Social Sciences Building 154
(213) 740-1900

Chair: Alexander Moore, Ph.D.

Faculty

Professors: G. Alexander Moore, Ph.D.; Andrei Simic, Ph.D.; Walter Williams, Ph.D.

Associate Professors: Christopher Boehm, Ph.D.; Eugene Cooper, Ph.D.; Janet Hoskins, Ph.D.; Nancy Lutkehaus, Ph.D.; Cheryl Mattingly, Ph.D. (Occupational Therapy); Gary Seaman, Ph.D.; Joan Weibel-Orlando, Ph.D.

Assistant Professors: Soo-Young Chin, Ph.D.; Craig Stanford, Ph.D.

Henry R. Luce Adjunct Professor: Stephen Edelston Toulmin, Ph.D.

Distinguished Adjunct Professor: Jane Goodall Bryceson, D.Phil.

Adjunct Professors: Fadwa El Guindi, Ph.D.; Stephen A. LeBlanc, Ph.D.

The Department of Anthropology offers a B.A. in Anthropology, an M.A. in Visual Anthropology and a Ph.D. in Social Anthropology.

The Department of Anthropology encourages students to become involved in ethnographic research and fieldwork, while gaining a firm theoretical foundation in anthropology. Special areas of emphasis in the department are provided by programs in visual anthropology and primate ethology at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Undergraduates may take a number of courses in visual anthropology that focus on the analysis and understanding of human behavior and are encouraged to include visual media in their senior field methods practicum. Undergraduates may also elect to complete a newly approved emphasis in Visual Anthropology or a major in Urban Applied Anthropology. A graduate degree of Master of Arts in Visual Anthropology is awarded by the department, and the Ph.D. thesis may also include a visual media component.

 

Bachelor of Arts

Department Major Requirements

In addition to the general education requirements, the following courses are required.

Required courses, Lower division		Units
ANTH 200L	The Origins of Humanity	4
ANTH 201	Introduction to Social Anthropology, or
ANTH 263	Exploring Culture Through Film	4
Required courses, Upper division		Units
ANTH 410ab	Ethnographic Field Methods and Practicum	4-4
ANTH 440	History of Anthropological Theory	4
Two courses to be selected from:
ANTH 345	Politics, Social Organization, and Law	4
ANTH 360	Symbolic Anthropology	4
ANTH 370	Family and Kinship in Cross-Cultural Perspective	4
ANTH 460	Economic Anthropology	4
One area specialization course		4
Electives	two courses	8
		____
Total upper division units		32

Department Major in Anthropology (Visual Anthropology) Requirements

In addition to the general education requirements, the following courses are required.

Required courses, Lower division		Units
ANTH 200L	The Origins of Humanity	4
ANTH 263	Exploring Culture Through Film	4
Required courses, Upper division		Units
ANTH 410ab	Ethnographic Field Methods and Practicum	4-4
ANTH 440	History of Anthropological Theory	4
ANTH 475	Ethnographic Film Analysis	4
ANTH 476	Ethnographic Film in Historical Perspective	4
One course to be selected from:
ANTH 470	Multidisciplinary Seminar in Visual Anthropology	4
ANTH 472	Visual Techniques in Anthropology	4
Two courses to be selected from:Two 300- or 400-level anthropology courses not listed among the required courses		8
		____
Total upper division units		32

Department Major in Anthropology (Urban Applied Anthropology) Requirements

In addition to the general education requirements, the following courses are required.

Required courses, Lower division		Units
ANTH 200L	The Origins of Humanity	4
ANTH 263	Exploring Culture Through Film, or
ANTH 201	Introduction to Social Anthropology	4
Required courses, Upper division		Units
ANTH 355	Urban Anthropology	4
ANTH 375	Applied Anthropology	4
ANTH 410ab	Ethnographic Field Methods and Practicum	4-4
ANTH 440	History of Anthropological Theory	4
Two courses to be selected from:
ANTH 305	Culture, Medicine and Politics	4
ANTH 345	Politics, Social Organization and Law	4
ANTH 360	Symbolic Anthropology	4
ANTH 370	Family and Kinship in Cross-Cultural Perspective	4
ANTH 407	Peasant Society	4
ANTH 460	Economic Anthropology	4
One area course to be selected from:
ANTH 323	Regional Ethnology: Southeast Asia	4
ANTH 324	Regional Ethnology: China	4
ANTH 326	Ethnography of European Culture	4
ANTH 327	Peoples and Cultures of the Middle East	4
ANTH 330	Peoples and Cultures of Africa	4
ANTH 425	Peoples and Cultures of Latin America	4
		____
Total upper division units		32

