<p>In the prospectus, which I received in November, biological anthropology is listed as a major available at Swarthmore. Unsure about what it entailed, I was none the less very excited - here, at last, was a potential harmonious fusion of my two primary interests in one bargin-priced undergraduate degree! No ad-hoc interdisciplinary major required!</p>
<p>However. When I got around to searching the Swarthmore webpage for details on the department, it became apparent that biological anthropology was no longer listed as a possible course of study. Not only that, I couldn't find any concrete info on a program that may have once existed.</p>
<p>I was hoping someone with some insight into the inner machinery of Swarthmore might shed some light on it for me. I had a sweet essay planned around it and everything.</p>
<p>As you probably know from looking at Swarthmore's website, anthropology at Swat is part of the Sociology and Anthropology department. As far as I know the only official major involving anthropology would be a Soc/Anthro major. It seems unlikely to me that a sub-field like biological anthropology, physical anthropology, etc. would ever have been offered as a major.</p>
<p>That should not stop you, however, from writing a great essay about biological anthropology if that is what you are excited about. You should check on the research interests of Swat's Soc/Anthro professors and see if there are enough courses in the type of anthropology you'd like to study to make Swat a good fit for you.</p>
<p>Are you sure that in the prospectus you received, biological anthropology is listed as a major? I looked at Swarthmore's Common Data Set for 2007-2008 and it wasn't listed. It looks like the closest majors to it are psychobiology and soc/anth. Anyway, you could double major in biology and anthropology here. I'm sure that's just as good. If there were a biological anthropology major here, it would probably just entail that you take a mix of biology and anthropology courses. I don't think there is even a course in biological anthropology here, but according to the course catalog, there's a class on psychological anthropology in fall 2009.</p>
<p>Yep, SOAN is the only soch or anthro major offered - specific profs explore different branches of sociology or anthropology, often, like we do have a medical anthropology course offered next semester, but it's not a major or program on its own...maybe one could fashion a special major, but you'd need a professor who knows what they're doing to help you and departmental support. I've never heard of anyone doing it, although that doesn't mean it can't be done!</p>
<p>Actually, my roommate is into biological anthropology and is taking classes at Penn to explore it. So if that's an interest of yours, you'll definitely get to learn about it if you want to! :]</p>
<p>It's very odd - an understandable mistake if biological anthro was listed elsewhere as a focus of certain professor's research, or as a common joint major, or something, but there's really nothing about it anywhere.</p>
<p>I see from the photo that what is listed is "courses of study," which is not exactly the same as a major or department. Some of the things listed in "courses of study" include Asian Studies (which is a program, not a department, but does have both a major and minor) and Cognitive Science (another program, which provides a minor but no major). I'm still puzzled by the inclusion of biological anthropology on the list, as it sounds more specialized than I would imagine Swat's Soc/Anth department would offer. You can see the entire list of courses the department offers here: Swarthmore</a> College | Academics | Course Catalog 2008-2009
I'm not an expert in this field by any means, but I didn't really see any courses that look like biological or physical anthropology. Perhaps most revealingly, the "Courses of Study" list on the Swarthmore website does not include biological anthropology.</p>
<p>I was wondering about the distinction between 'courses of study' and 'majors', but Swarthmore doesn't have a list of 'majors' IN the viewbook. Who knows?</p>
<p>momof3sons, according to the list of special majors in the Common Data Set, Biological Anthropology is not a special major that's offered here, but if it were, it would probably go under Special Majors.</p>
<p>elinck: Courses of study are the topics that you actually study, whereas the major is what you're majoring in, which is usually one of the courses of study. In other words, the major is the course of study that you choose to study in depth in the last few years. That's pretty much the distinction.</p>
<p>Thanks, Shibbolethette, you beat me to it. I have seen Biological Anthropology listed as a Special Major in a number of recent graduating classes.</p>
<p>Hmm. Well it seems the matter is resolved. Swarthmore screwed up, but the option remains (and I'm probably the only one it affected). Interesting to see if other special majors were listed in the prospectus as well - I'll check it out.</p>
