Anthropology involves the study of human biological and cultural diversity, across time and space. In addition to conducting academic research, anthropologists apply their knowledge and skills to solve real-world problems in a variety of fields, including forensics, cultural resource management, economic development, public health, museum studies, and environmental conservation.
The Department of Anthropology at Texas A&M has 26 full-time faculty members situated in four distinct programs: Archaeology, Biological Anthropology, Cultural Anthropology, and Nautical Archaeology. The department is home to two research centers, the Center for Maritime Archaeology and Conservation (CMAC) and the Center for the Study of the First Americans (CSFA), which represent the department’s two primary research strengths. In addition to these strengths, faculty, and graduate students are involved in research projects that cluster around four themes that cut across the sub-fields of anthropology: Diasporas, Dispersals, and Migration; Evolution and Ecology; Food, Nutrition, and Culture; and Technology and Material Culture.
The department offers a BA and BS degree and minor at the undergraduate level. At the graduate level, the department accepts students who either want to complete a PhD in Anthropology, or an MS in Maritime Archaeology and Conservation. Currently, the department has approximately 200 undergraduate majors and 95 graduate students.