Anthropology BA
- Major
- BA
- Hybrid
- In-Person
- Online
- Greeley
- Online
4 Years
Program Overview
Anthropology isn’t just about dusty artifacts or distant cultures. It’s about understanding the full spectrum of human experience. In our Anthropology program, you gain a strong foundation grounded in theory and method. You’ll learn a variety of qualitative and quantitative techniques for analyzing anthropological problems.
Our program prepares you for meaningful careers in archaeology, genetic counseling, cultural consulting, museum curation and beyond — fields where critical thinking and cultural awareness make real impact. We also provide outstanding preparation for graduate degrees in these and related fields.
The BA in Anthropology requires 120 course credits. which include:
31 credits – Liberal Arts
General education classes include a mix of math, writing, arts and humanities, social and behavioral sciences, natural and physical sciences and cultural and international studies.
48 Credits – Required Major Courses
You will take foundational courses, as well as required and elective classes for your chosen concentration. You’ll also complete a capstone and community-engaged projects.
You’ll build a solid base in anthropology. This knowledge and these skills will prepare you for future success through these courses:
- Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
- World Archaeology
- Introduction to Biological Anthropology
- Professional Development
- Seminar in Anthropology
- Applied Anthropology or Field Methods in Cultural Anthropology
- Archaeological Research Methods or Quantitative Methods for Anthropology
41 credits – University-wide Courses
Anthropology
Looking to complement your primary field of study? Our 18-credit minor creates a solid foundation in Anthropology that enriches many majors, especially those in the social sciences, humanities and natural sciences.
Master anthropological inquiry and learn to analyze complex issues relating to human development. You’ll also gain a deeper understanding of the dynamics of modern cultural relationships.
Explore more course offerings for the Anthropology minor in the UNC Catalog.
Multicultural Anthropology
In our 18-credit hour Multicultural Anthropology minor, you can explore cultural diversity across the country and the world by focusing on group dynamics in contemporary society.
Our minor delves into ethnic group experiences, social classes and gender and sexuality issues. You can take diverse classes such as The Black Family; Gender, Race, Class and Sexuality; and Mexican American Politics and Leadership.
Explore course requirements of the Multicultural Anthropology minor in the UNC Catalog.
With a personalized four-year plan, you can begin to visualize your course load for each semester as a full-time student. This four-year plan suggests a schedule to finish your bachelor’s degree and graduate on time. Consult your major advisor for details on any additional graduation requirements and for course recommendations.
With our combined Anthropology BA/Master of Public Health degree, you can earn two degrees in less time. Complete a BA in Anthropology and a Master of Public Health (MPH) in Community Health Education degrees in about just five and a half years, saving time and money.
You’ll take MPH graduate courses as an undergraduate, which apply to both degrees. By counting graduate courses toward your undergraduate degree requirements, you can reduce the total number of credit hours to complete both degrees (BA and MPH) from 162 credit hours (120 + 42) to 153 credit hours. The 120 semester hours for the BA include 48 for the Anthropology major, 31 for the liberal arts courses and 41 for elective credits.
Course Highlights
Explore fascinating topics through courses such as:
- World Archaeology – explore ancient cultures through what they’ve left behind
- Forensic Anthropology – analyze human remains to aid in forensic investigation
- Modern Human Variation – examine evolutionary advantages to human differences
- The End of the World – identify causes and consequences of societal collapse
- Medical Anthropology – study health, illness, and healing in different sociocultural contexts
- Public Archaeology – explore ways that archaeologists can help communities solve practical problems related to cultural heritage
- Human Evolutionary Anatomy – investigate critical evolutionary changes in the human body through time
Each course combines rigorous academic study with real-world experiences and fieldwork.
Why Study Anthropology?
Understand Human Behavior, Past and Present
You’ll gain a deep understanding of human behavior and how and why it changes over time. With UNC’s focus on community and civic engagement, you’ll gain hands-on experience locally here in Northern Colorado and globally.
Skip the passive lecture halls. UNC’s approach centers on hands-on learning that brings knowledge to life:
- Laboratory work: Get your hands dirty with real artifacts and specimens
- Community research: Conduct original research projects in local communities
- Field experience: Take your studies off campus to archaeological sites and cultural settings
- Small classes: Work closely with professors who are passionate teachers and recognized for their research.
Student and Alumni Voices
Alumni
“UNC's Anthropology professors are exceptional scholars who encourage students to be both scientists and humanists through close interaction and applied research. That's what makes our field special."
Ryan Lambert
BA in Anthropology
Alumni
"The Anthropology department was invaluable in helping me get where I am today by providing a unique background that sets me apart from the typical genetics career pathway. I was fortunate to travel abroad with Dr. Britney Kyle to Albania and Italy on two human skeletal research projects."
Melissa Chowning, '17
BA in Anthropology, Minor in Biology
Variant Curator, analyzing variants for prenatal carrier screenings at Natera
Alumni
"My interest in Anthropology grew from how Dr. McBeth explained the field as a human exploration of history. One highlight of my years at UNC was a group trip to Greece with Dr. Britney Kyle where we joined researchers analyzing the remains of 107 individuals unearthed in the excavations."
Sean Field, '15
BA in Anthropology
Derecho Assistant Professor in Anthropology, University of Wyoming
Getting Out There
Belongingness in Practice
Take Professor Michael Kimball’s Applied Anthropology class. His students aren’t just learning theory — they’re studying what makes UNC students feel like they belong here. They conduct interviews, analyze social networks and identify what creates genuine connection on campus.
Students in Dr. Kimball’s class conduct real research projects that explore how connection happens. They learn hands-on research skills, interview techniques and how to solve real problems with communities. Here, you won’t just study communities — you learn how to work with them.