Department Minor Requirements

Required courses, Lower division		Units
ANTH 201	Introduction to Social Anthropology, or
ANTH 263	Exploring Culture Through Film	4
Required course, Upper division		Units
ANTH 440	History of Anthropological Theory	4
Two courses to be selected from:
ANTH 345	Politics, Social Organization, and Law	4
ANTH 360	Symbolic Anthropology	4
ANTH 370	Family and Kinship in Cross-Cultural Perspective	4
ANTH 460	Economic Anthropology	4
One course from:
ANTH 323	Regional Ethnology: Southeast Asia	4
ANTH 324	Regional Ethnology: China	4
ANTH 326	Ethnography of European Culture	4
ANTH 327	Peoples and Cultures of the Middle East	4
ANTH 330	Peoples and Cultures of Africa	4
ANTH 425	Peoples and Cultures of Latin America	4

Minor in Medical Anthropology

Medical anthropology examines the body, illness and healing from a cultural perspective, including comparative studies of folk healing systems, curing rituals and Western biomedical practices.

Required course		Units
ANTH 101	Body, Mind and Healing	4
One course (4 units) to be selected from:
ANTH 105	Culture, Medicine and Politics	4
ANTH 125	Social Issues in Human Sexuality and Reproduction	4
ANTH 200	The Origins of Humanity	4
ANTH 201	Introduction to Social Anthropology	4
ANTH 273	Magic, Witchcraft and Healing	4
Upper division courses: four of the following (16 units)
ANTH 360	Symbolic Anthropology	4
ANTH 375	Applied Anthropology	4
ANTH 380	Sex and Gender in Anthropological Perspective	4
ANTH 440	History of Anthropological Theory	4
GERO 433	Ethnicity and Aging	4
OT 375	The Narrative Structure of Social Action: Narrative Healing and Occupation	4
		____
Total units required		16

 

Interdisciplinary Law and Society Minor

See the Department of Political Science.

Requirements for the Bachelor of Arts with a Combined Major in Linguistics and Anthropology

For the lower division, LING 210 and ANTH 201 are required. For the upper division, the following courses are required: LING 401a, 402a and 380, and ANTH 410a and 440; LING 485 or ANTH 410b; two additional courses selected from LING 315, 375, 401b, 402b, 412, 480, 485; one or two additional courses selected from ANTH 320, 345, 355, 360, 370, 372, 375, 380, 385.

 

Master of Arts in Visual Anthropology

The goal of USC's Master of Arts in Visual Anthropology (MAVA) program is to give students competence in ethnographic field methods and in the employment of visual means (stills, video) in doing and representing that research.

The MAVA is an interdisciplinary program. Training in film production is provided by the School of Cinema-Television.

Prior courses and/or degrees in anthropology, cinema or journalism are not required to be considered for admission. However, students who have deficiencies in the prerequisite courses in these areas will be required to make them up during the first semesters of enrollment.

Degree Requirements

This degree is under the jurisdiction of the Graduate School. Refer to the Requirements for Graduation section and the Graduate School section of this catalogue for general regulations. All courses applied toward the degree must be courses accepted by the Graduate School.

A minimum of 34 units is required.

Required courses		Units
ANTH 501	Ethnological Theory I	4
ANTH 502	Ethnological Theory II	4
ANTH 510	Urban Anthropology	4
ANTH 503	Regional Ethnography, or
Any other graduate-level Anthropology course		4
ANTH 562	Research Methods in Ethnography	4
ANTH 575	Seminar in Ethnographic Film	3, max 9
ANTH 576	Ethnographic Fieldwork Practicum	3, max 9
ANTH 577	Ethnographic Media Seminar	3, max 9
CTPR 507x	Production I (School of Cinema-Television prerequisite only; not for graduate credit)	6
ANTH 594abz	Master's Thesis	2-2-0

A total of 34 units is required. Twenty-four must be at the 500 level or above, excluding 594abz. Students enrolled in 594abz must also be concurrently enrolled in either 576 or 577.

