In contrast to other majors, students often come into Colgate with very little experience of anthropology (or sociology – but that’s the next article). So why study anthropology?
Think about some of the hot trends in business, politics, and education today:
• Internationalization and globalization
• Diversity, cross-cultural communication, and understanding
• Multi-disciplinary research and knowledge
All of these things are at the heart of anthropology, and they are what anthropologists have been doing for over a century.
Anthropology initially focused on studying foreign cultures, but for decades anthropologists have been using those techniques to study their own societies as well.
Anthropology is inherently interdisciplinary, designed to look deeply into societies across time and space. For example, archaeology focuses on material culture, making sense of the past, but also drawing connections to issues in contemporary societies. In general, anthropology examines how people think about family structures, economic systems, health and well-being, legal frameworks, food systems, body image, and media influences–to name just a few areas of inquiry.
As a result, anthropology provides students with the skills to meet the demands of an increasingly transborder world.
To learn more, see
This is Anthropology
“Anthropology: the most humanistic of the sciences and the most scientific of the humanities.” American Anthropological Association
Submitted by Professors Carolyn Hsu & Michelle Bigenho