Anthropology

Anthropology offers the opportunity to study human existence in the present and the past and to explore how and why humans vary in their behaviors, cultures, and biology. Students choose to study anthropology because they want to understand some of the most intriguing and troubling issues faced by modern society: the origin and meaning of ethnic and gender differences; the role of institutions in social, political, and economic life; learned vs. innate behavior; the similarities and differences among human societies; and the meaning of religion, community, and family.

The Department of Anthropology offers courses in three subdisciplines of anthropology: archaeology, biological anthropology, and sociocultural anthropology.

The faculty in the anthropology department are active in research around the world and bring a diversity of experiences to their teaching.

  • Faculty research expertise in archaeology includes the origins of food production; the cultures of prehistoric North, Central, and South America; African and Central Asian prehistory; environmental archaeology; and geographic information systems (GIS).
  • Biological anthropology faculty focus on the evolution of humans; on the normal biological variation in living human populations; and on the ecology, behavior, and evolution of nonhuman primates.
  • Sociocultural faculty conduct research on a wide range of topics, including states, societies, and beliefs; political ecology, demography, fertility, and population; sociolinguistics; medical anthropology and public health; bodies, gender, and sexuality; science and technology; mind and cognition; and religion and politics.

Contact Info

Contact:Erin Coleman
Phone:314-935-5309
Email:colemane@wustl.edu
Website:http://anthropology.wustl.edu