Campuses:
Twin Cities campus
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Twin Cities Campus
Anthropology B.A.Anthropology
College of Liberal Arts
Anthropology is the study of human beings and cultures throughout the world during the present and past. It is the study of who we are, and how we came to be that way. Anthropology is partly a natural science, partly a social science, and partly a humanistic study. Anthropology majors compare and contrast the biological, social, and cultural similarities and differences of humans and their societies across the globe and develop a sophisticated understanding of the biological unity of our species. Perhaps more than with any other degree, Anthropology majors are known to possess unique observational and critical thinking skills, and are aware of the role that culture plays in identity, relationships and decision-making.
Students who major in the field are expected to take courses in the four sub-fields of anthropology. Students planning a professional career in anthropology general specialize in one of the sub-fields: biological anthropology (the evolutionary history of human and nonhuman primates), archaeology (the study of prehistoric and historic societies through their material culture), sociocultural anthropology (the study of the behavior of recent people in settings that range from unindustrialized societies to modern urban centers), and linguistic anthropology (the comparative study of languages and communication). The Anthropology Department website (http://cla.umn.edu/anthropology/ba-anthropology) offers several examples of course sequences designed to provide training in particular sub-fields. There are a variety of opportunities for graduates with degrees in anthropology. While some go on to graduate school in order to obtain a position in a university, most graduates find non-academic jobs in the private and public sectors. Private industry consulting, environmental firms, product development and marketing firms, as well as the nonprofit sector all employ anthropologists because of the unique observational and critical thinking skills they possess. Governmental agencies at the state and federal levels seek anthropologists for various positions. Biological anthropologists find employment as forensic scientists working for law enforcement. Archaeologists find jobs in cultural resource management (CRM) firms whose services are contracted by construction companies to ensure compliance with legislation pertaining to archaeological and historical preservation.
An anthropology major is also excellent preparation for professional schools in medicine, public health, nursing, and law. An anthropology major offers a holistic education that, regardless of the job attained after graduation, provides a perspective on humanity that inspires a lifetime of engagement with the issues of importance to our globalized society.
Program Delivery
This program is available:
Admission Requirements
For information about University of Minnesota admission requirements, visit the
Office of Admissions
website.
General Requirements
All students in baccalaureate degree programs are required to complete general University and college requirements including writing and liberal education courses. For more information about University-wide requirements, see the
liberal education requirements.
Required courses for the major, minor or certificate in which a student receives a D grade (with or without plus or minus) do not count toward the major, minor or certificate (including transfer courses).
Program Requirements
Students are required to complete 4 semester(s) of
any second language.
with a grade of C-, or better, or S, or demonstrate proficiency in the language(s) as defined by the department
or college.
CLA BA degrees require 18 upper division (3xxx-level or higher) credits outside the major designator. These credits must be taken in designators different from the major designator and cannot include courses that are cross-listed with the major designator. The major designator for the Anthropology BA is ANTH.
At least 14 upper division credits in the major must be taken at the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities campus.
Students may earn a BA or a minor in anthropology, but not both.
All incoming CLA freshmen must complete the First-Year Experience course sequence.
Preparatory Courses
Take exactly 2 course(s) totaling exactly 8 credit(s) from the following:
·
ANTH 1001 - Human Evolution
[BIOL]
(4.0 cr)
·
ANTH 1003W - Understanding Cultures
[SOCS, GP, WI]
(4.0 cr)
or
ANTH 1003V - Understanding Cultures: Honors
[SOCS, GP, WI]
(4.0 cr)
Subfield Foundation Courses
Take at least one course from at least three of the four subfields: archeology; biological anthropology; sociocultural anthropology; linguistic anthropology.
