COURSE CURRICULUM

The Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Anthropology is a 120-credit-hour degree program that provides students with a comprehensive understanding of human cultures, societies, biological evolution, and archaeological history while developing strong analytical, research, and communication skills. In addition to completing the university’s general education requirements and the Liberal Arts and Sciences competency requirements, students must complete at least 30 credit hours in anthropology. The core curriculum introduces the major subfields of anthropology through courses in Biological Anthropology, Cultural Anthropology, and Introduction to Archaeology, followed by Theories of Culture, which develops students’ understanding of anthropological methods and theoretical perspectives. Students then specialize further by selecting upper-level courses in biological anthropology, cultural anthropology, and archaeology. Biological anthropology options include studies of human evolution, human adaptation, and skeletal analysis. Cultural anthropology courses explore topics such as world cultures, religion, politics, society, medical anthropology, psychology, and gender across cultures. Archaeology options focus on world archaeology, North American archaeology, and Indigenous cultures of the Great Plains. Students also complete nine additional credit hours of anthropology electives, allowing them to tailor the program according to their interests and career goals. An additional requirement includes a statistics course, such as Psychological Statistics, Introduction to Social Statistics, or Elementary Statistics, which helps students develop quantitative research and data analysis skills. Open electives provide flexibility for students to pursue a minor, explore other academic disciplines, or strengthen professional competencies while reaching the required 120 credit hours for graduation. The program encourages interdisciplinary learning and allows up to six credit hours of approved coursework from related fields to count toward the anthropology major. Graduates develop expertise in cultural analysis, research methodology, critical thinking, data interpretation, and understanding human diversity, preparing them for careers in archaeology, museums, cultural resource management, social services, community development, education, nonprofit organizations, government agencies, and research institutions. The degree also provides excellent preparation for graduate studies in anthropology, archaeology, public policy, law, international studies, and related social science disciplines.