Best UC For Anthropology?

Transfer Students UC Transfers
1

<p>Hi I am thinking of transferring to one of the UCs from CC with a general anthropology major. What UC school is the best for anthropology? I am especially interested in trans-personal anthropology, although I don't know specific schools that have that specific major, since transpersonal anthropology is a sub-field of cultural anthropology.</p>

<p>My top two pics are either UCLA or UC Berkley. But yeah I am open to other UCs as well but I do wonder which of these universities has the best anthro program?</p>

2

<p>One of my best friends is getting her anthropology degree from UCSB and claims it’s a great program :)</p>

3

<p>A ranking of anthropology programs I found included UCSB as the only UC on the list. The ranking seemed a little dubious, though.</p>

4

<p>I would have to say try UCLA. It’s a great school overall and their anthropology major is one of their least impacted, so you can get in. Mind you, that just because it’s not impacted, doesn’t mean it’s not a good program. I know UCLA is very research-based, so rest assured that what you learn is the most up to date data you can get :)</p>

5

<p>–“A ranking of anthropology programs I found included UCSB as the only UC on the list. The ranking seemed a little dubious, though.”</p>

<p>Which rankings there these? Can you link to it?</p>

<p>–“One of my best friends is getting her anthropology degree from UCSB and claims it’s a great program.”</p>

<p>Interesting…I wonder how so. I’ll definitely consider anthro from UCSB if it is far better than others in that subject.</p>

<p>–“I would have to say try UCLA. It’s a great school overall and their anthropology major is one of their least impacted, so you can get in. Mind you, that just because it’s not impacted, doesn’t mean it’s not a good program. I know UCLA is very research-based, so rest assured that what you learn is the most up to date data you can get.”</p>

<p>Yeah I was thinking that UCLA would be great for a lot of reasons too. I imagine their cultural anthropology programs are bigger than their physical. Certainly a good school but I do wonder how much better (if it is better than it at all) is UCLA better than UCB?</p>

6

<p>Anthropology at UCLA and UCB are more geared to graduate students and above. The undergraduate Anthropology programs are very dry at those research institutions whether physical or cultural. Plus just because are a University does not mean they are up to date and sometimes is the opposite. Many traditional programs like Anthropology at a research university are very slow to modernize which is one of the issues at UCLA and UCB.
UCSB has one of the the most comprehensive, challenging, fun, and flexible Anthropology programs amongst the UC’s. Overall though, the best bachelors degree program for Anthropology in a California public education institution is at CSU Chico. You would be much better off attending a state university and transferring to a UC for graduate studies if Anthropology is your major. If not you are wasting your time and money and won’t be as employable in such a field with just a BA in Anthropology from a UC. If you don’t care about working in the field and already have money but just want some obtuse or alternative Anthropology degree you may want to consider a private school.</p>

7

<p>I don’t know where kmazza gets what they are talking about. </p>

<p>I would refer to this</p>

<p>[NRC</a> Rankings in Anthropology](<a href=“http://www.stat.tamu.edu/~jnewton/nrc_rankings/area35.html]NRC”>NRC Rankings in Anthropology)</p>

<p>and looking at each university you would like to go to and look at the course offerings each quarter or semester. See which ones you are interested and decide.</p>

<p>One thing should be clear here, Anthropology is a liberal arts degree similar to English, Political Science, Sociology, English, and Etc, so you are gunning to be rich with these degrees unless you have work experience and connections as compared to accounting, econ, or finance majors, and even then they still need connections.</p>

