Anthropology, B.A.

Students earning a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology will have the skills to thrive in today’s global economy. Our program teaches students to research manage, analyze, evaluate and interpret data on human diversity and across all human behaviors— skills employers value highly and which translate to a variety of career fields. 

Appreciation of cultural and biological diversity is crucial in a growing multicultural society. Students receive comprehensive training through an interdisciplinary approach to anthropological archaeology, as well as cultural, linguistic and biological anthropology. Our program also provides many opportunities for students to participate in research and fieldwork locally and abroad. 

Learning Outcomes

Students will demonstrate their knowledge of the four sub-fields of anthropology, and central themes in the sub-fields. These themes include: 1) the biological and cultural changes that occurred in human prehistory and history 2) cultural diversity worldwide and throughout time 3) relationships between aspects of human life, such as biology, cultural beliefs, material culture, and language and 4) the dynamics at work in different components of cultural systems (e.g. kinship).
Students will communicate in written form about anthropological themes and topics in a variety of different and appropriate writing styles including research papers, projects, reaction papers, and essay exams. In their writing, students will analyze human situations from an anthropological perspective, and will recognize and evaluate different theories and methods in anthropology.
Students will demonstrate general techniques of anthropological research and recognize the importance of the principles of anthropological ethics in conducting research. This research will include basic library and internet research, and in some cases, will include data collection and analysis through “hands on” training.

Admissions

Entrance Requirements

New freshmen who meet University admissions standards are eligible for admission to degree programs offered by the college. A student who wishes to enter the College of Arts and Sciences from another college on the Columbia campus must be in good standing and have a cumulative GPA of 2.00 or higher. A student who wishes to enter the College of Arts and Sciences from another USC campus must fulfill one of the following requirements:

Be in good standing, meet the admission requirements for a baccalaureate degree on the Columbia campus, and have a cumulative GPA of 2.00 or higher.
Be in good standing and have completed 30 semester hours with a GPA of 2.00 or higher on a USC campus.

Some programs in the College of Arts and Sciences have special admission requirements established by the department or committee that supervises the specific degree program, for example, Cardiovascular Technology, Biological Sciences, Chemistry, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Economics, Environmental Science, the Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies, and the Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies. These requirements are listed in the sections of this bulletin that describe department and special degree programs.

Degree Requirements (120 hours)

Program of Study

Program Summary
Requirements	Credit Hours
1. Carolina Core	32-44
2. College Requirements	15-18
3. Program Requirements	31-46
4. Major Requirements	27

Founding Documents Requirement

All undergraduate students must take a 3-credit course or its equivalent with a passing grade in the subject areas of History, Political Science, or African American Studies that covers the founding documents including the United State Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, the Emancipation Proclamation and one or more documents that are foundational to the African American Freedom struggle, and a minimum of five essays from the Federalist papers. This course may count as a requirement in any part of the program of study including the Carolina Core, the major, minor or cognate, or as a general elective. Courses that meet this requirement are listed here.

1. Carolina Core Requirements (32-44 hours)

CMW – Effective, Engaged, and Persuasive Communication: Written (6 hours)

must be passed with a grade of C or higher

any CC-CMW courses

ARP – Analytical Reasoning and Problem Solving (6-8 hours)

any CC-ARP courses

SCI – Scientific Literacy (8 hours)

Two 4-credit hour CC-SCI laboratory science courses

GFL – Global Citizenship and Multicultural Understanding: Foreign Language (0-6 hours)

Demonstration of proficiency in one foreign language equivalent to the minimal passing grade on the exit examination in the 122 course is required. Students can demonstrate this proficiency by successfully completing Phase II of the Proficiency Test or by successfully completing the 122 course, including the exit exam administered as part of that course.

CC-GFL courses

It is strongly recommended that students continuing the study of a foreign language begin college-level study of that language in their first semester and continue in that language until their particular foreign language requirement is completed.

GHS – Global Citizenship and Multicultural Understanding: Historical Thinking (3 hours)

any CC-GHS course

GSS – Global Citizenship and Multicultural Understanding: Social Sciences (3 hours)

any CC-GSS course

AIU – Aesthetic and Interpretive Understanding (3 hours)

any CC-AIU course

CMS – Effective, Engaged, and Persuasive Communication: Spoken Component¹ (0-3 hours)

any overlay or stand-alone CC-CMS course

INF – Information Literacy¹ (0-3 hours)

any overlay or stand-alone CC-INF course

VSR – Values, Ethics, and Social Responsibility¹ (0-3 hours)

any overlay or stand-alone CC-VSR course

¹: Carolina Core Stand Alone or Overlay Eligible Requirements — Overlay-approved courses offer students the option of meeting two Carolina Core components in a single course. A maximum of two overlays is allowed. The total Carolina Core credit hours must add up to a minimum of 31 hours. Some programs may have a higher number of minimum Carolina Core hours due to specified requirements.

