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.