Welcome to the Undergraduate Anthropology Program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst!

Here you will find a vibrant community of students and scholars working together through innovative teaching and learning, cutting edge research, exciting internships, and numerous hands-on, skill-building opportunities.

Anthropology, the study of human variation across time and space, cultivates a holistic and critical approach towards understanding the world. This approach provides an ethical, cross-cultural foundation for your academic, civic, and career goals.

As an anthropology major, you will practice teamwork and collaboration, develop analytical skills, and learn how to think and write critically.  Our major is rigorous but flexible. We encourage interdisciplinary learning and our major works well in combination with other majors, minors, and certificates.

Our faculty, advisors, and staff help you tailor your coursework to meet your career and civic aspirations.  Our anthropology majors have gone on to successful careers as entrepreneurs, medical professionals, academics, community activists, non-profit consultants and administrators, policy-makers, and much more.

Both Meaningful and Practical

Anthropology is a unique discipline. Anthropologists ask the "big", important questions that are becoming increasingly important in a globalized, rapidly changing world: Where did humans come from and how did we evolve over time? Why is there so much inequality in the world? How do people organize for justice and create lasting change? What is the relationship between biology and culture? How can we learn to live well together?

Anthropology answers these questions through dynamic research. We study biological variation in the lab and cultural variation in the field. We bring together community insights and experiences with cutting edge scholarship. Through this work, anthropology helps us to find meaning and purpose in our professional and personal lives.