Anthropology (B.A.)
As an anthropology major at BU, you'll study humankind and attempt to establish useful information and generalizations about people, their behavior and their cultural and biological origins to arrive at the fullest possible understanding of human diversity. You'll gain global cultural awareness through classroom studies of cultures everywhere. Anthropology, in common with other sciences, is concerned with the formulation and testing of hypotheses or tentative explanations of observed human phenomena. Anthropology also has an important humanistic tradition.
At Bloomsburg University, you'll find anthropology divided into three study areas: cultural anthropology, which studies ways of life in societies across the world; physical anthropology, which traces human origins and biological variability; and prehistoric archaeology, which seeks to explain human behavior by studying material remains from past cultures.
All students take courses in cultural anthropology, prehistoric archaeology, human origins, history of anthropology, research and writing skills and choose from classes in field archaeology, field methods, independent study or an internship.
Working with your advisor, you'll then select six anthropology elective classes and organize the many options in general education requirements and free electives to meet your specific academic goals.
This permits concentration in archaeology, or a minor in Latin American Studies, both offered by the Department of Anthropology, or minors from many other academic areas at BU including such varied possibilities as:
Art and Art History
Languages
Biology
History
Psychology
Sociology
Music
Geosciences
Philosophy
Gender and Women's Studies
Ethnic Studies
Communication Studies
Theater
and many more
It all adds up to allowing you to precisely tailor an anthropology program for your personal career goals and interests.
This curriculum is designed to prepare students for admission to graduate school in anthropology. Each year, approximately one-third of the seniors majoring in anthropology apply to graduate school, with 90 percent accepted at their first-choice institution.
To help these students be competitive in the discipline, the faculty strongly encourages student research opportunities. Students may conduct research in any of the subdisciplines of anthropology with the goal of presenting their research at a local, regional or national conference. Academic excellence in anthropology is rewarded through membership in Lambda Alpha, the national honorary society for anthropology.
Qualified anthropology majors are also encouraged to participate in the university's honors program. An active anthropology club and a monthly newsletter also support students' interest in the field.
Those students who do not choose to attend graduate school receive the same careful attention and preparation as those who do. Students are encouraged to increase their opportunities for employment through internships or, in the case of archaeology, employment while a student at local contract archaeology firms. These students are also encouraged to develop skills in computing, languages or other areas to help them reach employment goals. Anthropology majors have gone on to productive careers in business and government, with 85 percent of students finding meaningful employment within a year of graduation.
Program Emphasis in Prehistoric Archaeology
The Anthropology Department features a special program emphasis in prehistoric archaeology. You can enroll in multiple archaeology courses to gain a professional understanding of academic archaeology and archaeological method and theory. You can join professional summer field schools where methods and techniques in archaeological analysis are refined. During summers and upon graduation, you'll have many opportunities to find temporary or permanent employment in the field of archaeology both in the United States and abroad. The program has provided fieldwork and study in North America, Mesoamerica and South America.
Latin American Studies
In cooperation with the departments of History and Languages and Cultures, the department offers a 21-credit minor in Latin American Studies for students with an interest in the cultures of Mexico, Central and South America and the Spanish or French-speaking Caribbean.
The Department of Anthropology supports the Migrant Education Program which operates three programs a year at Bloomsburg University. The Migrant Community Project is a collaborative effort of the Departments of Elementary Education, English, Languages and Cultures, Anthropology and other student service departments on campus.
The migrant program also provides several other types of services to local migrants. In years past the project provided labor migrants with health information, interpreters, transportation to medical facilities, conflict resolution, and tutoring in reading and writing skills. BU Students have many internship and research opportunities through the Migrant Community Project. Students working in the project assist local school districts with tutoring in reading, writing, science, math, and social studies; worked with children in Head Start programs; taught English as a second language; assisted in translation when migrants come in contact with local, state, and federal agencies; and provide health care education.
Undergraduate Anthropology Conference
Each year in the spring, the State System of Higher Education sponsors a conference for undergraduate anthropology students. At the conference, students present their research in a professional setting. BU's Department of Anthropology has been a participating member of this conference and has in fact sponsored the conference on campus several times since the conference's inception in 1989. Each year, several BU students present their research at the conference. Students present papers based on their participation in the summer field school in archaeology, internships, the Field Methods in Cultural Anthropology class (46.475), or other classes. Several other SSHE universities regularly participate, including Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Millersville, Shippensburg, Edinboro, Mansfield, and California University of Pennsylvania. Presentations at the conference are excellent preparation for graduate school.
Exceptional Faculty
The Department of Anthropology is dedicated to providing a quality undergraduate education in anthropology so you can go on to fulfilling professional careers in the discipline. To this end, the department offers an unusually wide variety of courses taught by nationally known faculty. You'll get the personal attention you need for quality advisement and to encourage you to learn outside of class.
Faculty scholarly interests include:
- Medical anthropology, linguistics, multicultural education, ethnopharmacology, religion and magic, Caribbean and Subsaharan Africa.
- Mesoamerican and South American archaeology; modern cultures of Mexico and South America; folk art; ritual; visual anthropology.
- Economic anthropology and the effects of deindustrialization on the construction of ethnic identity; industrial and organizational culture, child socialization; dance.
- Forensic Anthropology, forensic anthropology and "race," human origins in West Africa, worldwide postcranial variation, evolution of human diseases.
- Feminist and advocacy anthropology, narrative theory, ethnicity and transnationalism, medical anthropology, refugees, migrant farmworkers, Q'eqchi and K'iche' Maya and Mesoamerica.
- Archaeology, paleoethnobotany, evolution of food production, archaeological method and theory, pseudoscience and North American eastern woodlands.
Student Organizations
Anthropology Club
The Department of Anthropology sponsors an undergraduate anthropology club. Membership is open to any student interested in anthropology; there are no club dues. The club meets bi-weekly and sponsors programs of all kinds. In the past, the club has sponsored a tour of the Olmec exhibit at Princeton University, talks and slide shows by several faculty, the annual Fall Festival, participation in Native American Pow Wows, and student attendance at the American Anthropological Association's Annual Meeting and the SSHE Undergraduate Anthropology Conferences. The club also sponsors an annual t-shirt competition to determine the design for each year's club shirt. The president for the club for 2006-2007 is Kitawna Hoover; vice president is Adrienne Kolb; the secretary is Ella Daniels; the treasurer is Brian Adams; and the Librarian is Julie Pfromm. Dr. Wymer is their advisor.
Lambda Alpha
Beginning in 1996, the Department of Anthropology became a member of Lambda Alpha, the national honorary society for anthropology students. Anthropology students become eligible for membership when they achieve junior status, have had a minimum of 12 credits in anthropology, and have maintained a minimum of a 3.2 in their anthropology classes. Students elected to the honors society, pay a one time due of $25 which entitles them to a membership wall certificate and a one-year subscription to the society's newsletter. Lambda Alpha sponsors a nationwide scholarship competition each year for students who would like to attend graduate school. There is an awards luncheon hosted by the Anthropology Dept. to honor the BU Lambda Alpha students and the Anthropology Student of the Year at the end of the spring semester each year. The faculty advisor is Dr. Warner.