Academic Requirements
Anthropology graduates have the knowledge to understand the complexities of human behavior in the past and present and the practical skills to conduct rigorous research into the environmental and social forces that influence human cultural development across the globe.
Anthropology is the only discipline that can access evidence about the entire human experience on this planet.
- Michael Brian Schiffer
Through courses in the subfields of sociocultural anthropology, archaeology, linguistics, and biological anthropology, students are exposed to multiple perspectives for solving theoretical and practical issues.
Distribution Credit in Anthropology
The Social Science requirement can be fulfilled with ANY two ANT courses, including experiential courses such as ANT 296 [archaeology summer field school], ANT 329 [Ethnomusicology of Cuba], and ANT 340 [Inside-Out with Baylor Women's Correctional Institution].
Students fulfilling the Social Science requirement with only one Anthropology course can take any ANT course.
Majors and Minors
Anthropology majors and minors graduate with a broad understanding of human evolution and adaptation, changes in food and technology, the rise of civilizations and urban life, how language shapes worldviews, the diversity of cultural belief systems, and the human consequences of globalization.
Major requirements: 11 courses
Four Core Required Courses
- ANT 105: Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
- ANT 107: Introduction to Environmental Archaeology
- ANT 305: Culture, Power, and the Human Experience: Anthropological Inquiry
- ANT 405: Seminar in Anthropology (Junior Seminar)
Five additional ANT elective courses (20 Credits)
- Any five anthropology courses, excluding the core courses. No more than two electives may be fulfilled through experiential / applied courses.
One ANT field research or experiential course
- One course selected from the following:
ANT 296: Archaeological Field School ANT 329: Cuba Music and Culture ANT 340: Inside-Out ANT 354: Visual Anthropology ANT 360: Museum Studies ANT 474: Historic Preservation and Cultural Resource Management CRS 242: Society and Estuary (note CRS 242 is taken as part of the Chesapeake
Semester)A semester long Study Abroad course will also satisfy this requirment. Other courses, including some special topics, may satisfy this requirement with the approval of the Chair.
Senior Capstone Experience (ANT SCE)
- The Senior Capstone Experience integrates the theoretical knowledge and practical skills that students have acquired throughout their undergraduate years, not only within the major, but also across the liberal arts and sciences. The Capstone Experience is an independent research project, on an anthropological topic of the student’s choosing, undertaken with the close guidance of a faculty advisor. Proposals are typically developed during the spring of the third year in the Anthropology Seminar. Course credit for this senior thesis project is awarded through registration, in the fall or spring semester of the senior year, for ANT SCE.
Anthropology majors may want to pursue a regional concentration such as African Studies, Asian Studies, European Studies, Latin American Studies and Near Eastern Studies.
Minor requirements: 6 courses
- Two Introductory Courses (ANT 105, 107)
- Methods Course (either ANT 208 or ANT 305)
- Three additional ANT elective courses
Double Majors
Many students choose to double major with anthropology! Take a peek at some of the second majors anthropology students have accomplished at Washington College.
| American Studies | Environmental Science |
| Art & Art History | Environmental Studies |
| Biology | Latin American Studies |
| Business | Music |
| Computer Science | Philosophy & Religion |
| English | Physics |
| French | Political Science |
| History | Psychology |
| Humanities | Sociology |
| Inernational Literature & Culture | Theater |
| International Studies |