B.A. in Anthropology - Law and Society University of California, Riverside

Because of its broad concern with all of the activities and varieties of humanity, anthropology offers courses useful to a wide range of undergraduate students. Most undergraduates will benefit from the department's wide ranging lower division courses dealing with human biology, culture and archaeology. Upper division students in a variety of majors will benefit from upper division courses dealing with art, religion, ecology, primatologist, language, social organization, cultural change, ethnography, and a variety of other topics. Some upper division courses are advanced courses designed primarily for anthropology majors or majors in closely related subject.

Students seeking information about course content and level of preparation required should feel free to discuss course content with instructors or with other members of the anthropology faculty. Students majoring in anthropology or considering anthropology as a major should plan to take a variety of courses in each of the four sub disciplines before beginning to take more specialized courses in particular fields. In general, anthropology majors and other interested students should select a single faculty member as an advisor and discuss their planned course program before embarking upon what may turn out to be a long journey through an exciting, but not always scenic, countryside.

Career Opportunities

Anthropology prepares students for dealing with the challenges of an increasingly international economy, transnational connected communities, and multicultural citizenries. Besides helping students hone and refine analytical skills and critical thinking, anthropology helps them recognize the impact of cultural dynamics on interpersonal communication and on the social structures that affect everyone's daily lives. Anthropology majors interested in pursuing graduate studies are excellent candidates for programs in anthropology, business, law, journalism, medicine, social work, urban planning, and almost any other profession that calls for working with people from a variety of backgrounds and in a number of different settings. The skills and knowledge learned as an undergraduate anthropology major helps students understand the connections between people. USA Today, for example, reports that many corporations prefer to employ anthropology majors because of the skills they possess. Anthropology majors who not planning to pursue graduate or professional studies immediately can forge careers as teachers at the primary and secondary levels; interviewers; recruiters in executive and specialized employment agencies; staff and managers in various local, state, and federal governmental agencies as well as in a variety of national and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs); archaeological field or laboratory technicians; intercultural communications professionals in hospitals and other organizations; community development organizations; or union organizers.