What is anthropology?

Anthropology is the study of humans, past and present. It explores how people live, what they believe, how they interact with their environments, and how human behavior, biology, language, and material culture shape the world. Anthropologists ask big questions and use tools from science, culture, and history to find answers.

Anthropologists explore these questions in three main areas: cultural anthropology, which looks at how people live and make meaning in the present; archaeology, which studies objects and places people left behind to understand past societies; and biological anthropology, which examines human bodies and evolution to see how humans vary and change over time.

Why study anthropology?

Students who are curious about people and the world around them can use anthropology to gain the tools they need to learn more. Anthropology students learn how to observe closely, analyze data, think creatively, and understand the experiences of people from many different backgrounds and time periods. Anthropologists use interviews, excavation, lab work, and data analysis to understand human diversity across time and space.

Anthropology is a broad area of study that prepares students for a wide range of futures from tackling social problems and empowering communities to shaping health policy, designing technology, or preserving cultural heritage. Anthropology students graduate with skills employers value everywhere: intercultural awareness, analytical thinking, writing and communication, and public speaking.

Why study anthropology at Beloit College?

Few colleges in the country can match Beloit College’s history, resources, and hands-on approach to anthropology. For more than a century, long before most colleges even had anthropology programs, Beloit College has been “making the world safe for human diversity” and helping students make sense of a rapidly changing world.

Here, you’ll work directly with the Logan Museum of Anthropology, a teaching museum with collections of global significance. You don’t have to wait to be a graduate student to get rare access to collections, storage spaces, and research opportunities. You can handle artifacts, study materials from around the world, and curate exhibits that invite real audiences into the conversations you’re having in class.

You’ll also have exceptional field and research opportunities. Funding is available for field schools, museum training, and collaborative research with faculty in areas like archaeology, ethnography, primatology, forensics, and more. You can build global experience through study abroad options in places such as Indonesia, Costa Rica, Ghana, and New Zealand.

Anthropology at Beloit College is collaborative and community-minded. You’ll learn alongside your classmates, work with community partners, join Anthropology Club, and apply what you learn through internships, the Community Fellows Program, independent research, and on-the-job experience with museum professionals.