Anthropology is one of the few major fields to combine fascinating course work and practical career training in one academic package. Anthropology, which is the study of “who we are and how we have come to be this way”, not only provides students with a well-rounded general education but also gives them a needed edge in today’s fiercely competitive world of careers and jobs.
In part, this is because anthropological study is refreshingly broad. In the Department of Anthropology and Middle Eastern Cultures at MSU, course and research topics range from identifying missing persons in Mississippi through forensics to the archaeology of the Bible and the community history of memorial spaces in Starkville, MS. As a result, anthropology majors frequently develop understanding and outlooks of life and their communities and world that are as broad as the discipline of anthropology itself.
Indeed, as an anthropology student you will be encouraged to see the world “holistically,” as the sum of its biological, social and cultural parts, and to adopt the viewpoint of cultural relativism, which seeks to understand beliefs and activities of individuals in terms of that individual’s own culture. You will also learn to use these perspectives to develop expertise in observation, problem-solving, and honing critical thinking skills, especially across different contexts and settings. You will also get hands-on training and experience-based opportunities in all the aspects of anthropology, from cultural anthropology to archaeology and biological anthropology (with courses in linguistics offered in the Department of English at MSU).
Indeed, holism—the all-encompassing “Big Picture”—is what distinguishes anthropology as a major from more technical and specialized fields such as marketing, finance, economics, math and other majors that view the world through narrower lenses.
Moreover, your training in anthropology will help sensitize you to the mosaic of ethnic differences found on planet Earth. You will learn about the world’s societies—groups from North and South America to Eurasia, North Africa, and the Middle East. Exposure to inter-ethnic ways of thinking and understanding the world and its challenges—in the past and the present—will help you understand the diverse contending motivations at work in today’s global economy. Indeed, few concepts are as useful, at all levels of the corporate to public and non-profit job and career pyramid, as the anthropological concept of culture for bridging communication gaps, solving problems, and translating complex concepts.
Learning about other people helps us see ourselves more clearly. And being able to grasp the big picture while observing minute detail at the same time—one of anthropology’s biggest skills—will help students at all stages in their future career.
Students are eligible for membership in the Alpha chapter of Lambda Alpha, the national anthropology honorary. See our page on Lambda Alpha for more information.
The Anthropology faculty and staff are housed in the Cobb Institute of Archaeology. There are other archaeologists in the Institute, including specialists in the Middle East and Southeastern U.S. Facilities include archaeology laboratories, darkroom, drafting room, and the Lois Dowdle Cobb Museum of Archaeology. The museum houses artifacts from Mississippi and the Middle East, including replicas of large-scale relief sculptures and statues from Assyria and Egypt.
Anthropology may be used as a minor field of study at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Twelve (12) hours (9 hours must be 3000 level or above), in addition to AN 1103, constitute an undergraduate minor. Requirements for anthropology minor at the graduate level will be established in consultation with the anthropology major advisors. Courses taken for an undergraduate or graduate minor must be taught by anthropology faculty.