Advising

Greetings...

Thanks for stopping by the Department Anthropology advising office. We have information about the major or minor and can help take care of your paperwork, and more: Do field work overseas; get credit for local internships; give a workshop or become a peer advisor yourself - come talk to us about it!

Mariela Ramirez, Anthropology Undergraduate Advisor

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My name is Mariela Ramirez and I am excited to have joined the Department of Anthropology at UCSC.

I am a first-generation college graduate. I attended UC Davis where I earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in both Psychology and Spanish. As an undergraduate I worked as a First-Year Experience Peer Advisor and Orientation Leader. I decided graduate school aligned well with the career I wanted to pursue so I attended Fresno State and earned my master's degree in Counseling with a focus in Student Affairs and College Counseling. As a graduate student, I was a Counselor Intern and had the opportunity to work with diverse student populations. I recently worked at Colorado State University as an Academic Success Coordinator and am happy to be back in California.

I enjoy working with students and found a passion for advising through the positions I had in the last few years. I am passionate about supporting students and assisting them to reach their academic, personal, and professional goals. Please do not hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or concerns. You can contact me at anthugra@ucsc.edu. I look forward to meeting and working with you!

Gianna, Peer Advisor

Many have difficulties finding their place within the world of academia, I was lucky enough that anthropology chose me. I always found people so interesting and diverse. When I was in my first year and first quarter at UCSC, I was set on marine biology as a major. But that didn’t last very long, the program that allowed me to be at UCSC during the summer offered a major info fair. I decided to go to the one about anthropology just by fate. I learned about anthropology and was hooked. I switched majors and have never looked back. I didn’t choose anthropology, it chose me. I was even told by a substitute teacher in high school that I should do environmental anthropology. I brushed it off back then but now that’s exactly my interest in research. Being an anthropology major has helped shape the way I see the world and our place in the world.

Zoe, Peer Advisor

I always knew I was interested in the study of humans on both a cultural and biological level, but I did not know that anthropology as a discipline existed until I took my first course in community college. Since then, I’ve grown to deeply appreciate how anthropology encompasses many different sub-disciplines which work together to provide us with a holistic understanding of all the ways both modern and past humans have created community, whether culturally or materialistically. I am personally interested in biological, specifically molecular, anthropology. I am fascinated by paleogenomics, population genetics, and hominin evolution. You can often find me in the paleogenomics lab, extracting and sequencing DNA. I am also a proponent of the importance of the intersection between human biology and culture, also known as biocultural anthropology, and how these two variables adapt to one another while simultaneously shaping each other. Although I am currently studying anthropology, I aspire to eventually attend medical school and become a physician. I enjoy connecting with my peers to share the many anthropological resources and opportunities I have found here, so please don’t hesitate to reach out!

Irving, Peer Advisor

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As a first-generation transfer college student, I often found myself confused on my academic goals. However, with the help of academic advisors I soon found that my passion in academics is Anthropology. Specifically, I am interested in Biological Anthropology and hope to work in forensics after graduation. Just like my community college academic advisors assisted me in discovering my passion, I now want to be the same support system I received to students who are interested in majoring or minoring in Anthropology.

Peer Advising Drop-In Hours

The Undergraduate Program Coordinator/Adviser, the Undergraduate Director, and the Executive Committee administer the Anthropology undergraduate program. If students have questions or concerns about university/program administration, policy, processes, or degree progress, make an appointment during advising hours. Also feel free to email Anthropology Undergraduate Advising (anthugra@ucsc.edu).