The faculty cover a range of substantive, methodological, and theoretical areas in courses that provide students with a solid grounding in anthropological perspectives. Students have the opportunity for hands-on experiences within the department with internships and field work experiences. Purdue has an active anthropology student club, P.A.S.T. (Purdue Anthropology Society). 

Anthropology Honors provides a capstone experience for students, if they choose. The year-long program empowers students to focus on a particular empirical issue in an anthropological sub-discipline.  Students write an honors thesis based on their research.

All liberal arts majors prepare students with the skills identified as contributing to managerial success:  communicating and listening well, possessing insights into others, creative/critical thinking, problem solving, and the ability to make connections across complex ideas.

Careers in Anthropology

  • Teacher
  • Museum and Archive Curator
  • Government Researcher
  • Non-Profit Manager
  • Consulting
  • Cultural Resource Management
  • Impact Assessment
  • Policy Analysis
  • Journalism
  • Business