Anthropology at KSU

The Anthropology Department at Kent State combines the traditional subdivisions of biological anthropology, cultural anthropology and archaeology with twenty-first century approaches to their integration. Our goal is to improve the understanding of the origin and social behavior of our unique species within a comparative context.

Our faculty research combines ethnographic and archaeological investigations with a broad approach toward the biological basis of human evolution (neurobiology, genetics, biomechanics, anthropological demography, primate ecology, the primate fossil record). We provide a diversity of research and educational pathways for both graduate and undergraduate students to explore, and are engaged in a variety of cooperative arrangements with other institutions and researchers, both nationally and internationally.

Our size and extensive collaboration with other departments within the university (Biology, Psychology, Geology, Geography, and Chemistry), its medical school (NEOUCOM) and other area regional institutions (Cleveland Museum of Natural History; Cleveland Metroparks Zoo) enhance our ability to provide a superior educational experience. Current Kent State fieldwork centers include: the ancient Maya center of Xuenkal, Yucatan, Mexico; the Maya trade outpost at Xcambó, also Yucatan; Brownsburg Nature Park, Suriname; the early Paleoindian Nobles Pond site in northern Ohio; and traditional communities in Taumako, the Solomon Islands.