Anthropology Bachelors of the Arts Program
Anthropology Bachelors of the Arts Program
The Anthropology major at CSULB consists of 10 required courses (5 lower division and 5 upper division), and 18 units of electives. The distribution and suggested sequencing are explained here.
REQUIRED LOWER DIVISION CORE (15-16 units)
The 5 required lower division courses include 1 statistics course and 1 course in each of the four subfields:
ANTH 110 (Introduction to Physical Anthropology) (3 units)
ANTH 120 (Introduction to Cultural Anthropology) (3 units)
ANTH 140 (Introduction to Archaeology) (3 units)
ANTH 170 (Introduction to Linguistics) (3 units)
Introductory Statistics
Any 3- or 4- unit introductory statistics course will satisfy this requirement. There are numerous statistics courses available in Mathematics departments (CSULB or community colleges), or you can take a statistics course in another social science, for example PSYC 110 [has PSYC 100 prerequisite], HDEV 190, CLA 250 or SOC 170.
We recommend taking the lower division courses before upper division, particularly when they are prerequisites.
REQUIRED UPPER DIVISION CORE (15 units)
An upper division course is required in each of the 4 subfields, plus methods and theory (ANTH 401):
ANTH 313 (Peoples of the World: Prehistory)
ANTH 314 (Global Ethnography)
ANTH 401 (Foundations of Anthropology)
ANTH 435 (Human Evolution)
ANTH 413 (Language and Culture) or ANTH 475 (Language and Gender)*
*These courses are cross-listed with Linguistics (LING) as explained in the CSULB catalog. You may register for the LING class if no seats are available in ANTH sections.
PLUS one of the following methods courses:
ANTH 405 (Principles of Archaeology)
ANTH 418 (Methods in Linguistic Anthropology)
ANTH 439 (Methods in Biological Anthropology)
ANTH 441 (Ethnographic Film Production)
ANTH 458 (Ethnographic Methods)
We recommend that you take the upper division courses after completing the Lower Division Core, though it is not always possible to do so. However, in many instances a lower division course in the same subfield (Cultural, Physical, etc.) is required as a prerequisite for the required upper division courses. Please verify this in the Catalog.
UPPER DIVISION ELECTIVES (18 units)
Upper division elective courses range from 1-10 units each. You may take more than 18 units of electives in Anthropology to fulfill the University’s requirement of 40 upper division units.
The major allows students to be generalists, picking upper division electives from differing subfields, or to choose them in one area. The catalog description of Anthropology shows courses grouped by topic/subfield as a guide for students with a particular interest. However, students may select electives from among these subfields to suit their own interests and needs.
You may start taking electives as soon as you have completed any prerequisite for that course with the exception of the independent study courses (ANTH 499, ANTH 496, and ANTH 498) and the field schools. All of these classes require instructor permission.
GENERAL EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS
Some lower division General Education courses can be counted toward the major. Anthropology majors may also use a number of Anthropology upper division courses to complete University General Education requirements. A full listing of Anthropology General Education courses and the categories they fulfill is listed in the University Catalog, and on the General Education requirements website at:http://www.csulb.edu/depts/enrollment/registration/ge_courses/overview2012.html
The Anthropology Department adviser does not advise on General Education requirements because they differ for different students. The ATLAS Network, our College of Liberal Arts Advising Center, provides excellent, personalized guidance on General Education requirements. Please visit them in Peterson Hall 1, Room 104, or call for an appointment at 562.985.7804. It is essential to check in with an adviser in this office before you register for your final courses to make sure you have met all General Education requirements.