About Us

  • Anthropology courses were first taught at California State University Long Beach in 1952.
  • The Department of Anthropology was established circa 1960 (Prior to this time it was part of the Division of Social Sciences).
  • The Bachelor of Arts degree was established in 1959, the Masters of Arts in Anthropology in 1968, the Anthropology Minor in 1973, and the Master of Arts in Applied Anthropology in 1990.
  • We offer a BA in Anthropology with a four-fields focus.

Every student is introduced to Cultural Anthropology, Archaeology, Linguistic Anthropology, and Physical Anthropology both at the lower division and upper division levels. Students take 18 electives to complete their Bachelors of Arts degree. They can take a variety of electives of interest to them, or they can focus their electives on more narrow areas of interest depending on the availability of courses offered by the department. 

We offer two Masters of Arts:

  • MA in Applied Anthropology
  • MA in Anthropology

All MA students take a set of core courses. Students in our Applied Option follow a prescribed program, focusing their work on applied interests. General MA students take electives based on availability of courses offered by the department.