Iowa State University

Iowa State University
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College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Department of Anthropology

Got a question or comment?
Contact us at 515-294-7139 or msteelma@iastate.edu

FAX: 515-294-1708

Paul Lasley
Chair
Department of Anthropology

Department Office
324 Curtiss
Ames, Iowa 50011-1050

Jill Pruetz
Director of Graduate Education
anthgrad@iastate.edu

Anthropology Photos

Anthropology is one of Iowa State University's newest departments (established December 1990), previously being associated with the Department of Sociology. In spite of its recent official appearance on this campus, for the previous two decades it operated as a semi-autonomous unit within the larger department and has offered its own baccalaureate degree since 1971.

For the past two decades it has awarded a Masters of Arts in Anthropology. Today the Department of Anthropology has eight tenure-track positions, close to 100 undergraduate majors and 20 graduate students.The Department of Anthropology has four principle missions: teaching, research, service and the promotion of cross-cultural and international understanding.

There are three distinct foci in the teaching program:

  1. For undergraduate majors, a range of topical and cross-cultural courses exists for students within the liberal arts curriculum.
  2. Anthropology offers professional preparation for students seeking a masters degree in anthropology.
  3. The program provides a breadth of exposure in various facets of anthropology for students concentrating in other fields within the university.

Anthropological research at ISU has three primary objectives.

  1. Integrating research with the teaching program.
  2. Contributing to the professional development of faculty and
  3. The growth of knowledge in the discipline at large.
Service and outreach objectives of the Department of Anthropology involve the appreciation of diversity within American society, as well as cross-cultural and international education and understanding. These objectives basically are met in two ways:

  1. By bringing knowledge to individuals or groups; and
  2. By taking people into cross-cultural or international settings.

Interdisciplinary and interdepartmental activities constitute a fourth major mission objective. Anthropology faculty are leaders, as well as regular and active participants, in several interdepartmental and interdisciplinary endeavors. These programs include American Indian Studies, Sustainable Agriculture, Linguistics, Religious Studies, and International Studies.

News & Events

Jill Pruetz


Jill Pruetz

Emerging explorer

Iowa State anthropologist Jill Pruetz has been named a National Geographic Emerging Explorer for 2008. She was also featured in a NOVA special that aired on PBS on Tuesday, February 19, 2008.
News Release

Ph.D. candidate Janni Pedersen has published research she has conducted at The Great Ape Trust of Iowa in Des Moines.
More

American Anthropological Association spotlights Jill Pruetz.
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Hsain Ilahiane, associate professor, has received a Council on International Programs grant for his project, "Giving Global Public Health the Attention it Deserves in the Classroom and in Service Learning at Iowa State."

Chrisy Moutsatsos, assistant professor, has received a Center for Excellence in the Arts and Humanities Fellowship for Scholarship and Creative Activity for her project, "Global Gaze, Local Bodies: An Ethnography of Consumption and Femininity in Urban Greece."
Iowa State anthropology faculty pursue scholarly activities in various parts of the globe, ranging from central Iowa to Latin America, the Caribbean, China, Africa, and the Middle East.