At the undergraduate level, the CSULB Department of Anthropology offers the following academic programs:
Major in Anthropology leading to a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree
Minor in Anthropology
Concentration in Anthropology
Note that the Major in Anthropology allows students to select from a wide selection of courses but also design a course selection that allows them to specialize in a particular area of anthropology such as, Physical Anthropology, Lingistics, and Sociocultural Anthropology. It is important to see the undergraduate advisor to review course choices.
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 (ANTH 202) 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 250, or SOC 250.
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 + the theory (401) course:
• 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.
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
No Lower Division General Education course can be counted toward the major. However, Anthropology majors can 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 in the University Catalog, on the Anthropology BeachBoard link (http://beachboard.csulb.edu) and outside the Anthropology department office.
The Anthropology Department advisor does not advise on General Education requirements because they differ for different students (e.g. the students’ catalog year; whether one is a transfer student, etc.) The Undergradiate Advising Center in the Horn Center provides excellent, personalized guidance on General Education requirements. You may make an appointment there in person. It is essential to check in with an advisor in this office before you register for your final courses to make sure you have met all General Education requirements.
ANTHROPOLOGY ADVISING
It is recommended that you sign up for advising at least once per semester. The current undergraduate advisor is Dr. Marcus Young Owl. A sign-up sheet with appointment times is posted outside his office – F03- 316. His phone number is (562) 985-5179.
You must meet with the advisor to complete the Program Planner when filing to graduate, following University guidelines and dates listed in the Academic Calendar. Information about the procedure is available on the http://beachboard.csulb.edu
