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Anthropology - B.A.

Anthropology - B.A.

Looking for a fascinating new perspective on the world around you? Our Anthropology bachelor's degree program might just be for what you are looking. With a diverse array of courses and opportunities to participate in groundbreaking research, your journey of discovery starts today.

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Bachelor’s Degree in Anthropology

Kent State University’s Bachelor of Arts Degree in Anthropology offers students a comprehensive exploration of human cultures, societies, and biological diversity, both past and present. The program covers key areas such as archaeology, cultural anthropology, biological anthropology, and linguistic anthropology. With a focus on fieldwork, research, and cross-cultural understanding, students gain valuable skills in critical thinking, analysis, and communication. This degree prepares graduates for a wide range of careers in fields like archaeology, museum curation, public policy, and cultural resource management, as well as for further study in anthropology and related disciplines.

Program Information for Anthropology - B.A.

Program Description

Full Description

The Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology focuses on human cultural and biological diversity and the impact on past and present environments. Anthropology’s relevance to other areas of study — including sociology, social-psychology, biology and pre-medicine — links it to culture area studies, community planning and public health.

The Anthropology major provides in-depth area studies in cultural anthropology, archaeology and biological anthropology. Students who focus on the biological aspect of human evolution benefit from the freshman-level human evolution laboratory.

Admissions for Anthropology - B.A.

Admission Requirements

The university affirmatively strives to provide educational opportunities and access to students with varied backgrounds, those with special talents and adult students who graduated from high school three or more years ago.

First-Year Students on the Kent Campus: First-year admission policy on the Kent Campus is selective. Admission decisions are based upon cumulative grade point average, strength of high school college preparatory curriculum and grade trends. Students not admissible to the Kent Campus may be administratively referred to one of the seven regional campuses to begin their college coursework. For more information, visit the admissions website for first-year students.

First-Year Students on the Regional Campuses: First-year admission to Kent State’s campuses at Ashtabula, East Liverpool, Geauga, Salem, Stark, Trumbull and Tuscarawas, as well as the Twinsburg Academic Center, is open to anyone with a high school diploma or its equivalent. For more information on admissions, contact the Regional Campuses admissions offices.

International Students: All international students must provide proof of English language proficiency (unless they meet specific exceptions) by earning a minimum 525 TOEFL score (71 on the Internet-based version), minimum 75 MELAB score, minimum 6.0 IELTS score or minimum 48 PTE Academic score, or by completing the ELS level 112 Intensive Program. For more information, visit the admissions website for international students.

Transfer Students: Students who have attended any other educational institution after graduating from high school must apply as undergraduate transfer students. For more information, visit the admissions website for transfer students.

Former Students: Former Kent State students or graduates who have not attended another college or university since Kent State may complete the reenrollment or reinstatement form on the University Registrar’s website.

Admission policies for undergraduate students may be found in the University Catalog's Academic Policies.

Some programs may require that students meet certain requirements before progressing through the program. For programs with progression requirements, the information is shown on the program's Coursework tab.

Learning Outcomes

Program Learning Outcomes

Graduates of this program will be able to:

  1. Learn how anthropologists investigate the past using the methods of social scientists.
  2. Demonstrate comprehension of anthropology’s special role in making archaeology, particularly the study of prehistoric Ohio, come to life and become relevant for them.
  3. Gain a special appreciation of archaeology’s other mandate — the need to conserve the precious heritage of the archaeological record — not only in Ohio, but also that of all the eastern woodlands and the Americas.
  4. Demonstrate an understanding of biological anthropology as the most relevant evolution science, the one that gives them an appreciation of their place in nature.
  5. See the two dimensions of human evolution and adaptation: a global one (modern human variation) and a temporal one (human origins). Both dimensions require an appreciation of the neo-Darwinian theory of evolution, which includes both the process of natural selection and the roles which genetics and developmental biology play.
  6. Achieve a holistic view of human cultures and an extensive knowledge base of diverse human behavior.
Coursework
On This Page

