Anthropology is the study of humanity and its works from the most remote point in human prehistory to the cultural, linguistic and biological diversity of the present. It is concerned with the global, national, regional and local stewardship of all these resources. The discipline’s goal is “to advance knowledge of who we are, how we came to be that way – and where we may go in the future”and its commitment “(1) to understanding, through research, the differences and similarities of humans, throughout time and across cultures; (2) to communicating this knowledge through teaching, practice, and public education (e.g., writing, speaking, films, museums); and (3) to making its work accessible to those who can develop anthropological knowledge to address societal problems” (American Anthropological Association).
The mission of UNM’s Department of Anthropology is to articulate biological, cultural and linguistic diversity globally from the prehistoric to the present, including significant commitments to public anthropology, cultural resource management, the Southwest and Latin America. Faculty teach graduate and undergraduate programs in three subfields of anthropology: Archaeology, Ethnology and Evolutionary Anthropology. Summer field schools in New Mexico, Hawai’i and Belize are regularly scheduled.