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Department of Anthropology and Sociology
Mark Cohan, PhD, Chair
Objectives
What does it mean to be human? Anthropology is an integrated and interdisciplinary field that offers a cross-cultural, holistic engagement with this question. The undergraduate study of anthropology is a fascinating, practical way to build a critical understanding of the broad past, present, and future of human experience, cultural interaction, and the individual’s role in society. Regardless of your future career plans, anthropology gives you the foundational skills to successfully navigate and understand our increasingly global, multicultural world, while opening up new horizons for personal reflection and growth.
The major is designed to empower students with anthropological knowledge and skills that are both immediately valuable as well as a foundation for further intellectual development. A broad understanding of human culture around the world and across time is achieved through three types of classes. The first set of classes, the foundations of anthropology, provides a solid grounding in the principles, theories, and methods of anthropology. The second set of classes, the anthropology major electives, offers students opportunities to explore a variety of specific anthropological themes. Students complement these anthropology classes with a third set of classes that are drawn from disciplines outside anthropology yet focus on the themes of society and culture. The major thus offers students ample opportunity to develop and pursue their particular interests while acquiring a solid foundation in anthropological principles, methods and theory.