Anthropology

Welcome to The Anthropology Department

Anthropology explores the multiple dimensions of the human experience through the formal study of archaeology, biology, culture, and language, and applies this knowledge to critical issues facing humans in contemporary societies. What distinguishes anthropology from other disciplines concerned with people is its holistic perspective of the human condition and its central concern with the concept of culture.

The Anthropology Department at CSUDH offers a major and minor in the discipline. Our faculty are internationally known teacher-scholars, dedicated to providing our students with rigorous, hands-on training in the subfields of archaeology, cultural anthropology, linguistic anthropology, biological anthropology, and applied anthropology. Majors may choose between the General Anthropology, Biological Anthropology, Applied Anthropology and  Archaeology concentrations.

We designed our innovative program to prepare students for post-baccalaureate success. CSUDH anthropology majors are among the top students on this campus and many have been accepted into advanced degree programs at prestigious universities or have entered rewarding, high-paying careers. At CSUDH we offer small classes, personal contact with professors, and more research and scholarly opportunities for undergraduates than any other university in southern California. As a student at CSUDH you can

• Study cultures and human ecosystems in the Yucatan
• Excavate ancient sites in northern Peru
• Study tropical ethnoecology in southern Mexico
• Excavate at historic Rancho Dominguez
• Explore the ancient Khmer empire of Cambodia
• Study Classic Maya art and society
• Experience Cambodian culture in southern California
• Study human skeletal anatomy
• Excavate at a Neanderthal site in north Macedonia

In the CSUDH Anthropology Department, we bring fieldwork into the classroom and take the classroom into the field. Some of these educational adventures and opportunities are described on this web site. If you want more information, please contact the Anthropology Department Office at 310-243-3443.

Sarah R. Taylor, Ph.D.
Chair, Anthropology