Department Website
Program Description
Anthropology
The Department of Anthropology is one of the country's leading graduate and undergraduate centers for cultural anthropology, archaeology, linguistic anthropology, and biological anthropology—the four principal subfields studied in the undergraduate curriculum. The department considers its greatest assets to be the various individual areas of faculty expertise: archaeological specialties such as medieval archaeology and European, Near Eastern, and South Asian prehistory; biological anthropology areas such as molecular primatology, primate behavioral ecology, and paleoanthropology; linguistic anthropology foci such as discourse analysis and language socialization; and sociocultural anthropology specialties such as the ethnography of North America, Africa, India, China, the Near and Middle East, Russia and the former Soviet Union, the Caribbean, Latin America, Europe, Australia, and the South Pacific. Major theoretical emphasis is on the systems of thought and symbolic representation of the self and society; the relation between female and male domains of interaction; changing patterns of social organization and hierarchy within small-scale societies, urban settings, and bureaucratic institutions; medical anthropology; evolutionary approaches to the study of primate and human origins; religion; art; science studies; race and ethnicity; and the problem of ethnographic representation in film and other media.
Departmental resources include an extensive film and video collection as well as teaching and research labs for archaeology, linguistic anthropology, and biological anthropology, which can be used for research by advanced undergraduates. A departmental colloquium series and an undergraduate student association welcome undergraduate participation. Formal and informal cooperative arrangements with museums, zoos, and other academic institutions in the greater New York area place at students' disposal a group of anthropological scholars, materials, and resources unparalleled in the country.
Classical Civilization
Department of Classics
The Department of Classics explores all aspects of the Greek and Roman worlds, including their languages and literatures, art and archaeology, history, philosophy, religion, politics, economics, and law. We also feature courses on comparative studies of the ancient world beyond the Mediterranean, and the modern reception and transformation of classical literature, art, and philosophy. This broad interdisciplinary approach to these cultures that have had a major role in shaping Western values and thought provides an excellent undergraduate education. Similar to other liberal arts majors in philosophy, history, or English, our graduates go on to careers in education, law, medicine, business, politics, and the media.
Classroom instruction is supplemented by a variety of activities. In addition to film screenings, lectures, and field trips sponsored by a lively Classics Club, students have access to the superb collections of antiquities at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum, the American Numismatic Society, and the Pierpont Morgan Library, as well as to the department's own collection of antiquities. Finally, opportunities for travel and study abroad are available in Greece, Italy, and other Mediterranean sites.
Admissions
New York University's Office of Undergraduate Admissions supports the application process for all undergraduate programs at NYU. For additional information about undergraduate admissions, including application requirements, see How to Apply.
Program Requirements
The joint major in anthropology and classical civilization consists of five 4-credit courses (20 credits) in the Department of Anthropology and another five 4-credit courses (20 credits) in the Department of Classics (all completed with a grade of C or better) as outlined below.
Course List
| Course |
Title |
Credits |
| 4 |
| EXPOS-UA 1 | Writing as Inquiry | 4 |
| 1 | 16 |
| 4 |
| 4 |
| 4 |
| 4 |
| 4 |
| ANTH-UA 1 | Culture, Power, Society | 4 |
| 2 | 16 |
| 2 | 20 |
| 44 |
| Total Credits | 128 |
Independent Study
Students must obtain permission from the director of undergraduate studies to register for the independent study courses ANTH-UA 997 Independent Study or ANTH-UA 998 Independent Study (2 or 4 credits per term; 6 or 8 credits may be appropriate in exceptional cases). Independent study is an opportunity for students to work closely with a faculty adviser on a project related to their area of study. Students must choose a member of the faculty in their area of study with whom they have taken at least one anthropology course. After securing approval from a faculty member in writing, the student should see the director of undergraduate studies (DUS) in order to register for an independent study course.
It is imperative that students meet on a regular basis with their faculty adviser throughout the semester in which they are doing the independent study. Upon completion of the independent study, the faculty adviser must present written proof that the student has completed all course work for the study to the DUS, along with the student's final grade.
Independent study credits can be applied toward the major and minor in anthropology and can fulfill one of the student's elective requirements, provided that the student earns a grade of at least C. A maximum of 8 credits of independent study can be applied to the 36 credits required for the major in anthropology, and a maximum of 4 credits of independent study can be applied to the 16 credits required for the minor.
Internships
Only anthropology majors who have the permission of the director of undergraduate studies may register for the internship courses ANTH-UA 980 Internship or ANTH-UA 981 Internship (2 or 4 credits per term). Internship credits cannot be applied toward the major. Internships are opportunities for students to gain practical work experience relevant to anthropology and are sponsored by selected institutions, agencies, and research laboratories. Internships are negotiated between the student, the internship sponsor, and a faculty member in anthropology who will supervise the internship. The expected time commitment for internships is 8 hours per week for 4 credits.
On the internship form, which is available in the department office, the student will describe the intended internship, indicating how it is relevant to his/her academic training in anthropology. The statement should also include an outline of the professional and educational duties and responsibilities of the student intern. The student, the department faculty, and the internship site sponsor will each sign the form, which the student will return to the department.
The student will submit weekly or other periodic reports to her/his anthropology faculty supervisor describing the internship's activities and what she/he has learned. These reports will serve as self-assessments of the professional and educational component of the internship, and will contribute to the student's final grade.
At the end of the internship period, the internship site sponsor will provide the anthropology faculty supervisor with a written account of the student's activities, responsibilities, number of hours per week spent on the internship, and a brief report describing and assessing the student intern's work, which will contribute to the student's final grade. The student's final grade will be determined and submitted by the department faculty supervisor.
Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of program requirements, students are expected to have developed:
- An understanding of the ways in which anthropologists and classicists approach the study of the ancient world.
- Knowledge of the methods that anthropologists and classicists use to study antiquity, including the study of ancient languages and archaeological research.
- The ability to conduct independent research using some combination of the study of ancient texts, archaeological excavation, laboratory methods, archival research, and technology.
- Effective oral and written communication skills.
- An appreciation of the diversity of ancient studies, including Greek and Roman antiquity, the ancient Near East and Asia, and ancient societies in Africa, Oceania, and the Americas.
Policies
NYU Policies
University-wide policies can be found on the New York University Policy pages.
College of Arts and Science Policies
A full list of relevant academic policies can be found on the CAS Academic Policies page.