FSU DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY

Introduction

FSU opened the first Department of Anthropology in Florida’s state university system nearly 60 years ago. The department has trained thousands of students who have taken their FSU anthropology education around the world.

Anthropology’s Curriculum is Unique

Anthropology is the only discipline that provides such a broad perspective -- understanding humankind in all its diversity, from early ancestors to modern humans-- with a geographic reach that encompasses the globe. Anthropology provides multicultural, diversity and natural science classes that meet special degree requirements. No FSU department provides students with so many of these classes. In the past three years, nearly 3,800 students have taken the introductory classes alone. Anthropology’s classes draw majors from departments all across campus from “Accounting to Woodwinds.”

Anthropology’s History and Tradition

Early Years (50s & 60s): The anthropology program at FSU began with a profound influence on state and federal archaeology, transforming government handling of historic and prehistoric resources. With the addition of faculty, cultural and physical anthropology grew, and the program began training the next generation of professional anthropologists.

Middle Years (70s & 80s): The anthropology program at FSU expanded topically, geographically and chronologically to include Florida’s Early Archaic period to the Mission Period, and Mesoamerica, as well as the study of primates and infancy around the world, and an ethnographic focus on Japan and China. The National Park Service’s Southeastern Archeology Center co-located with the department, and the underwater archaeology program began.

Recent Years (90s & 2000+): Enrollment grew as students began increasingly to prepare for a culturally diverse world. Applications to the graduate program approached 100 per year. Archaeology field schools expanded training and research and our field school was the first in the nation to obtain professional certification from the Society of Professional Archaeology/Registry of Professional Archaeologists. In 2000 the department was granted permission to develop a Ph.D. program, and 11 students have now obtained PhDs in Anthropology from FSU. Faculty expertise expanded further to include paleoanthropology in Africa, Israel, Indonesia and China as well as long-term studies of living African hunters and gatherers.

FSU Anthropology Graduate Students

Students, alumni, and faculty play an important role in anthropology at the national level and can be found in virtually every state of the nation.

Students come to FSU’s Dept. of Anthropology from across the USA and other countries including Canada, Korea, Japan and India.
Three students have recently won coveted National Science Foundation dissertation improvement grants.
Graduates of FSU’s Department of Anthropology work around the world from the Americas to Europe, Australia to Tanzania, and Japan to Ghana. They are employed in state and federal agencies including museums, the Florida Dept. of State, Bureau of Archaeological Research, The Florida Department of Law Enforcement, National Park Service, the US Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, Dept. of Environmental Protection, National Oceanographic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Minerals Management Service, and state park services around the country.
Graduates of FSU’s Anthropology Dept. obtain their terminal degrees all across the country and internationally: from Cambridge (UK) to Texas, from Maine to California, Indiana to New York, and Florida to Wisconsin.
FSU Anthropology alumni teach the next generation on campuses from coast to coast and around the world: Santa Clara University , Arizona State University , University of Colorado, University of Alaska, George Washington University., Rollins College, Universities of West, North and South Florida, University of Biola (Ca.), Middle Tennessee State University , Rochester University, Georgia Southern University, University of North Georgia, University of West Bohemia in Pilsen (Czech Republic) and Flinders University (Australia).
Others take positions in the private sector and continue to use their anthropology background.

FSU Anthropology Undergraduates

Undergraduates build on their anthropology education and take many types of jobs including attorneys, nurses, photographers, writers, and analysts. Anthropology provides a solid foundation for understanding cultural diversity and globalization. They have an understanding and appreciation of the past, present, and future – they are valuable employees.

FSU Anthropology Faculty

Anthropology faculty have received teaching and mentorship awards, and they include a member of the American Academy of Sciences. The department has two named professors (Pohl and Falk) – one of the highest honors the university bestows on faculty.

Faculty research interests span the globe and the chronological breadth of human experience, and include:

Florida’s early populations (Windover – 8,000 years old)
Florida Missions and 19th century plantations
Australopithecines to Neandertals and living primates
Adaptation, cultural diversity and the development of social complexity from hunting-gathering-fishing societies to complex agricultural groups of Mesoamerica, North America, Europe and East Asia
Identification of the early writing in the New World
Analysis of the earliest domesticated plants in Mesoamerica and Florida
Description and interpretation of some of the most intriguing Hominin fossils found in the last 50 years, including ‘Little Foot’, Homo floresiensis, Chinese Homo erectus, and the Kebara Neandertal of Israel.
Origins of language and brain evolution
Studies of the world’s oldest planked vessels and the oldest seagoing ships yet discovered
Reconstruction and sailing of an Egyptian boat that had not graced the Red Sea for 3,500 years.

Anthropology’s Commitment to the Community

The public has a keen interest in Anthropology. Faculty members have given hundreds of talks to schools, universities, and public organizations reaching thousands of Florida citizens. Activities include Mock Digs to encourage science interests in elementary and middle school students to tours of archaeological sites near and far. FSU Anthropology is featured in news reports, WGBH and National Geographic documentaries. Faculty research is highlighted in anthropology text books. Faculty members have trained hundreds of law enforcement officers and crime scene specialists from around the world. These are all part of the continued FSU Anthropology public outreach and community involvement. The Orlando Sentinel recognized an Anthropology faculty member as ‘Floridian of the Year’ for public education about archaeology.

Anthropology’s Future

The Department of Anthropology has a long and rich tradition of educating students through its majors and those students who have an interest in the subject or need to meet a science area requirement. Many students take anthropology elective classes that broaden their appreciation for cultural diversity and the human experience. Thousands of students have been touched by the program at FSU and are its global ambassadors.

Nine years ago, the Department was moved to the edge of campus to accommodate campus building renovations. Currently, planning and designs are underway for Anthropology to move into the Johnston Building in spring 2011.

Recent set-backs, many due to decreased funding, have stymied the ability to reach the goal of 16 faculty. We have lost faculty lines going from a high of 12 to 8, with another retirement scheduled for summer 2009.

Anthropology continues to be a high-performance department that is cost effective; the cost to maintain the department is less than the student tuition it generates.

With the continued support of the FSU administration, the Anthropology faculty and students are committed to maintaining and rebuilding the program and its research.

To learn more about the FSU Anthropology Department visit www.anthro.fsu.edu or the facebook page NOLES NEED ANTHROPOLOGY.

To read more about the problems the state university system faces in this difficult budget climate see: Fate of the State.

Help show your support for higher education in Florida and Anthropology at FSU by writing: President TK Wetherell, 211 Wescott Bldg., FSU, Tallahassee FL 32306-1470. Write your State legislators (find them with your zip code at http://www.flsenate.gov/ in the frame on the left) and ask them to support FLORIDA HIGHER EDUCATION and FSU Anthropology. Questions? Contact nolesneedanthropology@gmail.com or find the Noles Need Anthropology group on Facebook.