Anthropology major help!?

Question

So I plan to major in physical anthropology but I am wondering are there any jobs for B.A. anthro majors (museums, maybe?) also is it better to get my B.S. or my B.A. I have also heard you aren't even considered an archaeologist unless you have a master's and five or so years of field experience. So should I go straight to graduate school or wait and try to do field work or can i even do that? how does the whole field work thing work? Are field schools considered field work experience? I know these are alot of questions but I would like to know. Thanks.

Answer 1

You will need to figure out what it is that you want to do.  I see physical anthropology, museum studies and archaeology all listed in your question!

You seem to be leaning toward archaeology.  You can start field work as soon as you would like.  While it does help to have a field school first, you can volunteer on a dig or two to see what it is like before paying for field school.  Field school does count as experience, and is often required (or, at the very least, highly recommended) before entering an archaeology graduate program.

With either your BS or your BA, you can work as an archaeological technician, but these positions are usually temporary.  You would be working on archaeological crews and then, after the field season, returning to the lab to prepare the collection for sampling, analysis, storage, etc.

In order to get into graduate school, you will NEED your bachelor's degree, whether it be a BS or a BA.  While working on your bachelor's degree, you can accumulate field and lab experience that will count toward your experience for the future.  With a Master's Degree, you can work as a professional archaeologist (these jobs are more widely available and easier to get than any job in archaeology that would require a PhD).

As far as getting a BS or a BA, that is really up to you and what you plan on doing.  I choose the BA route because I need to be fluent in multiple languages in order to work in the regions in which I am interested, so I was not going to have time to take all of the science requirements (my majors = anthropology, Spanish, international studies; I also take geology classes to supplement my archaeology coursework).

I wish I had done a BS, though, because I would not have to teach myself the basics behind the techniques that I use/will be using in my future research (for example, the basic chemistry behind pottery sourcing or radiocarbon dating).

I suggest that you start contacting professors in the anthropology departments at the universities that you are considering and ask them about what their program offers.

Answer 2

In addition to the excellent advice you have already been given, you might want to look for programs that focus on forensic physical anthropology or have a strong basis in forensics as opposed to run of the mill physical anthropology.  This will give you a bit more potential in the job market, as forensics remains a growing field.

Until fairly recently, it was true that people were rarely considered "archaeologists" without a graduate degree.  With the growth of Cultural Resource Management positions with state and federal agencies, this is changing and a number of departments now offer what are called often "terminal master's degrees."  Traditionally, the master's degree, especially in the humanities and to a degree in the social sciences (and Anthropology departments tend to be in one of the two) has been more of a stepping stone to a PhD.  It is now recognized, however, that for people planning to do CRM type work, in which they are not teaching or expected to generate large amounts of significant publications aside from formal reports on their work for the agencies that employ them, there is little point in forcing them to go through the time and effort to get a PhD.  Rather, the terminal master's programs tend to focus on preparing you for work in "Public Archaeology" or "CRM" or forensics.  They tend to be shorter than many traditional graduate programs and of a more practical, rather than theoretical orientation.

I would argue that it doesn't particularly matter whether you take a BA or BS, the determination is often an arbitrary one decided more by the university or college you attend rather than one of particular significance.  A number of my fellow students when I was an undergraduate got a BA in Anthropology and had no problems getting into a graduate program for physical anthropology.  It is likely, though not definite, that your undergraduate degree will be similar - it will be a "general" Anthropology degree, though your course transcripts, field work, lab work, etc., will reflect your specialization in physical anthropology.

As far a graduate school goes, get through your first few years of undergraduate work before you start worrying about grad school.  Talk to your professors and fellow students and get an idea of what your interest are and what your options are before deciding what to do.

Answer 3

In your last two years of undergraduate you should start having opportunities to do actual field work and start making contacts with the people who will help you out with graduate work.  With any luck and a little initiative, you might get to start even earlier.  This is important as you won't even get into masters or PhD programs without convincing someone to take you on as your advisor.  I *highly* recommend the BS program if you plan to do actual archaeology; BA anthropologists are associated with teaching, literature review, and work with living cultures - effectively exotic social workers.

Answer 4

I have a B.A. in Anthropology and a minor in French and I cannot find a job in my related field, but I had an emphasis in biological anthropology. You can work in a museum, but they often want an emphasis in museum studies or the like. With a lot of jobs you will have to have at least a masters, but there are some you don't, they are just harder to find.