Departments & Programs

Anthropology

Major in Anthropology

Purpose

The B.A. in Anthropology includes courses in the history of the discipline, museum studies, general anthropology, and in four subfields:

  1. Anthropological linguistics concentrates on human communication through language, the structure of languages, and the history of their development and interrelationship.
  2. Archaeology deals with the origins of culture, past societies around the world, and the study of their material remains.
  3. Bioanthropology emphasizes primate origins, evolution, and present day biological/genetic variation, adaptation of human populations, and disease.
  4. Social/cultural anthropology studies contemporary and historical cultures and societies of every scale around the world. Anthropology is the interpretive, scientific, and comparative study of humankind. Anthropology is an excellent foundation for many careers. Employers hire anthropologists because they have strong communication skills and understand how to manage multicultural situations.

Employment opportunities related directly to Anthropology include: archaeology companies, physical anthropology labs, museums and zoos, schools and universities, government agencies, and a growing number of private corporations.

Requirements

Students must complete a minimum of 33 credit hours in anthropology, including:

  1. B200, E200, L200, and P200
  2. One advanced course (300–400 level) each in three of the four subfields with prefixes "B" for bioanthropology, "E" for social and cultural anthropology, "L" for anthropological linguistics, and "P" for archaeology. Students may substitute A410 for one of these courses.
  3. One course designated as having a methods component. These include A306, A405, A406, B301, B405, E302, E423, E485, P301, P380, P385, P390, P401, P405, P406, P407, P425, P426, and other sections taught under variable title if approved by the advisor. (Methods courses may also count toward the upper-level subfield requirement.)
  4. Remaining credit hours are distributed across advanced courses (300–400 level) in any of the four subfields according to student interest. A student may count one additional course at the 200 level. A105, A107, A303, A310, E105, and E303 do not count toward the major.

Students planning to major in anthropology should begin by taking 200-level courses for introduction to the four subfields. Students must also complete the degree requirements for the College of Arts and Sciences.

Recommendations

Each of the four subfields of anthropology has different expectations as to the course work that best complements the interests and skills of students in each subfield. Course work taken in other departments should be selected in consultation with the director of undergraduate studies.

Graduate work in anthropology often requires knowledge of one or more foreign languages, and students should plan their undergraduate programs accordingly.