Anthropology, B.S. - Cultural Resource Management Subplan/Option: 180 units

Offered by: College of Letters, Arts, and Social Sciences, Geography and Anthropology Department

Cultural Resource Management (CRM), an applied approach to anthropology, involves the identification, evaluation, and preservation of various kinds of cultural resources, as mandated by both Federal and State legislation and by scientific standards pertaining to the civil planning process. The main objective of the CRM Subplan is to produce professionals who are competent in the methods and techniques appropriate for filling positions in cultural resource management and related fields, and to provide the theoretical background required for designing research projects and collecting and analyzing resultant data.

The CRM Subplan provides its graduates with the training and experience necessary to (1) conduct analysis of sociocultural, ethnohistoric, and archaeological data to assist the public and private sectors in implementing environmental protection and historic preservation legislation; (2) assess the scientific importance of ethnohistoric and archaeological resources; (3) be familiar with existing cultural resource data-keeping facilities; and (4) be competent in appropriate anthropological techniques of field and laboratory analysis, as well as procedures employed in archival and museum collections preparation.

Training in anthropology provides a unique understanding of human beings and human issues that is highly appropriate for many different kinds of careers. Employment opportunities open to anthropologists are almost as diverse as the subject matter of the discipline itself. Recent graduates with bachelor’s degrees in anthropology have taken positions in areas as varied as advertising, journalism, radio and television, public relations, purchasing, sales, travel and tourism, government service, business management, personnel service, police work, military intelligence, science writing, community and international development, and marketing. With additional training beyond the bachelor’s degree, anthropologists are qualified for and find employment in various health-assistance or legal-assistance occupations, primary or secondary teaching, and medical or dental technology.

Anthropologists who continue their education through graduate school, and receive a master’s degree or doctorate in anthropology or a related field at another institution, qualify for professional careers in such areas as higher education, public administration, counseling, environmental health, public health, library science, museum science, city management, city planning, government service, business administration, international business, or social or environmental research. Some anthropology graduates move on to law school or medical or veterinary school, and pursue a career in one of these areas. Due to the broad-based training that a degree in anthropology provides, anthropology graduates typically find their degree to be an ideal launching platform for career opportunities in innumerable occupational areas.