Anthropology is the holistic and comparative study of human existence—how people live, create meaning, and shape the world around them across time and place. Borne of the upheavals of the modern world, anthropology aspires to be the study of all of humanity by all of humanity.
At William & Mary, Anthropology faculty explore the human experience, past and present, across every inhabited continent. Their research combines osteological, archaeological, ethnographic, and archival methods to describe and analyze social and cultural processes.
Our faculty also work across Anthropology’s traditional subfields — biological anthropology, archaeology, sociocultural anthropology, and linguistic anthropology — as they try to better understand the different facets of human life and the way they fit together.
Recent work by our award-winning faculty explores topics such as:
- The long-term biological and cultural effects of racism
- Indigenous movements for autonomy and self-determination
- How states, migration, and trade shape people’s lives and environments
- How social categories are created and transformed
Anthropology at William & Mary is also deeply collaborative. Faculty work closely with undergraduate and graduate students in the classroom, in archaeological and ethnographic field sites, and in laboratory and museum settings, inviting students to participate directly in research and discovery. Faculty are also committed to collaborating with and learning from and alongside community members.
The Anthropology Department asks some of the biggest questions about humans as cultural, social beings and invites students and scholars to explore those questions together.