Cultural Anthropology
Explores cultural diversity, social practices, and cultural transformations across different societies.
Difficulty
Moderately challenging
Students rate Anthropology 3.4/5 for difficulty across 5 ratings.
Average difficultyBased on 5 students across 3 schools.View review makeup
3.4/ 5
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What makes this major demanding?
Worth it?
100% would recommend it
Based on 5 reviews across 3 schools
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Curriculum and careers
Anthropology is the study of humans, past and present, focusing on cultural, social, and biological aspects of human life. Students learn to analyze human behavior, cultural norms, and biological developments across various societies and time periods.
Core course themes
Biological Anthropology
Examines the biological and evolutionary aspects of humans, including genetics and primatology.
Archaeology
Focuses on studying past human societies through material remains and excavation.
Linguistic Anthropology
Investigates the role of language in social life, including language development and communication.
Anthropological Theory
Provides an overview of key theoretical frameworks and debates in the field of anthropology.
Ethnographic Methods
Teaches research methods for collecting and analyzing qualitative data in fieldwork settings.
Common roles
- Cultural Anthropologist
- Archaeologist
- Museum Curator
- Academic Researcher
- Policy Analyst
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Anthropology by school
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Student reviews
PositiveAdvice & things to know
I’m think that anthropology is incredibly useful considering the interconnected world of the 21st century and in USC in particular it’s amazing. Very writing intensive but if you took IB in high school you should be good honestly. Just do the readings and maybe combine it with a more STEM based double major like Econ (that’s what I’m doing) and you’ll be good!
Oct 2025
Anthropology is an interesting major if you enjoy learning about humans, from culture to evolution to politics to biology, etc. It’s a very interdisciplinary field, which makes it great for people who don’t know what they want to do and want to explore. However, unless you’re on some pre-professional track, there’s not too much you can really do with an anthro degree unless you’re into research or teaching.
Sep 2026
PositiveCareers & next steps
Two pathways. Art and science. Science can fulfill pre-health reqs
May 2026
PositiveEnjoyment & fit
I chose anthropology because I love human stories, and would always want to see this world from an alternative, non- anthropocentric way. Perhaps it is because that I always feel human beings are just an animal form of adaptation in natural evolution. I despised many aspects in human society as a high schooler, so I want to view it from its origin through anthropological studies. Anthropology provides a gateway to view many of the issues in life in a deconstructed way. I think it is highly undervalued as an academic major, because it provides more than one would expect at the beginning.
Jul 2025
MixedCourses & teaching
It’s interesting to learn about the archaeology aspect.
May 2026
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