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<p>NRC Rankings refer first and foremost to graduate level programs. The OP never stated whether they were pursuing a undergrad or grad degree in Anthropology though. Anthropology is in the business and social sciences and yes you will not get rich but still can live quite comfortably. Most people who take Anthropology generally love the subject material and/or work over being rich or famous. As with any social science or liberal arts degree you have to go all the way through the entire educational system for it to pay off. You would not need an accounting, econ, or finance degree and rarely those classes if are a Anthropology major. A Physical or Biological Anthropologist would take math, chem, physics, and lots of bio. A Cultural Anthropologist would take classes in relation to that curriculum and overall field habitus including art/history and religion. You also have Linguistic Anthropologists to food Anthropologists. I prefer Archeology myself which includes Earth Sciences, Soil Sciences, Survey Engineering, GIS, GPS, and Chemistry. Most cities need certified Anthropologists to approve and archive any sort of historical site or acquistion. An Advanced Anthropologist can easily becomes a professor, scientist or Cultural Resource Manager. If they like art more Anthropologists fit in fantastically working in museums. If they went that direction could obtain a Museum Management business degree. Museology classes are under the umbrella of the Anthropology major now moreso than under Art/History since both Museum Studies and Anthropology Departments were defunded numerous times over the last 25 years.
Anyways, there are certain schools that have a traditionally larger and generally better program than another. UCSB and CSUChico have the larger and more diverse Anthropology departments with more to choose from to tailor your own degree in the California system IF receiving a bachelors degree in Anthropology. Many Students make the common mistake of buying into a Colleges name (which is still a product of marketing and tradition) on the bachelors level rather than the individual department which is more important. If you decide to become a researcher or writing your thesis then you go to schools like Cal, Stanford or one of the NRC Graduate schools</p>

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<p>I would probably need to do graduate studies if I want to do research field work in the area of transpersonal anthropology. I want to study traditional cultures, shamanism, mystics, and the various psychologies of various cultures. Cross-cultural anthropology in general is a big interest of mine and while transpersonal anthropology is my favorite sub-discipline of cultural anthropology, I am also interested in studying other aspects of human culture as well (music, dance, sexuality, diet, psychology, ect.) I am interested in in physical anthropology too, especially the taxonomy of humans and their close relatives, but yeah I know I have to specialize in one branch or the other.</p>

<p>So is UCSB that much better in undergraduate studies for anthropology than UCLA or UCB? Perhaps I should consider UCSB for undergraduate anthropology studies, and then consider either UCB, Stanford, or UCLA. I am not looking to become rich…yes just enough to live a comfortable happy life. Although I suppose there’s no harm in asking the question, how is the average income for cultural anthropology researchers, eg such as those studying aboriginal cultures and their various forms of mysticism, shamanism, music, dance, sexuality, and so on?</p>

10

<p>It sounds like you are more interested in Ethnography, Anthropology of Consciousness, and Anthropology of Religious Studies. I believe those would be concentrated under Social Cultural Anthropology on a graduate level. What you are interested in just isn’t well supported in the UC system. You may want to consider a small private college that may more suit your interests. Your other option is checking out a out of state (country) college like University of British Columbia which has an excellent Anthropology program as well.
The primary way you can make money in that sub field is getting your PhD and becoming a professor and/or writing books of interest. Realize the competition is fierce to become a University level full time faculty Anthropology instructor even if you earn your PhD. You would have to independently or through the University have published papers to be taken seriously.</p>

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<p>Due to economic constraints, I am sort of limited to the uc or csu system got undergraduate, and yeah I usually assume UCs give a better educational experience. But yeah I can look into other some privateuniversities…any particularly good school in California?</p>

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<p>I too have a dream of studying transpersonal anthropology at the graduate level. I’d like to one day do fieldwork in the Amazon with shamans and indigenous tribes. For my undergraduate education I’ve chosen San Francisco State, for the price, the location, and for some of the specific anthropology classes they offer, like visual anthro, film and anthro, ethnology of dance, anthro of religion, anthro internship, and many others. A lot of the other schools I looked at in California offer (in my opinion) very general somewhat boring anthro classes. I had considered Berkeley, but decided I didn’t want to spend the money and their undergrad anthropology program didn’t look like anything special. SFSU is also the only school in the nation to offer a Holistic Health minor/certification, and that’s what I want to do along with my Anthro major, so that was another big factor in choosing the school. Like someone else said, it’s not going to matter much where you get your Bachelors in Anthro - go somewhere that offers classes that interest you the most for your undergraduate studies, and then transfer to a good school for your graduate degree.</p>

