Anthropology is the study of human origins and evolution, present conditions of human life, and future prospects. It considers human beings as biological and social entities, and seeks to explain both diversities and commonalities of peoples and cultures. For undergraduates, anthropology provides a rich overview of human life. It also introduces them to a variety of skills and practical research methods which anthropologists apply in laboratory and field studies of the ecological constraints on human existence, the cultural basis of individual and organizational behavior, and, in general, problems and circumstances relating to the maintenance of healthy, productive human action in the world today.
Overview of the Programs
The Department of Anthropology offers both a major and minor in anthropology.
The major in anthropology begins with a set of introductory courses in archaeology, biological/physical anthropology, and cultural anthropology. These introductory courses are followed with upper division core courses in theory and method.
A student rounds out the major by taking any of the diverse elective courses offered by the department each semester.
Students seeking to minor in anthropology complete essentially the same set of requirements as the major, though there is more flexibility and choice with respect to the core courses. And, of course, the unit requirements are different.