Anthropology gives students a holistic understanding of human existence in an ecological, evolutionary perspective. It studies the interrelationships of human biology and human behavior, particularly that behavior which we call culture, both in the past and in the present. In its four traditional subfields of cultural anthropology, physical anthropology, archaeology, and linguistic anthropology, it covers all the aspects of being human, making use of almost all of human knowledge. Anthropology is also the only discipline that focuses on the study of the origin and nature of human biological and cultural diversity. Courses in anthropology are thus of value to students in virtually all fields; they relate those disciplines to a broader view of humankind as a whole.

Learning Outcomes

Students majoring in anthropology will be able to:

• Describe how evolutionary and historical processes have shaped primates and human ancestors and lead to the biological, behavioral, and cultural diversity seen in the present.
• Describe how cultural systems construct reality differently for various human groups.
• Describe how varying types of data are collected, analyzed, synthesized and interpreted to achieve these first two goals.
• Communicate anthropological knowledge effectively through written, oral and data presentation in varying formats for diverse audiences.
• Discuss human diversity and how knowledge about human diversity should lead to a better understanding of and therefore respect for people whose culture differs from ours.

• Major requirements
  Minor requirements