They study contemporary ways of life, historic and prehistoric ones, and the fossil remains of our early ancestors. Anthropology's distinctive characteristics are essential to its central mission which, in a nutshel1, is to explain and understand human diversity. Anthropologists delve into questions of biological variation and how different physical traits evolved. They address questions having to do with the development of different technologies and the causes and consequences of technological change. They also study social institutions and cultural practices and beliefs both here and abroad to discover how they originated, how they work, and in what directions they might develop in the future.
Anthropology is at once a natural science and a humanistic discipline.
This makes it an ideal focus for a liberal arts education. Its comprehensive, cross-cultural perspective provides a valuable background for advanced study in a variety of disciplines. What is more, students of anthropology acquire a way of thinking that has practical value and is becoming increasingly necessary for the management of personal and corporate affairs in the multi-cultural environments of a rapidly changing world. The Anthropology Program offers a well-rounded curriculum covering archaeology, cultural anthropology, anthropological linguistics, and physical anthropology. Sociologists investigate the social and cultural factors that flow from, and influence human interaction.