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Anthropology is the study of humanity in all its cultural and biological diversity. In the United States, the discipline traditionally includes four fields: archaeological, biological, sociocultural, and linguistic anthropology, although research increasingly examines questions at the borders of the fields or which span more than one field. The department maintains a commitment to a four-field approach to graduate training despite a national trend towards increasing specialization at earlier stages of graduate training. A student with a solid four-field background can readily opt to specialize, while one-field specialists are hard to retrain as generalists. Anthropology provides essential foundations and perspectives for the study of the social and natural sciences and the humanities, as well as for applied professions such as education, public health, and social work. The Anthropology curriculum emphasizes original research, scholarly writing, informed critical thinking, and the understanding of, and tolerance for diverse cultures and ways of life.
We consider hands-on training in ethnographic fieldwork, archaeology, biological anthropology, and quantitative methods to be an integral part of graduate training. The faculty is actively involved in interdisciplinary teaching, interdepartmental collaborative efforts, and individual and team research projects, including many that involve new information technologies, cultural resource management, environmental impact assessment, ethnicity and gender, regional and area studies, and economic development– to name a few. The Department is also committed to involving graduate students in ongoing faculty-supported research, and in encouraging independent student-initiated research projects.
The entire Master’s Degree Program is tied to an evening course schedule thereby offering a unique educational resource in an urban area where the majority of potential graduate students are self-supporting and hold full-time jobs.
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