While everyone has heard of the terms, few are able to define them or explain how the two disciplines differ from each other and from other social sciences. The following will help you better understand sociology and anthropology and how our major brings them together. Sociology and anthropology are distinct areas of study, with separate histories and different ways of looking at the world. Sociology is the study of social life and the social causes of consequences made by human behavior. A sociologist understands unemployment, for example, not as the problem of one person who cannot find a job, but as the interaction of economic, political, and social forces that determine the number of jobs and who has access to them.
Anthropology is concerned with how culture influences every aspect of human life and society.
By comparing the cultural practices of different people, anthropologists develop a general understanding of what it means to be human. Recognizing these similarities, our major blends the two areas of study. For those with a strong interest in one discipline or the other, it is possible to to select courses with a primary focus in either, but we encourage our majors to explore and draw on the insights of both disciplines. We offer opportunities for students to travel abroad, getting first hand experiences in cultures as diverse as those in Thailand, Ireland, Peru, and Spain. All majors complete a senior seminar where the experiences and course work of students are brought to bear on the study of a particular topic.