Anthropology

Academic Department Introduction

Anthropology explores the diversity and commonalities of the human condition across the world, throughout time. Anthropologists work in faraway places and at home, examining the contemporary moment as well as the distant past. The field is inherently multicultural and multidisciplinary. It covers history, archeology, biology, and social and cultural studies. Our students gain a profound understanding of human nature and the role of culture in everyday lives, including their own. Our faculty carries out research in Nepal, the Balkans, Bolivia, Sudan, Iceland, Central Asia, and Wellesley, Mass.

Learning goals

Learn the basic features of human prehistory, as represented through material and fossil remains.
Practice methods used in anthropological field research, including the excavation of archaeological sites and the construction of ethnographies.

Programs of Study

Anthropology major and minor

Students will gain an understanding of how human cultures vary in their social institutions and practices across time and space.

Major requirements

Minor requirements

Course Highlights

The Anthropology of Religion

ANTH233

This course offers an introduction to the anthropological study of human religious experience, with particular emphasis on religious and ritual practice in a comparative perspective. What is the relationship between religion and society? Can categories such as “religion” and “the sacred” be legitimately applied to all cultures? Does religion necessarily imply belief in a God or sacred beings? We will concentrate on a range of small-scale, non-Western, cultures for much of the semester, returning to religious experience in the modern industrial world and the concept of "world religions" at the course’s end.

(ANTH 233 and REL 233 are cross-listed courses.)

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Anthropology Methods and Project Design

ANTH205

This course is intended to provide a theoretical framework as to how anthropologists construct questions, design research strategies, and produce anthropological knowledge. Students will discuss and explore major framing questions for anthropological methods while pursuing an independent project of their choice. Working with a faculty advisor, students will engage in independent research, while using the class as a workshop and discussion environment to refine their project. Students will be exposed to issues of positionality, ethical obligations in research, mixed qualitative and quantitative methods, and writing for specific audiences. This course is required of all anthropology majors and will provide a bridge between introductory and advanced courses.
Culture, Politics, and Power: Anthropological Perspectives on Latin America

ANTH245

This course explores contemporary issues in Latin America from an anthropological perspective. We will discuss legacies of colonialism and Cold War power struggles, as well as the central role social movements are playing in crafting Latin American futures. We will trace the ways the region is enmeshed in transnational processes and migrations and analyze the intersection of culture, race, gender, and class in shaping urban centers, rural hinterlands, and livelihood strategies within them. In particular, we will discuss how ethnographic research – the long-term fieldwork conducted by anthropologists – can enrich our understanding of hotly debated issues such as statecraft, borders, and shifting meanings of citizenship; in/security, human rights, and democratization; and, illicit economies, extractive industries, and critical approaches to development. (ANTH 245 and LAST 245 are cross-listed courses.)

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Research highlights

In collaboration with Wellesley colleagues, Professor Adam Van Arsdale is constructing a virtual reality (VR) evolutionary anatomy lab, which enables students to access, explore, and interact with human skeletal anatomy and the human fossil record in ways that are not possible in the “real” world.
Professor Susan Ellison’s research links debates about democracy, foreign aid, justice, and trust to lived experiences of violence and financial insecurity. Ellison’s book, Domesticating Democracy: The Politics of Conflict Resolution in Bolivia (Duke University Press, 2018), received the Bryce Wood Book Award from the Latin American Studies Association and the Association of Political and Legal Anthropology book prize in critical anthropology.

Beyond Wellesley

Careers of anthropology graduates include health care, K–12 education, and higher education. Recent employers include Massachusetts General Hospital, Americorps, and Oak Spring Garden Foundation.