Class level: sophomore, junior, senior or graduate
Minimum overall gpa 2.96
In 1963 Keith L Johnson was hired by Glenn Kendall, then President of Chico State, to initiate the Anthropology Department. Keith has recently received his MA in anthropology from UCLA after working as an archaeologist on a variety of projects. Although he had been trained in the four-field approach to the discipline (i.e., an approached that recognized the value of archaeology, cultural anthropology, linguistics and physical anthropology) his life-long interests have been archaeology, cultural heritage, and material culture. He trained under the auspices of his mentor, Clement Meighan at UCLA.
Under the direction of Keith, with the assistance from James E. Myers, who had been previously hired as an educational psychologist, the Anthropology Department was created from a split from the Sociology Department in 1963. Because Keith’s particular interest was archaeology he introduced northern California to the field and became the first to coordinate all such projects, and record the archaeology sites throughout CSU, Chico’s service area. The Archaeology Lab was established in 1968 which later aided his establishment of the Cultural Resource Management Certificate (1974), and the North East Information Center (NEIC). The NEIC has since become responsible for recording the archaeological and cultural heritage locations throughout the CSUC service area. Keith’s prompting led the heir of a number of noteworthy scholars from around the country and assisted in the creation of the Masters Degree in Anthropology at CSUC in 1970. Keith is also credited with having created the Museum of Anthropology in 1970.
