What is Anthropology?

Anthropology is the study of both ancient and modern peoples and the way people live. It is concerned with understanding the full range of human diversity. Anthropology is divided into four major fields, socio-cultural and biological anthropology, archaeology and linguistics. The anthropology program at Texas State provides students with course work and training in each of these areas.

Anthropology at Texas State

The department houses fully equipped laboratories for training and research in archaeology, physical anthropology and forensic anthropology. Specialized equipment in the archaeology laboratories permit state of the art field and laboratory analysis. The physical anthropology laboratory has numerous human and nonhuman primate skeletal materials, skeletal measuring equipment and an excellent cast collection of primate and early human fossils.

Numerous opportunities are available to students interested in hands-on anthropological activities. Students may work with faculty on local ethnographic, ethnohistoric and archaeological projects. Cultural anthropology field schools are offered for study in Mexico. The department conducts archaeological field schools at prehistoric and historic sites in Texas and at Maya sites in Belize, Central America. A primate ecology field school is available to students interested in physical anthropology.

The Anthropology Department has fifteen full time faculty members, 230 undergraduate majors and over 100 undergraduate minors as well as a growing graduate program offering a Masters Degree. We offer over 30 different courses in social and cultural anthropology, archaeology, physical anthropology and linguistics.