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UNDERGRAD INFO PAGEADVISORMAJOR BASICS
FAQ
QUESTIONS?Ask the Undergraduate Advisor:Erik Hanson is responsible for all undergraduate advisement in the department. Erik's email is ehanson@anth.umd.edu.
MAJOR BASICSIf you're interested in anthropology as a major you should do a few things:
So, you're still interested in declaring the ANTH major:
You must complete (at a minimum) the following course work within two semesters of entering the major:
If you are entering the major with the majority of these courses finished, you are encouraged to complete any remaining foundational courses, as well as the method and theory courses, within your first two semesters of entering the major.
DECLARING YOUR AREA OF FOCUS AND FACULTY ADVISOR As soon as you have finished all of the foundational courses, or within three semesters of entering the major (whichever comes first), you should declare your area of focus and choice of faculty advisor to the undergraduate advisor in person or by email. You should choose to focus either in:
It is important to pick your faculty advisor in conjunction with your area of focus. Your advisor should work within that area of anthropology so that they can give you advice and recommendations. Please meet with this person regularly so they can get to know you and give you useful advice. You will need to gain their approval for your supporting course work later on so start talking about it with them early. Start planning your supporting course work with your faculty advisor as soon as you've declared your area of focus. Your supporting course work must be related to your interests in anthropology AND your area of focus. For specific rules governing the supporting course work see the "Course Requirements" page. Your faculty advisor will be the one who has to approve your supporting course work, so you'll want their buy-in early in the process. They will be able to provide you with good suggestions of courses you can take, and help you tailor the course work to your interests, abilities, and goals. Supporting Course Work IS NOT an opportunity for you to take whatever you want and plug it into some slots. Your plan must be well thought out and you should be backed by your faculty advisor in all of your choices. Your faculty advisor's signature of approval must be filed with the undergraduate advisor's office PRIOR TO the semester in which you want to graduate. Usually, students have the undergraduate advisor place a note in their degree navigator report listing the courses, which the student then takes to their faculty advisor for a signature.
You should think of this 'requirement' as an opportunity to gain additional marketable skills- not just another hurdle you have to jump over. Knowing a foreign language and being skilled in manipulting quantitative data not only make you look good on job applications, but will allow you to do better as a student and employee. So, although only one is required, we HIGHLY ENCOURAGE students to do both.
Students can check their degree progress at any time on degree navigator, but are encouraged to talk to the department advisor if they have questions or concerns. A 'degree audit' is a more formal procedure for checking your progress toward your degree. During the audit you will work with both the undergraduate advisor and a college advisor to check your progress toward the major and university requirements. Students are welcome to have an audit done at any credit level, and are encouraged to do so if they have any concerns about fulfilling their remaining requirements or credits. However, all students are required to have an "official senior audit" on file after they have reached 75-80 credits. To begin the audit process, make an appointment with your department advisor.
FAQ
WHY DO I HAVE TO PICK A FOCUS AREA? Our department offers three areas of focus: archaeology, biological anthropology, and cultural anthropology. Students should choose to focus in one of these areas of anthropology to gain a deeper understanding of the discipline through course work. Courses applied to the supporting course work requirement should be related to their area of focus AND interests in anthropology. Typically, students also take a number of their ANTH electives in their area of focus.
An audit is the procedure for checking your progress toward your degree. You can have one done at any time but you must have an official audit done soon after you've reached 75 credits- this is required for graduation. There are three stages to the audit:
WHAT IF I WANT TO DOUBLE MAJOR OR DOUBLE DEGREE? The Difference: Double Major = A minimum of 120 credits and one diploma that lists both majors Double Degree = A minimum of 150 credits, including a minimum of 18 credits that don't overlap between the two majors, and a separate diploma for each major To Declare The Second Major You Will Need To:
Please Note: It is to your advantage to do a detailed and specific academic plan when you add another major to make sure you can complete all the requirements for both majors.
WHEN DO I HAVE TO TURN IN MY SUPPORTING COURSE WORK? All 18 credits of course work that you're planning to use should be turned in to the undergraduate advisor with your faculty advisor's signature during your second-to-last semester. At the latest, they must be received, processed, and show up on your degree navigator by the end of schedule adjustment period of the semester you wish to graduate. (more on suppporting course work above under 'Major Basics')
HOW DO I JOIN THE UNDERGRADUATE LISTSERVE? The undergraduate list-serve is a tool designed to communicate departmental matters to all anthropology majors. If you are not receiving messages from the list-serve, please email Erik at ehanson@anth.umd.edu and request to be added. Undergraduate Studies | Course
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