Sociology - Anthropology Minor
Relation to Other Clemson Programs / Courses Offered / Faculty / Student Conference / Alumni in Graduate Programs / Links
Anthropology is the discipline that examines all human behavior, from human origins to the diversity of contemporary cultures. Anthropology also examines the impact of global changes, from the origins of agriculture to current world issues such as Third World inequality and the impact of globalization.
The Anthropology Minor allows students to explore the four principal subfields of Anthropology (Cultural, Physical, Archaeology, and Linguistics) with a dual focus on the academic and applied aspects of the discipline. An Anthropology degree is highly sought by business and other professional fields, and has many applications in academia.
By minoring in Anthropology, students will gain a greater awareness of human behavior and the world’s cultures, both past and present, as well as the methodological and theoretical tools necessary to understand that behavior. The Minor is also ideal for students wishing to increase their understanding of cultural diversity and globalization.
Anthropologists are interested in such questions as:
- What is the essence of being human, and how did this originate?
- In what ways, and why, do different populations vary genetically?
- How did plant and animal domestication begin, and what were the consequences for human societies?
- How can we explain and understand all the different ways humans have developed in order to solve life’s basic problems?
- How do humans transform sounds into meanings?
- How did human languages begin, and how are they related?
- Why are ethnic groups today fighting back against larger nations?
- How can we work to guarantee human rights for all people in the world today?
Relation to Other Clemson Programs
As the discipline that bridges the gap between the sciences and the humanities, Anthropology supports cross-cultural perspectives in programs like Language and International Trade, Language and International Health, Communications Studies, History, Art and Architectural History, Languages, Secondary Education, and any of the Social Sciences. An Anthropology Minor also internationalizes many other majors like Marketing, Management, Industrial Engineering, Agriculture, Nursing, Health Sciences and PRTM. The Anthropology Minor also supports four of Clemson’s academic focus areas: Family and Community Studies, Environmental Sustainability, Biomedical services and General Education.
For more information, or to sign up for the email newsletter, contact Professor Mike Coggeshall.
Courses Offered
ANTH 201 Introduction to Anthropology
ANTH 301 Cultural Anthropology
ANTH 320 North American Indian Cultures
ANTH 331 Introduction to Archaeology
ANTH 351 Physical Anthropology
ANTH/LANG 371 Language and Culture
ANTH 401/601 Cultures and the Environment
ANTH 403/603 Qualitative Methods
ANTH/JAPN 417 Japanese Culture and Society
ANTH/CHIN 418 Chinese Culture and Society
ANTH 495 Field Studies
ANTH 498 Independent Study
Faculty
John Coggeshall, Ph.D.
Professor of Anthropology
137 Brackett Hall
864-656-3822
Leslie Williams, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Japanese
614 Strode Tower
864-656-3547
Yanhua Zhang, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Chinese
313 Strode Tower
864-656-5387
Student Conference
Recently 4 Psychology Majors, 2 Sociology Majors, and 2 other Clemson students ( all Anthropology Minors ) presented papers on their orginal research at the second annual SC Anthropology Student Conference sponsored by USC's Dept. of Anthropology. For the conference, the students collected and analyzed ethnographic (qualitative) data, summarized them, and presented their findings to an audience of faculty, students, and parents.
The Psychology students and their projects were: Ayesha Owens (her family's rural Upstate Baptist church, her ANTH 403 Qualitative Methods project): Theresa Troescher ( Native American myths and their reflection of cultural values); and Alan Boling and Nick Korn ( Nazi atrocity sites in the Czech Republic, based on their experiences with my Czech Study Abroad trip).
The Sociology students and their projects were: Jessica Reinhardt (a biographical interview with Catawba master potter Keith Brown): and Brian Tull (the culture of male bodybuilders, his ANTH 403 project).
Other Clemson Anthropology students participating were Jay Watkins (Language and International Trade) - Jay's paper was on the impact of tourism on Zapolecan Indiana in Mexico (from his Study Abroad trip there). Jenny Virag (Biological Sciences) presented the preliminary results from her ANTH 403 project on the culture of exotic dancers.
Please consider participating in the next Anthropology Student Conference.
Alumni in Graduate Programs
Anthropology Alumni have been accepted into the Anthropology Master's programs at University of South Carolina, University of Georiga, University of Florida, University of Alabama, University of Maryland, Louisiana State University, Syracuse University, Oregon State University and Northern Arizona University.
In addition, Anthropology Minors have been accepted into Ph.D. programs at Purdue, University of Georgia, University of Arkansas, Syracuse University, and the University of Illinois.
Anthropology Links
American Anthropological Association
National Association of Student Anthropologists