Department of Anthropology

Asking Why Questions

Anthropologists are not satisfied with just explaining what we see or hear – we dig deeper to ask why questions. Are you interested in excavating the remains of an ancient culture to learn why certain artifacts mattered for ritual or for trade? Have you ever pictured yourself analyzing forensic remains at a crime scene to help piece together why the event happened or imagined yourself in a rainforest observing nonhuman primates in their natural settings, figuring out why they behave as they do as they interface with human populations? Are you interested in why societies have varied customs and ideas, and why cultural norms change over time? Do you want to know why new products and ideas may thrive in one cultural setting, yet fail in another?

Anthropology provides highly useful and marketable tools for understanding human similarities and differences. Employers are seeking askers of why questions, so anthropologists are finding positions in cultural interpretation and preservation, public health, forensic investigation, global development, user experience (UX) design, non-profit and NGO work, environmental stewardship, product design, productivity consulting, and many other sectors.

Solutions to pressing questions and problems require deep understanding of the people, settings, and histories involved. They require someone trained in asking why questions. The ECU Department of Anthropology provides leading expertise in archaeology, biological, forensic, medical, environmental and cultural anthropology. We’d love to work with you as we train generations of askers of why questions toward the advancement of science and positive, sustainable change in communities both local and global.

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