best undergrad schools for anthro

[jarklor05]

My top two favorites right now are the university of michigan and penn state. I was also thinking about uchicago but I don'the think it's right for me.

what do you think about this?

[aptitude]

My top two favorites right now are the university of michigan and penn state. I was also thinking about uchicago but I don'the think it's right for me.

what do you think about this?

Well it's difficult to say which is the best flat out. There are many things to consider; available classes, teacher to student ratio, size of classes, and overall reputation of the school. Most important though is what type of anthropology you are interested in (which of the four sub-fields? i.e. socio-cultural, linguistic, biological, or archaeology), and those interests within those particular streams. Even though these schools will all offer excellent comprehensive courses, it would help to align yourself early with faculty who study and teach subjects you are interested in (post-socialism, Arctic archaeology, altaic language ect). 

 

It's probably difficult to know what your interests are this early on, but maybe do a little exploration; look at the courses offered and previous years and see what interests you. Also to finally answer your question, both Penn State Michigan are excellent schools. Michigan I have always regarded as having one of the best doctoral degrees programs for anthropology, and I would assume the size of their department, which is quite substantial, would expose you to a wide range of the discipline. I don't know as much about Penn State anthropology, but I would assume it's rigorous as well. 

[Ajtz'ihb]

If you're interested in archaeology, one thing to bear in mind is that both Michigan and Penn State have a very strong social evolutionist bent. That's not inherently a bad thing, but it does mean that you're likely to get a very different perspective on archaeological theory than you might get some other places.

 

At the undergraduate level, the most important thing to focus on is finding a place where you'll have the freedom and resources to develop your own interests and pursue them, as well as a general academic and social environment where you feel you'll be able to thrive. Finding the ideal anthropology program is what graduate school is for. So especially if you're not sure what part of the world you want to focus on or what branch of anthropology most interests you, I would focus on finding a school with a good overall fit and an anthropology department that seems diverse enough to help you shape your own interests wherever they may lead.

 

It's also worth bearing in mind that there are some wonderful undergraduate programs that combine anthro with other social sciences, like Middlebury's Department of Sociology and Anthropology. 

[jarklor05]

Thank you guys for all the help. I really appreciate it. I am personally interested in all aspects of anthropology but mostly archeology and cultural. Also, I'm really interested in mesoamerica, asia, premodern/ancient and classical civilizations. I think having smaller class sizes would be better. I mostly wanting to take the path that's great for getting a job in higher education.

Does this help? Could you recommend some universities?

I know that grad school is going to be more important. But I still want to make sure my undergrad school is a good choice.

Edited February 7, 2015 by jarklor05

[smg]

A lot of the schools in the University of California system have excellent Anthropology programs. 

[jarklor05]

If you're interested in archaeology, one thing to bear in mind is that both Michigan and Penn State have a very strong social evolutionist bent. That's not inherently a bad thing, but it does mean that you're likely to get a very different perspective on archaeological theory than you might get some other places.

At the undergraduate level, the most important thing to focus on is finding a place where you'll have the freedom and resources to develop your own interests and pursue them, as well as a general academic and social environment where you feel you'll be able to thrive. Finding the ideal anthropology program is what graduate school is for. So especially if you're not sure what part of the world you want to focus on or what branch of anthropology most interests you, I would focus on finding a school with a good overall fit and an anthropology department that seems diverse enough to help you shape your own interests wherever they may lead.

It's also worth bearing in mind that there are some wonderful undergraduate programs that combine anthro with other social sciences, like Middlebury's Department of Sociology and Anthropology.

What do you mean by social evolutionist?

[Ajtz'ihb]

Social evolution is the idea that it's analytically useful to classify societies into "types" that are taken to be the social equivalent of specific organisms, and to then postulate ways that one type (say, a "band" of hunter-gatherers) might evolve into another (say, a "tribe" or "chiefdom"). There's been plenty of good scholarship done within this framework (looking at the development of inequality, for instance), but it also has serious problems. 

