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General Information

Undergraduate Studies

• Admissions
• Academic Requirements & Regulations
• Student Finances
• Student Life
• The Core Curriculum
• Fields of Undergraduate Study: Academic Degrees & Course Listings
• Language Institutes
• Study Abroad and Summer Session

Graduate Studies

Research

Continuing Education & Training Programs

Appendix: Personnel & Enrollment

• Bachelor of Arts
• Minor
• Anthropology Courses (ANTH)

Department of Sociology, Anthropology, Psychology, and Egyptology
School of Humanities and Social Sciences

Professors: S. Altorki, D. Cole, N. S. Hopkins (Dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences), C. Nelson, K. Dwyer
Assistant Professors: A. Fabos, M. Peterson

Anthropology is the comparative study of peoples, societies, and cultures in all their variations across time and space. It has roots in the natural and social sciences and in the humanities and is concerned with all aspects of human life. Anthropology addresses the evolution and biological unity of humankind, as well as the changing diversities that characterize human cultures and societies. Anthropology at AUC focuses on cultural and social anthropology. It engages in basic and applied research and in scholarly interpretation and also offers critical, reflexive, and empirical perspectives on past and present societies.

Bachelor of Arts

The undergraduate program aims to present the main themes and trends in cultural and social anthropological thought and practice and thereby to nurture critical, intercultural, and reflexive perspectives as part of liberal education. In so doing, it seeks to foster understanding of the transformation of society and culture in Egypt and the region. The program also prepares students for graduate studies and for living and working in an increasingly complex and changing world.

A student who wishes to declare a major in anthropology should be registered in or have taken ANTH 202. Every student must obtain a C or higher in ANTH 202 in order to continue as a major in anthropology.

Upper-division (300-400 level) courses are normally taken during the junior and senior years. Students must take ANTH 309 and ANTH 311 during the junior year. Students must take ANTH 495 in their last full academic year. Most of the other courses are offered in alternate years and so may be taken in any order. Courses at the 500-level are also open to selected advanced undergraduates.

A total of 120 credits is required for the bachelor's degree in anthropology:

Core Curriculum (40 credits)
Students with Thanawiya'Amma art or equivalent background should take BIOL 100  (Introductory Biology);  those with  Thanawiya ‘Amma science or equivalent must take BIOL 104 (Unity of Life).

Concentration Requirements (39 credits)

ANTH 202 Cultural Anthropology, 3 cr.   309 History of Social Theory*, 3 cr.   311 Contemporary Anthropological Theory*, 3 cr.   380 Fieldwork Methods, 3 cr.   495 Senior Seminar*, 3 cr.

 

One of the following social organization courses:

ANTH 302 Marriage, Family and Kinship, 3 cr.   360 Gender, Society, and Social Change, 3 cr.

 

One of the following people-and-culture courses:

ANTH 312 Peoples and Cultures of the Middle East and North Africa, 3 cr.   382 Peoples and Cultures of the Sub-Saharan Africa, 3 cr.   384 Peoples and Cultures of Latin America, 3 cr.   386 Peoples and Cultures of Asia, 3 cr.   390 Selected People and Culture Areas, 3 cr.

 

Seven additional anthropology courses, of which three must be at the 400 level.

Collateral Requirements (21 credits)

Two 300 or 400 level courses in the social sciences

A minor (five courses) in any field to be selected in consultation with the advisor.

Minor

The minor in anthropology provides students with a basic knowledge of anthropological method and theory from a cross-cultural perspective on selected aspects of the world's cultures and societies.

Anthropology Courses (ANTH)

CourseNum CourseTitle 202 Cultural Anthropology 210 Arab Society 302 Marriage, Family, and Kinship 303 Social Movements 309 History of Social Theory 310 Contemporary Sociological Theory 311 Contemporary Anthropological Theory 312 Peoples and Cultures of the Middle East and North Africa 320 Peasants, Nomads and Rural Change 321 Urban Society in Transition 332 Race, Ethnic, and Minority Relations 341 Anthropology and Film 352 Language in Culture 360 Gender, Society, and Social Change 370 Environmental Issues in Development 372 Applied Anthropology 380 Fieldwork Methods 382 Peoples and Cultures of Sub-Saharan Africa 384 Peoples and Cultures of Latin America 386 Peoples and Cultures of Asia 390 Selected People and Culture Areas 400 Selected Topics in Anthropology 402 Independent Study 407 Psychological Anthropology 422 Religious and Symbolic Systems 425 Women, Islam, and the State 450 Third World Development 455 Seminar in African Studies 460 Development Studies Seminar 462 Economic Anthropology 492 Political Anthropology 495 Senior Seminar