An Anthropology major helps students understand human cultures throughout the world. The study of cross-cultural issues is important for many fields. Anthropology has long been recognized as a leading discipline in the development of concepts and knowledge regarding human culture, prehistory, human evolution, and linguistics. Anthropologists draw upon the social sciences, humanities, biological sciences, and physical sciences to examine humanity’s diversity over time and space.
Anthropology is an excellent background for students who want to pursue careers or plan on attending graduate school in policy, development, teaching, or other service professions.
The Anthropology major offers two concentrations — Cultural Anthropology and Archaeology. It also can be used as a second major for students majoring in Sociology, Criminology, History, Psychological Science, Political Science, World Languages and Cultures, Health Sciences, Environmental Earth Science, Business Administration, New Media Studies, Art History, and Women’s and Gender Studies. Our faculty includes experts in Latin American, Caribbean, Canadian, and Native American studies. Applied learning opportunities are embedded in the programs’ required field courses, which can include internships at museums, archaeological field work at sites in New England and the Midwest, and study trips to other countries.
The Archaeology concentration provides undergraduate students with a unique opportunity to examine the human past through the hands-on study of artifacts and sites. Students will develop skills for moving into graduate studies or employment in museums and historic sites, federal and state government agencies, cultural resource management firms, and private sector engineering firms.
The concentration in Cultural Anthropology provides undergraduate students with broad disciplinary training to understand local and global contemporary issues. Courses emphasize relevant connections between culture, economy, health and identities. Students will develop skills to find employment in the public and private sectors or pursue graduate studies in Anthropology or related disciplines.
$62K
Median salary
+8%
CT job market growth over next 10 years
Archaeological field schools will be offered at the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Cahokia Mounds, the first and only Native North American City.
Learn about pressing social issues—local, regional and national—at local agencies in Windham County and Hartford.
Study abroad in Brazil and other international destinations with Eastern faculty members as part of credit courses in the Anthropology major.
Students who pursue undergraduate degrees in Anthropology can have rewarding and successful careers in a variety of professional fields, including:
Philosophy Professor Matthew Rukgaber of Eastern Connecticut State University recently published a book examining an early 20th-century philosophical movement that blended with science to analyze aspects of humanity. “The Human as the Other” was published Jan. 23 through Bloomsbury Publishing.
An anthropology major with an archaeology concentration and a history minor, Eric Hohenthal ’25 has long known of his interest in his chosen field. Ever since he was a child, Eric has been “obsessed with the ancient world. I was naturally drawn to archaeology.”
Eastern Connecticut State University’s Anthropology Day on Feb. 15 featured events to educate students on topics such as endangered languages, Maasai culture in Kenya and graduate school pathways.
