Division: Social Sciences
Anthropology is the study of human and non-human primate biology and culture from the prehistoric to the present. Students will enhance their critical thinking and communication skills while becoming more informed about how people and systems (socially and ecologically) are connected. Students will recognize common features of the human experience around the world and throughout history. We study the uniqueness of the human animal from a culturally relative perspective.
The most common career opportunities with a Bachelor's degree in anthropology include: advertising and marketing, museum curation and historic preservation, human resources, public relations, public health, international affairs, computer/technology development, product design, consulting, foreign service, local, state and federal government agencies, urban planning, environmental studies, social services, business and non-profit organizations.
Information about transfer requirements in anthropology are available in Counseling. In all cases, students should consult with an academic counselor for specific transfer requirements.
Contact Information
Anthropology Faculty Contact
Marla Prochnow, Ed. D. | marlap@cos.edu
Social Sciences Division Chair
Marla Prochnow | (559) 730-3723 | marlap@cos.edu
Kern: 730D | Visalia Campus
Dean of Business, Social Science, and Consumer Family Studies
Jesse Wilcoxson, Ed.D. | (559) 737-6281 | jessew@cos.edu
Kern: 716 | Visalia Campus
For a complete list of courses and descriptions visit: COURSES
ANTH 010 Cultural Anthropology
3 unit(s)
This course explores how anthropologists study and compare human culture. Cultural anthropologists seek to understand the broad arc of human experience focusing on a set of central issues: how people around the world make their living (subsistence patterns); how they organize themselves socially, politically and economically; how they communicate; how they relate to each other through family and kinship ties; what they believe about the world (belief systems); how they express themselves creatively (expressive culture); how they make distinctions among themselves such as through applying gender, racial and ethnic identity labels; how they have shaped and been shaped by social inequalities such as colonialism; and how they navigate culture change and processes of globalization that affect us all. Ethnographic case studies highlight these similarities and differences, and introduce students to how anthropologists do their work, employ professional anthropological research ethics and apply their perspectives and skills to understand humans around the globe. (C-ID ANTH120)
ANTH 011 Biological Anthropology
3 unit(s)
Want to learn about your origins, primates, and forensic anthropology in one class? Students will encounter the concepts, methods of inquiry, and scientific explanations of the evolution of humans and non-human primates. Course topics include: genetics, evolutionary theory, human variation and adaptation, comparative anatomy and behavior of non-human primates, as well as fossil ancestry. The philosophy of science and the scientific method are the foundations of this course.
ANTH 012 Archaeology
3 unit(s)
Can you dig it? Students will explore the study of concepts, theories, and scientific method in archaeology, as well as a review of data and models that contribute to our knowledge of the human past. The course includes the history and interdisciplinary nature of archaeological research; dating techniques and methods of survey, excavation, and analysis; cultural resource management; and selected cultural sequences.
ANTH 013 Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion
3 unit(s)
What do you believe? Students explore the context of religion and the relationships of individuals and societies to the supernatural. We examine religious practices from around the world and throughout history using the lens of anthropology. Topics explored in this class include: myths, rituals, practitioners, symbolism, supernatural beings, religious movements, conflict and peace.
ANTH 114 Introduction to Linguistic Anthropology
3 unit(s)
What can we say about this course? This introductory course serves as a foundation for understanding language from an anthropological perspective. We cover core questions such as how, what, when, where, why, and with whom we communicate. This course surveys core areas in linguistic anthropology including but not limited to: descriptive linguistics; comparative linguistics; sociocultural linguistics and biocultural linguistics, with an emphasis on regional language conservation.
ANTH 115 Biological Anthropology Laboratory
1 unit(s)
This laboratory course is offered as a supplement to Introduction to Biological Anthropology either taken concurrently or in a subsequent term. Laboratory exercises are designed to introduce students to the scientific method and explore genetics, human variation, human and non-human primate anatomy and behavior, the primate/hominin fossil record, and other resources to investigate processes that affect human evolution.
Anthropology
Prochnow, Marla, Ed.D.
B.A., California State University, Fullerton
M.A., California State University, Fullerton
Ed.D., California State University, Fresno