Students, please be sure to check Canvas daily for important updates. For more back to school pro-tips, visit the fall 2020 IU Northwest updates page.
During the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the Department of Sociology and Anthropology is helping students virtually. Our professors are available for Zoom or phone appointments. Please see our contact information on the faculty page. If you have questions, please contact our department chair, Dr. Kevin McElmurry. For questions concerning classes or enrollment, please contact our Academic Enrollment Coach Paulette Pierre.
Welcome to the IU Northwest Department of Sociology and Anthropology
Sociology is the scientific study of society, social institutions, and social relationships, paying specific attention to the development, structure, interaction, and collective behavior of organized groups of human beings.
Anthropology is the study of humans both past and present, including the study of human cultural behavior, biology, and languages. The program delves into a variety of subject areas, including Native Americans (historic and prehistoric), medical anthropology, primatology, ethnography, world cultures, linguistics, bio anthropology (including an introduction to forensics), prehistoric archaeology, human paleontology, and food and culture.
Program Highlights
The department offers a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology degree program that explores the systematic study of society from the micro-level (the individual in society) to the macro-level (the study of institutions). Sociology majors are also encouraged to draw upon the resources of other departments in the social and behavioral sciences, the physical/natural sciences, and the humanities.
Students in the Anthropology program can focus on one of the four main areas of discipline:
- Physical Anthropology
- Cultural Anthropology
- Archaeology
- Linguistic Anthropology
The IU Northwest Anthropology Lab and Resource Center serves as a research and teaching room that contains dozens of real and replica modern skeletal remains, fossils, and other anatomical specimens used in various courses. A major use of the room is in training students in Forensic Anthropology.
