From our Department Head

Anthropology is a discipline that has the privilege to study human diversity, through time and globally.  And what that has taught us is that humans have a huge range of experiences and many ways of living, none of us or our societies having achieved perfection, but all of us sharing in the great adventure of living life to its fullest.  While being true to ourselves and our cultural values sometimes results in stepping on toes, our goal is to figure out how we can live as neighbors on one small planet, helping one another to achieve fulfillment, peace, and freedom while making those things work for everyone.

Today, when we hear about people deciding a presidential election may turn the tide away from respect, neighborliness, and acceptance, we should step forward and reassert our commitments to the values that we share.  Our University has a nondiscrimination policy that we can point to on the university website (see Nondiscrimination Policy Statement, Purdue University), and our Provost has today reiterated this commitment.

Please join me in reaching out to all those who may need the extra hand of friendship at this time and all who need to know that we at Purdue continue our commitment to a world where human rights are honored and human dignity is the common goal.  Ellen Gruenbaum, Head and Professor of Anthropology

Anthropology

Anthropologists can help change the world. We do this, in part, by making sure our graduates are prepared with the skills and experiences they will need for a broad spectrum of careers. In Anthropology, you will work on global problems in interdisciplinary teams. You can participate in summer field schools around the world, study abroad, and do other hands-on research. We are committed to exploring human diversity across time and space.  We invite you to join us!