Anthropology

On This Page
Anthropology students working at a dig site use brushes to clear dirt.

Insight

There is perhaps no single field of study that can better prepare students to cope with the challenges of the 21st century than anthropology. Confronted with increasing global population, rapid technological change, rising tides of nationalism, and economic globalization, many look to the future with uncertainty. Anthropology provides understanding and answers based on a century of exploring the development of human nature, society, and culture. It is the only social science that seeks to understand both human biological and cultural variation in the past and in the present. Encompassing a wide range of subjects spanning cultural and linguistic anthropology, biological and forensic anthropology, archaeology, and museum studies, anthropology is unique among the many fields that study humanity.

If you seek a major that will not only open up significant employment opportunities but also provides a sense of meaning and purpose in your life, consider majoring in anthropology. It leads to a more sophisticated, historically and scientifically grounded understanding of the relationship of human beings to the natural world, past and present. Anthropology majors develop an awareness gained through instruction and practical experiences of how culture shapes and reshapes our understanding of human problems and possibilities. Anthropology students are perhaps most distinguished by the realization that there are many ways of engaging in the human experience, each equally valid.

Outlook

The career opportunities for those majoring in anthropology are limited only by imagination. This is particularly important to note since most of the jobs that today’s graduates will hold have not been invented yet. Our majors have gone straight to work for federal agencies, especially the Forest Service. Our majors have started their own enterprises and gone to work for local, regional, national, and international industry, nongovernmental organizations and nonprofits, as well as museums worldwide. Our majors have also gone on to prestigious graduate programs both domestically and abroad. A degree in anthropology will guarantee an interesting life for those who rise to the challenge, and it will certainly afford opportunities for travel, inquiry, and a lucrative career that are available nowhere else.

Programs

Undergraduate

Bachelor's

Minors

Certificates

Graduate

Master's