Anthropology Program Goals

Anthropology majors will demonstate proficiency in the following skills sets and knowledge base:

SKILL SETS

1. Research Fluency
a. Students will be able to recognize and analyze patterns in data.
b. Students will demonstrate an ability to collect anthropological data utilizing a variety of methods.
c. Students will demonstrate an ability to locate, identify and utilize scholarly materials.
d. Students will demonstrate an ability to utilize appropriate methods of citation of source materials.
2. Critical Thinking
a. Students will understand scholarly articles in anthropology in terms of their purposes, methods, and significance.
b. Students will integrate information and viewpoints drawn from multiple sources when conducting research.
c. Students will demonstrate an ability to construct an informed argument or position.
3. Written Communication
a. Students will demonstrate an ability to craft college-level writing in a variety of styles and communicate effectively in written forms.
4. Demonstrate Appropriate Oral Communication
a. Students will demonstrate an ability to communicate effectively in oral research presentations.

KNOWLEDGE BASE

1. Know the nature, intent, and scope of anthropology.
Students will understand that anthropology is a very broad discipline, inherently interdisciplinary, that seeks to understand what it is to be human from multiple perspectives across time and space.
2. Cultural Anthropology
Students will demonstrate an ability to critically evaluate the global human condition, making connections between local and global contexts. Students will understand the issues of cultural relativism and ethnocentrism in a multicultural world, and be more sensitive to the diversity of worldviews.
3. Archaeology
Students will demonstrate an understanding of the main concepts, methods, and techniques used in analyzing existing and past human societies and the significance of material culture.
4. Biological Anthropology
Students will demonstrate understanding of evolutionary and behavioral ecology theories as they apply to an understanding of human and nonhuman primate evolution. Students will understand how behavioral and cultural adaptations have been shaped by the physical and social environments.
5. Language and communication systems
Students will demonstrate an understanding of the distinctive nature of human language and of human communication as culturally-shaped behavior.
6. Applications
Students will understand how anthropological methods and knowledge can be applied to solve real world problems.
7. Ethical reasoning
Students will demonstrate an awareness of the ethical and legal considerations and consequences of data collection, analysis, and publication.
8. Anthropological Theory
Students will understand how science and humanities paradigms inform anthropological inquiry.