Anthropology at Seton Hall University brings a broad and robust knowledge base that encompasses the sciences, the social sciences and the humanities. As one of our alumni recently quipped, “Anthropology is my superpower!” (Samson M., Class of 2012).
Starting in Fall 2024, students can apply to two kinds of Anthropology Majors in the South Orange campus: the classic four-year Anthropology Major geared for careers in arts/cultural resource management, government and non-government organizations, graduate studies and careers in Forensics, Public Health, Economic Development, Database Management, Social Work, among others, and the 3+3 BA/JD Program in partnership between the College of Arts and Sciences with the Seton Hall School of Law. Our Alumni Corner gives you a snapshot of the broad range of exciting careers that our alumni have carved for themselves with a Seton Hall education in Anthropology, leveraging its uniqueness in bridging the social sciences, the human biological sciences and the humanities!
You can also earn an Anthropology Minor alongside any other degree; the minor appears in your college transcript and is often easy to earn when aligned with your interests. Starting Fall 2025, earning a minor will be even more flexible. Recent graduates who found Anthropology minors to be exciting enhancements to their studies come from Diplomacy, Social Behavioral Sciences, Criminal Justice, History, Biology, Biochemistry and Political Science.
Anthropology is one of the few programs that intentionally designs a course of study that not only supports but expects students to have broad interests and goals by accepting courses from many other disciplines. These include Africana Studies, Archaeology, Asian Studies, Biology, Criminal Justice, Environmental Studies, Film, History, Religion and Sociology.
What’s new in Anthropology@SHU?
Our classes connect to the real issues taught by experts in the field. Listen to recent podcasts by our faculty or read/watch student interviews on Instagram or our blog. Read about students presenting their COVID research at a national Biological Anthropology conference.
Our brand-new courses in 2024 include Plagues and Peoples, social science perspectives on Disability, a new series of courses in partnership with the Environmental Studies Program such as Environment & Pop Culture, Complex Coasts and Deltas, Cultures of Sustainability, and a newly designed course on Anthropology of Art. Watch out for a reboot of introduction to World Archaeology plus new offerings being developed in the vibrant subfield of Medical Anthropology from cross cultural perspectives on Death and Dying to applied computing that models Historical Trajectories of Disease.
Our students also get to meet national and international experts in their field, whether in commemoration of national events such as Indigenous Peoples Day or meeting filmmakers behind award-winning documentaries presenting issues important to local communities in New Jersey.
What’s tradition in Anthropology@SHU?
We recognize excellence and student achievement by inviting students to become members of the national honor society in the field. Students who have completed at least 12 credits in anthropology with an average of 3.0 are encouraged to apply for membership in Lambda Alpha (LA), the National Collegiate Honors Society for Anthropology. The Delta chapter of New Jersey in housed in Seton Hall and seeks to promote excellence and increased awareness of anthropology as a humanistic social science. Lambda Alpha holds joint biannual induction ceremonies in Spring with the Sociology Honor Society, Alpha Kappa Delta (AKD) and invite alumni guest speakers in Sociology and Anthropology to address current inductees. For inquiries, contact chapter sponsor Prof. Cherubim Quizon cherubim.quizon@shu.edu.
We have a longstanding tradition supporting undergraduate student research. We are one of the oldest programs at Seton Hall that approach Independent Study projects as central to the BA Anthropology degree, being a hallmark of the curriculum since its founding. Anthropology students present their original research in the Anthropology in the Real World series (ongoing since 2004) and have published and/or edited peer review work in Locus: The Seton Hall Journal for Undergraduate Research (ongoing since 2018)