Take anthropology courses, identify a professor you’d like to work with, and talk to them about research opportunities! Our faculty are very active and students get to work on a diverse range of research topics under their mentorship.

As I mentioned earlier, anthropology is one of the few disciplines that can trace the entirety of the human experience – how can that not be relevant for making sense of our world today? It helps us understand the environments and historical circumstances that shaped contemporary societies. It helps us understand human diversity and identify reasons for inequality. When faced with challenges in today’s world, such as climate change, we can draw on all of our collective human knowledge to find solutions for how people managed such things in the past or in different parts of the globe. It is incredibly empowering!

Technology and AI are changing the world at an incredible rate and propelling us into an unknown future. Because of anthropology’s breadth, we can draw on our knowledge and skillset to anticipate how humans may be impacted by such technologies. For example, a relatively small group of humans are responsible for creating the technology used by the world, and naturally, they will create things based on what they are familiar with. If programmers lack an awareness of other cultures or the range of human diversity, they may inadvertently exclude people from accessing or using their products (e.g., most of our world’s languages are not included within different technological devices). Anthropology can also help us see where access to technology may also be problematic both in the short and long term (e.g., women in the Global South are less likely to have a smartphone – what does that mean for their futures?). AI processing centers and many of the raw materials our modern technologies require perpetuate cycles of environmental degradation, colonization, and inequality unbeknownst to most of us. Through ethnography and analyses of communities impacted by these, anthropology can advocate for a just future for all and act as a moderator between the people and larger institutions to reduce inequalities.

There are so many books in anthropology which I’ve really enjoyed, it would be hard to pick just one! And different books have had a strong impact on me at different times in my career. One that I still really enjoy, and is a relatively short read, is The Gift, by Marcel Mauss. The idea of gift giving in cultures is often very beautiful, but there are other agendas worth considering and exploring as we put ourselves into these obligatory relationships. What this Awl Means, by Janet Spector, is another one which has a long lasting message for archaeologists – we can write about the past in more than one way and our attention to narration can draw in people who may have found archaeology inaccessible or boring previously.

I am teaching Frauds and Fallacies in Archaeology again for the first time in four years, and I just love the course textbook by Kenneth Feder, Frauds, Myths, and Mysteries: Science and Pseudoscience in Archaeology. Feder uses accessible language and humor to guide readers through famous cases of pseudoarchaeology and teaches critical thinking and archaeology at the same time.

I really love the diversity of things I can examine through an anthropological lens. Throughout my career, I’ve studied ritual practices, the role of food in cultures, community interest in archaeology, and many more topics. It is hard to get bored as an anthropologist. The fact that there are always new questions which can be asked and explored motivates me!

Do not be afraid to try out an anthropology course. We have several excellent introductory courses covering all aspects of anthropology (ANT 101), cultural anthropology (ANT 110), world prehistory (ANT 140), biological anthropology (ANT 160), and language and culture (ANT 175). These are a great way to see if an anthropology major or minor is right for you!