What you need to know about majoring in Anthropology

What do Anthropologists do ?

             

When people think about archaeology, they often think of museums or the adventures of Indiana Jones. However, it is much more than that. Anthropology is the study of everything that is human. It is the study of how human beings today in the past use their culture and biology to adapt to changing environment.

Modern Anthropologists work in diverse fields: from forensic analysis in a lab to digging a site in desert, disaster relief to working for military. 

 

                

Branches of Anthropology

Careers in Anthropology

• •    Professor
  •   Curator
  •   Research Director
  • Anthropologist
  • Archeologist
  • Consultant
  •  Linguist
  •  Paleontologist
  • Philologist
  • Egyptologist
  • Evolutionary Biologist
  • Native Legal Counselor
  
  
  
  
  
  

  Majoring in Anthropology at ISU

       At Idaho State University, many undergraduate students work at Idaho State Museum of Natural History and  Center for Archaeology, Materials and Applied Spectroscopy (CAMAS) . Students also have opportunity to work with professors in their laboratories.                   
  
  
    As an anthropology student, expect to take interesting classes, and read a lot of papers. Anthropology is your subject if you like reading about people, cultures and history, and you will read plenty about them before you graduate. Anthropology is literally a “reading intensive “ major. u like reading about people, cultures and history, and you will read plenty about them before you graduate. Anthropology is literally a “reading intensive “ major.
  
  
  
   
  At Idaho State University, the Department of Anthropology resides in the Social and Behavioral Sciences Division of the College of Arts and Letters.
    
  State of the art laboratory facilities are maintained by the Anthropology Department, and include the Donald E. Crabtree Laboratory for the Advanced Study of Lithic technology, the joint Anthropology/Biological Sciences Ancient and Forensic DNA Extraction Laboratory, the Archaeometallurgy and Bioanthropology Research Laboratory.
  
  
  
  

   Majoring in Anthropology at ISU

  Required Lower Division Courses: ANTH/ENGL/LANG 1107 The Nature of Language                     3 cr ANTH 2203       Introduction to Archaeology                      3 cr ANTH 2205       Introduction to Archaeology Lab                 1 cr ANTH 2230       Introduction to Biological Anthropology       3 cr ANTH 2250       Introduction to Sociocultural Anthro      3 cr ANTH 2237/8/9  Peoples and Cultures of the World           3 cr                                                 TOTAL: 16 cr Required Upper Division Courses: ANTH 4401       History and Theory of                   Sociocultural Anthropology         3 cr ANTH 4403       Method and Theory in Archaeology     3 cr ANTH 4430       Human Evolution                        3 cr ANTH 4450       Upper Div. Linguistics              3 cr ANTH 4492       Senior Seminar                            3 cr ANTH 4495       Department Colloquium                   1 cr                                            TOTAL: 16cr IN ADDITION:    Upper Division Anthropology Elective 9 cr ENGL 3307       Professional and Technical Writing   3 cr MATH 1153       Introduction to Statistics             3 cr                                             TOTAL: 15 cr

   

  Required Lower Division Courses: ANTH/ENGL/LANG 1107 The Nature of Language                     3 cr ANTH 2203       Introduction to Archaeology                      3 cr ANTH 2205       Introduction to Archaeology Lab                 1 cr ANTH 2230       Introduction to Biological Anthropology       3 cr ANTH 2250       Introduction to Sociocultural Anthro      3 cr ANTH 2237/8/9  Peoples and Cultures of the World           3 cr                                                 TOTAL: 16 cr Required Upper Division Courses: ANTH 4401       History and Theory of                   Sociocultural Anthropology         3 cr ANTH 4403       Method and Theory in Archaeology     3 cr ANTH 4430       Human Evolution                        3 cr ANTH 4450       Upper Div. Linguistics              3 cr ANTH 4492       Senior Seminar                            3 cr ANTH 4495       Department Colloquium                   1 cr                                            TOTAL: 16cr IN ADDITION:    Upper Division Anthropology Elective 9 cr ENGL 3307       Professional and Technical Writing   3 cr MATH 1153       Introduction to Statistics             3 cr                                             TOTAL: 15 cr

