Our mission:

Our mission is to raise the awareness of Kansas State University students concerning cultural diversity, the common humanity we share, and the significance of this knowledge to their lives. We believe that understanding cultural diversity is an essential survival tool for the twenty-first century. Since anthropologists are the leading source of information on different peoples around the world, our courses are designed to introduce students to the concept of cultural diversity and many related issues. The large introductory courses in particular present a concise overview of anthropology and its major scientific insights into the nature of human beings, past and present. 2) To develop an understanding in undergraduate anthropology majors of the impact of culture on behavior, thought, biology, and the evolutionary aspect of humans. Anthropology provides an excellent knowledge and skills base for students seeking employment with a bachelor's degree in a wide variety of employment settings. Cultural resource management firms, public health, public administration, marketing, museums and zoos, the military, and social services are some of the many areas that have drawn on the training and experience of anthropology majors. A strong anthropological background offers excellent preparation for those entering graduate studies in anthropology and related fields, and in pursuing other professional training, especially medicine and law.

We have developed 6 Student Learning Outcomes (SLO's) that we continuously assess to make sure we are achieving this mission.  Because Anthropology is such a diverse field, we strive to make sure students are able to  demonstrate achievement in 2 of the 5 following SLO's (specific to each field of anthropology):

Cultural Diversity (cultural anthropology):
Students should be able to:
•    Identify ways in which different aspects of culture – economic, social, political, and religious practices and institutions – relate to one another in a cultural system (holism),
•    Draw comparisons between different cultures, past and present, recognizing that such comparisons require a holistic understanding of each of the cultures involved in the comparison, and
•    Describe the processes of globalization and the ways they shape and are shaped by different aspects of culture in human communities throughout the world.

Dynamic Nature of Culture (archaeology):
Students should be able to:
•    understand culture as a dynamic system of adaptation
•    demonstrate knowledge of major cultural developments through time and across the globe.

Linguistic Knowledge (linguistics):
Students should be able to:
•    apply their knowledge of linguistics to the understanding of foreign languages
•    demonstrate an understanding of the role of language in shaping culture and world view

Humans as Biocultural Beings (physical anthropology): 
Students should be able to:
•    demonstrate knowledge of the integration of human biology and culture

Research Methods:
Students will be able to:
•    demonstrate familiarity with the methods of data collection and analysis in at least one of the four fields of anthropology.

 In addition, all majors will be able to demonstrate achievement in understanding and using the Anthropological Approach.  Students will demonstrate basic knowledge of the holistic four-field nature of anthropology and the concepts and integration of culture and biology as used by contemporary anthropologists.  This specifically includes the development of anthropology as a distinct field of inquiry and the relationship between anthropology and other academic disciplines.  Specifically, students should be able to:
•     Describe the development of anthropology as a profession in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries,
•      Explain why anthropology can be considered both a science and a humanity, and
•     Describe its relationship to other fields.

These student learning outcomes, along with our other 6 SLOs which are currently being developed, relate to Kansas State SLO's in the following way:

2008-2009 Assessment Summary: We developed a rubric for assessing the Anthropological Approach SLO using a long essay question on the final exam which asks students to summarize the important works relevant to their research pursuits, demonstrating that they understand the development of anthropological theory and the relationships between different approaches and perspectives.  After reviewing the answers, we made adjustments to the rubric and re-designed our assessment process as described in the mission statement above.