2024-2025 University Catalog
Anthropology Department
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Contact Us
Chair: Amy Mountcastle
Phone: 518-564-4009
Email: mountca@platttsburgh.edu
Students of anthropology acquire a broad understanding of human nature and human behavior applicable to our own and other world cultures. Courses introduce the biological and cultural evolution and diversity of human groups, explore world cultures and global problems, and provide a basis for comparative analysis of biological and cultural processes, and of social institutions in different cultures. Students are encouraged to apply anthropology in an internship experience, field school or study abroad and they may carry out original research and analysis in cooperation with faculty. Topics may include local historical archaeology, field archaeology in other parts of the country or abroad, language and behavior, social network analysis, human service delivery, education and culture, local ethnography, human variation, and biological anthropology, including epidemiology. Support facilities include physical anthropology and archaeology laboratories with faunal, human skeletal and artifact collections, as well as a social science/ethnography lab.
In addition to the major, options for study include academic minors in archaeology, biological anthropology, and cultural anthropology. All programs encourage the application of anthropological skills and perspectives to a wide variety of practical and academic problems. Training in anthropology is excellent preparation for commercial, government, and professional service occupations and for graduate study in business, law, public administration, social services, and public health as well as in theoretical or applied anthropology. In an era of increasing international and interethnic contact in many careers, anthropology provides essential background and training in cross-cultural interaction.
Professors:
Andrew Buckser (Ph.D., University of California - Berkeley)
Amy Mountcastle (Ph.D., Rutgers University-New Brunswick; SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Faculty Service)
Associate Professors:
Deborah Altamirano (Ph.D., University of California at Santa Barbara; SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching; SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Faculty Service)
Gillian Crane-Kramer (Ph.D., University of Calgary; Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching)
Justin Lowry (Ph.D., SUNY Albany)
ProgramsMajors (Undergraduate)Minors (Undergraduate)
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