With an anthropology degree, you’ll have the opportunity to broaden your exposure to peoples and cultures of the world, both now and in the past. Our four-field approach considers the biological, cultural, prehistoric and linguistic aspects of human diversity. Students usually choose to specialize in one of the four subfields.
Biological anthropology is the study of the biological origin and physical variation among human populations and stresses an evolutionary and forensic perspective on humans. Students study the adaptation, variability, and evolution of homo sapiens and their living and fossil relatives.
Faculty members have worked with the Spokane Police Department and our students are prepared for careers in a variety of biomedical areas ranging from nutrition, public health, forensic studies, and other allied fields.
The Anthropology program at EWU has a unique human osteology laboratory that includes almost 1000 skeletal remains and casts. These include remains with pathologies such as dental caries, osteophytic growths, periostitis, and fractures. In addition, there are also numerous contemporary primate and early hominid fossil casts.
If you are interested in Biological Anthropology, there are opportunities to mentor with the lab coordinator, and students have presented their lab-based research at various anthropological conferences. A key course is ANTR202 Human Evolution, and we strongly recommend a biology minor for specialized students.
Supporting Electives
Internships and Career Opportunities
Associated Organization:
Cultural anthropology is the study of culture or learned behavior. Students are prepared for a variety of careers in institutions and organizations that require an understanding of cultural diversity.
Faculty members have conducted ethnographic fieldwork in Africa, Central Eurasia, East Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East on topics such as the cultural aspects of health care delivery in post-war settings, human dynamics of environmental conservation in ethnic minority communities, the politics of heritage preservation in regions with ethnic conflict, and the economics of fair trade among marginalized agricultural communities.
The EWU program specializes in North and Latin American as well as Asian culture. Human cultural development and change in contemporary societies like the United States, Costa Rica, and China are general themes of courses in this subdiscipline. ANTR330 Environmental Anthropology, ANTR340 Anthropology of Food and Nutrition, and ANTR342 Medical Anthropology and are important courses.
Supporting Electives
Internships and Career Opportunities
Associated Organization:
Linguistic anthropology is the multilingual study of the ways in which human languages shape social life.
The EWU Anthropology program has expertise in dominant languages like Spanish, lesser-taught Turkic languages like Kazakh, and endangered Native American languages like Salish. EWU offers face-to-face languages like Spanish, and language classes can be used to replace other elective courses in the degree. Students with an interest in lesser-taught languages often study at intensive summer language programs or choose to study abroad. Those students with an interest in Salish can arrange a service-learning opportunity for credit with the Spokane Salish School.
Key courses here are Linguistic Anthropology and Sociolinguistics, and we strongly recommend the Linguistics minor for specialized students.
Supporting Electives
Internships and Career Opportunities
Associated Organization:
Archaeology is the study of the ancient and recent human past through material remains. Archaeology analyzes physical remains, both biological and cultural, in pursuit of a broad and comprehensive understanding of the human past.
An essential course to take is ANTR350 World Archaeology, a review of global archaeology beginning with the appearance of the first human-like species and through to the beginnings of human agriculture and culturally complex civilizations. This is a fascinating inquiry into the human past at a global level.
Students with an interest in the subdiscipline go further by enrolling in a field school to develop essential archaeological experience and skills. Right now, EWU is partnering with Washington State University’s field school at Fort Vancouver National Historical Site.
Students have many other opportunities for local, regional, and national internships including the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Smithsonian Institute, the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, Northwest Museum for Arts & Culture, and Spokane Tribe of Indians Tribal Historic Preservation Office.
Supporting Electives
Internships and Career Opportunities
Associated Organization:
Anthropology is a robust field that includes Biological Anthropology, Archaeology, Linguistic Anthropology, and Cultural Anthropology.
Students should check out the website of the American Anthropological Association and their Louise Lamphere Internship Program. With a number of opportunities including working at the Smithsonian Center for Folklife & Cultural Heritage, this is a great way to learn more and develop professional experience as an anthropologist.
Anthropology Major, Bachelor of Arts (BA)
Note:
| Required Disciplinary Foundation Courses | ||
| ANTR 202 | HUMAN EVOLUTION | 5 |
| ANTR 204 | ARCHAEOLOGICAL SCIENCE | 5 |
| ANTR 301 | CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY | 5 |
| ANTR 303 | LINGUISTIC ANTHROPOLOGY | 5 |
| Methods Course | ||
| ANTR 401 | ANTHROPOLOGY RESEARCH METHODS | 5 |
| Theory Course | ||
| ANTR 408 | ANTHROPOLOGICAL THEORY | 5 |
| Electives–choose a minimum of 25 upper-division ANTR credits. | 25 | |
| Capstone Series | ||
| ANTR 490 | SENIOR CAPSTONE ANTHROPOLOGY | 5 |
| Total Credits | 60 | |
University Competencies and Proficiencies
English
Quantitative and Symbolic Reasoning
Placement and Clearance
Prior Learning/Sources of Credit AP, CLEP, IB
General Education Requirements (GER)
Breadth Area Core Requirements (BACR)
Humanities and Arts
Natural Sciences
Social Sciences
University Graduation Requirements (UGR)
Diversity Course List
Foreign Language (for Bachelor of Arts)
Global Studies Course List
Minor or Certificate
Senior Capstone Course List
Application for Graduation (use EagleNET) must be made at least two terms in advance of the term you expect to graduate (undergraduate and post-baccalaureate).
Use the Catalog Archives to determine two important catalog years.
Degree Works calculates based on these two catalog years.
Students who successfully earn a BA in Anthropology from EWU should be able to do the following:
Pre-requisites: ENGL 201.
This course examines major concepts, theories and methods in cultural anthropology. Students explore how anthropologists analyze and interpret different cultural practices that manifest in an individual’s everyday life. By using ethnographic case studies of communities from throughout the world, the course addresses issues of identity, family, kinship, gender, race, class, ritual, belief and expression.
Cross-listed: GWSS 332.
Pre-requisites: ENGL 201 or equivalent.
Satisfies: a university graduation requirement–diversity.
This course examines notions of sex and gender from a cross-cultural perspective. Material covered includes understandings of gender, third genders, human sexuality and the gendered nature of activities in both non-Western and Western societies.
Pre-requisites: ANTR 201 or ANTR 301.
This class explores the Fair Trade movement, using coffee as a lens. Topics include how the Fair Trade system has worked, debate over the Fair Trade system as a social movement and an alternative market.
Pre-requisites: junior standing.
Satisfies: a university graduation requirement–global studies.
This course analyzes and contrasts the relationship between different human populations, their cultural practices, and the natural environment. The course discusses how both political and economic forces shape cultural practices, the relationship of capitalism and state formation to the natural environment, maladaptation and environmental problems, such as global climate change.