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Anthropology


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Bennion
Center

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Capstones
Program

172

Declared
Majors

25

Average
Class Size

Courses

Getting Started

Begin with any of these courses:
  • ANTH 1020 - Human Origins
  • ANTH 1010 - Culture and the Human Experience
  • ANTH 1030 - Prehistoric Archaeology
  • ANTH 1050 - Evolution of Human Nature

Making Progress

Participate in a field school. We offer three archaeological field schools:
  • Great Basin Archaeology - Range Creek, UT
  • Zooarchaeology - Eagle Lake, CA
  • Maya Archaeology - El Mirador Basin, Guatemala
We also offer two cultural anthropology field schools:
  • Culture, Ecology, and Sustainability Field School - Baja California Sur, Mexico
  • Ethnographic Field School - the Kingdom of Tonga

Finishing Up

  • Meet with your academic advisor(s) to ensure that you have a plan to complete the academic requirements for your major and/or minor
  • Apply for graduation

Community

Getting Started

Making Progress

  • Engage in leadership opportunities like student government or become an orientation leader, LEAP Peer Mentor, or Bennion Center Scholar
  • Consider becoming a research assistant for the Shoshoni Language Project
  • Become a student member of a professional association aligned with your major, such as the AAPA or the SAA

Finishing Up

  • Participate in a CEL class like ENVST 3365 - Environmental Justice
  • Build research and presentation skills in ANTH 5500 - Anthropology Capstone

Knowledge & Skills

Getting Started

Making Progress

Connect with faculty members to identify possible research opportunities
    Choose courses that teach a specific skill:
    • ANTH 5169 - Ethnographic Methods
    • ANTH 3271 - Human Osteology
    • ANTH 3850 - Introduction to Museum Collections
    Become a research assistant in an Anthropology lab:
    • Ancient DNA Lab
    • Population Genetics Lab
    • Zooarchaeology Lab
    • Molecular Ecology and Evolutionary Genetics Lab

    Finishing Up

    Transformation

    Getting Started

    Making Progress

    • Attend MUSE Casual Fridays to make connections with peers and professors
    • Attend the ENVST/ANTH/GEOG undergraduate research symposium in September to learn about available research projects
    • Find a faculty mentor
    • Talk with your advisor about which of your major or allied classes incorporates elements of sustainability, such as ANTH 3486 - Human Ecology

    Finishing Up

    • Lead an Alternative Spring/Fall Break group
    • Participate in graduation ceremonies
    • Compile an e-portfolio of your favorite projects, assignments, and experiences

    Impact

    Getting Started

    Making Progress

    Finishing Up

    Careers

    Getting Started

    • Stop by the Career Studio (SSB 350) to get started with your resume and identify your strengths, interests, and personality
    • Activate and customize your Handshake account to find jobs, internships, and career opportunities
    • Meet with a Pre-Professional Advisor if you're interested in medical or law school

    Making Progress

    • Take ANTH 2001 - Anthropology as a Major and Career to see what you can do with a degree in Anthropology
    • Attend the Meet and Eats and Career Treks events offered by the CPDC
    • Attend a career fair or expo
    • Create a LinkedIn account
    • Stop by the Career Studio to update your resume or meet with a Career Coach to discuss your goals and plans after graduation
    • Consider an internship with a potential employer using Handshake or the CSBS or ENVST Internship websites

    Finishing Up

    • Refine your resume and graduate school applications at the Career Studio
    • Practice interviewing with a Career Coach
    • Explore and apply for jobs and graduate schools in your desired area(s) of interest

    Start Your Career Journey


    Find support at the Career and Professional Development Center (CPDC)

    Visit cpdc

     

    About the Major

    Anthropology is a broad field that includes the comparative, evolutionary, and historical study of humankind. At the U you can tailor the Anthropology major to suit your interests, passions, and future pursuits by choosing from several emphasis areas, including archaeological science, cultural anthropology, evolutionary anthropology, and health. Within Archaeological Science, you will study human societies by analyzing prehistoric and historic artifacts. Cultural anthropology studies cultural diversity through cross-cultural comparisons, linguistic studies, and historical records. Evolutionary anthropology studies human behavior as a product of evolution via natural selection. The anthropology major with emphasis in an Health focuses on the interactions between biological, environmental, and social factors that influence health and satisfies curricular requirements for health-related professional programs.

    You can take classes that reflect our faculty's regional expertise in Australia, New Guinea, Latin America, Europe, and Western North America. Topics include archaeological science, human evolutionary genetics, behavioral ecology, hunter-gatherer ethnography, and evolutionary approaches to human and nonhuman primate behavior. Outside of the traditional classroom, you'll have opportunities to participate in independent research and gain practical, hands-on experience with lab-based classes in our human osteology, zooarchaeology, or archaeology labs. You can also participate in one of several cultural anthropology or archaeology field programs. We have a small but productive faculty, who do important research across disciplines and encourage students to do the same.

    Learning Outcomes

    • Describe variation among humans and their closest relatives across the world and through time.
    • Specify each of the major sub-fields in anthropology and contrast each of their approaches to studying and measuring variation.
    • Apply anthropological research methods to answer a question or solve a problem.
    • Explain aspects of human variation using evolutionary and social theory.
    • Evaluate and synthesize scientific hypotheses about human variation using empirical data

    Plan & Prepare

    At the U, we plan for our students to have an exceptional Educational Experience identified by four broad categories we call the Learning Framework: Community, Knowledge & Skills, Transformation, and Impact. This major map will help you envision, explore, design, and plan your personalized Exceptional Education Experience with the Learning Framework at the core. In addition to assisting you in planning your coursework and navigating the requirements of your major, this map will help you incorporate other kinds of experiences to expand your knowledge, support your development, and prepare you for the future you want.

    Discover More.


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    Last Updated: 7/19/24