Anthropologists work in a myriad of organizations with dynamic, fast-paced jobs that lean into the scientific background, knowledge, and skills learned in the program. Whether in a lab, at a desk, or in the field - your skills in anthropology will give you broad opportunities in commerce, research, and service opportunities.
This concentration is designed for students who wish for a broad foundation in anthropology. Students are encouraged to take a variety of anthropology coursework to build an interdisciplinary understanding of the field.
This concentration will prepare students for a career as an archaeologist by giving them general training in addition to training in archaeological fields, lab techniques, and archaeological culture areas.
Students interested in learning about culture and past societies human skeletal remains can take the bioarcheology concentration. In this course of study, students will learn about human skeletal analysis and archaeological culture areas to see what can be learned about an individual and their culture from a burial.
This preprofessional concentration prepares students for graduate-level study of recent unidentified human remains in a medicolegal context.
An anthropology degree is flexible and gives you the skills for a wide variety of
positions.
A few examples of jobs that anthropology alumni hold are forensic anthropologist in
a crime lab, cultural attaché to a diplomat in a foreign country, and archaeologist
working at the "Jamestown Rediscovery" site. We have alumni working in medical examiner
offices, archaeological sites, and the FBI.
Anthropology is also an excellent springboard for business and marketing-related work.
There are alumni working at non-profit organizations and large companies. The well-rounded
education that a degree in anthropology offers can also be a bridge into a number
of jobs within the healthcare field including doctors, physical therapists, and occupational
therapists.
Here are the positions held by various alumni:
The faculty of Anthropological Sciences place a high priority on providing students with direct, hands-on experience in the field and lab, including involvement in ongoing faculty research projects. These include archaeological investigations in historic and prehistoric Virginia. Internationally, the faculty have active archaeological, bioarchaeological, and forensic investigations in Bolivia and the Solomon Islands. Students may also work with a faculty member to develop a research topic that they are interested in pursuing.
At some schools, you may spend 4 years reading about anthropology. At Radford, we have engaging coursework filled with hands-on experiences. You won’t just learn from textbooks in your classes—you'll learn by doing real anthropology. In the Anthropology major, you can go from a class that considers what an artifact was used for to a class that questions what it means to be human.
We want to get to know you better and we are excited that you are ready to take your next step and learn more about us. We are here to help you and look forward to working with you during your college search process.