Liberal Arts and Sciences/Social Sciences A.A. – Anthropology Concentration
“The purpose of anthropology is to make the world safe for human differences.” – Ruth Benedict
The field of anthropology maintains that humans have a complex relationship with both their natural and cultural worlds. In order to appreciate this and develop an understanding of the various ways of being human, anthropologists employ a holistic approach to their investigations, requiring an understanding of a people’s past as well as their present as they negotiate their way to the future.
Anthropologists study all aspects of humanity making it one of the broadest academic disciplines in the Social Sciences. In order to break this down to a more manageable level, anthropology is comprised of a set of subfields. Westchester Community College offers classes in each of standard subfields, including Cultural Anthropology, Archaeology, Linguistics, and Physical Anthropology, in addition to general survey courses that fulfill general education requirements.
Students can prepare to transfer to a four-year institution as a junior in anthropology by completing the LAS/Social Science-Anthropology pathway, or they can explore anthropology as a single course to satisfy general education requirements in Social Science or Other World Civilizations. Degrees in anthropology are useful for those preparing for careers not only in anthropology, but also in cultural resource management, government, education, health care, law, environmental and community action work, and journalism among many other fields.