Undergraduate Degree Program
Undergraduate Degree Programs
The UAF Anthropology Department is committed to scholarship and research in anthropology with a general geographic focus on the circumpolar regions of the north, as well as research and instruction covering a variety of other world areas and topical subjects. The undergraduate program aims to give students a solid introduction to the discipline, with the opportunity to concentrate study in one or more of the four sub-fields, and to gain research experience and training in the field and in the laboratory.
The teaching and research activities in the department cover the four sub-fields of the discipline:
ANTH F336 Ethnomycology (s)
3 Credits
Offered Spring
An integrated perspective of humanities and social sciences on human-fungi relationships, with concentration on the role of mushrooms in food, medicine, art, commerce, spirituality, and recreation in societies around the world, past and present. Mushroom harvesting in communities around Alaska is one of the extensively covered topics.
All students are required to take 200-level core courses in three out of the four sub-disciplines, as well as a 300-level course in the History of Anthropological theory. Overall synthesis for the program is accomplished in a 400-level senior seminar that brings the four sub-fields to bear on a particular research topic (migration, human environment relationships, etc.). Additional degree requirements vary relative to the program of study.
Beyond the 5 core courses, social/cultural concentrators must select 6 electives (4 at the 400-level) from an array of theory-and-method, ethnographic, and topical courses.
The theory-and-method courses offer training in sub-disciplinary specializations, such as economic or political anthropology, and provide both an extension of ideas learned earlier and analytical tools that can be used in topical and ethnographic courses. Ethnographic courses afford students the opportunity to come to know particular culture areas well. The Department of Anthropology also offers special Topic Courses, which allow the students to receive advanced training on current topics in which faculty members specialize.
Undergraduate Research Opportunities
Field schools are offered in the summer and provide an introduction to practical and important elements of archaeological fieldwork including excavation, cataloging, mapping and other field survey techniques. Basic laboratory techniques include identifying cultural remains, cataloging finds and basic artifact analyses. Field trips will visit additional cultural sites, and evening lectures will include regional prehistory, history, geomorphology and ecology.
The office of Undergraduate Research & Scholarly Activity (URSA) is UAF's resource
for the development and promotion of experiential learning activities that engage
undergraduate students to support UAF's goal to become a leading student-focused research
university. Undergraduate research and creative activity at UAF covers all disciplines,
from climate sciences to music, engineering, anthropology, life sciences, art and
theater.
Consider an honors degree
We highly encourage all anthropology majors to consider matriculating in the Honors College in order to complete an undergraduate Honors Capstone Project.
The Honors Capstone Project is meant to be the culmination of the Honors experience for each student in the Honors College. The Honors Capstone requirement is intended to provide the student with a scholarly endeavor incorporating the range of concepts and techniques learned during the undergraduate career, as well as the synthesis of knowledge gained during college. The goal is for the student to be exposed to a set of perspectives, and through critical thinking to develop a novel perspective. Students develop a project with a faculty adviser in an area of interest to the student.
Have you chosen your minor? The very interdisciplinary nature of the College of Liberal Arts means that you have so many options when it comes to tailoring your degree program so that it is just right for you. Here are some minors that students have paired with a B.A. in Anthropology:
Minor in Anthropology
