Best Anthropology Programs in Louisiana for 2027

Ten courses, 30 credits, make up Tulane’s anthropology major, and the first four are set by a distribution rule: one course at the 2000 level or higher in each of archaeology, biological anthropology, linguistic anthropology and sociocultural anthropology. The other six are electives of your choosing. Study-abroad transfers are capped at four courses, and no more than one general internship course counts toward the major. The department frames the field through those same four subfields and encourages thematic areas that cross them, so your electives can follow a question rather than a single subfield.

Distribution Requirement

One 2000-level or higher course in each of four subfields

Electives

Six anthropology courses

Internship Cap

One general internship course may count toward the major

Program Sources: Anthropology, BA | Tulane University University CatalogAnthropology, BA | Tulane University University Catalog

Your first anthropology course at LSU is a choice between Introduction to Physical Anthropology and Prehistory and Introduction to Cultural and Social Anthropology. From there the eight-semester plan leaves unusual room: three required anthropology slots must be filled from a short list of ANTH 2015, 2051, 3060 and 4040, followed by approved anthropology electives, while four courses in a foreign language and general education fill much of the early schedule. The degree totals 120 semester hours. With 35 degrees awarded in 2023–24, this is one of the larger anthropology majors on its Louisiana page.

Entry Courses

Physical Anthropology and Prehistory, or Cultural and Social Anthropology

Required Choices

Select from ANTH 2015, 2051, 3060 and 4040

Language Sequence

Four courses in one foreign language

Program Sources: Anthropology, B.A. - Louisiana State UniversityAnthropology, B.A. - Louisiana State University

Labs are the draw at UL Lafayette. You can work with human and non-human skeletal remains in the Forensic Anthropology and Bioarcheology labs, or join the Louisiana Public Archaeology Lab on projects covering regulatory compliance, cultural resource management and heritage conservation. Internships run through Vermilionville, the Science Museum in Lafayette and forensic examiner offices, and fieldwork happens around Louisiana. The major covers archaeology, biological, cultural and linguistic anthropology across 120 credit hours. Six degrees came out of the program in 2023–24.

Labs

Forensic Anthropology, Bioarcheology and the Louisiana Public Archaeology Lab

Internships

Vermilionville, the Science Museum in Lafayette and forensic examiner offices

Study Abroad

Programs in Costa Rica, England, France, Italy and Morocco

Program Sources: Anthropology Major | University of Louisiana at LafayetteAnthropology Major | University of Louisiana at Lafayette

This New Orleans department builds its bachelor’s degree around applied urban anthropology, so the city itself is a classroom. Research methods and fieldwork are treated as essential, with opportunities that include historic archaeology projects in New Orleans, urban planning and policy research, historic preservation and cultural conservation programs, Louisiana folklore studies, and forensic anthropology workshops and internships. The department also lists an honors option and a minor. Five degrees were awarded in 2023–24.

Focus

Applied urban anthropology

Fieldwork Options

Historic archaeology in New Orleans, policy research, preservation and folklore studies

Forensic Training

Workshops and internship programs

Program Sources: Undergraduate | LSU New OrleansUndergraduate | LSU New Orleans

Tulane's Anthropology PhD covers archaeology, biological, linguistic, and sociocultural anthropology, with particular departmental depth in Mesoamerican archaeology, culture, and language. The 2026–27 catalog requires a team-taught four-field introduction, language competence, and two methods courses selected for the student's subdiscipline. Archaeology options include environmental archaeology and ceramic analysis, while biological anthropology includes a statistics requirement. These are meaningful choices for a project involving material remains, language, or human biology. The catalog also names research themes in health, environment, colonialism, and politics across several world regions.

Four-Field Core

Team-taught introductory course

Methods

Two courses selected by subdiscipline

Program Sources: Tulane 2026–27 Anthropology PhD Catalog

LSU’s doctorate asks for 31 hours beyond the master’s degree, and the split is clear: a one-hour introduction to graduate study, nine hours of 7000-level courses, nine hours in a cognate field, three more hours of advanced coursework, and nine hours of dissertation research. The cognate is your own design, a suite of courses that can come from biology, geology, geography, history or women’s and gender studies. You may write the dissertation in a book-manuscript style or as several journal-style papers. The department calls the degree primarily a research degree. One doctorate was awarded in 2023–24 at this Research 1 university.

Credit Structure

31 hours beyond the master’s, half at the 7000 level or above

Cognate Field

Nine hours chosen with your major professor, inside or outside anthropology

Dissertation Style

Book manuscript or several journal-style papers

Program Sources: Anthropology, Ph.D. - Louisiana State UniversityAnthropology, Ph.D. - Louisiana State University