Anthropology is a broad, holistic study of human beings. Many people confuse anthropology as a whole with its subfields archaeology (going on digs) or physical anthropology (studying bones). Actually anthropology includes archaeology, physical anthropology, and cultural anthropology.
Cultural anthropologists study living cultures -- from hunters and gatherers in Africa to corporations in the USA -- by living in the culture and gaining the insiders' point of view.
Archaeologists do a lot more than dig; they reconstruct past cultures based on their finds.
Physical anthropologists do a lot more than study bones. They reconstruct the physical evolution of the human species, they study the physical adaptations humans have made, and they study primates (apes, monkeys, prosimians, as well as humans).The purpose of all of this activity is to learn about US -- HUMANS.

Anthropology majors develop unique modes of thought and skills. For example, anthropologists are the original systems analysts, since their training requires them to see the interconnections among a culture's parts and to see the interdependence among different cultures. Graduates in anthropology are well versed in the skills associated with both quantitative and qualitative research, including reviewing literature, interpreting statistical information, designing research projects, writing research proposals, interviewing, observing, collecting oral histories, analyzing data, writing clear research reports, and presenting research reports orally. The perspectives and skills that anthropology graduates possess render them particularly useful in fields that require planning programs, managing programs, and evaluating program effectiveness. With ever rising frequency, human service agencies and businesses are using the qualitative methods that are the hallmark of anthropology (participant observation, ethnographic interviewing, oral history collecting) to assess the needs of their clients and to evaluate program effectiveness. Students who take archaeology courses will learn the specialized skills of this subfield, including surveying, mapping, artifact identification, and artifact curation. The courses in physical anthropology afford the opportunity to learn the skills necessary to understanding our biological heritage, and to assess the ways it connects to our culture.

Radford University's anthropology program includes specialists in each of anthropology's subfields -- cultural anthropology, archaeology, and physical anthropology. All of these faculty members are actively doing anthropology. And each of them is dedicated to assuring that you have opportunities to do anthropology alongside them. For example, we offer a course in Practicing Ethnographic Methods in which the students write their own ethnographies (an ethnography is the study of the life of a people) -- that is rare in an undergraduate curriculum. We offer a field school in archaeology, and many opportunities to apply the skills of physical anthropology to real skeletal materials. Much of this research is done in service to the governmental agencies and communities surrounding Radford University.

In keeping with our desire to provide the student with hands-on experience, internships are available. Placement is available in a variety of agencies, organizations, and institutions. Departmental Internship Manuals and information are available on the Student Opportunities page of the department web site.

The Anthropology faculty are the best resources for learning the skills of anthropology -- all of the RU faculty offer opportunities for gaining valuable hands-on experience through classes, class projects, collaborative student-faculty research, and internships.  The archaeology and physical anthropology laboratory offers a wealth of artifacts and skeletal materials for analysis. The Human Relations Area Files, an intricately indexed compendium of ethnographic materials used for cross-cultural research, is available in the Library. Computer software available in student laboratories includes both database and text-based programs for analyzing ethnographic and archaeological data.

You'll have the opportunity to take a wide variety of courses outside your major. An appropriate minor would depend on your own interests, and might include Sociology, Biology, Geology, English, Appalachian Studies, International Studies, Social Gerontology, Business, or many others.

Qualified undergraduates are able to find jobs without post-graduate training. However, as is true in most disciplines in the liberal arts, earning a graduate degree enhances one's employment possibilities. About 15 percent of our recent majors have gone on to graduate school; they have been admitted to such top-notch graduate schools in anthropology as the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of Illinois, and the New School for Social Research in New York City.

The American Anthropological Association (AAA)
4350 North Fairfax Drive, Suite 640
Arlington, VA 22203-1621
(540) 528-1902 ext. 3032

RU Experiential Learning & Career Development Office
RU McConnell Library
RU Advising Centers