Behavioral Science - Anthropology
What is Anthropology?
I am human, and nothing human can be of indifference to me.
--Terence, The Self Torturer
Anthropology is the study of human behavior. The exploration of what it means to be human ranges from the study of culture and social relations, to human biology and evolution, to languages, and to the remains of past human habitations and ways of life. Anthropology includes four broad fields—cultural anthropology, linguistics, physical anthropology, and archaeology. Each of the four fields teaches distinctive skills, such as applying theories, employing research methodologies, formulating and testing hypotheses, and developing extensive sets of data.
Anthropologists are careful observers of humans and their behavior, maintaining an intense curiosity: What does it mean to be human? Why do people behave in particular ways? What are the historical and environmental pressures that helped shape the experience and behavior of a specific group of people? What are universal facts of human life?
Why Take an Anthropology Class?The material presented in an anthropology course is intellectually exciting: anthropology students enthusiastically complete their courses of study.
Anthropology prepares students for excellent jobs and opens doors to various career paths: the course of study provides global information and thinking skills critical to succeeding in the 21st century in business, research, teaching, advocacy, and public service.
We [anthropologists] have been the first to insist on a number of things: that the world does not divide into the pious and the superstitious; that there are sculptures in jungles and paintings in deserts; that political order is possible without centralized power and principled justice without codified rules; that the norms of reason were not fixed in Greece, the evolution of morality not consummated in England. Most important, we were the first to insist that we see the lives of others through lenses of our own grinding and they look back on ours through ones of their own. - Clifford Geertz
San Jacinto College's dedication to the total educational experience assures that our anthropology students always take center stage. Along with outstanding instruction, a number of amenities await you: flexible class scheduling, personalized academic counseling, financial aid, Web and telephone registration, athletics, activities & events, and numerous student organizations.
