Mar 29, 2024  
2022-2023 Undergraduate Catalog 
    
2022-2023 Undergraduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Department of Anthropology


Telephone: (302) 831-1851
http://www.udel.edu/anthro
Faculty Listing: https://www.anthropology.udel.edu/people/all-faculty

The Anthropology Department at the University of Delaware explores what it means to be human. Integrating social science, humanities, and natural science approaches, we study the diversity of human culture and people’s place in the natural world across space and over time. The Department offers undergraduate major programs in Anthropology and Anthropology Education, including Honors Degree options in both. In addition, an Anthropology minor is available, and interdepartmental majors with other departments are possible.

Anthropology involves both the comparative study of worldwide variations in beliefs and behaviors and the evolution of humankind from prehistoric to contemporary times. Anthropology at the University of Delaware encompasses three distinct but interconnected fields of study: social and cultural anthropology, biological or physical anthropology, and archaeology. Social and cultural anthropologists undertake holistic and comparative research on communities throughout the world, investigating their economic and political institutions, social organizations, religions, and art forms. Biological anthropology addresses the evolutionary differentiation of primates; the emergence of hominid populations; primate behavior; human biology; processes of adaptation in modern populations; and the intersection of biology, culture, and health, as studied by medical anthropologists. Archaeologists recover the physical remains of prehistoric and historic communities and examine their associated cultures through time.

The undergraduate program at the University provides a broad perspective on the fields of social and cultural anthropology, archaeology, and biological anthropology. Because the department is devoted primarily to undergraduate instruction, students can take advantage of many opportunities to work closely with faculty and to participate in small seminar classes. Courses are enriched by work with departmental collections, visits to museums and special exhibits in neighboring cultural centers, films, and local fieldwork and community engagement opportunities.

Programs

    MajorMinorHonors Degree