On Wednesday, March 19, we hosted the Sophomore Open House for members of the Class of 2027. Students enjoyed a delicious lunch from Thai Village and were welcomed by the Director of Undergraduate Studies, Dr. Onur Günay, who shared a brief overview of the department and introduced students to the learning arc that they will follow to develop their independent work. Dr. Ani Vasudevan and Dr. Thalia Gigerenzer further explored the development of the Junior Arc and the significance of human-centered approaches to independent work on pressing socio-political, environmental and technological issues.

Assistant Professors Amelia Vitale-Frank and Hanna Garth shared their research with the group. As an anthropologist of migration, Dr. Frank-Vitale spoke about the importance of the work she does, especially critical now during these complicated political times. She also discussed how excited she is to teach a class on Anthropological Theory in the fall (ANT 390). As someone who, as an undergraduate, was not so interested in theory for theory's sake, she is delighted that the department has asked her to teach this class where students can dig into social theory and think about its real usefulness for understanding - and hopefully impacting - the world around us. 

Dr. Garth, who studies food and food access in the Caribbean and among low-income communities in the U.S., spoke about her courses ANT 311 Food, Culture and Society, ANT 440 Gender and the Household, and ANT 301 The Ethnographer’s Craft. ANT 301 is a course that is part of our Junior Arc, which prepares students to conduct ethnographic research for their thesis work and beyond. Garth spoke of her own undergraduate thesis as the first major ethnographic project that she carried out from start to finish, which gave her a sense of agency and deepened her love of anthropology. 

Prospective majors met with current majors and lecturers to discuss the exciting three tracks offered within the Department: Law, Politics and Economics (LPE); Medical Anthropology (MedAnth); and Sociocultural Anthropology (SCA).

Students who would like more information about majoring in Anthropology should review the website here.  The Step-by-Step process of Declaring Anthropology is outlined here.

Questions about majoring in Anthropology? Please reach out to our DUS, Dr. Onur Günay, ([email protected]) or our Undergraduate Program Manager, Katie Pyott ([email protected].)