Research

In the Anthropology Department, we are actively engaged in research and are committed to training our students in the theoretical and analytical approaches that anthropologists use to learn about humans and cultures. Many courses in all four subfields are designed to develop skills in specific methods, such as virtual morphology (ANTH 211); forensic anthropology (ANTH 239); ethnography (including participant observation and interviewing) (ANTH 245); participatory action research methods on community organizations (ANTH 260, ANTH 382) and conversation and narrative analyses (ANTH 250, 255).

Each subfield is also supported with its own laboratory space, providing further opportunities for independent research. See Facilities.

Outside the classroom, students are often involved in faculty research, both through Vassar programs like the Ford Scholars Program and the Undergraduate Research Summer Institute (URSI) and through externally funded programs including the National Science Foundation and the National Parks Service.

Recent projects involving Vassar students include:

• Studying Cultural Influences on Water Management Strategies in Singapore;
• Archaeological Excavation of the Historic Franklin D. Roosevelt Estate;
• Reconstruction and Analysis of Neandertal Brains;
• Analyzing the Role of Community-Based Organization in Effecting Social Change in Poughkeepsie.