Introduction
Please click here to see Anthropology department information.
Anthropology is the study of humankind in all of our complexity—past and present, home or abroad, in our cultural behaviors and in our genes. In an era of escalating global connections and conflicts, no other discipline prepares you better to be a citizen of the world than Anthropology.
Anthropology comprises the entire human experience, including societies, cultures, and behaviors. It considers human beings as biological and social entities and seeks to explain both diversities and commonalities of peoples and cultures. Through research and analysis, you can understand the elements that bind people together, including human origins, ideologies, language, health, art, faith, social justice, and technology.
You will gain a variety of skills and practical research methods which will be applied in laboratory and field studies to investigate complex and multifaceted topics. You can find anthropologists in every corner of the globe and in every type of industry—whether at Google, Netflix, museums, nonprofits, zoos, the National Park Service, or the Centers for Disease Control. With a focus on understanding human behavior, cultural difference, and human nature—past and present--Anthropology gives you the tools to make a difference in the world.
We offer three distinct specializations to help guide your educational journey:
Archaeology
Understand the past through historical and pre-historic materials, architectural features, landscapes and remains.
Biological/Physical Anthropology
Human and non-human primate evolution, ecology, behavior, and biocultural variation.
Cultural/Medical Anthropology
The social patterns and processes within and across cultures, and the factors the influence people’s health and well-being.
These degree requirements are subject to periodic revision by the academic department, and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences reserves the right to make exceptions and substitutions as judged necessary in individual cases. Therefore, the College strongly urges students to consult regularly with their major advisor and CLAS advisor to confirm the best plans of study before finalizing them.
Program Delivery
- The BA program may be completed on-campus or online.
Declaring This Major
- Click here to go to information about declaring a major.
General Requirements
To earn a degree, students must satisfy all requirements in each of the three areas below, in addition to their individual major requirements.
Program Requirements
- Students must complete a minimum of 35 ANTH credit hours.
- Students must complete a minimum of 18 upper division (3000-level and above) ANTH credit hours. Most upper division courses have lower division prerequisites.
- Students must earn a minimum grade of C- (1.7) in all courses that apply to the major and must achieve a minimum cumulative major GPA of 2.0. Courses taken using P+/P/F or S/U grading cannot apply to major requirements.
- Students must complete a minimum of 15 ANTH credit hours with CU Denver faculty.
Program Restrictions, Allowances and Recommendations
- Anthropology majors are advised to take MATH 2830 Introductory Statistics for their CU Denver Core Curriculum Mathematics requirement.
Course List | Code | Title | Hours |
| Introduction to Archaeology | |
| Introduction to Biological Anthropology | |
| Culture and the Human Experience | |
| Foundations of Cultural Anthropology | |
| Language, Culture, and Communication | |
| World Prehistory | |
| Human Evolution | |
| Total Hours | 35 |
To learn more about the Student Learning Outcomes for this program, please visit our website.
To review the Degree Map for this program, please visit our website.