  Required Lower Division Courses:
  ANTH/ENGL/LANG 1107 The Nature of Language                           3 cr
  ANTH 2203       Introduction to Archaeology                   3 cr
  ANTH 2205       Introduction to Archaeology Lab               1 cr
  ANTH 2230       Introduction to Biological Anthropology    3 cr
  ANTH 2250       Introduction to Sociocultural Anthro      3 cr
  ANTH 2237/8/9  Peoples and Cultures of the World                3 cr
                                                  TOTAL: 16 cr
  Required Upper Division Courses:
  
  ANTH 4401       History and Theory of
                    Sociocultural Anthropology 3 cr
  ANTH 4403       Method and Theory in Archaeology 3 cr
  ANTH 4430       Human Evolution           3 cr
  ANTH 4450       Upper Div. Linguistics              3 cr
  ANTH 4492       Senior Seminar 3 cr
  ANTH 4495       Department Colloquium 1 cr
                                             TOTAL: 16cr
  
  IN ADDITION:    Upper Division Anthropology Elective 9 cr
  ENGL 3307       Professional and Technical Writing 3 cr
  MATH 1153       Introduction to Statistics 3 cr
                                              TOTAL: 15 cr
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Department of Anthropology also offers Minor in these fields:
  *American Indian Studies                        *Latino Studies
  *Anthropology                                     *Linguistics
  
  
  
  
  
   The Anthropology Department is located in Graveley Hall, one of the oldest buildings on campus, at the southeast corner of the quadrangle on lower campus.
  
  
  
  

  Meet Our Professors 

  
  

  
  

  Department Chair - Paul Trawick, Ph.D.
  
  
  Faculty
  
  
  
  *Elizabeth Cartwright, Ph.D., Professor
  Dr. Cartwright’s interests include medical anthropology, visual anthropology, ethnomedicine, migrant farmworkers and environmental health, and women's health. Links: Hispanic Health Projects, Visual Anthropology. <carteliz@isu.edu>
  
  *John Dudgeon, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
  Dr. Dudgeon is assistant professor of anthropology and a research scientist in the Center for Archaeology, Materials and Applied Spectroscopy (CAMAS). His research is broadly focused on bioarchaeological method and theory, with emphasis on population genetics, bone and teeth chemistry, diagenesis and microfossil approaches to paleodiet. He is the laser ablation ICP-MS specialist at CAMAS and directs the joint Anthropology/Biological Sciences ancient DNA laboratory (ADEL). <dudgeon@isu.edu>
  
  Drusilla Gould, B.A., Senior Lecturer, Native Language Instructor
  Ms. Gould is an Instructor of American Indian Studies. She is a native Shoshoni speaker who teaches a two-year Shoshoni language curriculum. <gouldrus@isu.edu>
  
  *Chris Loether, Ph.D., Professor
  Dr. Loether is the Director of the American Indian Studies Program, Director of the Linguistics Program, and Co-Director of the Shoshoni Language Project. Dr. Loether specializes in Uto-Aztecan, Celtic, Germanic and Semitic languages. He has worked specifically with the Western Mono, Owens Valley Paiute, Shoshoni and Welsh languages. His other specialties include sociolinguistics, ethnopoetics, lexicography, language revitalization, and the ethnology of California and Great Basin Indians. <loetchri@isu.edu>
  
  *Ernest "Skip" Lohse, Ph.D., Professor
  Dr. Lohse specializes in the analysis of material culture of traditional non-industrial societies. Dr. Lohse has worked on archaeological projects in California, the Great Basin, the Southwest, Columbia Plateau and Western Samoa, and on Native American collections from the Great Basin, Plains, Columbia Plateau, and Pacific Northwest.
  Dr. Lohse also performs research in archaeoinformatics. His recent projects focus on building smart user interfaces, and the application of artificial intelligence to archaeological classification. His long term goal is development of authenticated heritage databases that will fuel archaeological research. He also directs the department field school. Over the past few years, he has conducted excavations on Paleoindian sites, including ongoing work at the Gault site in Texas. <lohserne@isu.edu>
  
  
  
