Anthropology is the study of human differences and commonalities in a world of global and transnational connections.

Cultural anthropologists study a wide range of contemporary concerns, from identity and community formation to popular culture and political economy. They engage in long-term ethnographic research in rural, urban, and suburban environments around the world and apply critical cultural analysis to their field experiences.

Anthropology at Purchase College takes the study of culture to be an inherently interdisciplinary practice, drawing not only on other social sciences, but also the natural sciences, the humanities, and the arts. Courses in the anthropology program provide the core of a broad liberal arts education for students majoring in anthropology. These courses also introduce students from a range of other disciplines to the vital connections between anthropology and their own fields of study.

Our graduates go on to careers in social work, development, and activism for nonprofit and nongovernmental organizations, curatorial and archival work at museums and historical societies, consumer research and creative communications for marketing and advertising firms, end-user practices for product design firms, and teaching at colleges and universities.