Anthropology
With one foot in the sciences (both social and biological) and the other in the humanities, Drew’s major in anthropology takes a holistic approach to the study of humankind with cross-cultural and evolutionary perspectives—allowing students to construct a more inclusive and insightful view of humans and humanity. Through fieldwork and laboratory experience, students will develop hands-on experience within the sub-disciplines: cultural anthropology, archaeology, biological anthropology, and linguistics.
Related Programs
Anthropology Minor
This program is also available as an Anthropology Minor.
Archaeology Minor
Excavation of remains of past societies and reconstruction of their material culture and society.
Drew University offers a free-standing minor in Archaeology. The Archaeology Minor program conducts a summer field school in Ecuador, giving students the chance to gain valuable field experience. Opportunities for participation in field programs with other Drew faculty also exist.
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Part 3 of our series on the program providing real-world research opportunities for undergrads
Drew University Senior Heading to Oxford After Impactful Undergrad Experience
Juliet LaVigne C’23 credits Drew’s archaeology and anthropology program, resources for giving her a leg up
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Where They’re Going: Becca Safi C’22
“Drew’s close-knit community was a big help and I fostered a lot of great relationships with professors, teammates, and classmates.”
Drew University Anthropology Students Get Forensic
Students uncover, analyze, and document a mock crime scene
The Four Fields of Anthropology As They Are Taught at Drew:
Social and Cultural Anthropology
COMPARATIVE STUDIES OF HUMAN SOCIETIES AND CULTURES BASED ON ETHNOGRAPHIC FIELDWORK AMONG CONTEMPORARY POPULATIONS.
Anthropologists, like many other scientists, study people. However, anthropologists are not specifically concerned with the physiological aspects of our biological existence (medical doctors); nor are they concerned with the structures and mechanics of the human mind (psychologists); not with the demographic shifts in societal institutions (sociologists); nor with the machinations of political entities (political scientists). What then is distinctive about anthropology and, specifically social and/or cultural anthropology?
Perhaps most importantly, social and cultural anthropology is unique among the social sciences in that it brings a comparative approach to the study of human societies and culture through ethnography—the scientific study of human societies and cultures in situ and through prolonged interaction (participant-observation), working in the subject’s language and the ongoing attempt to privilege local understandings and meanings.
Drew Anthropologists conduct fieldwork in North America, South America and West Africa on a variety of topics including: environment contamination of aboriginal fisheries; resource extraction in the American West; hunting and representations of masculinity; creolization and identity in Afro-Brazil; chiefship and religion in the West African sahel.
Archaeology
EXCAVATION OF REMAINS OF PAST SOCIETIES AND RECONSTRUCTION OF THEIR MATERIAL CULTURE AND SOCIETY.
Drew University offers a free-standing minor in Archaeology. The Archaeology program conducts a summer field school in Ecuador, giving students the chance to gain valuable field experience. Opportunities for participation in field programs with other Drew faculty also exist.
LEARN MORE ABOUT ARCHAEOLOGY MINOR >
