Anthropology is the documenting of the diverse ways humans live.
At JMU, anthropology majors review many different factors to uncover the answers to these deep questions. The examination of artifacts, beliefs and values helps anthropologists to obtain specific clues about human life. In order to gather information about beliefs and values, anthropologists often work directly with the people who they are studying.
This fascinating, hands-on field offers a lifetime of learning experiences and remarkably flexible career options.
Anthropology’s goal is to document the diversity of ways humans live and have lived throughout the world. Anthropologists go “off road,” working directly with people and their artifacts, to examine their beliefs and values, how they make a living, how they express themselves, how they interact, and how they affect and are affected by the natural world.
Why is this important? An increasingly globalized and multicultural world requires anthropological knowledge and insight. Anthropology is essential to students interested in working in both the U.S. and overseas on contemporary issues in areas such as social policy work, international development, public health, community-based advocacy, environmental and social justice, and cultural preservation.
Students develop their interests by taking a wide range of classes in cultural, linguistic and biological anthropology and archaeology. Anthropology majors can also do individually-driven practical and hands-on research in internships, anthropology labs, excavations and field-schools, and study-abroad programs.
https://www.jmu.edu/academics/undergraduate/majors/anthropology.shtml