Take 3 or more course(s) totaling 9 - 12 credit(s) including 3 or more sub-requirements(s) from the following:
Archeology
·
ANTH 3001 - Introduction to Archaeology
[SOCS]
(4.0 cr)
·
Biological Anthropology
·
ANTH 3401 - The Human Fossil Record
(3.0 cr)
or
ANTH 5401 - The Human Fossil Record
(3.0 cr)
or
ANTH 3002 - Sex, Evolution, and Behavior: Examining Human Evolutionary Biology
(4.0 cr)
or
EEB 3002 - Sex, Evolution, and Behavior: Examining Human Evolutionary Biology
(4.0 cr)
·
Sociocultural Anthropology Subfield
·
ANTH 3003 - Cultural Anthropology
(3.0 cr)
·
Linguistic Anthropology Subfield
·
ANTH 3005W - Language, Culture, and Power
[SOCS, DSJ, WI]
(4.0 cr)
or
ANTH 3015W - Biology, Evolution, and Cultural Development of Language & Music
[SOCS, WI]
(3.0 cr)
or
ANTH 5015W - Biology, Evolution, and Cultural Development of Language & Music
[SOCS, WI]
(3.0 cr)
Upper-Division Training in Anthropology
Take 5 or more course(s) from the following:
ANTH 4xxx-5xxx
Take 3 or more course(s) from the following:
·
ANTH 4001 {Inactive}
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 4003W - Contemporary Perspectives in Cultural Anthropology
[WI]
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 4019 - Symbolic Anthropology
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 4025 - Studies in Ethnographic Classics
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 4031W - Anthropology and Social Justice
[CIV, WI]
(4.0 cr)
·
ANTH 4035 - Ethnographic Research Methods
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 4047 - Anthropology of American Culture
[SOCS]
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 4053 - Economy, Culture, and Critique
[SOCS, GP]
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 4069 - Historical Ecology & Anthropology of the Environment
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 4075 - Cultural Histories of Healing
[SOCS, GP]
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 4077 - Neanderthals: Biology and Culture of Humanity's Nearest Relative
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 4101 - Decolonizing Archives
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 4121 - Business Anthropology
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 5008 - Advanced Flintknapping
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 5009 - Human Behavioral Biology
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 5015W - Biology, Evolution, and Cultural Development of Language & Music
[SOCS, WI]
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 5027W - Archaeology of Prehistoric Europe
[HIS, WI]
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 5028 - Historical Archaeology
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 5041 {Inactive}
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 5045W - Urban Anthropology
[WI]
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 5112 - Reconstructing Hominin Behavior
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 5113 - Primate Evolution
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 5221 - Anthropology of Material Culture
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 5244 - Interpreting Ancient Bone
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 5255 - Archaeology of Ritual and Religion
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 5269 - Analysis of Stone Tool Technology
(4.0 cr)
·
ANTH 5327W - Inca, Aztec & Maya Civilizations
[HIS, WI]
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 5401 - The Human Fossil Record
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 5402 - Zooarchaeology Laboratory
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 5403 - Quantitative Methods in Biological Anthropology
(4.0 cr)
·
ANTH 5405 - Human Skeletal Analysis
(4.0 cr)
·
ANTH 5412 - Comparative Indigenous Feminisms
[GP]
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 5442 - Archaeology of the British Isles
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 5448 - Applied Heritage Management
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 5450 {Inactive}
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 5501 - Managing Museum Collections
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 5601 - Archaeology and Native Americans
[DSJ]
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 5980 - Topics in Anthropology
(3.0 cr)
·
Course must be taken for at least 3 credits to count toward this requirement.
·
ANTH 4007 - Laboratory Techniques in Archaeology
(1.0-4.0 cr)
or
ANTH 4007H {Inactive}
(1.0-4.0 cr)
·
ANTH 4043 - Romans, Anglo-Saxons and Vikings: Archaeology of Northern Europe
(3.0 cr)
or
MEST 4043 - Romans, Anglo-Saxons and Vikings: Archaeology of Northern Europe
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 4049 - Religion and Culture
(3.0 cr)
or
RELS 4049 {Inactive}
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 4329 - Primate Ecology and Social Behavior
(3.0 cr)
or
EEB 4329 - Primate Ecology and Social Behavior
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 5021W - Anthropology of the Middle East
[SOCS, GP, WI]
(3.0 cr)
or
RELS 5707W {Inactive}
[SOCS, GP, WI]
(3.0 cr)
·
Directed Studies, Reading and Research Courses
Courses must be taken for at least 3 credits to count toward this requirement.
Take at most 6 credit(s) from the following:
·
ANTH 4991 - Independent Study
(1.0-6.0 cr)
·
ANTH 4992 - Directed Readings
(1.0-6.0 cr)
·
ANTH 4993 - Directed Study
(1.0-6.0 cr)
·
ANTH 4994W - Directed Research
[WI]
(1.0-6.0 cr)
·
ANTH 3xxx
Take 0 or more course(s) from the following:
·
ANTH 3001 - Introduction to Archaeology
[SOCS]
(4.0 cr)
·
ANTH 3003 - Cultural Anthropology
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 3004 - Great Controversies in Anthropology
[SOCS, GP]
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 3005W - Language, Culture, and Power
[SOCS, DSJ, WI]
(4.0 cr)
·
ANTH 3006 - Humans and Aliens: Learning Anthropology through Science Fiction
[GP]
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 3008 - Introduction to Flintknapping
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 3015W - Biology, Evolution, and Cultural Development of Language & Music
[SOCS, WI]
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 3022W {Inactive}
[WI]
