Program Overview

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Anthropological Sciences

Overview

Anthropology is the study of the biology, prehistory, and culture of human society in a worldwide setting. Anthropologists study people from all times and all places. Anthropology focuses on human and non-human primate evolution by studying the behavior of living and extinct human and primate groups (physical or biological anthropology). It looks at cultural history and past lifeways and studies how human societies have changed from ancient to modern times (archaeology). It also examines the behavior of living societies in order to understand differences in contemporary cultures (cultural anthropology). This includes the study of topics such as language, kinship, religion, ecology, urbanism, and culture and personality.

Degree Details

• Degree: BS
• Campus: Columbus
• College: Arts and Sciences

The anthropological sciences major leads to a Bachelor of Science degree and provides an intensive foundation in empirically oriented evolutionary anthropology. This major is geared towards students committed to pursuing graduate studies and research in the anthropological sciences, the biomedical sciences, or professional employment in anthropology.

Curriculum

The anthropological sciences major, leading to a BS, requires a minimum of 44 credit hours.

• Two prerequisite courses: Introduction to Physical Anthropology and an introductory statistics course
• Core courses (18 hours):
  • World Prehistory
  • Peoples and Cultures
  • Hunters and Gatherers
  • Fundamentals of Archaeology
  • Human Evolution
  • Human Variation
• An additional course in each of the three subfields of anthropology (9 hours):
  • Archaeology
  • Physical anthropology
  • Cultural anthropology
• Six additional hours taken from any subfield of anthropology
• One course (3 hours) from outside the anthropology department: Evolution

Internship

Internships are strongly encouraged in a range of settings, including museums, contract archaeology firms, and in a variety of local, state, and federal agencies. A forensic field school is usually offered every summer on the Columbus campus. In addition, the department regularly offers an archaeological field school in either the United States or Europe. In the United States, this includes fieldwork especially in the Midwest.

Honors and Scholars

The Department of Anthropology offers Honors sections of the introductory courses that survey the basic concepts and knowledge of the three major subdivisions (Introduction to Physical Anthropology, World Prehistory, and Peoples and Cultures). Honors students may pursue graduation with distinction in anthropology by completing a senior Honors thesis. Non-Honors students may also graduate with research distinction by the completion of a senior thesis.

Research

Undergraduates can become involved in diverse laboratory and field-based research opportunities. The department is on the leading edge of undergraduate training of anthropological scientists and is poised to offer more opportunities. For the next several years, Ohio State has a project in Hungary that involves student participation. The National Science Foundations Research Experiences for Undergraduates and the International Research Experience for Students programs fund multiple students for research in Hungary each year.

Research Facilities

In addition to general laboratory space for undergraduate research, students benefit from exploring the following:

• The premier paleoethnobotany laboratory in the nation
• A state-of-the-art bioarchaeology laboratory
• An extensive collection of human skeletal remains
• Laboratory resources and comparative materials for forensic studies
• Archaeological field projects (via field schools or independent study) in Ohio, Hungary, and Yemen
• Bioarchaeological field projects in Italy and Turkey
• Paleoanthropological field experience at fossil hominid sites in South Africa and paleoecological data analysis
• Cultural ecology and human biology field experience in the Amazon and Cameroon
• Economic anthropology with an emphasis on Mexico
• A human biological anthropology laboratory with genetic, anthropometric, and physiological equipment
• An established research station with habituated non-human primates in the Ivory Coast (West Africa)
• Dental anthropology with projects on human, non-human primate, and hominin dentitions or dental replicas
• A large collection of non-human primate skeleton-dental material from West Africa

Student Organizations

The undergraduate student organization, the Anthropology Club, offers a chance to get to know other students and to hear from faculty about research and field study opportunities.

Possible Careers

A variety of employment opportunities exist for a graduate with an anthropology degree, including:

• Contract or government archaeologist
• Admissions counselor
• Museum curator
• Mental health consultant
• Social service worker
• Laboratory assistant
• Foreign service agent
• International business associate
• Forensic anthropologist Graduates in anthropology from Ohio State have found employment in a range of careers in business, health professions, engineering, government, law, education, social services, and museums.