Anthropology

Anthropology is a contemporary social science that bridges both the natural sciences and humanities to examine human diversity in the past and present and the profoundly different ways in which social groups interpret and inhabit an increasingly complex world.

Our program is characterized by an emphasis on fieldwork and is encouraged in student work abroad. We cover anthropology's subfields of cultural anthropology, biological anthropology and archaeology, each characterized by unique approaches, yet all oriented toward understanding and informing contemporary debates about the diversity of human experience in a wide range of societies. 

Anthropology at Dickinson teaches students the process of doing anthropological research through fieldwork and laboratory research. Ethnographic fieldwork—observing and interacting intimately with people in a social setting over an extended period of time—is one of anthropology's distinctive contributions to the human sciences. In coursework and our department's ethnographic field schools, students familiarize themselves with fieldwork by conducting local and international projects that they may later develop into senior thesis papers.

Students leave the anthropology program fully prepared for graduate school, for public and nonprofit sector work and for any form of business or professional work that requires critical-thinking skills and understanding of cultural differences.

The Society of Medical Anthropology is currently presenting a series of webinars about COVID-19. The first, "Fear, Stigma and Steps Forward," and second, "Responses From Around the Globe,"​​​​​​ are now available. The aim is to prompt a discussion based on shared observations from where they live about the course of the disease, public health and medical interventions and community responses.