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 3028 - Historical Archaeology
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 3034W - Roots Music in American Culture and Society
[DSJ, WI]
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 3035 - Anthropologies of Death
[SOCS, GP]
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 3036 - The Body in Society
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 3043 - Art, Aesthetics and Anthropology
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 3046W - Romance and Culture
[GP, WI]
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 4029W - Anthropology of Social Class
[WI]
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 3145W - Urban Anthropology
[WI]
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 3206 - Sex, Murder, and Bodily Discharges: Purity and Pollution in the Ancient World
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 3221 - Field School
(6.0 cr)
·
ANTH 3242W - Hero, Savage, or Equal? Representations of NonWestern Peoples in the Movies
[WI]
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 3255 - Archaeology of Ritual and Religion
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 3306W - Medical Anthropology
[GP, WI]
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 3327W - Inca, Aztec & Maya Civilizations
[HIS, WI]
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 3401 - The Human Fossil Record
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 3402 - Zooarchaeology Laboratory
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 3405 - Human Skeletal Analysis
(4.0 cr)
·
ANTH 3631 - Islam in America: A History of the Present
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 3896 - Internship for Academic Credit
(1.0-4.0 cr)
·
ANTH 3980 - Topics in Anthropology
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 3002 - Sex, Evolution, and Behavior: Examining Human Evolutionary Biology
(4.0 cr)
or
EEB 3002 - Sex, Evolution, and Behavior: Examining Human Evolutionary Biology
(4.0 cr)
·
ANTH 3009 - Prehistoric Pathways to World Civilizations
[HIS]
(3.0 cr)
or
HIST 3066 - Prehistoric Pathways to World Civilization
[HIS]
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 3021W - Anthropology of the Middle East
[SOCS, GP, WI]
(3.0 cr)
or
RELS 3707W {Inactive}
[SOCS, GP, WI]
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 3023 {Inactive}
[GP, SOCS]
(3.0 cr)
or
GLOS 3961 {Inactive}
[GP, SOCS]
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 3027W - Archaeology of Prehistoric Europe
[HIS, WI]
(3.0 cr)
or
ANTH 5027W - Archaeology of Prehistoric Europe
[HIS, WI]
(3.0 cr)
or
HIST 3067W - Archaeology of Prehistoric Europe
[HIS, WI]
(3.0 cr)
Capstone
Choose one of the following two options. Students who wish to undertake primary research should complete Option 1. Students wishing to acquire additional training through coursework should complete Option 2. Honors students seeking honors in Anthropology should complete Option 1, and enroll in ANTH 4013H. Students who double major and choose to complete the capstone requirement in their other major may waive the Anthropology BA capstone, and they do not need to replace the 4 credits
Option 1
Students should enroll in ANTH 3913 at least one semester before taking ANTH 4013.
Take exactly 2 course(s) totaling exactly 4 credit(s) from the following:
·
ANTH 3993 - Directed Study for Capstone Project Preparation
(1.0 cr)
·
Take exactly 3 credit(s) from the following:
·
ANTH 4013W - Capstone Project Writing Seminar
[WI]
(3.0 cr)
or
ANTH 4013H - Capstone Project Writing Seminar
(3.0 cr)
or
Option 2
Students should enroll in both courses in the same semester.
Take exactly 2 course(s) totaling 4 or more credit(s) from the following:
·
ANTH 4093 - In-Class Capstone Project
(1.0 cr)
with
ANTH 4xxx
or
ANTH 5xxx
Upper Division Writing Intensive within the major
Students are required to take one upper division writing intensive course within the major. If that requirement has not been satisfied within the core major requirements, students must choose one course from the following list. Some of these courses may also fulfill other major requirements.
Take 0 - 1 course(s) from the following:
·
ANTH 3005W - Language, Culture, and Power
[SOCS, DSJ, WI]
(4.0 cr)
·
ANTH 3022W {Inactive}
[WI]
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 3034W - Roots Music in American Culture and Society
[DSJ, WI]
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 3046W - Romance and Culture
[GP, WI]
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 3047W - Anthropology of Sex, Gender and Sexuality
[WI]
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 4029W - Anthropology of Social Class
[WI]
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 3145W - Urban Anthropology
[WI]
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 3242W - Hero, Savage, or Equal? Representations of NonWestern Peoples in the Movies
[WI]
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 3306W - Medical Anthropology
[GP, WI]
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 3327W - Inca, Aztec & Maya Civilizations
[HIS, WI]
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 4003W - Contemporary Perspectives in Cultural Anthropology
[WI]
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 4031W - Anthropology and Social Justice
[CIV, WI]
(4.0 cr)
·
ANTH 4994W - Directed Research
[WI]
(1.0-6.0 cr)
·
ANTH 5045W - Urban Anthropology
[WI]
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 5327W - Inca, Aztec & Maya Civilizations
[HIS, WI]
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 3015W - Biology, Evolution, and Cultural Development of Language & Music
[SOCS, WI]
(3.0 cr)
or
ANTH 5015W - Biology, Evolution, and Cultural Development of Language & Music
[SOCS, WI]
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 3021W - Anthropology of the Middle East
[SOCS, GP, WI]
(3.0 cr)
or
ANTH 5021W - Anthropology of the Middle East
[SOCS, GP, WI]
(3.0 cr)
or
RELS 3707W {Inactive}
[SOCS, GP, WI]
(3.0 cr)
or
RELS 5707W {Inactive}
[SOCS, GP, WI]
(3.0 cr)
·
ANTH 3027W - Archaeology of Prehistoric Europe
[HIS, WI]
(3.0 cr)
or
ANTH 5027W - Archaeology of Prehistoric Europe
[HIS, WI]
(3.0 cr)
or
HIST 3067W - Archaeology of Prehistoric Europe
[HIS, WI]
(3.0 cr)
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