Anthropology and Archaeology

The purpose of anthropology is to make the world safe for human differences. 

- Ruth Benedict

Our program allows students to directly engage with contemporary anthropological topics and applied research. Core courses added over the past three years include Visual Anthropology, Medical Anthropology, Cultural Ecology, Climate and Society, Applied Anthropology, and Prisons, Punishment and Control. Our department focuses on modern issues of inequality, environmental and social justice, cultural heritage ownership, and activism. Geographic areas of focus include the Caribbean, Central and South America, the Chesapeake Bay Region, and several other areas of the United States.

We emphasize learning by doing and offer many options for experiential education. Our new course with the national Inside-Out program engages students in collaborative learning with incarcerated women in Delaware. With Digital Scholarship in Museum Partnerships (DSMP), students in the Museum Studies course collaborate with local communities to curate and conserve cultural materials and oral histories while developing online virtual reality (VR) exhibits.  

Students who participate in our faculty-led trips study the interrelationship between culture and environment in the Southwestern United States, the intersection of music and culture in Cuba, and international development in Tanzania. There are many opportunities for studying abroad or participating in a departmental archaeology field school. Students engage in hands-on internships at the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Program, Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience, and through the Museum, Field, and Community Education minor.

Anthropology students and faculty participate in the following interdisciplinary majors and programs: American Studies; Communication and Media Studies; Environmental Studies; International Studies; and the Chesapeake Semester. Anthropology also offers an Ethnomusicology minor and contributes to the following minors: Arts Management and Entrepreneurship; Black Studies; Gender Studies; Justice, Law, and Society; Latin American Studies; Museum, Field, and Community Education; and Public Health. 

What can I do with an anthropology degree?