Anthropology at Beloit College is almost as old as the study of anthropology in the United States. The College’s Logan Museum of Anthropology began in 1894, just two years after the first degree in anthropology was awarded in this country. Since that time, Beloit’s anthropology department has developed into one of the best and most highly regarded undergraduate programs in the world. Anthropology at Beloit combines classroom instruction in three of the four sub-fields—archaeology, biological, and cultural anthropology—with field research and the unique learning environment of the Logan Museum.

THE MAJOR

Three introductory courses provide a foundation for a curriculum of more than 20 courses.

Anthropology majors complete a range of introductory and intermediate courses that exposes them to the breadth of the field. Majors choose from advanced courses offered in cultural anthropology, biological anthropology, and archaeology. The Anthropology department also encourages interdisciplinary work that helps students make connections between anthropology and other disciplines. The Anthropology Club organizes field trips, social events, lectures, discussions, and anthropological films of interest as well as hosting regional scholarly conferences held on the Beloit campus. The club also maintains a special interest residential house on campus.

EXPERIENCING ANTHROPOLOGY AT BELOIT AND BEYOND

FUTURES IN ANTHROPOLOGY

Anthropology at Beloit combines classroom learning with hands-on experience. Many anthropology majors at Beloit study or do research overseas. Faculty members of the department have conducted archeological field schools in eastern New Mexico, northern Wisconsin, the Apostle islands of Lake Superior, Southern Illinois, Brazil, and Costa Rica. Students have excavated rock shelters to study prehistoric cave paintings and have investigated tourism in Mayan Indian communities in Guatemala. Currently students have exciting opportunities to excavate in the high deserts of Chile and to look at prehistoric Native American populations of the Midwest.

Approximately half the anthropology majors of the last decade have pursued careers relating directly or indirectly to anthropology. Those pursuing graduate study in anthropology gain admission to some of the finest graduate programs such as the University of California, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin as well as private universities including Boston, Chicago, McGill, Northwestern, Pennsylvania, and Rochester. Some Beloit graduates have embarked on anthropology related careers on the strength of their B.A. degrees, particularly in museums studies, cultural resource management, and teaching. In recent years, anthropology majors have followed a wide range of career paths in the U.S. Foreign Service, overseas development agencies, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, state and city governments, rural health agencies, college and university administration, historic preservation agencies, and private business.