Anthropology

Blodgett Hall, Room 102
Anagnostis Agelarakis, Chair of Anthropology

p - 516.877.4110
f - 516.877.4717
w - anthropology.adelphi.edu

Faculty

Professor

Anagnostis Agelarakis

Assistant Professors

Hanna Kim
Brian Wygal

Anthropology is the study of human culture in its widest sense, extending back to our primate origins. Because of its broad scope, anthropology provides an appreciation of the relationships among the environment, biology, and culture through time. It is a forum for a unique bridging and bonding of the natural sciences, the social sciences, and the humanities.

The study of anthropology covers the sweep of time, from prehistoric to industrialized and post-industrialized societies, and it includes archaeology and cultural, physical and linguistic anthropology. At Adelphi, we focus on the first three disciplinary emphases. Archaeology is concerned with understanding societies that existed in the past. Archaeologists locate, excavate and interpret the artifacts of societies from prehistoric to recent times. Cultural anthropology focuses on contemporary people and cultures with the recognition that neither remain static but are situated in intersecting political, economic, and historical contexts. Cultural anthropologists seek, through participant-observation methods, to understand the ways that people live and in so doing generate an awareness about our own ways of living. Physical anthropology investigates the biocultural evolution and biosocial variation of humans. Physical anthropologists, in addition to the study of the behavioral and biological adaptations of living human populations, research the demographic and epidemiological profiles of forensic and archaeological skeletal collections.

Anthropologists perform research in laboratories and in near and far field sites. Students are strongly encouraged to participate in ethnographic, archaeological and physical anthropological endeavors, many of which are sponsored on Long Island, the greater metropolitan region, Central America, Alaska, and selected overseas locations including Thailand, India, Israel, Cyprus, Greece, and South America.

Anthropology students are expected to become versed in the theories and practices central to the anthropological perspective. With this in mind, the curriculum of the department focuses on developing those skills well known to the discipline. Further, the curriculum focuses on developing those student skills essential for the understanding of the interdisciplinary relationships between anthropology, social and natural sciences, the humanities, and the arts. The knowledge acquired through the study of anthropology is transferable to many other career and occupational areas. These include graduate school as well as public and private sector jobs.

Programs

Major

Minor

Academic Minors

Students wanting to declare a minor should do so by the first semester of their junior year, but by no later than the beginning of the first semester of their senior year. This will enable them to seek the advice needed to be able to complete the requirements of the minor. Some departments offer more than one minor track and new minors are being constantly developed. Students are advised to consult the department’s minor advisors as early in their studies as possible. The form used to declare the intention to pursue a minor has a place for the signature of the department chairperson and dean. Pass/Fail courses may not be applied to a minor. Students must achieve a minimum 2.00 GPA in their minor courses in order to have the minor listed on their transcript.