Welcome to the Department of Sociology and Anthropology
Comments from Dr. Robert Riordan, Department Chair
Chair of Sociology & Anthropology, Dr. Robert Riordan
This department offers two distinct but related majors, both of which examine how human beings behave as individuals and as members of groups. Our Sociology courses study human social interactions, institutions, and problems. Our Sociology professors have professional interests that include crime and delinquency, the social aspects of medicine, urban problems, immigration, ethnic and gender relations, the workplace, and the history of the discipline. Our Anthropology courses cover the study of living human beings as members of and purveyors of cultures, of the biological basis for humanity and its evolutionary background, and the study of its archaeological past through the interpretation of the material traces left behind by human groups.
We have internships in which students participate in supervised field experiences in corrections, family agencies, and law enforcement, and many of these students have then secured employment following graduation with these or similar agencies. We have an annual summer Field School in Archaeology that offers students the opportunity to gain experience at real archaeological sites, for some as the prelude to a career.
Whether you join us for just a course or enroll in one of our majors, we hope to fascinate you with our accounts of the range of human experience.
Welcome to Sociology and Anthropology!
