Anthropology
Why pursue an anthropology degree at North Central College?
Have you ever wondered what makes us human? Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity in the broadest sense. Anthropologists ask questions about what makes life meaningful, the role of language in human cognition, how people secure energy from the physical environment, how group decisions are made, what makes a person a person, and so forth. They address these questions by gathering data through various kinds of fieldwork, from excavation of archaeological sites to immersion in contemporary communities.
At North Central, you’ll join our fieldwork-intensive curriculum, studying a wide range of anthropological topics topics. We facilitate hands-on learning and encourage work with dedicated faculty on individualized projects and a robust study abroad program. Anthropological skills can lead to graduate school and a wide range of rewarding careers in the public or private sector.
IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN
- Unraveling the evolutionary origins of humankind
- Studying human social and cultural similarities and differences
- Traveling abroad to study how people in other societies understand the world around them
then a degree in ANTHROPOLOGY might be for you.
Why study anthropology at North Central College?
In the Classroom
Coursework topics:
- Cultural Ecology
- Field Methods
- Forensic Anthropology
- Indigenous Peoples, the State, and the Global Order
- Language and Culture in Community
- Mayas, Aztecs and Their Neighbors: Heart of Earth
- Native Nations of North America: Homelands, Reservations and Urban Indian Communities
- Social Life and Social Theory
- Stones and Bones: Archaeology and Biological Anthropology
Beyond the Classroom
As an anthropology major, you can:
- Apply for internships and jobs through robust faculty and alumni networks or the Center for Career and Professional Development.
- Apply for a Richter Grant and explore your own research interests from anywhere in the world.
- Conduct research and present findings at local, regional and national conferences.
- Travel to Guatemala during the College’s May Term to study highland Mayan culture while working with indigenous artists and farmers.
- Apply for the Mironda K. Heston Scholarship for Public Service, which funds international human service projects.
Anthropology, B.A.
For additional programs and courses in this department, see Sociology and Anthropology.
Foundational Courses
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ANTH 145 - Language and Culture in Community: Linguistics and Cultural Anthropology
ANTH 145 - Language and Culture in Community: Linguistics and Cultural Anthropology
4.00 credit hours
An introduction to the anthropological subfields of cultural anthropology and linguistics. Consideration of human cultural and linguistic diversity. Introduction to theories that attempt to explain human cultural and linguistic diversity and commonality. Exploration of identity, economy, political life, religion, kinship, phonology, morphology, syntax, sociolinguistics, linguistic and cultural change and continuity in global context. Intensive examination of the ethnography of a particular community designated by the professor.
-
ANTH 165 - Stones and Bones: Introduction to Archaeology and Biological Anthropology
ANTH 165 - Stones and Bones: Introduction to Archaeology and Biological Anthropology
4.00 credit hours
An introduction to the anthropological subfields of archaeology and biological anthropology. Concepts, principles and methods used to reconstruct human evolution, human prehistory, sequences of socio-political development and particular cultural histories. Continuity and change over long arcs of time. Humankind as a member of the primate order and contemporary human biodiversity. How human societies adapt and change and how human culture intersects with human biology and the natural environment. Case studies by instructor.
-
ANTH 235 - Field Methods: Digging in the Earth
ANTH 235 - Field Methods: Digging in the Earth
4.00 credit hours
A field school on methods used in anthropology and other social sciences. Ethnographic methods including participant observation, structured observation, interview and survey. Archaeological methods including site survey, mapping and basic excavation. When offered on campus, the course examines U.S. college life. When offered abroad, the course examines life in a community designated by the instructor.
-
SOCI 200 - Social Inquiry I: Quantitative
SOCI 200 - Social Inquiry I: Quantitative
4.00 credit hours
An assessment of the strengths and limitations of various modes of quantitative data collection including experiments, surveys, content analysis and the use of secondary data. Sustained focus on applying the methods and techniques learned to actual social science data. Emphasis is placed on ethical issues, becoming a critical consumer of research and developing the ability to design and carry out an independent study.
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SOCI 350 - Social Life and Social Theory
SOCI 350 - Social Life and Social Theory
4.00 credit hours
An introduction, review and application of classic and modern sociological theories to everyday life. Emphasis placed upon the attempts to understand the emergence of modern and post-modern times and the underlying problems brought about by these social developments. Applications of social thought to issues of work, marriage, deviance, presentations of self, love, police work, gender, consumer behavior and punishment.
