While anthropology documents human behavior and cultural patterns around the world, it is also concerned with safeguarding cultures and improving the lives of peoples through research and the application of knowledge. The Department of Anthropology is located in Bessey Hall, with some of the finest classroom and laboratory facilities at Nebraska, including computing, photography, archaeology and physical anthropology laboratories. Ten faculty and several adjunct faculty offer more than 20 different courses and many individualized study programs per year. Students are encouraged to participate with faculty in research and to conduct their own research projects.
Anthropology offers a course of study leading to the bachelor of arts degree.
The MA program in the Department of Anthropology offers a science-based approach to anthropology emphasizing preparation for a career in anthropology or for entrance into a doctoral program. The Department features research and internship opportunities in Plains archaeology and ethnology, historic and cultural resource management archaeology, applied and development anthropology, and behavioral, ecological, and evolutionary approaches to human behavior.