Online Anthropology Degrees

Anthropology is the study of the origins of humans and the physical, social and cultural developments and behavior of humans. Within the field of social science, anthropology will focus the most heavily on the pure history of humanity and the changes that have taken place since people starting walking the face of the earth. Anthropologists are problem solvers, looking at history like a detective, and trying to understand why and how things took place. Unlike sociologists, anthropologists may not be as interested in the political phenomena of a group of people, but more interested in the way they interacted and why they did so, why they moved from one place to another or why one group of people survived while another group did not. For students interested in looking at the purely human side of history with the opportunity to step outside the classroom to look at real world historical places to do research, anthropology may be the right focus of study.

Anthropology programs will begin with a foundation of arts and humanities courses in English, history, political science, sociology, philosophy and literature. From there, students will go on to take more specialized classes within anthropology, taking classes such as sociocultural anthropology, linguistics, physical anthropology, and biophysical anthropology. Anthropologists will learn how to decode artifacts to unlock the secrets of human history. Anthropologists will also study the excavation and preservation of human artifacts. Anthropologists will have many masters and Ph.D. programs available to them which will allow students to focus on a particular area of study.

Anthropologists will gain the writing, research and critical thinking skills to be well prepared for the workplace. A large percentage of social scientists go on to work in the government, but anthropologists are less likely to do so. Many anthropologists can go on to do research, write and teach. Anthropologists can also go on to do scientific and technical consulting work or manage construction sites to make sure that sensitive areas are not harmed. In 2006, anthropologists earned an average salary around $49,000. Teachers average around $45,000 per year with higher salaries for tenured professors.