class that had only 15 enroll for it 3 years ago now had an enrollment of 100+ with a waiting list and all. While I wish the primary reason would be because of the interesting/contemporary subject matter, it is 150% because of the easy, laid-back, stress free nature of the work and grading.

Overall, an enjoyable class that features some more intersting parts/topics than others (as any class does). Take this class for a good grade, interesting subject matter, and 0.00 stress.

What a great professor! He is down-to-earth, funny, endearing, and definitely knows his stuff. He is a great lecturer as well, who never lapses into any sort of ego-trip while discussing his own adventures in the field.

I had him last semester for Intro to 21st Century Archaeology, and while I entered the class knowing nothing (seriously, NOTHING) about the subject, I left in May feeling like I could actually have a higher-level conversation about archaeological digs, controversial findings, techniques, etc.

If you have any interest at all in archaeology or anthropology, I highly recommend this professor!