 

If you're interested, Elman Service, pre-1970s Marshall Sahlins, Leslie White, and Julian Steward were all evolutionists working within cultural anthropology (most of that scholarship was in the 1940s through the 1960s). Joyce Marcus, Kent Flannery, and Henry Wright are archaeologists of the same persuasion.

 

For one easy-to-digest critique of the idea from an archaeological perspective, see Timothy Pauketat's Chiefdoms and Other Archaeological Delusions.

 

None of this should be to dissuade you from a place like Michigan or Penn State, for archaeology or anthropology more generally. It's just something to bear in mind.

[jarklor05]

Social evolution is the idea that it's analytically useful to classify societies into "types" that are taken to be the social equivalent of specific organisms, and to then postulate ways that one type (say, a "band" of hunter-gatherers) might evolve into another (say, a "tribe" or "chiefdom"). There's been plenty of good scholarship done within this framework (looking at the development of inequality, for instance), but it also has serious problems.

If you're interested, Elman Service, pre-1970s Marshall Sahlins, Leslie White, and Julian Steward were all evolutionists working within cultural anthropology (most of that scholarship was in the 1940s through the 1960s). Joyce Marcus, Kent Flannery, and Henry Wright are archaeologists of the same persuasion.

For one easy-to-digest critique of the idea from an archaeological perspective, see Timothy Pauketat's Chiefdoms and Other Archaeological Delusions.

None of this should be to dissuade you from a place like Michigan or Penn State, for archaeology or anthropology more generally. It's just something to bear in mind.

Ok, so the problem is that this idea may not be correct? What do other colleges (like berkeley) think about this? What do they teach instead? In other words, how does learning about archeology on the other spectrum different?

[AKCarlton]

My top two favorites right now are the university of michigan and penn state. I was also thinking about uchicago but I don'the think it's right for me.

what do you think about this?

 

I am personally interested in all aspects of anthropology but mostly archeology and cultural. Also, I'm really interested in mesoamerica, asia, premodern/ancient and classical civilizations.

 

Northern Arizona University, Arizona State University and University of Arizona?

Edited February 16, 2015 by AKCarlton

[marxistglue]

I did my undergrad at University of Arizona and loved it. I can answer any questions you have via PM or on the board if you wish. If you're at all interested in applied anthropology, the Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology is an excellent resource and provides internships to get you some real-world experience before graduation. I was an intern there for a year and then they hired me as research staff after I graduated.

[nexus8793]

I always tell people to not overstress about your undergrad choice. If you're interested in anthropology, I probably wouldn't recommend going to a school that doesn't have a department at all or has a combined department that employs no anthropologists. In general, I recommend that people go to their state school or a nearby public school in another state that offers reciprocal in-state tuition. It's incredibly hard to go wrong with a big or mid-size state university in my opinion, unless you really really want a small school experience or your state has particularly horrible schools. Or you get insane financial aid at a private school. Undergrad debt is something I would try to avoid at almost all costs. Michigan and PSU are both great schools and alums I know (anthros and otherwise) swear by them. But they also know that out of staters want to go there and tend to really jack up out of state tuition as a result. 

[trogdorburninator]

I always tell people to not overstress about your undergrad choice. If you're interested in anthropology, I probably wouldn't recommend going to a school that doesn't have a department at all or has a combined department that employs no anthropologists. In general, I recommend that people go to their state school or a nearby public school in another state that offers reciprocal in-state tuition. It's incredibly hard to go wrong with a big or mid-size state university in my opinion, unless you really really want a small school experience or your state has particularly horrible schools. Or you get insane financial aid at a private school. Undergrad debt is something I would try to avoid at almost all costs. Michigan and PSU are both great schools and alums I know (anthros and otherwise) swear by them. But they also know that out of staters want to go there and tend to really jack up out of state tuition as a result.