module

Undergraduate Module Descriptor

ANT2015: The Deep Past, History and Humanity

This module descriptor refers to the 2023/4 academic year.

Overview

What we can know about the past of our species, and what can this tell us about the natures of humanity and history? To answer such questions, we’ll draw on philosophical and anthropological accounts of both historical science and human history, including archaeological and biological perspectives. We’ll consider whether practises like archaeology are scientific, whether historical events are discovered or created and question whether we can ever truly know past cultures. This together will help us ask what understanding humanity’s history is for. Although the module takes a philosophical approach, it will be interdisciplinary, and of particular interest to students of a historical or anthropological bent.