Department of Anthropology
Anthropology is the comparative study of human cultural and biological diversity—as seen over time in human evolution and around the globe in the range of cultures and societies that define our contemporary age. Our cultural anthropology faculty are at the forefront of research in the study of modern religion, politics, and society; youth culture, gender, and sexuality; food and film; medical and psychological anthropology; public anthropology; migration, human rights, and democratic transitions; and the anthropology of care and morality. Our biological anthropology faculty are at the cutting edge of paleoanthropological research on primates and other mammals, and the evolutionary biology of primate and human health, diet, reproduction, genetics, behavioral ecology, and social systems.
For undergraduates, we offer three specializations:
- Our Specialization in Sociocultural Anthropology prepares students for careers in education, law, business, international relations, development, and related fields.
- Our Specialization in Biological Anthropology prepares students for careers in medicine and public health, laboratory research, evolutionary and wildlife biology, environmental management, and conservation.
- Our Specialization in Anthropology, Health & Medicine prepares students for careers in medicine and public health, international relations, development, and related fields, offering students a more biosocial course of study within Anthropology.
Each specialization prepares students for the strongest graduate programs in the field. We also offer a joint major in Anthropology & Religion, as well as minors in Anthropology and in Medical Anthropology.
The opportunity to pursue honors in the major is available to academically qualified students.
Study abroad is strongly encouraged and many programs within and outside of BU can count for units in anthropology.
Instructional & Research Facilities
Department resources include teaching and research laboratories, skeletal collections, a world-class collection of fossil hominin casts, hormonal and nutritional laboratory analyses, genetic analyses, and computational labs dedicated to primate databases, video, GIS, and morphometric analysis. The Biological Anthropology lab is on the second floor of the Stone Science Building, and the Sensory Morphology and Anthropological Genomics Lab (SMAGL) is in the Stone Science Building, room 251. Through research-for-units courses and directed studies, students can work with faculty, graduate students, and postdocs in these labs; they may also be invited to participate in fieldwork around the world.
Organizations
Anthropology in the Works is a student-run club that offers undergraduate majors the opportunity to socialize; meet and network with faculty and graduate students; participate in anthropological events; visit local museums and zoos; and learn about grant, intern, and fieldwork opportunities. The club is open to majors as well as nonmajors and maintains an active social media presence.
