Courses offered by the Department of Anthropology span the social sciences, natural sciences, and humanities to provide a broad understanding of human nature and diverse societies in the past and present. We offer three concentrations – archaeology, biological anthropology, and cultural anthropology.
The University of Oregon course catalog offers degree plans and a complete list of undergraduate and graduate courses in the Department of Anthropology.
Featured Courses
Anthropology houses three subfields, archaeology, biological anthropology, and cultural anthropology. Within each concentration, students have the option to structure their curriculum around clusters of courses related to their particular interests within the department. All courses are subject to availability on a term-by-term basis. Check our course catalog for current offerings.
ANTH 223 Anthropology of Chocolate
Instructor: Lynn Stephen
Description: This course explores the impact and meaning that chocolate has had on cultures around the world and on the human body.
ANTH 175 Evolutionary Medicine
Instructor: Josh Snodgrass
Description: This course helps students to think about their own physical and mental health, including things they can do in order to live a long, healthy, and meaningful life. This course also teaches students how to apply evolutionary and anthropological perspectives to contemporary health problems, and supports them in developing a policy recommendation for an important contemporary public health issue in the US.
ANTH 255 Atlantis, Aliens and Archaeology
Instructor: Alison Carter
Description: Critically examines pseudoscientific examples of archaeology using case studies from around the world (e.g. the lost city of Atlantis, ancient aliens) and explores how proper scientific archaeological research is conducted.
Projected Courses 2023-2024
Multiple courses offered by the department fulfill many CORE Education Requirements: Science Group (SC), Social Science Group (SSC), and Global Perspectives; and US: Difference, Inequality, Agency) requirements, as listed on the Course Descriptions page.
*Please note that the lists below are tentative and meant for general planning purposes. Course offerings and fulfillments are subject to change or cancellation. Courses that do not have the subject code ANTH and are on the Year Long Schedule, count toward an Elective requirement.
Fall 2023| Course Number | Course Name | Area Major Requirement |
|---|---|---|
| 100-200 | ||
| 110 | Traditional Ecological Knowledge (WEB) | |
| 145 | Principles of Archaeology | Intro Core |
| 150 | World Archaeology | Intro Core |
| 161 | Intro to Cultural Anthropology | Intro Core |
| 163 | Origins of Storytelling (WEB) | Core Breadth: Biological Anthropology |
| 165 | Sexuality and Culture (WEB) | Core Breadth: Cultural Anthropology |
| 171 | Intro to Monkeys and Apes | Core Breadth: Biological Anthropology |
| 175 | Intro to Evol Med | Core Breadth: Biological Anthropology |
| 176 | Intro to Forensics | Core Breadth: Biological Anthropology |
| 220 | Nutritional Anth (WEB) | Core Breadth: Biological Anthropology |
| 278 | Science, Race, and Society (WEB) | Core Breadth: Biological Anthropology |
| 300 | ||
| 331 | Cultures of South Asia | CBR: CulAnth / CulAnth Concentration / Anth Elective |
| 340 | Fundamentals of Archaeology | Arch Concentration / Anth Elective |
| 365 | Food and Culture (WEB) | CBR: CulAnth / CulAnth Concentration / Anth Elective |
| 366 | Human Osteology | CBR: BioAnth / BioAnth Concentration / Anth Elective |
| 400-500 | ||
| 410/510 | Health Aging | Varies |
| 410/510 | Climate Change and Society | Varies |
| 441 | Recent Cultural Theory | Fills Multiple Requirements |
| 453/553 | African Archaeology | Fills Multiple Requirements |
| 467/567 | Paleoecology and Human Evolution | Fills Multiple Requirements |
| 470/570 | Statistics (WEB) | Fills Multiple Requirements |
| 471/571 | Zooarch | Anthropology Elective |
| 475/575 | Regarding Remains (WEB) | |
| 600 | ||
| 610 | Conservation JC | |
| 611 | Ethnographic Research | |
| 615 | Prosem | |
| 610 | Isotope Ecology | |
| 685 | Professional Writing |
Winter 2024
| Course Number | Course Name | Area Major Requirement |
|---|---|---|
| 100-200 | ||
| 119 | Anthropology and Aliens (WEB) | Core Breadth: Cultural Anthropology |
| 145 | Principles of Archaeology | Intro Core |
| 161 | Intro to Cultural Anthropology (WEB) | Intro Core |
| 173 | Evol Hum Sex (HYBRID) | Core Breadth: Biological Anthropology |
| 220 | Nutritional Anthropology | Core Breadth: Biological Anthropology |
| 270 | Intro to Biological Anthropology | Intro Core |
| 255 | Atlantis, Aliens, and Archaeology | |
| 300 | ||
| 311 | Anth of Globalization | Fills Multiple Requirements |
| 320 | Native North Americans | Fills Multiple Requirements |
| 330 | Hunters and Gatherers (WEB) | Fills Multiple Requirements |
| 332 | Human Mating and Attraction (WEB) | Fills Multiple Requirements |
| 343 | Pacific Islands Archaeology (WEB) | Fills Multiple Requirements |
| 344 | Oregon Archaeology | Fills Multiple Requirements |
| 349 | Origins of Art (WEB) | Fills Multiple Requirements |
| 365 | Food and Culture (WEB) | Fills Multiple Requirements |
| 369 | Growth and Development | CBR: BioAnth / BioAnth Concentration / Anth Elective |
| 376 | Genomics and Anthropology | CBR: BioAnth / BioAnth Concentration / Anth Elective |
| 399 | Decolonizing Archaeology | Varies |
| 399 | Cultural Heritage | Varies |
| 400-500 | ||
| 410/510 | Sex, Gender, Science and the Body | Varies |
| 420 | Culture Illness and Healing | CBR: CulAnth / CulAnth Concentration / Anth Elective |
| 427/527 | Latino Roots I | Anthropology Elective |
| 479/579 | Taphonomy (WEB) | CBR: BioAnth / BioAnth Concentration / Anth Elective |
| 487/587 | BioAnth Methods | CBR: BioAnth / BioAnth Concentration / Anth Elective |
| 600 | ||
| 610 | Conservation JC | |
| 610 | Problems in Archaeological Interpretation | |
| 689 | Recent Social Theory |
Spring 2024
| Course Number | Course NamE | Area Major Requirement |
|---|---|---|
| 100-200 | ||
| 145 | Principles of Archaeology (WEB) | Intro Core |
| 161 | Intro to Cultural Anthropology | Intro Core |
| 163 | Origins of Storytelling (WEB) | |
| 170 | Intro to Human Evolution | |
| 171 | Intro to Monkeys and Apes (WEB) | |
| 176 | Intro to Forensics | |
| 260 | Domestic Animals | |
| 270 | Intro Biological Anthropology | Intro Core |
| 274 | Animals and People | |
| 300 | ||
| 329 | Immigration and Farmworkers | |
| 349 | Origins of Art (WEB) | |
| 361 | Human Evolution | |
| 362 | Human Bio Variation (WEB) | |
| 366 | Human Osteology | |
| 373 | Psychoactive Substances (WEB) | |
| 399 | Great Basin Archaeology and Paleoecology | |
| 400-500 | ||
| 410 | Law and Society | |
| 428/528 | Latino Roots II | |
| 434/534 | Indigenous Peoples of South America | |
| 472/572 | Primate Conservation | |
| 481/581 | Evol Psych | |
| 456 | Peopling of Americas | |
| 600 | ||
| 610 | Conservation JC | |
| 610 | Ethnography of Institutions | |
| 610 | Qualitative Methods | |
| 650 | African Studies Seminar |