Anthropology is the study of human beings, their cultures, biology, behaviors, and their changes through time (evolution). Because we study all aspects of humans, anthropology is said to be holistic and inter-disciplinary, that is anthropologists work hand-in-hand with other sciences such as biology, physiology, sociology and psychologyjust to name a few.
At the University of Utah, the Anthropology Department is divided into four main divisions: Cultural, Biological, Evolutionary Ecology, and Archaeology. Cultural anthropology focuses on human cultures and how they vary through time and spacearound the world and back through pre-history. Biological anthropology focuses on ancient and modern human anatomical, physiological, and biological variability. Biological anthropology also concerns itself with non-human primates like chimpanzees and gorillasby studying them, we hope to learn more about ourselves. Archaeology is the excavation and interpretation of what humans leave behind in order to infer how and why humans have evolved. Evolutionary ecology (sometimes known as behavioral ecology) examines human (and non-human primate) behavior and life-historywhy did human beings evolve the way they did.
Career Opportunities
Anthropology will prepare you for a wide array of careers. With additional schooling in the field of anthropology, coupled with the research and field work experience you gained in your undergraduate career, students can become researchers, archaeologists, or professors. A degree in anthropology can also prepare you for an advanced degree in business, medicine, or law. Graduates of the program may pursue work in museums as curators or archivists, enter the nonprofit sector as grant writers or program managers, or become employed by the government as surveyors, urban planners, or policy analysts.