Choose 1 of the following to fulfill a Carolina Core requirement:

ANTH 101*
ANTH 161*

2. College Requirements (15-18 hours)

Foreign Language (0-3 hours)

only if needed to meet 122-level proficiency

History (3 hours)

The College of Arts and Sciences requires one additional GHS course beyond the Carolina Core GHS requirement.

If the Carolina Core GHS requirement is fulfilled by a U.S. history course, the College of Arts and Sciences history requirement must be fulfilled by a non-U.S. history course.
If the Carolina Core GHS requirement is fulfilled by a non-U.S. history course, the College of Arts and Sciences history requirement must be fulfilled by a U.S. history course.

Please select the College of Arts and Sciences history requirement from the approved list of U.S. and non-U.S. history courses.

Social Science and Fine Arts or Humanities (12 hours)

Social Science (3 hours)
- ANTH 102*
Fine Arts/Humanities (9 Hours)
- A Bachelor of Arts from the College of Arts and Sciences requires three 3-hour Fine Arts/Humanities Courses

3. Program Requirements (31-46 hours)

Cognate or Minor (12-18 hours)

Students must complete a cognate (12 hours) or a minor as part of this program. In lieu of a cognate or minor, an additional major may be added to a student’s program of study. Additional majors must include all major courses as well as any prescribed courses noted (*) in the bulletin. Prescribed courses noted in the bulletin may be shared with Carolina Core, College requirements, and Program requirements in the primary program.

Cognate (12 hours)

The cognate must consist of twelve (12) hours of courses at the advanced level, outside of but related to the major. The cognate may be taken in one or more departments or programs.

Courses offered by departments and programs that are acceptable for cognate credit are outlined in the section titled Courses Acceptable for Cognate Credit in Degree Programs in the College of Arts and Sciences. Some major programs have specific cognate requirements. It should be emphasized that the cognate is not a second set of elective courses to be chosen at random by the student. Students are urged to consult their major advisors for specific requirements in their major.

For Bachelor of Arts degrees, all cognate courses must be passed with a grade of C or higher.

Minor (18 hours)

In place of the cognate a student in the College of Arts and Sciences may choose a minor consisting of at least 18 credit hours of prescribed courses.

The minor is intended to develop a coherent basic preparation in a second area of study. It differs from the cognate inasmuch as the courses must follow a structured sequence.

Courses applied toward general education requirements cannot be counted toward the minor. No course may satisfy both major and minor requirements. All minor courses must be passed with a grade of C or higher. At least half of the courses in the minor must be completed in residence at the University.

A list of minor programs of study can be found at Programs A-Z.

Electives (13-34 hours)

120 (or 128) degree applicable credits are required to complete any degree at USC. After the cognate, minor or second major is complete, any additional credits needed to reach 120 (or 128) total credits can be fulfilled by electives. No courses of a remedial, developmental, skill-acquiring, or vocational nature may apply as credit toward degrees in the College of Arts and Sciences. The College of Arts and Sciences allows the use of the Pass-Fail option on elective courses. Further clarification on inapplicable courses can be obtained from the College of Arts and Sciences.

Note: 7-28 hours of electives will be needed to reach hours to graduate if completing the B.A. with Distinction.

4. Major Requirements (27 hours)

A minimum grade of C is required in all major courses.

Any course taken to fulfill a major requirement may not also fulfill a Carolina Core requirement.

Major Courses (12 hours)

