Student Resources

The Department of Anthropology desires to offer students the broadest possible array of courses to make a student's educational experience here as exciting and rewarding as possible. Some constraints limit our ability to offer students all the courses as often as we might wish. The table below details the semester rotation of anthropology courses to help students plan their passage through the major or minor as efficiently as possible.

Suggestions for effective planning of your anthropology major:

• Normally students should take the lower level 100 courses as early in their career as possible. Take the higher level courses later. Transfer students may have to take both types of courses at the same time in some cases.
• The upper level requirements – ANTH 201 Applied Anthropology, and ANTH 401 Seminar in Anthropological Theory are offered in the spring semester only while ANTH 301 Methods is offered only in the fall. Make plans accordingly.
• ANTH 401: Seminar in Anthropological Theory is the Anthropology capstone course. Students should try to take this course in the last year or semester of their undergraduate career. We recommend that students take ANTH 301: Methods, before taking ANTH 401 if possible.
• ANTH 102 (anthropological linguistics) is usually offered in the spring semester at 5:30 p.m. on Friday night.
• Note the courses often taught in summer – plan summer classes accordingly.
• Additional upper level electives may be offered from time to time – check the tentative schedules on the department Web page often.
• General rule for upper level electives (e.g. ANTH 310, 330, 340, 350, 360, 370, 380, 421, 422, 429, 440, 460 and also for ANTH 240): if a student is interested in it and it’s being offered, take it immediately. Students might have to wait 4 semesters before it is offered again.
• Independent study requires that students develop a topic of interest and find a faculty member who will work with the student on it – discuss this with their favorite faculty member.
• Contact me (Richard W. Franke, x4133) or the undergraduate advisor (Ken Brook, x7542) if they need any help or advice about planning their undergraduate major or minor in anthropology or their minor in archaeology.

Key to the course rotation table below:
y = yes, it’s almost always offered
blank space = it’s never offered in this semester or summer session
Last updated: 19 February 2009