A thesis is required based on supervised field work in social anthropology and involving the use of film or video production techniques. Before graduating, the thesis committee must sign the students' triple cards under the category of "film as thesis," indicating approval of both the written and visual components.

The Center for Visual Anthropology

The University of Southern California's Center for Visual Anthropology (CVA) was founded in 1978. The primary goals of the CVA are: to promote the incorporation of visual modes of expression into the academic discipline of anthropology; to promote mutual understanding and collaboration between professionals in the visual media and in anthropology; to create an awareness of the anthropological perspective in documentaries produced for mass audiences; to improve the materials and techniques available for using film in teaching anthropology; to encourage the collection, archiving and analysis of visual documentation for anthropological research.

The Ethnographics Laboratory is a part of the Center for Visual Anthropology which provides archival and computer facilities for students and faculty who work with nonlinear editing systems and interactive media in anthropology. The primary mission of the Ethnographics Lab is to promote the integration of all forms of information, whether text, graphics or time-based media, into a new synthesis of anthropological knowledge. It provides support for research and representation in multimedia formats carried out in a new laboratory facility based on computer AV technologies and software.

The Jane Goodall Research Center is the designated repository of field data from Jane Goodall's work among the primates of Gombe National Park in Tanzania. A computer interactive multimedia archive of these materials is being implemented to make them available to students, faculty and other interested scholars.

Facilities

The CVA, housed at the Social Science Building on the USC campus and at the C-Lab, is equipped with broadcast-quality production and editing facilities in both film and video.

These include Super 8 systems and highband 3/4" as well as 1/2" videos. Editing facilities include Super 8 editors, JVC 1/2" editing systems, a Sony 3/4" time code system, an on-line editing system and an AVID system. Editing and viewing facilities are also located in the School of Cinema-Television. The CVA maintains a complete still photography lab and darkroom.

Policy on Films and Videos Produced by Students

All films and videos produced with school equipment, funding or facilities are the property of USC. Any income from distribution of student-produced films and videos will be used for the benefit of CVA students through production budgets, equipment purchases or scholarships.

Publications

The Society for Visual Anthropology (SVA) is the American Anthropological Association's visual anthropology unit. The SVA Newsletter is the society's publication and is compiled, edited and published at the Center for Visual Anthropology. The publication involves both students and faculty and introduces students to the world network of visual anthropology.

 

Doctor of Philosophy in Social Anthropology

Applications for the doctoral program may be obtained from the Department of Anthropology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0032.

Students admitted into the Ph.D. program are strongly encouraged to complete the MAVA requirements before progressing with the Ph.D. program.

Degree Requirements

Required courses		Units
ANTH 475	Ethnographic Film Analysis	4
ANTH 501	Ethnological Theory I	4
ANTH 502	Ethnological Theory II	4
ANTH 503	Regional Ethnography	4
ANTH 510	Urban Anthropology	4
ANTH 562	Ethnographic Methods	4
ANTH 790	Research (minimum eight units required)	8
ANTH 794ab	Doctoral Dissertation	2-2
LING 500	Structure of Language	3
LING 510	Social and Cognitive Foundations of Language	3

The student must complete an additional 18 units of approved elective courses at USC, at least six units of which are for graduate credit.

Foreign Language Requirement

A reading knowledge of a scholarly language (normally chosen from among Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian or Spanish) is required before admission to candidacy. If some other field language is required for the dissertation research to be successfully completed (for example, Maya, Hebrew, Javanese, etc.), this will be communicated to the student upon submission of the field project required for admission to candidacy.

The admissions committee will consider applicants for the Ph.D. degree who have not completed the M.A. in anthropology at USC only upon submission of a project reflecting training and experience in ethnographic field work equivalent to that of a completed M.A. in anthropology at USC.

NEXT SECTION

 

Catalogue Contents USC Fact Book Campus Map Admission USCweb

Produced by the USC Division of Student Affairs,
Office of University Publications
univpub@usc.edu