History Center exhibit chronicles excavation at Ithaca’s ‘Freedom Church’
The exhibit on Ithaca’s St. James A.M.E. Zion Church will open on Juneteenth with a community event scheduled for 4 p.m.
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The Department of Anthropology faculty conduct ethnographic and archaeological as well as biological research that brings hard-won fieldwork to the development of cutting edge social and cultural theories. Our students and faculty work around the globe: from Ithaca, India and Indonesia to the Caribbean and Central America; from Japan, Africa and Nepal to China and the Caucasus; and from the circumpolar North to the Global South.
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Anthropology news
Med student Grace Staes ’22 feels prepared for the work
Staes said her major in anthropology has proven to be an asset in medical school.
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Outstanding faculty win 2025 teaching and advising awards
Among those being recognized for exceptional teaching and mentorship this year are faculty members Begüm Adalet, Claudia Verhoeven, and Marcelo Aguiar.
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Featured Anthropology Major: Canyon Cross
"Anthropology is remarkably well positioned to offer us insight and solutions within some of the most complex issues of today, and the way that it is applied is entirely up to us."
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'Academic life becomes much more interesting when you see how its different areas can support one another.'
Aerin Mok is majoring in psychology and anthropology.
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Featured Anthropology Minor: Shuqian Lyu
"I am interested in visual anthropology and ethnography, particularly in topics such as ethics, representation, and emerging fields like sensory ethnography."
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Featured Anthropology Major: Anna Rose Marion
"Studying topics in environmental anthropology has allowed me to investigate the cultural, political, and social dimensions of human interactions with the environment across temporal and spatial scales."
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Undergraduate Study
Anthropology provides the global perspective and critical thinking skills that will open doors to a wide range of career paths. The major will also prepare you for graduate study in anthropology.
Student Opportunities:
Anthro Events
Sep
26
Friday
03:00 PM
Bernd Lambert Memorial Lecture with Aisha Beliso-De Jesús
AD White House
The Guerlac Room
Department Collections
The Anthropology Collections include approximately 20,000 items representing human activity around the world from the Lower Paleolithic to the present. Archaeological and ethnographic materials are about equally represented.
Cornell University is located on the traditional homelands of the Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫ' (the Cayuga Nation). The Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫ' are members of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, an alliance of six sovereign Nations with a historic and contemporary presence on this land. The Confederacy precedes the establishment of Cornell University, New York State, and the United States of America. We acknowledge the painful history of Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫ' dispossession, and honor the ongoing connection of Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫ' people, past and present, to these lands and waters. This land acknowledgment has been reviewed and approved by the traditional Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫ' leadership.