Place-Oriented Courses
Two of the following:
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ANTH 355 - Native Nations of North America: Homelands, Reservations and Urban Indian Communities
ANTH 355 - Native Nations of North America: Homelands, Reservations and Urban Indian Communities
4.00 credit hours
The archaeology, ethno history and ethnography of selected indigenous nations with homelands north of Mesoamerica. Exploration of tensions among continuity and change, diversity and commonality. Examination of cultural and linguistic revitalization in response to imposed cultural and social change. Changing relationships with various landscapes that result from colonial, removal, reservation and assimilationist policies. Concentration on native nations of the upper Midwest.
-
ANTH 365 - Mayas, Aztecs and Their Neighbors: Heart of the Earth
ANTH 365 - Mayas, Aztecs and Their Neighbors: Heart of the Earth
4.00 credit hours
The archaeology, ethno history and ethnography of selected indigenous nations of Mesoamerica with a special emphasis on the Aztec Empire and ancient and contemporary Maya peoples. Continuity and change, diversity and commonality among selected Mesoamerican indigenous peoples. Examination of contemporary indigenous efforts and movements for political, economic and cultural autonomy.
-
ANTH 375 - Urban Anthropology
ANTH 375 - Urban Anthropology
4.00 credit hours
Draws on anthropological approaches, theories and methods to examine urbanism and city life across time and space. Examination of theories to explain appearance and disappearance of urbanism in the archaeological record. Contemporary urban centers and urban neighborhoods in transnational context. Extensive ethnographic field study required. Emphasis on an urban center determined by the instructor.
-
ANTH 385 - Anthropology of Place
ANTH 385 - Anthropology of Place
4.00 credit hours
The archaeology, ethno history, ethnography and/or linguistics of a culture area or region as designated by the instructor. An example would be Anthropology of Place: Amazonia.
Topical Courses
Two of the following:
-
ANTH 305 - Cultural Ecology
ANTH 305 - Cultural Ecology
4.00 credit hours
Examines human engagements with the physical environment from early homo sapiens to the present. Topics include major adaptive strategies (foraging, horticulture, intensive agriculture, pastoralism and industrialism) and their social correlates and environmental consequences. Factors that lead to collapse of complex societies in the archaeological past. Colonial engagements and resulting resource use changes. Traditional ecological knowledge. Contemporary resource conflicts between small-scale societies, states and corporate interests.
-
ANTH 315 - Applied Economic Anthropology
ANTH 315 - Applied Economic Anthropology
4.00 credit hours
Exploration of the application of anthropological data, methods and approaches to contemporary economic problems and challenges. Topics include poverty and marginalization, global inequality, economic development, retail anthropology, anthropology in governmental and nongovernmental agencies, anthropology and entrepreneurship, anthropology in the private sector. Requires at least 20 hours of community engaged learning in collaboration with an indigenous community development group or organization.
-
ANTH 325 - Indigenous Peoples, State and Order
ANTH 325 - Indigenous Peoples, State and Order
4.00 credit hours
Examination of the multi-dimensional clash of cultural values, attitudes and ideologies that commonly occurs in global encounters and relationships between state systems and native peoples. Topics include: colonial expansion, genocide, ethnocide and ecocide; the emergence of "indigenous" as a globalized category of identity; movements for cultural, political, economic and ecological autonomy and state responses.
-
ANTH 332 - Forensic Anthropology
ANTH 332 - Forensic Anthropology
4.00 credit hours
Introduction to and examination of the methods and techniques used to identify and recover skeletonized human remains and establish circumstances of death. Topics include: skeletal biology; age/sex/ancestry identification; trauma and pathology evident through skeletal analysis; and the ethical concerns that arise when working with human remains in a medico legal context.
-
ANTH 345 - Religion, Spirituality and Community
ANTH 345 - Religion, Spirituality and Community
4.00 credit hours
An examination of the interplay of religion, culture and society. Special emphasis on religion and spirituality in context of social inequality. Theoretical approaches to explain religious change including revitalization theory and secularization theory. Contemporary religious diversity in the U.S. and globally. Participant observation fieldwork required for the course. Related study abroad experience offered occasionally.
