New SOAN Logo

After a long process of input, collaboration, and voting, SOAN has a new logo!

Developed with the help of graphic artist Lara Scott and some of our SOAN majors, you’ll see our new logo on our posters and other materials that we use to market SOAN events and information. One of the things I really like about the logo’s design is the large ampersand, which I think is symbolic of a few important things about our community of anthropologists and sociologists.

First, the ampersand represents the importance of interdisciplinarity in our department. Of course, we have our two disciplines of anthropology and sociology, and those disciplines will continue to stay closely connected through our joint department structure and shared events, even though we have moved recently toward separate majors. We also have more connections to other departments and programs than just about any other group on campus. In fact, SOAN faculty currently direct or have strong connections to just about every interdisciplinary program on campus (such as Africana and Latin American Studies, Environmental Studies, Native American Studies, Peace and Conflict Studies, Women’s Studies, and others), and many of our students have second majors or minors in these programs, too.

Second, our ampersand symbolizes the importance of diversity in SOAN. Anthropology and sociology each take the diversity of human cultures, experiences, institutions, and subjectivities as foundational for the disciplines. SOAN students and faculty do research on people and places around the world, past and present. We also focus on the kinds of categories and variables of diversity, such as class, gender, race, sexuality, and many others that help to explain important social problems, such as inequality.

Finally, the ampersand helps us to emphasize that SOAN is an inclusive community, where ideas and engagement are important ways of bringing together a range of people from across the campus. Anthropology and sociology both seek to give voices to people and communities that aren’t always heard in our societies, and, in that way, we can help to support our community here at Colgate and in other communities all over the world.