Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology - General Anthropology

The general anthropology major is intended to give students a foundation in all of the four sub-fields associated with the discipline of anthropology. Each of the sub-fields requires the development of a number of skills, including: formulating hypotheses; developing research programs and proposals; applying theories to the interpretation of artifacts and other data; and gathering ethnographic information through participant-observation. There is sufficient flexibility in the requirements for the general anthropology major so that a student with an interest in a specific sub-field can focus their program of study in that area - or not, if a more general program is of interest. With its focus on human diversity and its emphasis on cultural relativism, the general anthropology major well prepares students for the issues they are likely to encounter in today's workplaces. At Temple we offer a number of courses on such topics as the Anthropology of Policy, Medical Anthropology, and Urban Anthropology, which prepare students for careers in public administration, social work, health policy, urban planning, and other aspects of public policy-related work, in addition to professional careers in fields such as business, law, and medicine. Anthropology students are also well-prepared to participate in activities which call for cultural sensitivity and an understanding of cultural differences, such as the teaching of English as a foreign language and other work with immigrant communities or work in the global marketplace. A variety of courses on archaeology prepare students for careers in the field of cultural resources management and historic preservation.