-
ANTH 352 - Law and Order in Cross-Cultural Perspective
ANTH 352 - Law and Order in Cross-Cultural Perspective
4.00 credit hours
Systems of conflict resolution, resource and property rights and social control and punishment in cross-cultural perspective. Correlation of legal systems with sociopolitical organization across time and space. Examination of classic ethnography from legal anthropology and of cases of contemporary indigenous customary law systems. Development of cultural competency for criminal justice professionals. Opportunities for related field study experience offered occasionally through
-
ANTH 372 - Culture, Illness and Wellness: The Anthropology of Medicine
ANTH 372 - Culture, Illness and Wellness: The Anthropology of Medicine
4.00 credit hours
Introduces students to the subfield of Medical Anthropology. The role of disease and nutrition in understanding the archaeological record. Human adaptation to endemic diseases. Ethno medical practitioners and their correlations to sociopolitical organization. Varied ways that peoples ascribe meaning to states of wellness and sickness. Classification of illnesses, their causes and treatments. Varied epistemologies of being well. Applied medical anthropology, including dimensions and complexities involved in caring for people from diverse cultural backgrounds.
-
ANTH 382 - "The Naked Ape:" Human Evolution
ANTH 382 - "The Naked Ape:" Human Evolution
4.00 credit hours
Explores human evolution from the emergence of the order Primates through anatomically modern Homo sapiens. The relative importance of distinctive primate and hominin adaptive features in human evolution including bipedalism, heat regulation, cranial capacity, stereoscopic vision, prehensile hand morphology and the role of tool making in the development of early hominins. Debates regarding the classificatory relationship among various hominin species. Examples of modern human variation (malaria resistance, lactase persistence, variation in skin color) and the relevance of Evolutionary Theory to understand continued human evolution.
-
ANTH 390 - Topics in Anthropology
ANTH 390 - Topics in Anthropology
4.00 credit hours
An in-depth consideration of current topics in anthropology, such as recent developments in archaeology and ethnography, transnationalism, specific areas of applied anthropology and so forth.
-
MUSI 380 - Music As Social Life: The Field of Ethnomusicology
MUSI 380 - Music As Social Life: The Field of Ethnomusicology
4.00 credit hours
Investigates the role of music in human sociability through engagement with ethnographic readings and recordings of global music scenes and practices. Students conduct their own field research to explore hands-on the links between music and politics, religion, sexuality and many other aspects of social life.
Fieldwork
Two credit hours from the following:
-
ANTH 445 - Interdisciplinary Field School
ANTH 445 - Interdisciplinary Field School
2.00 credit hours
Students explore topics relevant to their disciplines through fieldwork in San Miguel Totonicapn, Guatemala during May Term. Enrollment requires field school director approval. Approval of research topic and fieldwork design by professor in student's major is required for non-anthropology majors.
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ANTH 499 - Independent Study
ANTH 499 - Independent Study
1.00-12.00 credit hours
Individual studies undertaken with guidance of a faculty member. May be repeated with different content.
Capstone
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ANTH 485 - Theory and Practice in Anthropology
ANTH 485 - Theory and Practice in Anthropology
4.00 credit hours
In-depth consideration of the principal thinkers and scholars of anthropology. How anthropological theory is applied and how field data are understood through theoretical tools. Emphasis on the tension between cultural relativism and social science generalization. Substantial written assignments that incorporate data collected by the student in
Students must demonstrate elementary competence in a foreign language. For more information, see the
Anthropology Minor
For additional programs and courses in this department, see Sociology and Anthropology.
20 credit hours, including:
Foundational Courses
-
ANTH 145 - Language and Culture in Community: Linguistics and Cultural Anthropology
ANTH 145 - Language and Culture in Community: Linguistics and Cultural Anthropology
4.00 credit hours
An introduction to the anthropological subfields of cultural anthropology and linguistics. Consideration of human cultural and linguistic diversity. Introduction to theories that attempt to explain human cultural and linguistic diversity and commonality. Exploration of identity, economy, political life, religion, kinship, phonology, morphology, syntax, sociolinguistics, linguistic and cultural change and continuity in global context. Intensive examination of the ethnography of a particular community designated by the professor.
