Bachelor of Science in Anthropology

Degree Requirements | Departmental Stipulations | Declaring the Major | Petitions | Graduation | Graduate School Considerations | Minor | Anthropology Honors Program | Undergraduate Research 

Program Overview 

Anthropology is an open major. Students may complete their undergraduate degree with either a Bachelor of Arts or a Bachelor of Science. If you're uncertain which is the right path for you, you can read about the major requirements below or learn more about the differences. Students completing a Bachelor of Science in Anthropology must complete their degree within one of the following options: 

• Archaeological Sciences (BS)
• Human Evolutionary Biology (BS)
• Medical Anthropology & Global Health (BS)

Degree Requirements (75 credits)

The UW General Catalog entry for the anthropology major is here and is reproduced below.  

Core Courses (20 credits)

• BIO A 201: Principles of Biological Anthropology (5 credits);
• ARCHY: Any 200-level ARCHY course (5 credits);
• ANTH: Any 200-level ANTH course (5 credits);
• One of the following: CS&SS/SOC/STAT 221, STAT 220, STAT 311, Q SCI 381, BIOST 310, EDPSY 490, PSYCH 315, QMETH 201, or STAT 290. Occasionally other basic statistics courses may be accepted upon petition to the departmental advising office.

Electives (55 credits)

• 55 additional ANTH, ARCHY, and BIO A credits distributed across the subfields or concentrated as suits the interests of the student. 40 of these credits must be in upper-division (300- or 400-level) courses. Students may count one 100-level ANTH, ARCHY, or BIO A course toward the major, but are not required to do so;
• The following AIS courses may apply toward this requirement:  AIS 202, AIS 203, AIS 209, AIS 210, AIS 311, AIS 330, AIS 335, AIS 340, AIS 425, AIS 443, AIS 480.  There is no limit on the number of AIS courses that may apply to this requirement.

Maximum 12 credits (18 for Honors students) from ANTH 499, ARCHY 499, and BIO A 499 combined can be counted toward the major.

Departmental Stipulations 

• The cumulative GPA of all courses counted toward the major requirements must be 2.00 or greater.
• A minimum of 35 upper-division credits in anthropology must be completed through the UW.
• A minimum of 50 credits of Natural Science (NSc) courses in Anthropology.
• Within the 55 elective credits, Bachelor of Science students must complete one or more of the following options:
  • Medical Anthropology and Global Health (MAGH)
  • Archaeological Sciences (ASc)
  • Human Evolutionary Biology (HEB)

Petitions

Under some circumstances it may be necessary for a student to petition for the waiver of certain departmental or university rules and requirements. Petitions are available in the Anthropology Advising Office in Denny Hall Room 310.

Graduation

Three quarters prior to the quarter in which you plan to graduate, please set up an appointment with an undergraduate anthropology advisor to apply for graduation. It is very important that you come in to apply early so that you will have plenty of time to complete any outstanding requirements.

Considering graduate or professional school?

Anthropology majors who intend to continue to the graduate level in anthropology or a related social science should plan their coursework carefully. It is strongly recommended that such students include as many of the upper-division and theoretically-oriented courses as possible, as well as courses in research methods, data analysis, and appropriate courses outside the department. Study of a foreign language is essential. Qualified students should consider entering the Anthropology Honors Program.