Anthropology Program
Anthropology at Kutztown University
Anthropology is the academic discipline that studies human biology and culture across time and space through a comparative, interdisciplinary lens. Anthropology combines science with humanities, biology with culture, history with prehistory and language with society to achieve a holistic understanding of human diversity. By focusing on the complex linkages among four subfields - physical anthropology, archaeology, linguistic anthropology, and cultural anthropology - and emphasizing the importance of interdisciplinary teamwork, we prepare students for graduate study and for careers in social services, international affairs, cultural events, museums, public service and private business.
Kutztown University offers a program rich in diversity and academic potential in all four subfields of anthropology. Students have the opportunity to practice anthropology through the archaeological field school, internships and independent study projects.
Our alumni have built on their experiences in the anthropology program to pursue graduate study in Anthropology at Temple University, Art History at John Cabot University in Rome, Public History at Duquesne University, Experimental Archaeology & Material Culture at University College Dublin, and Human Genetics at the University of Pittsburgh. Additionally, our alumni have served communities across the US and around the world with AmeriCorps and the PeaceCorps. Still other alumni have secured employment in areas varying from cultural resource management in southern California to public outreach and education in county parks in southeastern Pennsylvania.
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Program Mission
The mission of the Anthropology Program is to provide students with the intellectual tools necessary to understand the cultural, biological, linguistic, and historical diversity of humankind. We do this by providing students with a holistic understanding of human behavior in its biocultural context.
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Program Goals
The Anthropology Program is designed to meet four overarching, and often overlapping, goals:
- To introduce general education students to human diversity through our introductory courses, including Cultural Anthropology (ANT 10), Physical Anthropology (ANT 20), Introduction to Archaeology (ANT 30), and Language and Culture (ANT 40).
- To serve majors in other programs who wish to understand their respective fields from an anthropological perspective. For this purpose, we offer numerous anthropology electives, including Forensic Anthropology (ANT 258), Marriage and the Family in Cross-Cultural Perspective (ANT 232), Gender across Cultures (ANT 215), Culture and Consumption (ANT 218), Language and Identity (ANT 245), Historical Archaeology (ANT 239), and many others.
- To provide Anthropology majors with a firm academic foundation in anthropology and prepare them for careers using anthropological concepts or continuing their academic pursuits in graduate school.
- To provide professional resources to the university and surrounding community (e.g., providing expertise on human diversity, foreign cultures and subcultures in American society).