Overview

Building from a general program, students can choose to concentrate in the theory and practice of any of the subfields except linguistics.

The Anthropology program at James Madison University is strongly practice-oriented and encourages students to participate in internships, field schools, independent studies, and special topics that allow them to broaden their anthropological awareness. All of the faculty are actively involved in significant research within their chosen areas of study. This scholarship is not only reflected in courses that are current and informed by practical experience, but also in a wide range of opportunities for students to be mentored by faculty in collaborative research projects.

Anthropology's goal is to document the diversity of ways humans live and have lived throughout the world. Anthropologists go “off road,” working directly with people and their artifacts, to examine their beliefs and values, how they make a living, how they express themselves, how they interact, and how they affect and are affected by the natural world. 

Why is this important?  An increasingly globalized and multi-cultural world requires anthropological knowledge and insight.  Anthropology is essential to students interested in working in both the US and overseas on contemporary issues in areas such as social policy work, international development, public health, community-based advocacy, environmental and social justice, and cultural preservation.

Students in the JMU Anthropology program get to develop their interests by taking a wide range of classes in cultural, linguistic and biological anthropology and archaeology.  At JMU, Anthropology majors can also do individually-driven practical and hands-on research in internships, anthropology labs, excavations and field-schools, and on study-abroad programs.