Department of Anthropology | Miami University
164 Upham Hall Phone: 513-529-8399 Fax: 513-529-8396
Chair's Welcome
Why anthropology?
Personally, I came to anthropology because of a single course I took in my junior year. It opened my eyes to seeing the world in a new way. People I thought were primitive turned out to be sophisticated thinkers, artists and producers. Things I thought were natural and universal turned out to be learned, and things I thought were separate turned out to be connected. I learned of a scientific method that learned from people, not only about them. The world turned out to be smaller, in terms of interconnectivity, but larger in terms of human potential.
These are the kinds of classes I hope we are offering to our students in the department of Anthropology.
Anthropology has been taught at Miami for more than sixty years. We offer a major and minor in anthropology, as well as Miami Plan Foundation courses and thematic sequences focused on world cultures and museum studies.
Our department is committed to student research. Our students have presented their research at such prestigious venues as the American Anthropological Association, Central States Anthropological Society, American Association of Physical Anthropologists and at Society for American Archaeology. No wonder our student go on to prominent graduate schools of anthropology, law, medicine and other fields.
We offer numerous workshops to introduce our students to the challenges and joys of fieldwork. In summer 2009 we offered workshops in archaeology in the Bahamas, and workshops on culture and environment in Brazil and Ecuador. This Fall we initiated our first semester-long study abroad program among the Tibetan refugee colony in Dharamsala, India. This summer we'll offer a workshop in Egypt.
This academic year, 2009-10, 20 faculty members will contribute to the teaching and research mission of the department. Out of our expertise, we can instruct you, direct your reading, serve as sounding boards for your ideas, and help you develop those ideas into written, spoken and even digital formats. In the end, though, we can only teach—only you can learn. It’s a partnership, a scholarly community of anthropology we are seeking to build with your help.
We hope you’ll join us.
Mark Allen Peterson, PhD