Anthropology

Anthropology bridges the social sciences, humanities and natural sciences. Anthropological training provides a toolkit that allows students to be adaptable and broadly focused to successfully navigate the quickly evolving workforce. Intercultural competency forms a cornerstone of anthropological training. Anthropology teaches us to consider multiple perspectives and points of view and to understand the rationale for these various perspectives.

Anthropologists provide the training to lead in the future:

• Leverage diverse perspectives through effective communication.
• Ethical and empathetic decision maker.
• Adaptable and curious learner.
• Dedicated to serving communities,
• Self-awareness of one's strengths, limitations, and biases.

Anthropology examines human behavior from the origin of our species and across the many cultures living around the world today. By focusing on the breadth and depth of human experience, students gain a wide-ranging perspective of their place in the world today. The anthropology major is both exciting and practical, with career options that range from forensic anthropologist to urban planner, from product developer to consumer affairs investigator, from museum curator to park ranger. Your degree will prepare you for a professional career related to various people-oriented positions in the public and private sectors. 

The anthropology curriculum provides a depth of interdisciplinary knowledge that has direct application for a variety of career fields. Research, analysis and writing are skills developed through the degree. Employers seek these skills for grant writing, analytical reports and marketing communications. Course activities such as ethnographic writing, statistical analysis and GIS mapping provide students with many opportunities to develop their analytical skills and to investigate real-world problems. You'll position yourself to address the most challenging issues facing our world today in sustainability, health sciences, business and technology from a human-centered perspective.

Students who choose the Bachelor of Arts degree will take a foreign language and nine additional hours of social science or humanities courses related to anthropology. Students who choose the Bachelor of Science will take 15 hours of math and/or science courses. The nine-credit Business Anthropology & Human Behavior Certificate Program is also available to students who wish to explore cross-disciplinary training in business and social science research methods. These additional courses are useful for the direct application of an anthropological perspective to potential career paths.

You'll be encouraged to be intellectual leaders on campus by writing and presenting results of your original research and by attending professional anthropology conferences such as the American Anthropological Association, the Southern Anthropological Society and the South Carolina Anthropology Student Conference.

B.S./B.A Anthropology and M.S. Social Science: Top undergraduates pursuing an anthropology degree have the option of working toward their master's degree in social science while finishing their bachelor's degree.

For the 2022 admissions cycle, Clemson has adopted a test-optional policy. Applicants are not required to submit a standardized test score to be considered for admission to Clemson for the 2022-2023 academic year.

If you choose that test scores should be used, your scores must be submitted electronically by the respective testing agency. Clemson’s institutional code for SAT is 5111, and the code for ACT is 3842. Clemson super-scores both the SAT and the ACT. For the SAT, this means that the overall total SAT score will then be derived by taking the highest of the evidence-based reading and writing/math scores.

According to The ACT, superscoring at Clemson means that we “consider a student’s highest ACT section (or subtest) scores regardless of test date. The super composite ACT score is calculated as the average of the best ACT English, Reading, Math, and Science subject scores and is used as one of multiple factors in admission and financial aid.”