Best Anthropology Programs in Minnesota for 2027

Minnesota teaches anthropology as a four-field program, and both the BA and BS require coursework in at least three of the four subfields: archaeology, biological, linguistic and sociocultural. The BA adds four semesters of a second language, a requirement the department ties to understanding cultural and linguistic difference. Two introductory courses, Human Evolution and Understanding Cultures, come early. A capstone finishes the degree, and you pick either an in-class option or a two-semester independent research project. Every course counted toward the major needs a C- or better.

Language Requirement

Four semesters of a second language for the BA

Introductory Courses

ANTH 1001 Human Evolution and ANTH 1003W Understanding Cultures

Capstone Options

In-class capstone or a two-semester independent capstone project

Program Sources: BA in Anthropology | Anthropology | College of Liberal ArtsUndergraduate Capstone Project | Anthropology | College of Liberal Arts

Macalester builds the anthropology major from nine courses: one introduction, one biological anthropology course, a research methods course, the senior seminar and four electives chosen with your advisor. The department suggests taking methods in sophomore year or before you study away, and anyone who studies away must still complete a research methods course or an approved equivalent. Study away is encouraged, though not required, and one off-campus course can count toward the major with the chair’s permission. Honors independent projects are also available.

Major Structure

Five required courses and four electives

Methods Timing

Research methods ideally in sophomore year or before studying away

Study Away

Encouraged, with one off-campus course counted toward the major by chair permission

Program Sources: Majors & Minors - Anthropology - Macalester CollegeMajors & Minors - Anthropology - Macalester College

Duluth draws on the four-field tradition of cultural anthropology, archaeology, linguistics and biological anthropology but puts extra weight on qualitative methods. Expect training in visual analysis with photography and video, participatory research with communities, and public ethnography, plus a steady focus on ethics and on how theory and method meet in fieldwork. Themes such as inequality, power, social change and global multiculturalism run through the courses. An archaeological field school, ANTH 4696, is listed with the program, and the degree closes with a Senior Seminar that serves as a capstone applied project.

Methods Emphasis

Qualitative methods, visual analysis, participatory research and public ethnography

Field School

ANTH 4696 Archaeological Field School

Capstone

ANTH 4653 Senior Seminar, 3 credits

Program Sources: Anthropology | College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences | University of Minnesota DuluthAnthropology | College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences | University of Minnesota Duluth

Morris focuses its anthropology B.A. on cultural and applied anthropology, and the research is close to campus. Past faculty-led projects looked at rural Midwest life, including immigrant experiences, and students have run their own projects such as talking circles about Native American student experiences and a study of how monuments shape public memory. A social science lab gives you tools for interview recording, transcription and qualitative analysis. Faculty research trips have gone to New Zealand, Portugal and Mexico, and study abroad is strongly encouraged.

Student Research

Individual projects and faculty-led community studies in the Morris area

Social Science Lab

Interview recording, project management, transcription and qualitative data analysis

Study Abroad

Strongly encouraged, with faculty research trips to New Zealand, Portugal and Mexico

Program Sources: Anthropology | University of Minnesota MorrisAnthropology | University of Minnesota Morris

Mankato’s anthropology BS runs on a short common core: Introduction to Anthropology, a 4-credit methods course covering all four fields, and a senior capstone. The capstone is a student-designed project supervised by faculty, built on writing, lab work, fieldwork or a mix, and you present it in a public forum. In between, you take three of four 4-credit courses in archaeology, human origins, cultures of the world, and language and culture. Another 12 credits of electives and a required minor round out the degree.

Methods Course

ANTH 300, a 4-credit course on the methods of all four subfields

Senior Capstone

Faculty-supervised project with a public presentation

Restricted Electives

Three of four: archaeology, human origins, peoples and cultures, language and culture

Program Sources: Anthropology (BS) | Minnesota State University, MankatoAnthropology (BS) | Minnesota State University, Mankato

Moorhead houses anthropology in a joint department with earth science, so the coursework is cross-listed with geosciences and you can work with GPS equipment, GIS software and drones alongside archaeology. The campus archaeology lab has taken on cultural resource management projects since the 1970s, including surveys and excavations for federal, state and city agencies in North Dakota and Minnesota, and students can help with that work. Many classes include archaeological site tours. The department also runs study tours, such as a course on health, education and environment in Tanzania and a Neolithic Greece archaeology partnership.

Archaeology Lab

Cultural resource management surveys and excavations since the 1970s

Study Tours

Recent tours to Tanzania and to the ancient acropolis of Halai in Greece

Cross-Listed Courses

Shared coursework with geosciences, biology and geospatial analysis

Program Sources: Anthropology & Earth Science Learning Opportunities at Minnesota State MoorheadAnthropology & Earth Science

Hamline splits its anthropology BA into two concentrations. Anthropocene Studies looks at humans where digital and material worlds meet, while Applied Methodologies and Heritage Studies points toward museums, tourism, archaeology, forensic death investigation and the nonprofit sector. Fieldwork is built into the courses: Archaeology in the Field (ANTH 3730) puts you on a dig, and Anthropology of Infrastructure took students to a city asphalt plant. Majors can complete paid internships, and students publish their own research in H. Sapiens, a journal of undergraduate anthropology.

Concentrations

Anthropocene Studies, or Applied Methodologies and Heritage Studies

Field Course

ANTH 3730 Archaeology in the Field

Student Research Journal

H. Sapiens, publishing undergraduate anthropology research

Program Sources: Anthropology Major (BA) | Hamline University - MinnesotaAnthropology Major (BA) | Hamline University - Minnesota

St. Cloud State’s 45-credit anthropology BA gives each of the four subfields its own required introduction: general anthropology, archaeology, biological, cultural and linguistic. You then take Real World Anthropology and a Theory and Practice course, followed by a two-part research sequence in archaeological methods and ethnographic methods. Eighteen credits of electives finish the degree, and no more than 6 of them can sit at the 100 or 200 level. Four specific elective courses can be repeated with different titles, up to 9 credits each. The department describes its field methods courses as hands-on preparation for work or graduate study.

Core

Five introductions covering general, archaeological, biological, cultural and linguistic anthropology

Research Sequence

Research Methods in Archaeology and Ethnographic Research Methods

Theory And Practice

Real World Anthropology and Theory and Practice in Anthropology

Program Sources: Anthropology BAAnthropology | St. Cloud State University

Minnesota trains doctoral students in three subfields, archaeology, biological anthropology and sociocultural anthropology, with some linguistic anthropology seminars on offer. Graduate seminars on theory, methods, research design, ethics and professionalization run every semester. The department also encourages you to connect with programs elsewhere on campus, including Heritage Studies and Public History, Global Studies, Human Rights, Religious Studies, Earth Sciences, and Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior. A graduate minor lets students in other programs add anthropological method and theory. Four doctorates were awarded in 2023–24.

Subfields

Archaeology, biological anthropology and sociocultural anthropology

Seminars

Theory, methods, research design, ethics and professionalization

Interdisciplinary Ties

Heritage Studies and Public History, Global Studies, Human Rights, Earth Sciences and more

Program Sources: Graduate | Anthropology | College of Liberal ArtsGraduate | Anthropology | College of Liberal Arts