Anthropology, BA

View Anthropology Department website

Anthropology, the broadest of the social science disciplines, is the study of human culture and social experience through space and time-from early hominid ancestors to post-industrial societies. The major consists of a four-field approach: cultural anthropology and the study of historic and contemporary societies (ethnography, ethnology and ethnohistory), archaeology and the study of material culture (prehistoric, historic and underwater archaeology), biological anthropology (biology, human evolution and culture), and linguistic anthropology (language and culture). Course offerings address topical areas that include applied anthropology, Chesapeake archaeology, ecological and economic anthropology, kinship and social organization, food, Tourism, and historic preservation. Many courses address issues of gender, ethnicity and globalization.

Affiliations with Historic St. Mary’s City and nearby Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum/Maryland Archaeological Conservation Laboratory provide adjunct faculty and generate rich opportunities for majors to engage in internships, independent studies, St. Mary’s Projects and hands-on professional research, laboratory work and fieldwork. Several study tour and exchange programs offer exciting possibilities for study and research abroad.

A degree in anthropology prepares students for graduate work in the social sciences and professions and provides an excellent liberal arts foundation for a wide range of career options-working in educational institutions, museums, business, private industry or government.

Learning Outcomes

• Employ appropriate anthropological concepts, theories or methodologies to understand the development and diversity of human cultures.
• Explain the contributions of biological, archaeological, cultural or linguistic anthropology for understanding human and cultural diversity in the modern era.
• Apply anthropological knowledge and skills to understand or address human challenges, issues or problems.
• Demonstrate in written form effective articulation of anthropological knowledge at a level appropriate to the audience.
• Orally communicate anthropological knowledge at a level appropriate to the audience.
• Identify, locate and use appropriate sources to support anthropological investigation, analysis or interpretation.
• Construct a critical review of information associated with a particular issue or topic.
• Design and successfully carry out an anthropology project.
• Seek connections between anthropology and other intellectual disciplines and professions.
• Employ the use of anthropological knowledge as a foundation for personal and professional engagement for making positive contributions to community and society.