Skip to main content
Anthropology Anthropology
  1. HOME
  2. Undergraduate Program
  3. Major and Minor Requirements & Global Concentration
  4. *NEW* B.S. Environmental Anthropology (AN31)

B.S. Environmental Anthropology

Major Overview

Environmental anthropology is a specialty within the discipline of anthropology that examines the relationships between humans and environment across space and time. It examines both social and ecological factors that shape dynamic human-environmental interactions. It works with local communities while putting knowledge of human-environmental relations in a comparative, historical, and planetary perspective, addressing the global scope of human activity and its impact on the environment in the present and in the past.

A B.S. in Environmental Anthropology will offer knowledge and skills vital to addressing the whole gamut of environmental problems societies face and the ways these problems interact with each other, and with anthropogenic climate change. Anthropology provides a double lens on the challenges – it works closely with communities on local and regional processes, but also offers a “big picture” view of human activity as a planet shaping process. This double lens will be vital to navigating the climate and environmental disruptions of the near future.

Please note that courses cannot satisfy more than one major requirement at a time. 

Course Requirements

Lower Division (10 courses, 40 units)

Two courses in Anthropology:

  • ANTH 1, 2, 3
  • ANTH 10
  • ANTH 20

Two courses of General Biology:

  • BILD 1 and BILD 2, or BILD 1 and BILD 3, or equivalent
Three courses of Chemistry, Geoscience, or Climate Science (from approved list):
  • CHEM 6A, 6B, 6C, or equivalent
  • List of approved Climate Science courses:
    • SIO 10, 12, 15, 20, 35, 40, or equivalent

One course in Statistics (from approved list):

  • PSYC 60, MATH 11, COGS 14B, HDS 60
  • BIEB 100, BENG 100, ECON 120A, MATH 183, MATH 186
Two courses in Math, Computer Science, or Computational Social Science:
  • Option 1: MATH 10A-B-C or MATH 20A-B-C
  • Option 2: CSE 6R and CSE 8A
  • Option 3: CSS 1 and CSS 2

Upper Division (12 Courses, 48 units)

Three Core Classes:

  • ANTH 101. Foundations of Social Complexity (Fall)
  • ANTH 102. Humans are Cultural Animals (Winter)
  • ANTH 103. Sociocultural Anthropology (Spring)

Three upper-division Concentration Courses in Environmental Anthropology:

  • ANTH 104. Transforming the Global Environment
  • ANTH 105. Climate Change, Race, and Inequality (DEI)
  • ANTH 106. Climate and Civilization
  • ANTH 107. Designing for Disasters, Emergencies, and Extreme Weather
  • ANTH 108. Indigenous Peoples, Extractive Development, and Climate Change
  • ANTH 109. Climate Change, Cultural Heritage, and Vulnerability
  • ANTH 110. The Climate Change Seminar
  • ANTH 120. Climate Change in California: Problems and Solutions
  • ANAR 120. Documenting Climate Change: Past and Present
  • ANAR 146. Feeding the World
  • ANAR 166. Introduction to Environmental Archaeology: Theory and Method of Socioecodynamics and Human Paleoecology (cross-listed with SIO 166)
  • ANBI 132. Conservation and the Human Predicament
  • ANBI 139. Evolution of Human Disease
  • ANBI 174. Conservation and the Media: Film Lab
  • ANSC 134. The Politics of Environmental Change
  • ANSC 147. Global Health and the Environment (cross-listed with GLBH 147)

Two Skills & Methods courses:

  • ANTH 113. Methods in Environmental Anthropology: Case Studies
  • ANTH 112. Regenerative Science/Ecology
  • ANTH 128A. Climate Action Scholars: Community Engagement and Research
  • ANTH 128B. Climate Action Scholars: Capstone Project
  • ANAR 104. Geographic Information Systems
  • ANAR 120. Documenting Climate Change: Past and Present
  • ANAR 121. Cyber-Archaeology and World Digital Cultural Heritage
  • ANSC 138. The Cultural Design Practicum: Using Anthropology to Solve Human Problems
Five Elective courses:
  • Anthropology courses from any category.
  • CHEM 171, 172, 173, 174
  • SIO 101, 102, 107, 109, 114, 115, 116, 117, 137, 138, 164, 166, 173, 182, 189
  • BIBC 140
  • BICD 123, 124
  • BIEB 102, 121, 126, 128, 130, 131, 135, 140, 146, 158, 174, 176, 182
  • Students may apply one Independent Research course (ANTH 197, 198, 199) toward their major elective requirements.

Major Field or Lab Experience:

  • May consist of:
    • Any credit-bearing course at UCSD with a significant field or lab component relevant to climate change.
    • A volunteer or paid internship or other experience (done domestically or abroad). Placement must be approved.
    • One additional course from the Skills & Methods list.
    • An approved independent study using ANTH 197/198/199.

Additional Requirements:

  • Upper Division Residency Requirement: Students must complete a minimum of seven major courses at UC San Diego.
  • Overlaps: Lower division courses may overlap between your major, minor and college requirements. Students may overlap two upper division courses between your major and minor by submitting a request in the VAC (some courses may automatically overlap).
  • A maximum of four study abroad courses may be petitioned for credit toward the major.