Anthropology

Chair, Department of Sociology & Anthropology: Associate Professor Franzese

Anthropology is the study of humankind spanning millions of years and crossing the globe. Anthropologists seek to understand the human condition by answering questions about our past and our present as well as applying what we know to our future. An anthropological imagination—the ability to understand the social construction of cultural assumptions and embrace the overall human experience—is an integral part of personal growth and development and is designed to support students in choosing responsible and well-informed roles as citizens in an increasingly globalized world.

A disciplinary commitment to a holistic perspective in understanding humanity distinguishes anthropology as the most interdisciplinary of all the social sciences, addressing economic, political, religious, familial and social institutions as a single, complex system. This perspective is represented in a four-field approach: cultural, biological, archaeological and linguistic anthropology. Intersecting each of these four areas is applied anthropology, dedicated to problem-solving within and beyond the discipline using anthropological theories and methods in areas such as consumer research, environmental preservation, disaster recovery, HIV-AIDS, genetic counseling, heritage preservation, immigration and education.

A hallmark of anthropology is the comparative method, based on the idea that we can better understand human behavior when it is framed in reference to how people from around the world and in our own back yards have lived and changed over time. Through the comparative method, anthropologists understand the importance of the social and temporal context for explaining human behavior.