Anthropology (B.A.)
The B.A. in Anthropology is an interdepartmental major designed for students interested in humanistic approaches to past and present processes of globalization. The rigorous yet flexible Global Studies curriculum combines courses in anthropology, history, cultural studies, and language training that enable students to gain a nuanced understanding of both global processes and regional histories and cultures. Graduates of the program have pursued careers in a wide range of fields, including law, the private and non-governmental sectors, and graduate work in psychology, business, health and medicine, and international studies.
Faculty affiliated with the program come from the departments of History, Modern Languages, English, and Philosophy, and draw on their international expertise to help students gain a rich, multidisciplinary understanding of global issues and concerns (such as, climate change and the environment; migration; social and political movements; imperial legacies and contemporary politics; art, language, culture, and globalization.)
Students should consult with the Global Studies academic advisor about new courses and study abroad courses that may be approved for the Global Studies major.
The B.A. in Global Studies may be elected as a primary or an additional major; the requirements for each are the same.
Program Outcomes/Learning Objectives
- To become familiar with—that is, to compare and contrast—the important ways of thinking about globalizations past and present. This step includes tracing the development of the societies, cultures, economies, political systems, and conflicts that have shaped our world.
- To identify factors that have shaped global movements of people, goods, ideas, and cultural practices throughout history—and thus analyze the ways in which globalization processes continue to influence cultures, policies, economies, and material environments today.
- To articulate the value of societal “difference,” “context,” and “change over time” by using primary sources as the basis for scholarly analysis. One must learn how to evaluate societies much different from their own, and to identify ethnocentric assumptions in themselves and others.
- To model the “best practices” that professional historians and anthropologists use to do research using primary and secondary sources. One should first learn and then master the criteria that historians use to identify, dig out, evaluate, and draw inferences from historical “evidence,” and to draw defensible arguments from that evidence. A student must become familiar with up-to-date methods, electronic and otherwise, and practice locating and accessing historical data in libraries, archives, on-line repositories, and fieldwork.
- To develop analytical writing skills, with particular attention to a paper's organization, tone, and style; to appreciate subtlety and nuance in historical argument (including recognition of unintended consequences); to be circumspect in drawing grand “lessons” from history; to be skeptical of arguments that all “change” necessarily represents “progress”; and to be wary of mono-causal explanations of complex historical and global phenomena.
- To participate as a member of a cooperative research community, by practicing and improving one's communication skills via regular classroom discussions, oral presentations, collaborative projects, critical peer review, and conversation with instructors/mentors.
- Optional: To encourage the pursuit of foreign language training and immersive experiences in diverse cultural settings (e.g., participation in a study abroad program).
Please view the for the most up to date listing of courses that satisfy this requirement.