Anthropology Major/Minor Requirements

Anthropology is the study of humanity in all its cultural, biological, linguistic, and historical diversity. A synthesis of scientific and humanistic concerns and methods, it attempts to distinguish universal human characteristics from those unique to individual social groups, and to understand the reasons for differences between individuals and groups.

The insights of anthropology are essential for a critical understanding of the problems of the contemporary world. Anthropology informs a public confronted with choices to be made with respect to changing value systems; competing social goals; ethnic, religious, class, gender, and race relations; new and emerging technologies; environmental and cultural resources management; changing paradigms of health, wellness, and disease; linguistic diversity; and international relations.

Anthropology offers both unique theoretical perspectives and a particular set of methodological approaches. The faculty considers it essential that we educate our students in both. Students should take away from their studies a substantive knowledge of the commonalities and differences in human experiences and also an understanding of how that knowledge is obtained and evaluated.

The anthropology major thus prepares students for successful entry into any number of professional and graduate programs, as well as careers that require a multicultural approach and perspective. Our mission is to represent anthropology appropriately at Lawrence and in the wider communities within which we live and work, and to educate others wherever and whenever possible with the insights that anthropology has to offer.

The anthropology department at Lawrence includes a range of courses and opportunities for guided independent study from the complementary perspectives of archaeology, biological anthropology, linguistic anthropology, and ethnology. Faculty members provide expertise in a number of ethnographic areas, including North and West Africa, India, East Asia, the Middle East, and North America. Topical interests include archaeological methods, refugee communities, medical anthropology, linguistic anthropology, biological anthropology, forensic anthropology, and museum studies. The department maintains two well-equipped laboratories, as well as collections of archaeological and ethnographic materials from many culture areas. The department holds a full suite of geophysical equipment for non-invasive archaeology and also provides equipment for audio and video data collection and transcription to support research in the cultural and linguistic anthropology subfields.

Students who complete the major will demonstrate an understanding of unique concepts and theoretical perspectives of anthropology. They will apply methodological approaches used in anthropology and comprehend and critically analyze research literature. Moreover, they will be able to explain the relevance of anthropology to understanding contemporary human life.

The major requires the following core courses plus one of the tracks listed below.

1. The following introductory courses:
   1. ANTH 110: Cultural Anthropology
   2. ANTH 120: World Prehistory
   3. ANTH 140: Biological Anthropology
2. ANTH 200: History of Anthropological Ideas (Students are expected to complete this course during their sophomore year and no later than the end of their junior year.)
3. ANTH 401: Research Preparation in Anthropology (taken in the spring of the junior year)
4. Senior Experience foundation course: Any 6-unit 500- or 600-level course in Anthropology taken in the senior year. This is in addition to the upper-division seminar elective requirement (courses numbered in the 500s) for any of the tracks.
5. ANTH 699: Senior Experience in Anthropology (2 units) taken concurrently with the senior experience foundation course.
6. Completion of the requirements for one of the tracks listed below.

1. Students are expected to complete the following methods courses during their sophomore year and no later than the end of their junior year:
   1. ANTH 207: Quantitative Analysis in Anthropology
   2. ANTH 210: Research Methods in Cultural Anthropology
2. Four six-unit elective courses in anthropology numbered 300 or above, including at least one upper-division seminar (courses numbered in the 500s). (Anthropology majors are urged to take several of these seminars in their junior and senior years.)

1. Students are expected to complete the following methods courses by the end of their sophomore year and not later than the end of their junior year:
   1. ANTH 207: Quantitative Analysis in Anthropology
   2. ANTH 210: Research Methods in Cultural Anthropology
2. ANTH 330: Language and Culture or ANTH 331: Introduction to Sociolinguistics
3. ANTH 430: Methods in Linguistic Anthropology
4. ANTH 530: Topics in Linguistic Anthropology or ANTH 531: Semiotics
5. One additional six-unit elective course in anthropology numbered 300 or above

Note: All required courses in the linguistic anthropology track also apply towards completion of the cultural anthropology track. The linguistic anthropology track is suspended pending review of the curriculum.

1. Students are expected to complete the following methods courses during their sophomore year and no later than the end of their junior year:
   1. ANTH 207: Quantitative Analysis in Anthropology
   2. ANTH 525: Research Methods in Archaeology or another approved field experience
   3. ANTH 222: Historic Preservation Theory and Practice
2. Six units of ANTH 422: Archaeological Collections Management
3. Three six-unit elective courses in anthropology numbered 300 or above, including ANTH 520: Topics in Archaeology or a related 500-level seminar.

1. BIOL 135: Ecology, Evolution, and Society
2. BIOL 150: Organismal Form and Function
3. ANTH 207: Quantitative Analysis in Anthropology or BIOL 280: Experimental Design and Statistics. ANTH 210 Research Methods in Cultural Anthropology is recommended for students pursuing an interest in biocultural anthropology via the biological anthropology track. Students are expected to complete this requirement during their sophomore year and no later than the end of their junior year.
4. Three six-unit elective courses in anthropology numbered 300 or above, including ANTH 540: Topics in Biological Anthropology.
5. Three six-unit courses in biology, chemistry, geosciences, mathematics, or psychology (347 & 348 only), at least two of which must be psychology (347 & 348 only) or biology or courses numbered 200 or above AND at least one of which must be a laboratory course.

The Department of Anthropology's Senior Experience is a two-course sequence which is the culmination of a four-year series of core courses designed to develop the student's abilities to reason and practice as an anthropologist. Students begin their study of anthropology with a three-course introductory sequence, and move on in their sophomore year to a three-course theory and methods sequence. After further exploration of their specific interests within anthropology through elective courses and off-campus study, each anthropology student develops a plan for their Senior Experience by the end of the spring term of their junior year. Typically, students will develop this plan in ANTH 401: Research Preparation.  However, students who are studying off-campus during spring of their junior year will need to consult with their advisor about an alternative to ANTH 401, including the addition of 6 credits of at least 400-level coursework to their requirements for the major.

Following from the plan developed in the junior year, students will enroll in a Senior Experience foundation course in their senior year that will serve as the basis for Senior Experience work.  Any 500- or 600-level course in Anthropology can serve as the Senior Experience foundation course.  Concurrent with the foundation course, students must enroll in 2 units of ANTH 699 with the foundation course instructor, for which they will complete additional mentored independent work that results in a research paper, exhibit, film, or other product that demonstrates their proficiency in anthropological knowledge.  Students are also required to present their project in a classroom or public forum, typically either at the end of the foundation course, or during spring term at a formal symposium for juniors enrolled in ANTH 401.

1. Two of the following courses:
   • ANTH 110: Cultural Anthropology
   • ANTH 120: World Prehistory
   • ANTH 140: Biological Anthropology
2. Three six-unit electives in anthropology, selected from courses numbered 200 and above, except ANTH 401
3. One six-unit upper-division seminar (courses numbered in the 500s)

Anthropology majors can seek certification to teach social studies at the secondary level. For certification in broad-field social studies, students must complete the major and a minimum of two courses each in two other social studies (economics, government/political science, history, or psychology) and at least one course in each of the remaining social studies. Students are strongly encouraged to take a course in U.S. history and a course in global history. A course in environmental studies is also required. Students can seek endorsement to teach English as a second language by completing the Teaching ESL minor in linguistics. Students who plan to seek teacher certification should review the requirements in the Education section of the catalog and meet with the director of teacher education, preferably before the end of the sophomore year.