Anthropology Department

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Major and Minor Requirements

Student Advising

  1. A student may choose any regular faculty member to be his or her advisor. Any regular faculty member can sign major and minor cards or you may contact the undergraduate advisors.
  2. You may obtain major and minor cards from the Registrar's Office or the Department of Anthropology Administrator (408 Silsby Hall).
  3. You should complete a copy of the major or minor card and discuss it with a faculty advisor who will be responsible for approving and signing the card.
  4. Please leave one copy of the card with the Department of Anthropology Administrator and one copy with the Registrar.

Undergraduate advisors: John Watanabe and Nathaniel Dominy

Anthropology Major

The major consists of ten courses, to be selected as follows:

  1. Anthropology 1 or 3.
  2. At least one course from each of the following four subject areas: Archaeology, Topical (if Anthropology 1 is taken in fulfillment of Requirement 1), Area, Biological Anthropology (these areas are indicated as ARCH, TOPICAL, AREA, or BIOL in each course description).
  3. Any six additional courses (five if Anthropology 1 is taken in fulfillment of Requirement 1) from among the Department's offerings.

A culminating experience is required for the major and must be satisfied by completion of a Culminating Seminar selected from one of the following areas: Area/Topical Anthropology (73), Archaeology (75), or Biological Anthropology (77), to be taken as one of the ten courses required for the major.

Modified Major: The Modified Major consists of seven courses in anthropology, one of which must be a culminating seminar and another of which will normally be Anthropology 1 or 3, plus four courses above the prerequisite level in one or more other department(s) or program(s). The 11 courses must form a unified, coherent program of study. Students wishing to modify their Anthropology major must submit a written rationale that makes clear the coherence and purpose of their modified major. This rationale, can be signed by any faculty in the Anthropology Department, and must be submitted with the major card to the Registrar.

Concentrations: Anthropology majors may choose to concentrate in one or more subfields of anthropology by taking at least four courses in: archaeology, biological anthropology, or sociocultural anthropology.

Archaeology is the scientific study of past human behavior and societies from material remains of the earliest human ancestors to recent times. Students concentrating in archaeology should take at least one topical course and one regional course in archaeology. Students interested in graduate studies in archaeology should have a statistics course and fieldwork experience that can be gained by taking an archaeological field school for transfer credit.

Socio-cultural anthropology addresses broad questions about what it means to be human in contemporary societies and cultures, as well as those of the recent past. Socio-cultural anthropologists systematically explore topics such as technology and material culture, social organization, economies, political and legal systems, language, ideologies and religions, health and illness, and social change. Students concentrating in sociocultural anthropology are strongly advised to take the course in ethnographic research methods, Anthro. 18. Students planning on graduate studies in socio-cultural anthropology are advised to take Main Currents in Anthropology, Anthro. 73.

Biological anthropology is the study of human biological variation and evolution. Biological anthropologists seek to document and explain the patterning of biological variation among contemporary human populations, trace the evolution of our lineage through time in the fossil record, and provide a comparative perspective on human uniqueness by placing our species in the context of other living primates. Students concentrating in biological anthropology are advised to take a course in statistics, as well as one or more advanced courses in biological sciences.

Under special circumstances, students may petition the Anthropology faculty to substitute a course from another department or program to count for the Anthropology major. The petition should be submitted to the Chair, along with a copy of the syllabus for the substitute course and a list of the student's major courses. The petition must be approved by a vote of the Anthropology Department faculty.

Anthropology Minor

The minor in Anthropology comprises six courses, which include Anthropology 1 or 3 plus one area course in anthropology, one course in biological anthropology, one course in archaeology, and two additional courses within the Department to be selected by the student. If Anthropology 3 is not taken in fulfillment of the first requirement, then one of the two courses selected by the student must be a topical anthropology course.

The Anthropology of Global Health Minor

The Anthropology of Global Health Minor is composed of six courses one from each of the following core competency areas.

  1. Introductory: 1 or 3.
  2. Medical: 17, 45, 55, 61.
  3. Biological: 6, 38, 40, 41, 43.
  4. Methodological Approaches: 18, 56
  5. Area/Regional: 4, 25, 27, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 39, 47, 52, 50.3
  6. Topical: 14, 19, 30, 31, 44, 48, 49, 51, 75.

Of these six courses, at least four must be taken within the Anthropology Department. Students may petition the department to substitute relevant courses from other fields for no more than two competency areas 3, 4, 5, and 6. (Students should consult with the Anthropology Department for a list of examples of appropriate courses).

Introductory Medical Biological Methodological Approach Area/Regional Topical
ANTH 01 - Introduction to Anthropology ANTH 17 - Anthropology of Health and Illness ANTH 06 - Introduction to Biological Anthropology ANTH 18 - Introduction to Research Methods in Cultural Anthropology
 ANTH 04/ NAS10 - Peoples and Cultures of Native North America ANTH 14 - Death and Dying
ANTH 03 - Introduction to Cultural Anthropology ANTH 45 - Asian Medical Systems
 ANTH 38 - Human Adaptations ANTH 56 - Research Methods in Medical Anthropology ANTH 25/ NAS 49 - Land of Totem Poles ANTH 19/ AMES 06 – Islam: An Anthropological Approach
  ANTH 50.6 / COCO 02 - HIV/AIDS Through a Biosocial Lens: 30 Years of a Modern plague ANTH 40 - Human Functional Anatomy   ANTH 27/ AMES 16 – Thought and Change in the Middle East & Central Asia

ANTH 30 - Hunter and Gatherers
  ANTH 55 - Anthropology of International Health ANTH 41 - Human Evolution   ANTH 32/ AMES 26 - Tibet and the Himalayas ANTH 31/ WGST 36.1 – Gender in Cross-Cultural Perspective
  ANTH 61 - Women and Madness ANTH 43 - Human Osteology   ANTH 33/ LATS 44 - Latino Roots and Migrations ANTH 44 - Globalization from Above and Below
        ANTH 34/ LATS 45 - US-Mexican Borderlands ANTH 48 - Anthropology of Religion
        ANTH 35 - Culture, Class, Community Mesoamerica ANTH 49 - Culture and Environment
        ANTH 36/ AAAS44 - Africa: Ethnographic Encounter ANTH 51 - Colonialism and its Legacies
        ANTH 37 - Legacies of Conquest ANTH 75 – Ecology and Environment
        ANTH 39 /RUSS 39 – Ethnicity and Nationalism in Russia  
        ANTH 47/ NAS37 – Alaska: American Dreams and Native Realities
  
        ANTH 50.4 / AAAS 88.5 / LACS 50.2 - Haiti at the Crossroad of Modernity
  
        ANTH 50.7 - Anthropology of the Afro-Atlantic World  
        ANTH 52 – Maori Society  

Statistics

All anthropology majors are encouraged to take a course in statistics. Students who plan to undertake independent research, especially in archaeology and biological anthropology, and any student considering attending graduate school in anthropology should take at least one statistics course: e.g., Government 10, Math & Social Science 15, Psychology 10, Sociology 10, or Social Science 10.

Last Updated: 1/2/13