Department of Anthropology |College of Arts and Science

Anthropology is a holistic, interdisciplinary science of humanity. It is the study of people--their origins, adaptations and ecology, distribution, customs, languages, and social and religious beliefs. Anthropological study includes the prehistoric past as well as the global present, indigenous peoples as well as cosmopolitan migrants, the customs of ancient civilizations as well as the beliefs of peoples today and the study of our evolutionary relatives, the non-human primates.

Our Mission

Through impassioned commitment to world-class undergraduate teaching and research, faculty engage �þ��Ƶs holistically in human, cultural, and biological diversity. Students develop practical skills and transformative perspectives to understand and address complex human problems in a changing world.

Our Majors

Anthropology is an exciting and broadening choice as your major in Miami's liberal arts education. Anthropology Majors are together in many classes during their years at Miami and get to know each other well. Most classes are small enough to allow interaction between �þ��Ƶ and teacher on an individual basis

Anthropology

Anthropology is the study of all aspects of humanity at all times. Majors will explore human evolution, reconstruct societies and civilizations of the past, and analyze the cultures and language of modern peoples, while learning how to make connections, and think outside the box. Anthropological studies range from human genetics to personality and society, the prehistoric past to the present, preliterate tribes to modern industrial urbanites, the customs of ancient civilizations to the beliefs of folk peoples today.

Anthropology and Emerging Technology in Business + Design (ETBD) Integrated Major

The integrated Anthropology and ETBD program is built to combine anthropological skills with design skills to better research and accomodate customer needs, all within four years.

View the ETBD Major - Applied Concentration

Anthropology

The Anthropology minor is designed to help �þ��Ƶs pursue their interests in human communication, biology, and culture, in the past and present, without fulfilling the full range of requirements for the major. Anthropology is the ideal complement to a number of majors and pre-professional degrees.

Archaeology

The Archaeology Minor is ideal for �þ��Ƶs interested in focusing their studies on the deep and diverse history of humans by analyzing and preserving the material remains of past communities. The transdisciplinary minor combines critical thinking, scientific methods, and experimental research, making it a fitting and unique complement to a variety of �þ��Ƶ majors.

Global Health

�þ��Ƶ's Global Health Minor offers a unique, transdisciplinary learning environment that fosters collaboration, innovation, and ethical engagement to devlop future leaders with the essential tools to understand complex global health problems and participate in developing sustainable solutions.

Why Study Anthropology?

With roots in the physical sciences, social sciences, and humanities, anthropology is a quintessential liberal arts discipline. Students acquire research experience, strengthen their writing skills, learn to think about the differences between quantitative and qualitative ways of organizing information, solve problems, and work both independently, and in collaboration with faculty and fellow �þ��Ƶs. They can then take the knowledge and skills acquired through the degree, and transfer them to numerous careers.

Intercultural Awareness

Students will recognize, understand, and respect the complexity of intercultural diversity, within and between societies, and communicate respectfully across cultural differences.

Research Methods

Students will understand and apply basic research methods in anthropology, including research design, data analysis, and interpretation.

Critical Thinking Skills

Students will respect and use critical and creative thinking to analyze information, identify solutions, make decisions, and solve problems.

Personal and Professional Development

Students will develop insight into their own lives and emerge from the major with ideas about how to implement their anthropological knowledge, skills, and values in a variety of occupations and vocations.

Ethical Values in Anthropology

Students will be able to think and act ethically, recognize ethnocentricity and its implications, tolerate ambiguity, respect and appreciate human biocultural variance within shared human heritage in accordance with the standards of the anthropoloigcal community.

Give to the Anthropology Department

Help us prepare the next generation of leaders. We have numerous scholarships, grants, and programs accepting contributions from donors like you.