Department of Anthropology

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Department of Anthropology

B-4 Cooper
(585) 395-2682

Co-Chairs and Associate Professors: Charles R. Edwards and LouAnn Wurst; Professors: Margaret B. Blackman, Douglas A. Feldman, Jack R. Rollwagen.

• Requirements
• Courses

What is Anthropology?
Anthropology is the systematic study of humans. Its primary concerns are to:

• understand the origins of human behavior and culture over 60 million years of primate evolution and six million years of human evolution;
• explain the diversity of adaptive strategies, ways of life and value systems developed by humans as they confront the world’s diverse natural, social and artificial environments; and
• put this understanding to practical use in analyzing and solving modern societal problems.

Career Options
The anthropology major and minor provide excellent preparation for postgraduate training and/or careers in applied anthropology, museum work, public and contractual archaeology, education, forensic science, law, health/medicine, international business, marketing, human services, tourism and other fields that require an understanding of human diversity and ­human adaptability.

Programs and Courses
The program in anthropology at SUNY Brockport is geared toward a core of motivated majors and minors. It stresses interaction between students and faculty; hands-on laboratory, field and career experience; training in research methodology; and mastery of analytical and communication skills. The anthropology major offers two options, one with 37 credits and the other with 43 credits. The department also offers an 18-credit Personalized Applied Minor in Anthropology (PAMA) and a general minor. Courses cover four areas:

1. Physical (biological) anthropology: reconstructing human and primate evolution, and understanding contemporary human adaptation;
2. Archaeology: studying culture through material remains with the aim of ordering and describing the events of the past and explaining the meaning of those events;
3. Cultural anthropology: understanding cultural diversity and contemporary sociocultural processes; and
4. Applied anthropology: putting these perspectives to work in identifying, analyzing and solving contemporary human societal problems in fields such as medicine, international development, preservation of cultural and environmental resources, and human services.

Major in Anthropology
The Department of Anthropology offers a major that gives students an opportunity to choose between two options depending on their curricular and career needs. Details of the two options are described below.

Major Requirements

Option I. Liberal Arts Anthropology Option (37 credits):
A traditional “stand-alone” major for students who are interested in anthropology but who will probably not enter anthropology as a career, per sé. Such students might include those with another major outside of anthropology or students in pre-professional programs such as pre-law, pre-medical, elementary and secondary education certification. Option I provides students with a broad perspective on anthropology by including within it courses in each of three sub-disciplines (socio/cultural anthropology, physical/biological anthropology and archaeology).

Option II. Anthropology as a Profession/Pre-graduate School Option (43 credits)

An expanded major for students who will probably (1) enter the work force directly as practitioner/applied anthropologists, Cultural Resources Management (CRM) staff, CRM archaeologists, museum staff, Peace Corps volunteers, etc. and/or (2) attend graduate programs in anthropology. This option is founded on the assumption that potential employers and graduate schools seek superior students with a work ethic, research and communication skills, and practical experience that they can translate immediately into the job or graduate school. Option II differs from Option I in requiring that students complete an additional collateral course and a senior thesis project. In addition, this option requires that students have a cumulative GPA of 3.25 in anthropology courses in order to register for the Senior Thesis.

Option II Major Requirements: (43 credits) Credits

Strongly recommended for Options I and II:
Courses in foreign language (four semesters), statistics, computer applications, advanced writing, semester-abroad program, internship or co-op (ANT 462 or BCE 322). For students in ­Option II, courses ancillary to anthropology may be suggested by advisor if these are relevant to ­career or graduate school goals. For example, anthropology majors intending to pursue careers and/or graduate work in areas such as museum work, physical anthropology, paleontology, archaeology, conservancy/conservation, medicine, and law will be advised to take additional courses in disciplinary areas relevant to their career goals. Majors may increase chances for a successful career by:

• combining anthropology with a professional or pre-professional program such as teacher certification, pre-law, or pre-medical;
• minoring in a field that complements anthropology (art, communications, psychology, etc.);
• developing skills in areas outside of, but relevant to, anthropology, such as computer science, foreign languages, technical writing or advanced composition;
• completing an internship, field project or service in an area relevant to anthropology; and/or
• experiencing another culture through a credit-bearing semester abroad.

Minor Programs in Anthropology
The Personalized Applied Minor in Anthropology (PAMA) is a contractual program that ­allows students to relate anthropology to their major or career interests outside of anthropology. PAMA students are assigned a faculty sponsor in anthropology with interests and training relevant to the concerns of the student’s major field. The student and faculty member then develop a contractual minor of 18 credits which must include an integrative ANT 499 Independent Study course taken in the senior year.

The department also offers a general minor for students who have not chosen a career concentration or major, or who simply want a broad exposure to anthropology. The general ­minor consists of 18 credits in anthropology distributed as follows:

1. ANT 100;
2. One of the following: ANT 110 or 120; and
3. Four electives selected in consultation with the departmental advisor.

Anthropology Courses