Major in Anthropology

Our program allows students to directly engage with contemporary anthropological topics and applied research. Core courses added over the past three years include Visual Anthropology, Medical Anthropology, Cultural Ecology, Climate and Society, Applied Anthropology, and Prisons, Punishment and Control. Our department focuses on modern issues of inequality, environmental and social justice, cultural heritage ownership, and activism. Geographic Areas of focus include the Chesapeake Bay Region, Caribbean, Central, and South America, Southeastern United States, and the Southwestern United States.

We also emphasize learning by doing and offer many options for experiential learning. Our new course with the national Inside-Out program engages students in collaborative learning with incarcerated women in Delaware around issues of race, gender, and citizenship. With Digital Scholarship in Museum Partnerships (DSMP), students in the Museum Studies course collaborate with local communities to curate and conserve cultural materials and oral histories while developing online virtual reality (VR) exhibits.

Students who participate in our faculty-led trips study the interrelationship between culture and environment in the Southwestern United States, the intersection of music and culture in Cuba, and international development in Tanzania. There are many opportunities for studying abroad or participating in a departmental archaeology field school. Additionally, anthropology students and faculty participate in the interdisciplinary Chesapeake Semester and participate in hands-on internships at the Geographic Information Systems Lab, the Eastern Shore Food Lab, and the CES Public Archaeology Lab.

Founded in 1782, Washington College was the first college chartered in the sovereign United States of America. General George Washington lent us his name, donated 50 guineas to our founding, and served on our first Board of Visitors and Governors. Our goal back then was to cultivate responsible citizen-leaders. Nowadays, we’re committed to giving our students the chance to succeed on their own terms through purposeful choices, enabling a healthy and regenerative global community.

Washington College students work closely with exceptional faculty on projects they are passionate about. With independent research facilitated by programs like the Cater Society and Toll Fellows and hands-on learning experiences, our students have access to amazing opportunities no matter what they’re studying. Print a chapbook on the antique letterpresses in the Rose O’Neill Literary House, scan the Chester River from aboard one of the Center for Environment & Society research vessels or study American history in our colonial town with the Starr Center. Fuse ancient wisdom and modern science with the Eastern Shore Food Lab to optimize human and environmental health.