Three fascinating fields. One degree.
Explore the full spectrum of Anthropology at UNC. While our core strengths are in archaeology, biological anthropology and cultural anthropology, you’ll have opportunities to dive into specialized areas that cross traditional boundaries — from forensic anthropology to medical anthropology to archaeological geophysics and others.
Uncover the secrets of ancient civilizations through their material remains. Discover how people lived and what their artifacts reveal about human behavior.
Explore vibrant cultures worldwide. Understand why societies develop unique customs and beliefs, and find what connects us all as humans.
Trace human evolution and adaptation. Learn how our species changed and adapted to environments from prehistoric times to today.
Our faculty’s diverse expertise means you can explore:
- Forensic Anthropology – Apply biological anthropology to legal investigations
- Archaeological Geophysics – Use cutting-edge technology to see beneath the surface
- Medical Anthropology – Examine health, illness and healing across cultures
- Applied Anthropology – Put anthropological methods to work solving real-world problems
Your journey into human experience starts here.
What drives human behavior? How did ancient civilizations thrive? Why do cultures evolve differently across the globe? If questions like these spark your curiosity and the world around you, UNC’s BA in Anthropology might be your perfect fit. Our Anthropology program opens doors to these fascinating questions and so much more while offering you travel and research opportunities.
Students have interned at the Greeley History Museum, the Museo de las Americas in Denver, the Northern Colorado AIDS Project, the Weld County Coroner’s Office, local aid agencies that support refugee communities, the National Park Service, and dozens of other locations across Northern Colorado and beyond.
A bachelor’s degree in Anthropology from UNC can lead to many career and graduate school opportunities. Recent graduates have worked at a wide variety of places, including:
- Museums
- Cultural Resource Management firms
- State, federal or local government agencies
- Non-governmental organization
- Non-profit organization
- Public health institutions
- Zoos
- The Peace Corps
- Genetic counseling organizations
An anthropology degree develops the critical thinking skills employers value across industries. You’ll learn to analyze complex problems, understand diverse perspectives, conduct research and communicate clearly — skills that serve you well in any career.
- Analyze situations, data and scientific phenomena
- Navigate diverse cultures and complex social dynamics
- Conduct rigorous research and fieldwork
- Communicate findings clearly across audiences
Why Study Anthropology at UNC?
Anthropology Has Superpowers
You can do almost anything with an Anthropology degree, thanks to a cross-disciplinary approach and experiential learning opportunities.
Discovering Anthropology
Professor Whitney Duncan’s story of finding her way from freelance reporting assignment on farm worker rights in the Hudson Valley to Anthropology has inspired students through the years.
Research and Teaching Labs
Students learn about the human condition at a deeper level with work in our four labs: Human Skeletal Biology, Archaeological Geophysics, X-Ray Fluorescence and Laboratory for Ethnographic Training & Analysis.
Find your place
Anthropology Club
Join passionate students who share your fascination with humanity. Take field trips to museums, dive into meaningful discussions and build friendships that extend far beyond graduation.
Kehaulani Lagunero '22, did an internship working with Cultural continuation and storytelling with Navajo, Apache and Hawaiian Indigenous communities.
What's it really like to be a paleontologist?
Take Anthropology 408 and find out.
You’ll travel to Wyoming to join Dr. Hamilton on an actual dig site in collaboration with the Meissler Family Trust and Wyoming Dinosaur Center and the Wyoming Dinosaur Center.
This isn’t a simulation or a classroom exercise — you’ll extract real fossils from ancient sediments, learning field techniques that professional paleontologists use every day. You’ll map the site with survey equipment. You’ll analyze sediment composition using XRF technology. You’ll carefully excavate fossils that haven’t seen daylight in millions of years.
Anthropology students participate in a paleontology dig in Wyoming, led by Dr. Hamilton in her Anthropology 408 course.
See what's right beneath your feet
As an Anthropology student, you can contribute to research that has real meaning for communities seeking to reclaim their histories. For example, you might use ground-penetrating radar technology to survey historic cemeteries and locate unmarked graves.
It’s detective work that combines cutting-edge technology with respect for the past — revealing burial sites that have been forgotten, helping families find lost ancestors or preserving cultural heritage that might otherwise be erased.
Anthropology students often participate in archaeological research in ground-penetrating radar surveys of a historic cemetery to search for unmarked burials.
Uncovering the Unseen: Mesopotamia’s Lost City
Anthropology Professor Andy Creekmore has spent the past decade in northern Iraq mapping out the underground ruins of a hidden Bronze Age city, Mesopotamia, contributing to the historical tapestry of one of humanity’s most influential civilizations.
Creekmore led a team of anthropologists and archaeologists who explored the site of Kurd Qaburstan, with a single goal: uncovering the unseen. They used magnetometry that employs complex sensing equipment to measure variations in the Earth’s magnetic field in order to locate the presence of buried objects.
Anthropology Professor Andrew Creekmore uses magnetometry in Northern Iraq to discover street networks, neighborhoods and the location of temples and palaces of a once-mighty capital city in Mesopotamia.
Sharing Discoveries
Anthropology students train for a ground-penetrating radar survey, a non-invasive method for detecting and mapping buried cultural features and artifacts before excavation.
Anthropology students learning to identify the bones of the human body in Forensic Anthropology (ANT 330).
Have Questions? We're Here to Help!
Anthropology
Anthropology is the study of people, both in the past and today. UNC anthropology students build research skills that connect with many fields. They also learn about human behavior and why it changes over time. At UNC, students focus on community and civic engagement. This helps them gain hands-on experience in their local areas and around the world.
- Anthropology@unco.edu
- (970) 351-2707
- Candelaria Hall, Room 2200