<p>Have you looked into the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco? It’s one school I’m looking into to study cultural anthro at the graduate level. They offer graduate degrees in philosophy, religion, cosmology, consciousness, and anthropology, among other things. I was going to see how open they would be to combining curriculum so I can study sociocultural anthro with an emphasis in consciousness and transpersonal anthro. But I haven’t even transferred to SFSU yet (next fall), so I’ve got a while before deciding where I’ll go for graduate school. If I don’t go to CIIS, I’ll probably go to UCB, University of Hawaii, or look somewhere out of the country. (UH has an ecological anthro grad program that focuses on indigenous forest environments and spiritual ecology, looks interesting.) I haven’t decided if I want to focus on cultural, visual, or ecological anthropology in my graduate research, but whichever I do choose I want to incorporate transpersonal studies as well. </p>

<p>By the way, there aren’t a lot of job openings in the cultural anthropology field these days, at least not ones that require travel and fieldwork. Most jobs are in teaching. It’s difficult to get true “anthropological” work, but it will definitely help to have a masters or PhD, and a lot of dedication. I plan to write for the Journal of the Anthropology of Consciousness, and would like to write some books on the subject as well, so I can potentially be taken more seriously in the field. If you stay in urban areas you could most likely get some social work or urban anthropological work with your degree, but it sounds like you want to study more indigenous tribal societies like me. I’m taking a chance with this degree, I really don’t even know if it will end up supporting me. That’s why I’m doing the Holistic Health certificate, so I can have back up career in counseling and therapy. But I love cultural anthropology so much, especially transpersonal, there’s nothing else I can imagine studying for a degree. </p>

<p>I know I didn’t really answer your initial question - just wanted to express my thoughts, since I’ve never actually met anyone else who is interested in studying transpersonal anthro. :)</p>

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<p>What is NRC rankings, and how do schools get on there?</p>

14

<p>Trypster did his/her homework, whoop whoop!
Everything you wrote is dead on and a good path to take. At UH, Californians qualify for in-state tuition and graduate with the lowest debt. I think SFSU for what this person wants would be their best bet if want to stay in California and fine with living in SF. Its dreary and boring around SFSU if wanted to experience the city. Get a bike or car and reside up 19th towards the Inner Sunset/Cole/Ashbury/Twin Peaks districts and just commute to school. CIIS is a great school but too pricey for what it is for my tastes.
I’d also choose UBC over UCB from the information and interests presented. If was interested in study abroad then I’d go to UCSB which is the main ISA campus and has lots of SA connect colleges. You could spend one of the years in Australia or NZ plus our winter is their summer.</p>

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<p>Yeah, I plan on living outside of SF and commuting to school, maybe from Oakland or Berkeley areas - the city is just too foggy and gray for my everyday tastes (not to mention really expensive to live in!) But the SF campus is wonderful, and surprisingly has a lot of nice trees and plants despite being in an urban area, and is just a bus ride away from more exciting areas of the city. SFSU also has some great study abroad programs for anthro, I’d like to look into studying in the Netherlands, Chile, or Japan. Yes CIIS is a bit pricey, something like $800+ PER UNIT, but the specialized alternative topics of study they offer are pretty intriguing. Thanks Kmazza - I hadn’t looked into UBC, but I’m checking it out now.</p>

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<p>@Kmazza, are you sure that graduate students qualify for in state tuition at UH? I’m not certain, but I’ve heard that the in state tuition and lower costs only apply for undergrads. I haven’t done much research on it though.</p>

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<p>Yes, that could very well be true. </p>

<p>So did you check out UBC’s grad Anthropology program? They just completed renovation of their Museum of Anthropology I think is one of the best in the world. UBC also does a lot of Ethnology and cultural studies on China and Japan and their aboriginal studies there is very interesting as well. </p>

<p>Here is a link to their current class offerings for the fall to gander a look at…</p>

<p>[ANTH</a> - Anthropology - Course Descriptions - Vancouver Calendar 2010/11 - UBC Student Services](<a href=“Course Descriptions”>Course Descriptions)</p>