Anthropology Major

Program Requirements

  • Total units required: 34

Required Courses

Anthro 140Proseminar1
Anthro 150AIntroduction to Human Evolution3
Anthro 160BIntroduction to Cultural Anthropology3
Anthro 190BIntroduction to Archaeology3
Total Units10

Elective Courses

Students must complete 24 advanced units (300 level or higher) of elective courses, of which 9 units must be at the 400 level.

Additional Information

  • Students should register under the L48 department code for any courses that will count toward the anthropology major.
  • Courses taken Pass/Fail and courses in which a student earns less than a C- do not fulfill the major requirements.
  • A maximum of 12 units of nontraditional courses — including School of Continuing & Professional Studies, study abroad, transfer (non-study abroad), honors, and directed-research courses — may be counted toward the advanced electives in the major. For details, please see below.

School of Continuing & Professional Studies

Anthropology courses taken in the School of Continuing & Professional Studies (U69) may be counted toward the major or minor. Courses listed as electives for the GHE specialization that are offered in the School of Continuing & Professional Studies may be counted toward the GHE specialization major or minor. A maximum of 6 units of credit from School of Continuing & Professional Studies courses may be counted toward the electives. Required introductory courses taken through the School of Continuing & Professional Studies do not count toward the maximum number.

Study Abroad

The department recognizes and accepts courses from a number of semester and year abroad programs. Specific information about study abroad policies is available on the anthropology department website or by consultation with the study abroad coordinator. Students may petition to count up to 9 units of study abroad elective credit toward the general anthropology major or up to 6 units of study abroad elective credit toward the GHE specialization of the major. Students should contact the anthropology study abroad coordinator to discuss the requirements for study abroad credit and to gain approval for the transfer of credit.

Transfer Credit

Students who wish to transfer credits from other institutions (non-study abroad units) for use toward the major in anthropology must have approval from the director of undergraduate studies. With approval, students may transfer a total of 9 units of credit from other U.S. institutions.

Senior Honors

Anthropology majors in the College of Arts & Sciences who wish to conduct a research project for Latin Honors, who have a minimum grade point average of 3.65, and who have received the approval of a faculty advisor and the department honors coordinator may be enrolled in the honors program. Latin Honors involves both the demonstration of acquired knowledge (based in part on GPA) and a report on an original research project. Two courses, Anthro 4960 and Anthro 4961, are available to allow students to receive credit for the extra research involved in the honors thesis. Students may count one of these courses toward their 400/0-level course requirement for the major.

Research

Many anthropology courses include research components and final projects. Majors can also take part in research at the beginning, intermediate, or advanced level in any subdiscipline and gain credit through approved directed research with faculty who have ongoing research projects. Research opportunities in anthropology labs include projects in archaeology, paleoethnobotany, geoarchaeology, zooarchaeology, genetic studies, geographic information systems, human osteology, human ecology, and primate studies. Students may count a maximum of 3 units of directed research credit with any individual faculty member toward the major.

Internships

Anthropology majors may gain pre-professional experience by taking part in supervised internships in businesses, cultural institutions, and community agencies. Students must have department approval for an internship and must work with an anthropology faculty sponsor during the fall or spring semester. Internships may only be taken for Pass/Fail credit and do not count toward the major requirements.

Contact Info

Contact:Erin Coleman
Phone:314-935-5309
Email:colemane@wustl.edu
Website:http://anthropology.wustl.edu