Program Requirements

Major Requirements

Major Requirements (courses count in major GPA)
ANTH 18210INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY (DIVG) (KSS) 3
ANTH 18420INTRODUCTION TO ARCHAEOLOGY (DIVG) (KSS) 3
ANTH 18630HUMAN EVOLUTION (KBS) 3
ANTH 18631ISSUES IN HUMAN EVOLUTION (KBS) (KLAB) 1
ANTH 38490QUANTITATIVE ANTHROPOLOGY 3
or ANTH 48001 QUALITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS IN ANTHROPOLOGY
Anthropology (ANTH) Upper-Division Electives (30000 or 40000 level)12
Archaeology Elective, choose from the following:3
ANTH 38480
ARCHAEOLOGICAL ANALYSIS (ELR) (WIC) 1
ANTH 48010
NORTH AMERICA'S ICE AGE HUNTERS
ANTH 48225
ARCHAEOLOGY OF DEATH (ELR) (WIC) 1
ANTH 48242
ARCHAEOLOGICAL CERAMICS
ANTH 48440
ARCHAEOLOGY OF ANCIENT OHIO
ANTH 48450
ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS
ANTH 48492
ARCHAEOLOGICAL FIELD METHODS (ELR)
Cultural Anthropology Elective, choose from the following:3
ANTH 48150
RELIGION: A SEARCH FOR A MEANING
ANTH 48214
POLITICS OF CULTURE (ELR) (WIC) 1
ANTH 48220
CULTURAL ECOLOGY AND SUSTAINABILITY
ANTH 48245
PSYCHOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY (DIVG)
ANTH 48250
MEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY (DIVG)
ANTH 48262
PEOPLES AND CULTURES OF AMAZONIA (DIVG)
ANTH 48280
BEING HUMAN: SIGNS AND SYMBOLS
ANTH 48360
ANTHROPOLOGY OF GENDER AND SEXUALITY (DIVG)
Biological Anthropology Elective, choose from the following:3
ANTH 28300
INTRODUCTION TO FORENSIC GENETICS
ANTH 38680
PRIMATE SOCIETIES
ANTH 48330
PRIMATE ENDOCRINOLOGY
ANTH 48623
HUMAN VARIATION
ANTH 48810
HUMAN PALEONTOLOGY
ANTH 48820
HUMAN MUSCULO-SKELETAL SYSTEM
ANTH 48835
PRIMATE ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION
ANTH 48850
NATURAL SELECTION ACCORDING TO DARWIN
Additional Requirements (courses do not count in major GPA)
UC 10001FLASHES 101 1
Foreign Language (see Foreign Language College Requirement below)14-16
Kent Core Composition6
Kent Core Mathematics and Critical Reasoning3
Kent Core Humanities and Fine Arts (minimum one course from each)9
Kent Core Social Sciences (must be from two disciplines)3
Kent Core Basic Sciences3
Kent Core Additional3
General Electives (total credit hours depends on earning 120 credit hours, including 39 upper-division credit hours)44
Minimum Total Credit Hours:120
1

A minimum C grade must be earned to fulfill the writing-intensive requirement.

Graduation Requirements

Minimum Major GPA Minimum Overall GPA
2.000 2.000
  • To fulfill the diversity requirement, students must take a domestic diversity course that is not an ANTH course.

Foreign Language College Requirement, B.A.

Students pursuing the Bachelor of Arts degree in the College of Arts and Sciences must complete 14-16 credit hours of foreign language.1
To complete the requirement, students need the equivalent of Elementary I and II in any language, plus one of the following options2:

  1. Intermediate I and II of the same language
  2. Elementary I and II of a second language
  3. Any combination of two courses from the following list:
  • Intermediate I of the same language
  • ARAB 21401
  • ASL 19401
  • CHIN 25421
  • MCLS 10001
  • MCLS 20001
  • MCLS 20091
  • MCLS 21417
  • MCLS 21420
  • MCLS 22217
  • MCLS 28403
  • MCLS 28404
1

All students with prior foreign language experience should take the foreign language placement test to determine the appropriate level at which to start. Some students may start beyond the Elementary I level and will complete the requirement with fewer credit hours and fewer courses. This may be accomplished by (1) passing a course beyond Elementary I through Intermediate II level; (2) receiving credit through one of the alternative credit programs offered by Kent State University; or (3) demonstrating language proficiency comparable to Elementary II of a foreign language. When students complete the requirement with fewer than 14 credit hours and four courses, they will complete remaining credit hours with general electives.

2

Certain majors, concentrations and minors may require specific languages, limit the languages from which a student may choose or require coursework through Intermediate II. Students who plan to pursue graduate study may need particular language coursework.

 
Roadmaps

Roadmap

This roadmap is a recommended semester-by-semester plan of study for this major. However, courses designated as critical (!) must be completed in the semester listed to ensure a timely graduation.