-
ANTH 165 - Stones and Bones: Introduction to Archaeology and Biological Anthropology
ANTH 165 - Stones and Bones: Introduction to Archaeology and Biological Anthropology
4.00 credit hours
An introduction to the anthropological subfields of archaeology and biological anthropology. Concepts, principles and methods used to reconstruct human evolution, human prehistory, sequences of socio-political development and particular cultural histories. Continuity and change over long arcs of time. Humankind as a member of the primate order and contemporary human biodiversity. How human societies adapt and change and how human culture intersects with human biology and the natural environment. Case studies by instructor.
-
ANTH 235 - Field Methods: Digging in the Earth
ANTH 235 - Field Methods: Digging in the Earth
4.00 credit hours
A field school on methods used in anthropology and other social sciences. Ethnographic methods including participant observation, structured observation, interview and survey. Archaeological methods including site survey, mapping and basic excavation. When offered on campus, the course examines U.S. college life. When offered abroad, the course examines life in a community designated by the instructor.
Place-Oriented Courses
Four credit hours from the following:
-
ANTH 355 - Native Nations of North America: Homelands, Reservations and Urban Indian Communities
ANTH 355 - Native Nations of North America: Homelands, Reservations and Urban Indian Communities
4.00 credit hours
The archaeology, ethno history and ethnography of selected indigenous nations with homelands north of Mesoamerica. Exploration of tensions among continuity and change, diversity and commonality. Examination of cultural and linguistic revitalization in response to imposed cultural and social change. Changing relationships with various landscapes that result from colonial, removal, reservation and assimilationist policies. Concentration on native nations of the upper Midwest.
-
ANTH 365 - Mayas, Aztecs and Their Neighbors: Heart of the Earth
ANTH 365 - Mayas, Aztecs and Their Neighbors: Heart of the Earth
4.00 credit hours
The archaeology, ethno history and ethnography of selected indigenous nations of Mesoamerica with a special emphasis on the Aztec Empire and ancient and contemporary Maya peoples. Continuity and change, diversity and commonality among selected Mesoamerican indigenous peoples. Examination of contemporary indigenous efforts and movements for political, economic and cultural autonomy.
-
ANTH 375 - Urban Anthropology
ANTH 375 - Urban Anthropology
4.00 credit hours
Draws on anthropological approaches, theories and methods to examine urbanism and city life across time and space. Examination of theories to explain appearance and disappearance of urbanism in the archaeological record. Contemporary urban centers and urban neighborhoods in transnational context. Extensive ethnographic field study required. Emphasis on an urban center determined by the instructor.
-
ANTH 385 - Anthropology of Place
ANTH 385 - Anthropology of Place
4.00 credit hours
The archaeology, ethno history, ethnography and/or linguistics of a culture area or region as designated by the instructor. An example would be Anthropology of Place: Amazonia.
Topical Courses
Four credit hours from the following:
-
ANTH 305 - Cultural Ecology
ANTH 305 - Cultural Ecology
4.00 credit hours
Examines human engagements with the physical environment from early homo sapiens to the present. Topics include major adaptive strategies (foraging, horticulture, intensive agriculture, pastoralism and industrialism) and their social correlates and environmental consequences. Factors that lead to collapse of complex societies in the archaeological past. Colonial engagements and resulting resource use changes. Traditional ecological knowledge. Contemporary resource conflicts between small-scale societies, states and corporate interests.
-
ANTH 315 - Applied Economic Anthropology
ANTH 315 - Applied Economic Anthropology
4.00 credit hours
Exploration of the application of anthropological data, methods and approaches to contemporary economic problems and challenges. Topics include poverty and marginalization, global inequality, economic development, retail anthropology, anthropology in governmental and nongovernmental agencies, anthropology and entrepreneurship, anthropology in the private sector. Requires at least 20 hours of community engaged learning in collaboration with an indigenous community development group or organization.
