Department Goals and Philosophy

The Department of Anthropology at Florida Atlantic University strives to provide the very best undergraduate and graduate programs. The Department stresses an open, critical, and diverse intellectual forum for examining and coming to understand the processes, constraints, and possibilities for what it means to be human today and what being human has meant prehistorically and historically. In both its undergraduate and graduate programs, Department faculty members take mentorship seriously and students have ample opportunity for close interaction and collaboration with faculty.

The Undergraduate Program

The undergraduate B.A. program prepares students to understand and work in a global, culturally diverse world. The program’s goal is to offer a framework for understanding human development in terms of prehistory, the contemporary world, and biological adaptation over time. A major in Anthropology gives students the opportunity to develop a knowledge and understanding of cultural, national, and ethnic groups from both Western and non-Western countries. Students have the opportunity for close interaction with, and guidance from, a well-trained, well-traveled faculty. Students are able to gain significant laboratory and methodological experience through hands-on excavation, survey, and laboratory courses. The Department provides undergraduate training in archaeological and ethnographic methods in its Ecuador Field School programs. Graduates often qualify at the pre-professional level in the fields of public service, education, and business. In addition, Anthropology is a suitable major for both pre-law and pre-medical programs, as well as for entry into a variety of graduate fields.

The Graduate Program

The M.A. program in Anthropology at Florida Atlantic University focuses on preparing graduate students for the professional practice of Anthropology. The program provides a strong and comprehensive training in biological and cultural anthropology, and archaeology. M.A. students work closely with professors on local, national, and international projects as well as on developing their own thesis research projects. Graduate students focus their research in the areas of biological anthropology (e.g., human evolution, osteology, forensics, primate behavior), cultural anthropology (contemporary cultural practices), or archaeology (e.g., prehistoric and historic material culture, excavation, ceramics, lithics). Many of the Department’s graduated M.A. students move on to the doctoral level at universities around the U.S. The Department of Anthropology provides financial support to its most highly qualified graduate students in the form of assistantships, tuition waivers, fellowships, and other awards. Further, The Department maintains a close relation with FAU’s College of Biomedicine, in which some graduate students participate and serve as teaching assistants for the medical school’s Human Gross Anatomy course.

The Faculty

Faculty members of the Department of Anthropology at Florida Atlantic University are a diverse group of contemporary scholars and researchers:

●  Dr. Douglas Broadfield studies brain function and evolution in humans and primates, using advanced imaging technologies like magnetic imaging resonance.
●  Dr. Clifford Brown focuses on the Mayan archaeology of Mexico and Central America, and carries out fieldwork and survey of Mayan sites.
●  Dr. Susan Love Brown is a specialist in psychological anthropology, political anthropology, and intentional communities, whose research takes her from the Caribbean to Florida and the rest of the U.S.
●  Dr. Mary Cameron, a medical and feminist anthropologist, is a specialist on Nepal and South Asia, especially Ayurvedic and complementary/alternative medical approaches.
●  Dr. Arlene Fradkin is a zooarchaeologist interested in reconstructing the past diet and consumption patterns of peoples living in the Middle East, Florida, and many other sites in the U.S.
● Dr. Michael Harris’ work focuses on cultural ecology, medical anthropology, and applied anthropology, with research sites in Bangladesh, Ecuador, and southern Florida.
●  Dr. Max Kirsch, UNESCO Chair for Human Rights, conducts research on queer theory, human rights, economic anthropology and the anthropology of work, and social and economic relations in the Everglades.
●  Dr. Robert McCarthy studies growth, development and evolution of the primate skull, in order to test inferences about phylogeny and the origin of human behaviors such as spoken language.

Research Facilities

The Department of Anthropology at Florida Atlantic University occupies one wing of the Social Science building and has an excellent research facility and work space for faculty and students. The Department maintains laboratories dedicated to the preparation and analysis of histological samples, archaeological materials, and computer-intensive imaging for archaeological and ethnographic analyses, in addition to a mapping room, a comparative faunal collection, and office space for faculty and students. Additionally, the Department maintains processing rooms for wet work associated with the preparation of skeletal material. Overall, the Department’s facilities provide students and faculty with plentiful opportunities for integrating research and laboratory approaches.

Florida Public Archaeology Network at FAU

Sponsored by the Florida Public Archaeology Network, the Southeast Region Center for Public Archaeology at FAU has the following objectives in the south Florida's fast-growing metropolitan area:

• Planning outreach and strategies for bringing an understanding of archaeology to diverse publics that include teachers (3-12), city and county governments, developers, scuba diver organizations and associations, etc.

• Coordinating the preservation of archaeological knowledge within the urban development framework of southeast Florida

• Creating alliances across institutions that can impact the perception of the archaeological resources of the region

• Promoting heritage tourism

• Developing web-based public archaeology materials targeted for particular stakeholder audiences.

FAU is especially equipped for this mission with the resources of its campuses along the eastern coast of Florida.  The Center staffs both terrestrial and marine archaeologists.