The major in Anthropology gives a firm grounding in this comparative discipline concerned with the diverse cultural, social, and biological patterns of human societies. Anthropology deals not only with that small proportion of humankind in Europe and North America but with societies of the entire world, from the remotest past to the present day. It is thus an essential part of a sound liberal education, helping us to see our world from a perspective free of ethnocentric assumptions. The major in Anthropology covers trends of biological and cultural evolution, world prehistory, forms of social organization and cultural behavior, and patterns of linguistic and nonlinguistic communication.

The subfields of anthropological inquiry (archaeology, biological anthropology, and sociocultural anthropology) offer a holistic perspective on humankind and its development.

Current Undergraduate Students - Anthropology
Current Undergraduate Students - Archaeology

Requirements of the Major

Students are required to present twelve course credits toward their major, including introductory or intermediate courses in at least three subfields of anthropology, a senior essay (Anthropology 491a or b), and three advanced seminars or courses (not including the Readings in Anthropology or senior essay courses). There are no prerequisites to the major. Three term courses may be selected from other departments. These cognate courses must be approved by the director of undergraduate studies. They should be chosen to expand the student's knowledge in one of the subfields of anthropology or in an area of cross-disciplinary concentration. For example, cognate courses for biologicall anthropology can be found in the departments of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; Geology and Geophysics; Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology; Psychology; and the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. Appropriate areas of cross-disciplinary concentrations include such topics as area studies (e.g., Africa), folklore, anthropological approaches to law and health, sex roles, or Pleistocene studies.

Note: Official Yale College program and course information is found in Yale College Programs of Study, available on line at www.yale.edu/yalecollege/publications/ycps/

Yale Anthropology Society

The Yale Anthropology Society serves the undergraduate anthropology and social science students by providing a forum for discussion and the exchange of ideas. The activities and events of the Yale Anthropology Society include the Journal of Student Anthropology that publishes exceptional scholarship by undergraduate and graduate students, the Yale Anthropology Society Lecture Series, the Anthropology Undergraduate Colloquium, a mentoring network, anthropological excursions and socialization.