Plan of Study Grid
Semester OneCredits
!ANTH 18210
or ANTH 18420
 INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY (DIVG) (KSS)
or INTRODUCTION TO ARCHAEOLOGY (DIVG) (KSS)
3
UC 10001 FLASHES 101 1
Foreign Language 4
Kent Core Requirement 3
Kent Core Requirement 3
 Credit Hours14
Semester Two
!ANTH 18210
or ANTH 18420
 INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY (DIVG) (KSS)
or INTRODUCTION TO ARCHAEOLOGY (DIVG) (KSS)
3
Foreign Language 4
Kent Core Requirement 3
Kent Core Requirement 3
Kent Core Requirement 3
 Credit Hours16
Semester Three
Anthropology (ANTH) Upper-Division Elective (30000 or 40000 level) 3
Foreign Language 3
Kent Core Requirement 3
Kent Core Requirement 3
Kent Core Requirement 3
 Credit Hours15
Semester Four
!ANTH 18630 HUMAN EVOLUTION (KBS) 3
ANTH 18631 ISSUES IN HUMAN EVOLUTION (KBS) (KLAB) 1
Foreign Language 3
Kent Core Requirement 3
General Electives 6
 Credit Hours16
Semester Five
ANTH 38490
or ANTH 48001
 QUANTITATIVE ANTHROPOLOGY
or QUALITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS IN ANTHROPOLOGY
3
Archaeology Elective 3
General Electives 9
 Credit Hours15
Semester Six
Cultural Anthropology Elective 3
Anthropology (ANTH) Upper-Division Elective (30000 or 40000 level) 3
General Electives 9
 Credit Hours15
Semester Seven
!Biological Anthropology Elective 3
Anthropology (ANTH) Upper-Division Elective (30000 or 40000 level) 3
General Electives 9
 Credit Hours15
Semester Eight
Anthropology (ANTH) Upper-Division Elective (30000 or 40000 level) 3
General Electives 11
 Credit Hours14
 Minimum Total Credit Hours:120
Program Delivery
  • Delivery:
    • In person
  • Location:
    • Kent Campus
3+3 to a Law Degree

This program allows ANTH majors on the BA track to complete many of their university requirements and all of their ANTH courses in three years.  In year four, they go on to their first year law school courses, and if those are completed successfully, those are counted as completing their bachelor’s degree at Kent State.  Graduates then complete their last two years of law school to get their law degree.  This allows students to get both degrees within six years, saving both time and money.

Pairing anthropology with a law degree is a powerful combination. Anthropology provides a wide lens of what it means to be human, preparing students to thrive in an increasingly multidisciplinary and multicultural world. A number of our graduates have gone on to earn law degrees and the 3+3 program will allow students to do that more quickly.

We currently have 3+3 programs with Cleveland State University School of Law, University of Akron School of Law, and Case Western Reserve School of Law.

To view the requirements for the program, download the GPS Degree Pathways roadmap for the law school you’re interested in using one of the links below.  The process for getting into the program with the law school of your choice is on page 3 of the GPS Degree Pathways roadmap document for that school.

GPS FOR ANTH 3+3 PROGRAM WITH CASE WESTERN RESERVE SCHOOL OF LAW

GPS FOR ANTH 3+3 PROGRAM WITH CLEVELAND STATE SCHOOL OF LAW

GPS FOR ANTH 3+3 PROGRAM WITH UNIVERSITY OF AKRON SCHOOL OF LAW

Examples of Possible Careers and Salaries for Anthropology - B.A.

Graduates of Kent State University’s B.A. Degree in Anthropology are well-prepared for careers in fields such as cultural resource management, archaeology, museum curation, and forensic science. They can work as anthropologists, archaeological field technicians, museum specialists, or cultural heritage consultants. The program equips students with strong research, analytical, and cross-cultural communication skills, making them valuable in roles within non-profit organizations, government agencies, and educational institutions. Additionally, the degree provides a solid foundation for those pursuing advanced studies in anthropology, public health, or law, further expanding their career opportunities in academia, public policy, and international development.

Anthropologists and archeologists

5.2%

faster than the average

8,000

number of jobs

$66,130

potential earnings

Anthropology and archeology teachers, postsecondary

4.4%

about as fast as the average

7,200

number of jobs

$89,220

potential earnings

Notice: Career Information Source
* Source of occupation titles and labor data comes from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Outlook Handbook. Data comprises projected percent change in employment over the next 10 years; nation-wide employment numbers; and the yearly median wage at which half of the workers in the occupation earned more than that amount and half earned less.
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