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:

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.

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

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

American Anthropological Association spotlights Jill Pruetz.
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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."

Honors projects

The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Honors Committee has selected a pair of projects by anthropology students as the committee's top honors projects during the Spring 2008 semester.

Tessa Berg, a senior double major in anthropology and women's studies, was recognized for her project, "Framing Self: Questioning Gender, Identity, Nationalism and Globalization Through Contemporary Art in Ireland."

Shivgami Arora, a senior biology major, was recognized for her project "Validation of Sex Determinant Identified at Proximal End of Femur for Pakistani and European-American Populations." Her project adviser was Jill Pruetz, associate professor of anthropology.