Experience Anthropology

Whether you're analyzing ancient ruins or exploring modern-day communities, Gettysburg’s anthropology program equips you with the knowledge, research opportunities, and real-world experiences to thrive. Here, you'll benefit from close faculty mentorship, immersive fieldwork, and unique global opportunities. You might conduct an archaeological excavation in Brazil, volunteer at a local museum, or develop your honors thesis while studying abroad. Eligible students can join Lambda Alpha, the National Honor Society for Anthropology, and build lasting professional connections through our alumni network.

Our graduates have gone on to attend graduate programs in top anthropology programs; join service programs such as City Year, Teach For America, and the Peace Corps; and enter fields as varied as law, medicine, education, government, finance, and the nonprofit sector.

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The possibilities are endless!

As an Anthropology graduate, you might focus on a particular world area, such as Latin America, Asia-Pacific, Africa, Europe, North America, or the Middle East. Attend archaeological field schools or volunteer with projects. Past students have worked in the United States, Italy, Honduras, England, Macedonia, South Africa, and more. You might perform anthropological research on a topic of interest. Recent students have written theses on surfing and sexuality in Costa Rica, the social role of women in ancient Celtic society, the Korean drama wave in Japan, education and development in South Africa, social hierarchy among the Susquehannock, and social divisions in a Pennsylvania courtroom.

Anthropology in Action

Featured course

Jump to level: All Anthropology courses

by level: 100 • 200 • 300 • 400

ANTH 212 Archaeology of Pennsylvania: From the First Nations to Modern Times

Survey of the major archaeological sites and time periods of Pennsylvania from the earliest peoples to the twentieth century. The class focuses in particular on archaeological practice, including participation in excavations and working with artifacts. Other important themes include the use of both archaeology and historical texts to understand the past, and the ethics of archaeological practice and interpretation, especially in regard to the material record of the state's original peoples. Prerequisite: ANTH 103 or ANTH 106

ANTH 225 Food, Culture, and Globalization

Study of food as a lens for understanding culture and globalization. The course considers religion, gender, ethnic identity, socioeconomic inequality, exchange, and nationalism through the study of the production and consumption of food in local and global settings. The course examines debates on the impact of globalization on local cultures through case studies of colonial food trades and contemporary global food industries. Prerequisites: Anthropology 103 or 106.

ANTH 302 Human Rights through and Anthropological Lens

A study of human rights examined cross-culturally. The course focuses on gendered violence, violation of children's rights, genocide and ethnic persecution, refugees and exile, and disease and healthcare. Students explore linkages between non-Western peoples and transnational advocacy networks; media representation of indigenous peoples and human rights victims; processes of truth and reconciliation; and the fragility of domestic and national bonds in the face of human rights abuses. Students view these topics primarily through the lens of cultural anthropology, but include works by medical and forensic anthropologists. Prerequisites: Anthropology 103 or 106, and one 200-level Anthropology course.