  *Herb Maschner, Ph.D., Research Professor
  Dr. Herbert Maschner is Anthropology Research Professor in the Department of Anthropology, a Senior Scientist and Affiliate Faculty at the Idaho Accelerator Center (IAC), and Director of the Idaho State University Center for Archaeology, Materials, and Applied Spectroscopy (CAMAS) and the Idaho Museum of Natural History (IMNH). His research interests include regional analysis, global systems, complex systems analysis, quantitative methods, analytical laboratory techniques (stable isotopes and elemental analyses), Darwinian Theory, historical and marine ecology, and computer-based methods of analysis including GIS. <maschner@isu.edu>
  
  Christian Petersen, M.S., Senior Lecturer
  Mr. Petersen is a lecturer in the Department of Anthropology. His teaching focus is Sociocultural and Biocultural Anthropology. <petechri@isu.edu>
  
  
  
  *David Peterson, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
  Dr. Peterson is an archaeologist whose research focuses on early complex societies in the Caucasus Mountains region and Eurasian Steppes, and archaeometallurgy in the Old and New World. His archaeological fieldwork currently centers on Bronze and Iron Age village and cyclopean fortress sites in the Marmarik Valley of Armenia, and his archaeometallurgical research includes analysis of Bronze and Early Iron Age copper, bronze, gold and silver metalwork from Armenia, Daghestan (North Caucasus), and Samara, Russia (Middle Volga region), as well as Native American copper beads and pendants in the Pacific Northwest.<peterson@isu.edu>
  
  *Katherine Reedy-Maschner, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
  Dr. Reedy-Maschner is a socio-ecological and applied anthropologist who works with the Aleut of Alaska on issues of identity and cultural development, economic development, fisheries policy, their relationships to endangered species, and the Aleut role with the volatile commercial fishing industry. She has also worked with the Yupiit and Iñupiat of Alaska on their roles in the creation of fisheries policy. <reedkath@isu.edu>
  
  
  Lewis Thomas, M.A., Senior Lecturer
  Mr. Thomas is a lecturer in the Department of Anthropology. His teaching focus is Sociocultural Anthropology with research emphasis in Burma (Myanmar). <thomlewi@isu.edu>
             
  
  Adjunct/Affiliate Faculty
  
  
  *Patricia  Dean, Ph.D.
  Dr. Dean is an Affiliate Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology. Her interests include artifact taxonomy, petroglyphic analysis of pottery in western North America, and Numic prehistory. <deanpatr@isu.edu>
  
  Richard Hansen, Ph.D.
  
  Dr. Hansen is an Affiliate Research Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology. He is the president of the Foundation for Anthropological Studies and Environmental Sciences (FARES) and the Mirador Basin Project in Guatemala. <rhansen@pmt.org>
  
  James Woods,  M.A.
  Mr. Woods is an Affiliate Adjunct Professor in the Department of Anthropology. He teaches evening courses at the ISU Residence Center in Twin Falls. He is also the Director of the Herrett Center for Arts & Science and Associate Professor of Anthropology at the College of Southern Idaho. His current interests include experimental replication and use studies of stone tools of the Great Basin and Mesoamerica. Woods is also on the Idaho Humanities Council Speakers Bureau. <jwoods@csi.edu>
  
  
  Emeritus Faculty
  
  
  *Richard Holmer, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus
  Dr. Holmer’s interests include stone tool technology and taxonomy, computer applications, Geographic Information Systems, Cultural Resource Management, Great Basin and Mesoamerican archaeology. <holmrich@isu.edu>
  
  Anthony Stocks, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus (Interim Chair)
  Dr. Stocks is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Anthropology. His research interests include ecological anthropology, applications of anthropology, anthropological theory, community conservation, cultural survival, and community forestry. Dr. Stocks provides technical assistance to indigenous groups in the neotropics interested in vindicating their historical land rights - especially in areas where forest conservation is concerned - through mapping, self-studies, and the development of institutions of stewardship. <astocks@isu.edu>
  
  
  
  Department Staff
  
  
  Rebecca Clover, Anthropology Department Secretary
  <clovrebe@isu.edu>
  Saba Teferra, Financial Specialist/Grant Manager
  <tefesaba@isu.edu>