The Undergraduate Program in Archaeology offers both a major and a minor.

Major in Archaeology

The major in archaeology requires a total of 13 courses (39 credits), which include four core courses as well as selections from a diversity of offerings available from different departments. In addition, students must engage in significant fieldwork.

Required Courses

  • Introduction to Archaeology (136.101)
  • World Prehistory: An Anthropological Perspective (130.177)
  • Archaeological Method and Theory (130.354)
  • A course offered by the Department of Anthropology
  • Six additional courses in archaeology, both regionally specific and/or methodologically/theoretically advanced (includes all courses with POS tag ARCH-ARCH).
  • Three additional courses, to be decided in conjunction with the student’s adviser, pertinent to the archaeological issues on which the student has focused (for example, a student interested in Greek archaeology could enroll in Greek history or languages courses; a student interested in gender and archaeology could enroll in courses related to gender studies) (includes courses with POS tag ARCH-RELATE).

The major also requires significant archaeological field experience, to be determined in consultation with the student’s faculty adviser and the Director of Undergraduate Studies for Archaeology.

Minor in Archaeology

To minor in Archaeology, a student must complete six courses (18 credits) designated as archaeology courses with the Program of Study (POS) tag ARCH-ARCH. One of these courses must be either Introduction to Archaeology (AS 136.101) or World Prehistory (AS 130.177). For further information please contact the Director of Undergraduate Students for Archaeology.

Minor requirements are also available on the Undergraduate Academic Catalog website.

Honors Program

Archaeology majors have the option of writing an honors thesis under the supervision of a faculty member. The thesis is based on an original research problem developed in conjunction with that faculty member. Successful completion of the thesis (B+ or higher) will result in the conferring of a BA with honors.

Students must pass 6 credits (2 semesters: 136.510 and 136.511) of honors thesis to earn honors in the archaeology major. These credits are in addition to and exceed the number of credits needed for the major.

Students who are interested in pursuing an honors thesis should begin to discuss possibilities with a faculty adviser as early as possible, and no later than during the second semester of the junior year. The faculty adviser must approve a proposal for the thesis before the student registers for the courses, and no later than the end of the second semester of the junior year.

The student will work closely with the faculty adviser, setting a timeline for completing research and submitting drafts of the thesis. A full draft of the thesis is due by the end of March of the senior year, if the student wants to be listed as receiving honors on the commencement program. The final version of the thesis must be handed in by the last day of classes.