Successful academic advising happens when students and faculty advisors work together as a team. Your academic advisor has expertise in scholarly issues; the College of Arts and Sciences Student Services office can help you to identify many other resources you may need, including free professional advising and support concerning student health, legal matters, writing and learning skills, general career planning, lifestyle/residential issues, academic accommodations and more.
When you declare an anthropology major, a faculty advisor in the department will provide assistance every step of the way, including:
- selecting courses that will fulfill the requirements of the major and degree while meeting your individual academic and personal goals.
- planning for off-campus studies, undergraduate honors, research, internships and other opportunities as appropriate and desired.
- developing an action plan for reaching your academic, personal and career goals, using the university’s Four-Year Plan for Career Success as a guide from your first year in the program.
- candidly assessing your academic performance, and, if appropriate, suggesting specific strategies to improve.
- identifying student services that may be particularly appropriate for your needs and interests.
The anthropology department is committed to helping you learn more about your chosen field of study and the opportunities associated with it. As nationally and internationally-known scholars with successful careers, our faculty members have a wealth of expertise to share about careers, graduate programs in anthropology, and related disciplines.
Resources
Courses and Seminars
ANTH 2000 (Introduction to the major) and ANTH 3000 (Advanced Proseminar in Anthropology) support student understanding of their anthropology major as a coherent academic experience, help them identify transferable skills, and explore additional areas for academic and co-curricular development. Anthropology students are heavily encouraged to enroll.
Workshops
- Major/minor group advising meetings: Once a semester, just before course registration time, majors/minors will be invited to separate group meetings to go over common questions and guidance on minor requirements, course sequencing, distribution requirements, and more.
- Study Abroad: offers an overview of various study abroad opportunities through UVM and elsewhere, how to navigate applications for programs, and how to integrate study abroad into the major. Usually offered in September.
- Applying to graduate school and for post-graduate fellowships in anthropology: explores when and if to apply, what materials you need to prepare, how to choose a program, and what job prospects are like in the field. Usually offered in late September.
- Resume/curriculum vitae writing: offers the chance to consider transferrable skills, resume building plans for the future, and to get feedback on your drafts in a peer-editing workshop, guided by a faculty member and career services. Usually offered in October.
- Internships: explains how and why to pursue an internship, discussing timelines, placement options, scholarship opportunities for summer, credit options, and more. Usually offered in October.
- Crafting a personal statement for graduate school applications: offers the chance to get feedback on your personal statement in a peer-editing workshop, guided by a faculty member. Usually offered as a series of weekly meetings in October-November.
- Career workshop: brings together UVM anthropology alums to talk about how their studies of anthropology helped prepare them for jobs in education, business, social services, cultural resource management, museums, and more. Usually offered in March.
Pursuing Graduate Studies in Anthropology
We provide basic orientation to the process of graduate school admissions in the four subfields of anthropology (socio-cultural, archaeological, linguistic, and biological). It offers perspectives and advice on how to approach the application process, what you can do to prepare before you graduate, how to select the best program and school for you, how to write a personal statement and ask for recommendations, and and basic resources for further exploration.