Course List
Course	Title	Credits
Select one course from Biological Anthropology:		3
ANTH 204	Plagues Past and Present
ANTH 221	Forensics of Sherlock Holmes
ANTH 260	Planet of the Apes: Behavior and Biology
ANTH 261	Human Variation
ANTH 262	Basic Forensic Anthropology
ANTH 263	Medical Experimentation and the Black Body
ANTH 288	Special Topics in Biological Anthropology
ANTH 361	Becoming Human
ANTH 366	Medicine, Disease, and Slavery
ANTH 561	Human Osteology
ANTH 565	Health and Disease in the Past
ANTH 567	Human Identification in Forensic Anthropology
ANTH 568	Nutritional Anthropology
Select one course from Archaeology:		3
ANTH 219	Great Discoveries in Archaeology
ANTH 223	Modernity Archaeology and the Recent Past
ANTH 224	Indigenous Caribbean Archaeology
ANTH 225	Archaeology in Film and Popular Culture
ANTH 226	Biblical Archaeology
ANTH 227	Forbidden Archaeology: Fantasies, Frauds, and Mysteries of the Human Past
ANTH 228	North American Prehistory
ANTH 229	Southeastern Archaeology
ANTH 287	Special Topics in Archaeology
ANTH 319	Principles of Archaeology
ANTH 320	Archaeology Theory
ANTH 321	South Carolina Archaeology
ANTH 322	Field School in Archaeology
ANTH 324	Ethnoarchaeology
ANTH 327	Prehistoric Civilizations of the New World
ANTH 331	Mesoamerican Prehistory
ANTH 328	Ancient Civilizations
ANTH 533	North American Archaeology
ANTH 534	Prehistoric Archaeology of South America
ANTH 535	Conflict Archaeology
ANTH 536	Public Archaeology
ANTH 541	Field Problems in Archaeology
ANTH 546	Forensic Archaeological Recovery (FAR)
ANTH 550	Archaeological Laboratory Methods
ANTH 576	Archaeology of the African Diaspora
Select one course from Linguistic Anthropology:		3
ANTH 270	Anthropology of Nonverbal Communication
ANTH 271	Language and Popular Culture
ANTH 273	Cross-Cultural Communication
ANTH 290	Special Topics in Linguistic Anthropology
ANTH 355	Language, Culture, and Society
ANTH 371	Ethnography of Communication
ANTH 373	Introduction to Language Sciences
ANTH 374	Cognitive and Social Aspects of Bilingualism
ANTH 442	African-American English
ANTH 553	Anthropological Approaches to Narrative and Performance
ANTH 555	Language and Gender
ANTH 556	Language and Globalization
ANTH 586	Discourse, Gender, and Politics of Emotion
Select one course from Socioccultural Anthropology:		3
ANTH 203	Comparing Cultures Through Film
ANTH 206	Anthropology of Magic and Religion
ANTH 207	Gender and Culture
ANTH 209	Introduction to Folklore
ANTH 213	Ethnobotany: Plants and Peoples
ANTH 230	Diversity in the United States
ANTH 303	African-American Cultures
ANTH 232	Contemp Cultures of South Carolina
ANTH 234	Caribbean Cultures
ANTH 236	Cultures of Africa
ANTH 237	Cultures of Islam
ANTH 238	Middle Eastern Cultures
ANTH 240	South Asian Cultures
ANTH 241	Southeast Asian Cultures
ANTH 242	Chinese Popular Culture
ANTH 243	Japanese Cultures
ANTH 244	American Indian Nations Today: From Hard Times to Hard Rock
ANTH 280	Humans Going Nuclear: Atomic Bombs, Cold War, and the Fallout
ANTH 289	Special Topics in Sociocultural Anthropology
ANTH 292	Disease, Health, and Social Inequities
ANTH 301	Latin American Cultures
ANTH 342	Environmental Anthropology: Cross-cultural Perspectives on Environmental Change
ANTH 349	Anthropology of Work
ANTH 350	Anthropology & Development
ANTH 351	The Family in Cross-Cultural Perspective
ANTH 353	Anthropology of Law and Conflict
ANTH 356	Anthropology of Art
ANTH 359	Theories of Culture
ANTH 360	Anthropology of Sex
ANTH 381	Gender and Globalization
ANTH 396	Toxic Environments and Invisible Harms
ANTH 512	Gender Issues in China
ANTH 515	Tradition and Transformations in Islamic Cultures
ANTH 517	An Anthropological View of Blacks in Film
ANTH 518	Visual Cultures
ANTH 552	Medical Anthropology
ANTH 572	Temporal Processes in Culture
ANTH 579	Cultural Ecology
ANTH 580	Culture and Identity in the African Diaspora
ANTH 581	Globalization and Cultural Questions
Total Credit Hours		12

Major Electives (15 hours)

Select one course from the ANTH 500-level
Select an additional 12 hours from ANTH 200-level or above

Note: Selection of major courses must include at least one of the following courses: ANTH 261, ANTH 319, ANTH 320, ANTH 355, ANTH 366, ANTH 371, ANTH 381, ANTH 518 or ANTH 581.

B.A. with Distinction (33 hours)

Departmental Undergraduate Research Track/Intensive Major is available to students majoring in Anthropology who wish to participate in significant research activities in collaboration with, or under the supervision of, a faculty mentor.

Major Courses (21 hours)

Select one course from Biological Anthropology (3 hours)
Select one course from Archaeology (3 hours)
Select one course from Linguistic Anthropology (3 hours)
Select one course from Sociocultural Anthropology (3 hours)
Select one Fieldschool, Laboratory, Practicum, Qualitative Methodology or Quantitative Methodology course (3 hours)
ANTH 201 OR an additional 500-level course (3 hours)
ANTH 498 (3 hours)

Major Electives (12 hours)

Select two courses from the ANTH 500-level (6 hours)
Select an additional 6 hours from ANTH 200-level or above