Anthropology offers perspectives on issues of the origins, history and diversity of the dynamics of culture and behavior, people and places, personal and community identity, origins and the biological history of humankind in all of its manifestations in all times. Anthropology is holistic and explores psychological, biological, social and cultural — including technological, economic, religious, political and artistic — aspects of human action.
Anthropologists examine the vast diversity of human cultures, striving to understand and appreciate the myriad ways of life that constitute alternative solutions to the universal problems of human existence. By combining the perspective of science and the humanities, archaeologist, socio-cultural, linguistic and biological anthropologists take an interdisciplinary, evolutionary and humanistic approach to the study of human beings and human societies.
The department offers a broad range of courses for majors, minors and general education requirements. The curriculum spans socio-cultural, archaeological and biological emphases, but also includes complementary courses in medical, linguistic and museum studies in anthropology. The coursework provides students with opportunities to learn about, appreciate and understand the values and perspectives of people from cultural traditions other than their own and also addresses their abilities to interact cross-culturally.
The program offers a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree major, an interdisciplinary field major, and a minor in anthropology. The BA in anthropology prepares students for a variety of professional careers in and outside anthropology. The minor effectively complements a diverse number of majors within Fairmount College and across colleges. Elective and general education courses in anthropology seek to broaden the students’ Fairmount College experience by offering them an opportunity to appreciate the strength of human cultural and biological history and diversity through socio-cultural, bio-cultural and cultural-historical perspectives to understanding the living world in the framework of its past and present circumstance.