-
ANTH 325 - Indigenous Peoples, State and Order
ANTH 325 - Indigenous Peoples, State and Order
4.00 credit hours
Examination of the multi-dimensional clash of cultural values, attitudes and ideologies that commonly occurs in global encounters and relationships between state systems and native peoples. Topics include: colonial expansion, genocide, ethnocide and ecocide; the emergence of "indigenous" as a globalized category of identity; movements for cultural, political, economic and ecological autonomy and state responses.
-
ANTH 332 - Forensic Anthropology
ANTH 332 - Forensic Anthropology
4.00 credit hours
Introduction to and examination of the methods and techniques used to identify and recover skeletonized human remains and establish circumstances of death. Topics include: skeletal biology; age/sex/ancestry identification; trauma and pathology evident through skeletal analysis; and the ethical concerns that arise when working with human remains in a medico legal context.
-
ANTH 345 - Religion, Spirituality and Community
ANTH 345 - Religion, Spirituality and Community
4.00 credit hours
An examination of the interplay of religion, culture and society. Special emphasis on religion and spirituality in context of social inequality. Theoretical approaches to explain religious change including revitalization theory and secularization theory. Contemporary religious diversity in the U.S. and globally. Participant observation fieldwork required for the course. Related study abroad experience offered occasionally.
-
ANTH 352 - Law and Order in Cross-Cultural Perspective
ANTH 352 - Law and Order in Cross-Cultural Perspective
4.00 credit hours
Systems of conflict resolution, resource and property rights and social control and punishment in cross-cultural perspective. Correlation of legal systems with sociopolitical organization across time and space. Examination of classic ethnography from legal anthropology and of cases of contemporary indigenous customary law systems. Development of cultural competency for criminal justice professionals. Opportunities for related field study experience offered occasionally through
-
ANTH 372 - Culture, Illness and Wellness: The Anthropology of Medicine
ANTH 372 - Culture, Illness and Wellness: The Anthropology of Medicine
4.00 credit hours
Introduces students to the subfield of Medical Anthropology. The role of disease and nutrition in understanding the archaeological record. Human adaptation to endemic diseases. Ethno medical practitioners and their correlations to sociopolitical organization. Varied ways that peoples ascribe meaning to states of wellness and sickness. Classification of illnesses, their causes and treatments. Varied epistemologies of being well. Applied medical anthropology, including dimensions and complexities involved in caring for people from diverse cultural backgrounds.
-
ANTH 382 - "The Naked Ape:" Human Evolution
ANTH 382 - "The Naked Ape:" Human Evolution
4.00 credit hours
Explores human evolution from the emergence of the order Primates through anatomically modern Homo sapiens. The relative importance of distinctive primate and hominin adaptive features in human evolution including bipedalism, heat regulation, cranial capacity, stereoscopic vision, prehensile hand morphology and the role of tool making in the development of early hominins. Debates regarding the classificatory relationship among various hominin species. Examples of modern human variation (malaria resistance, lactase persistence, variation in skin color) and the relevance of Evolutionary Theory to understand continued human evolution.
-
ANTH 390 - Topics in Anthropology
ANTH 390 - Topics in Anthropology
4.00 credit hours
An in-depth consideration of current topics in anthropology, such as recent developments in archaeology and ethnography, transnationalism, specific areas of applied anthropology and so forth.
-
MUSI 380 - Music As Social Life: The Field of Ethnomusicology
MUSI 380 - Music As Social Life: The Field of Ethnomusicology
4.00 credit hours
Investigates the role of music in human sociability through engagement with ethnographic readings and recordings of global music scenes and practices. Students conduct their own field research to explore hands-on the links between music and politics, religion, sexuality and many other aspects of social life.
Anthropology Internships and Jobs
A North Central education integrates career preparation with rich academic study. Our faculty encourages you to refine and apply your knowledge in an interconnected world. Here you'll learn to think independently and work globally to solve problems and lead.
Internships
- The Field Museum, Chicago
Graduate Schools
Recent graduates in anthropology have been accepted at:
- Cambridge University
- University of Chicago
- University of Louisville
- University of Illinois, Graduate School of Library and Information Science
Careers
Recent graduates in anthropology include:
- Library assistant, University of Chicago
- National Archives employee, Great Lakes Branch, Chicago
- After-school children’s club coordinator for refugee children, World Relief, Aurora, IL
- Fair trade importer, WorldFinds, Westmont, IL
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