Anthropology sometimes requires physical labor! Students at Dr. Estrada-Belli's field school in Guatemala make a path through the jungle.
Anthropology is the most holistic of all the social sciences. Students majoring in anthropology at Vanderbilt take courses in the four subfields of anthropology, each of which looks at humanity from a different perspective. These subfields include ethnology, the study of living people; archaeology, the study of past cultures through their material remains; physical or biological anthropology, the study of biological adaptation, diversity, and the evolution of the human species; and anthropological linguistics, the study of language, linguistic variation, and relationships among languages. The central, unifying concept in the four subfields that makes anthropology a holistic discipline is culture. Anthropology students develop a broad understanding of cultural expressions around the world and are encouraged to reach their own personal synthesis of humanistic and scientific studies of the nature of humankind. This preparation is useful in all professional careers.
Program of Concentration in Anthropology
The major in anthropology requires completion of at least 30 hours of course work, as follows:
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Four 100-level surveys (Anthropology 101, 103, 104, and 105) covering the four subfields of anthropology: cultural anthropology, physical anthropology, archaeology, and linguistic anthropology.
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A minimum of three hours from each of the groups below:
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Group I — Comparative Anthropology and Anthropological Theory: 206, 223, 224, 226, 228, 234, 240, 250, 260, 262, 263, 264, 265, 266, 267, 284
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Group II — Archaeology and Physical Anthropology: 173, 207, 211, 212, 213, 216, 217, 229, 231, 246, 248, 254, 270, 271, 272, 280
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Group III — Ethnography, Ethnohistory, and Linguistics: 201, 203, 210, 214, 220, 231, 247, 249, 259, 275
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A seminar on anthropological theory (206 or 284). The seminar may not also be used to count toward Group I credit above.
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At least 18 hours of credit must be at the 200 level.
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With the approval of the student’s major adviser, a maximum of 3 hours of credit for a course taken in another department or program may be counted toward the major requirement. A variety of courses are possible, including but not limited to those listed below. In each case, the course must be relevant to the student’s program and the student must receive the approval of his or her major adviser.
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Biological Sciences 205, 239; Classics 217; History 127, 249; History of Art 268; Human and Organizational Development 264; Mathematics 127a, 127b; Music Literature 160, 278; Religious Studies 130, 254; Sociology 201, 220, 230, 277, 279; Spanish 221
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