Anthropology and Sociology, B.A.

The College of Arts and Sciences  Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology and Sociology (ANSO) curriculum is designed to engage students with the study of cultures and societies, race and ethnicity, social class, gender and sexuality, and other social inequalities that students examine through a lens of social justice. The ANSO Bachelor of Arts provide students with theoretical, research, critical thinking, and writing skills to examine the interplay between the environment, social institutions, culture, and individual identity. ANSO students take courses in both disciplines and graduate with a degree in both anthropology and sociology. 

Program Outcomes

The ANSO program has five program outcomes that focus on skills necessary for a successful career in the 21st Century.  Courses are structured and sequenced within the major to satisfy one or more of the following program outcomes by way of introducing, reinforcing, or mastering the following:

1. Demonstrate anthropological and sociological understandings of how experiences of race, ethnicity, social class, gender and sexuality are shaped by social institutions and cultural practices;
2. Apply anthropology and sociology theory and research methods to explain social phenomena observed in our society and others;
3. Apply global, local, and cross-cultural knowledge to interpret social processes and/or problems through the lenses of social justice, with a goal for more equitable, inclusive, and sustainable world;
4. Implement critical thinking, analytic thinking, and research skills to explanations of social processes;
5. Building written, visual, and oral communication skills, as experienced through individual and collaborative skill-building exercises.

Emphasis on Strengthening and Applying Important Career Skills

The ANSO Faculty designed the program with relevant job skills in mind to put our majors in a strong position for careers where a degree in anthropology and sociology are particularly useful, such as:

• Advocacy: Nonprofit, activism, and community organizing.
• Business: Marketing and market research, human resources, public relations, support staff, and sales.
• Government and Social Services: Advocacy, legislative staff, non-profit, social worker by way of MSW in Social Work, and counselor or therapist by way of M.A. or M.S. degree in counseling.
• Healthcare: Market research and consulting in the healthcare industries.
• Higher Education: Admissions, advising, development, and professor and/or researcher by way of Ph.D. degree in graduate school.
• Law and Legal Services: Investigator, lawyer by way of J.D. degree in law school, and paralegal by way of a degree or certificate.
• Publishing: Editor, copyeditor, and research.
• Technology: Project management, customer relationship management, software user research and other non-technical consultation projects.
• Other Careers: Positions where critical thinking, collaboration, research, and writing skills are needed in tandem with a global and cross-cultural knowledge.  

Students considering graduate school in Anthropology, Sociology, Law, or other relevant graduate degree program are highly encouraged to work with full-time faculty in Anthropology and Sociology in their Junior year so that s/he can write the student strong letters of recommendation for their graduate school applications that are often due in Fall of their Senior year.  Students considering a graduate degree in Anthropology are highly encouraged to take language courses, and students considering a graduate degree in Sociology are highly encouraged to take advanced statistics courses.