Student Learning Goals

1. Students will demonstrate theoretical sophistication and the ability to situate anthropological research within a paradigmatic theoretical stance.
2. Students will demonstrate understanding of the basic tenets and underlying assumptions of both a) the structure of science/science as a way of knowing and b) post-structuralist approaches.
3. Within the students’ subdisciplinary track they will demonstrate knowledge of the major schools of thought.  Specifically, students in the archaeological track will demonstrate knowledge of processualism, political economy, contextualism/interpretivist perspectives, and agency/structure interaction.  Students in the biological track will demonstrate knowledge of general evolutionary theory, human evolution and human evolutionary ecology, human variation and adaptability, theories of morphological evolution, and the theory of behavioral evolution.  Students in the medical and political economy/sustainability tracks will demonstrate knowledge of the major schools of thought in cultural anthropology including political economy, critical theory, and the interpretive School.
4. All students will demonstrate methodological sophistication.  Specifically, they will demonstrate an ability to create a research design by being able to clearly articulate a research question and how it should be investigated.  Additionally, they will be able to evaluate the structure and elements of scientific articles and/or creative work by identifying the following aspects of these works: the research question, underlying assumptions, methods, how results are related back to the research question, and the ability to critically evaluate the methodological rigor of research proposals and peer reviewed articles.  Finally, students will be able to apply the appropriate methods to specific questions.
5. Students will be able to communicate orally and in writing in a professional manner by producing professional quality presentations and papers that contain well constructed arguments.

These goals are introduced in Integrating Anthropology (ANTH 5810) which all students are required to take their first semester in the program.  These are then reinforced in the required core classes in the program.