Anthropology Program
Why Study Anthropology?
Are you curious about past and present cultures, and how language, society, and people developed? Anthropology encompasses culture and human development; society and how we communicate; evolution and social institutions; fossils and human behaviour.
The Saint Mary’s approach
Take your learning outside the classroom. Studying Anthropology at Saint Mary's means taking part in fascinating archaeological digs, working closely with archaeologists in the field, or participating in real crime scene investigations.
Hands-on research opportunities
Anthropology students benefit from frequent field schools, including archaeological digs at Grand Pré, Nova Scotia (a National Historic Site of Canada) where they explore an 18th-century Acadian community. In St. Felice, Italy, our students work closely with archaeologists in the investigation of a Roman villa from the 1st century AD. Students interested in forensic anthropology can gain valuable experience at the Medical Examiner’s Department in Miami-Dade, Florida, where they can participate in real crime scene investigations and autopsies.
Anthropology students have engaged in international exchanges with Japan and served as research interns in Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam—all for academic credit.
Sample courses offered:
- Forensic Skeletal Identification
- Fieldwork in Archeology
- Archeology Laboratory
- Chiefdoms
- Warfare and Aggression
- Introduction to Language and Society
- Native Peoples of Canada
Future career opportunities:
- Archeologist
- Anthropologist
- Museum curator
- Forensic anthropologist
- Conservation restoration technician
- Cultural artifact specialist
- Archivist
Anthropology also offers a BA option in Co-operative Education.
Viewing the world through a new lens
"I’ve always been passionate about history, but I never wanted to be an historian. I went into Anthropology wanting to study archaeology, but I quickly realized anthropology was so much more than that. Anthropology gives you a new lens through which to view the world.”
- Grant MacNeil BA'12
With the United Nations warning that rising global food prices are causing poverty, anthropology professor Rylan Higgins took three undergraduate students to Vietnam to see the impact firsthand. Read the story.