Academic Learning Compact - Anthropology

The major enables you to develop critical thinking, problem solving and communication skills in the social sciences. Through study of human evolution and cultural diversity, you will learn holistic, comparative and relative perspectives of anthropology, both scientific and humanistic. Emphasis is on critical thinking skills in the evaluation of alternative knowledge claims. You will learn to identify western cultural biases, to integrate diverse sources of information into holistic perspectives and to apply anthropological knowledge and perspectives to solve problems of broad human relevance.

Additional information is available from your major's website.

Before Graduating You Must

• Achieve satisfactory evaluation of a term paper written for an upper-division course or senior honors thesis.
• Complete requirements for the baccalaureate degree, as determined by faculty.

Skills You Will Acquire in the Major (SLOs)

1. Understand the four subfields of anthropology (archaeological, biological, linguistic, sociocultural)
1. Human and nonhuman primate evolution
2. Natural history of primates
3. Biological basis for human variation
4. Relationship between biology and culture
5. Cultural diversity
6. Culture change
7. Cultural relativism
8. Globalization
9. World prehistory
10. Sociolinguistics
11. Ethnographic method
12. Archaeological method
13. Linguistic method
2. Apply the scientific approach to investigate human variation in its biological, social and cultural dimensions.
3. Draw appropriate and alternative conclusions from comparative analysis of human diversity.
4. Identify and evaluate knowledge claims from a culturally and historically relativistic standpoint.
5. Integrate different sources and types of knowledge into holistic perspectives about human variation.
6. Evaluate the significance, quality and veracity of information and apply it effectively to solve problems.
7. Articulate anthropological knowledge professionally in written and verbal form.