B.A. in Anthropology

Anthropologists study humanity in the broadest possible sense. Like other social sciences, we want to know why people behave the way they do, and we begin by trying to document just how diverse human behavior can be around the world. By diverse we mean "variable." All humans organize themselves into families, but what a typical family is composed of can vary greatly. All people eat, but how, when, and what we eat is not at all predictable. All people have some concept of beauty, but what is beautiful in one culture may be ugly in other.When anthropologists hear, “Oh, that’s just human nature,” we tend to be skeptical. Before we make any generalizing statements about how people behave, we want to make sure that our conclusions are not based solely on the study of people in western contexts. This is why anthropologists are known for studying so-called “exotic” people or tribes. But studies of the remote and exotic are only part of what anthropologists have done over the century and a half to understand human societies. We also try to view our own society through a different lens––looking at familiar aspects of modern life that would appear strange to a member of another culture.