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Anthropology
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What is Anthropology?

Anthropology is the broad scientific study of human beings, encompassing their biology, cultures, histories, and social organization across time and place. It appears in courses ranging from introductory social science surveys to upper-division seminars in archaeology, cultural theory, and human evolution. What makes it academically compelling is its scope: anthropology sits at the intersection of the humanities and sciences, asking fundamental questions about what it means to be human, how societies form and change, and how culture shapes individual life. Topics such as modern human divergence, cross-cultural comparison, and the anthropological study of religion illustrate how the field moves fluidly between biological evidence and social interpretation.

The papers archived here reflect a wide range of approaches. Some take a historical and archaeological angle, examining ancient skeletal remains, tomb artifacts, or depictions of foreign lands in Ancient Egyptian literature to reconstruct past societies. Others are ethnographic, grounding analysis in direct cultural observation or applying social theory to economic and ethical issues. Comparative work is also common, setting different cultures or institutions side by side to identify patterns. Applied perspectives appear as well, connecting anthropological frameworks to real-world contexts such as prison systems, military institutions, and regional studies like anthropology in Turkey.

A strong anthropology essay begins with a focused thesis that commits to a specific claim about culture, society, or human behavior rather than summarizing a subfield broadly. Evidence drawn from ethnographic fieldwork, archaeological findings, or established theoretical frameworks carries the most weight. The most common pitfall to avoid is treating culture as static or monolithic — effective analysis consistently acknowledges that cultures are dynamic, internally varied, and shaped by historical context.

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Research Paper Doctorate

Franz Boas and Julian Steward's approaches to culture and environment

Franz Boaz defined the concept in anthropology, which is known by the name of "Historical Particularism." Boas was a champion of this theory, which, although it did not by any means totally ignore the greater…

Paper Doctorate

Allen Bloom's critique of ethical relativism in American universities

Allen Bloom wrote one of the most controversial books of the late-20th Century, in which he denounced the demise of the core curriculum at elite U.S. universities and it replacement by what he considered to be a vague…

Research Paper Doctorate

Alain Locke and cultural pluralism in the Harlem Renaissance

¶ … tomorrow / Bright before us / Like a flame. (Alain Locke, "Enter the New Negro," 1925)

Paper Undergraduate

Patagonia's organizational culture and radical humanist approach

Patagonia has grown from a small back-yard boot-strapped operation to a multinational organization with far-reaching environmental influence. The culture of Patagonia has—as all organizational cultures do—evolved over the history of the organization. This analysis illustrates the efforts of the Patagonia to establish and maintain cultural congruence, and within the scope of this analysis, also highlights that an organization can exhibit many of the structural trappings of a corporation and still maintain the maverick attitude of a band of climbers and surfers. Collective action—collective corporate action—requires some constraining of individual behavior. The question to be answered in this analysis is whether behavior can be constrained for the good of the employees of an organization—and for the apparent good of the global environment—and not follow the corporate template of constraining behavior for the good of those in power. The artifacts, values and beliefs, and assumptions of Patagonia would imply that the answer to this question is a resounding affirmative—and that the critical consciousness of Choinard has carried and directed the organization on a path of cultural congruence.

Paper High School

Male mate selection preferences in undergraduate heterosexual relationships

The paper aims to offer advice. The intended audience is undergraduate, heterosexual females. The paper gives insight into what actions females can take to make themselves more attractive as well as how to understand their male peers on a meaningful level. There are a variety of factors presented including physical appearance, sense of humor, and even colors that increase attraction.

Paper High School

Stages of American imperialism from colonial expansion to overseas empire

Starting in the colonial period and continuing up through the Manifest Destiny phase of the American Empire in the 19th Century, the main goal of imperialism was to obtain land for white farmers and slaveholders. This type of expansionism existed long before modern capitalism or the urban, industrial economy, which did not require colonies and territory so much as markets, cheap labor and raw materials. It was also a highly racist type of policy that led to the destruction of Native Americans and the enslavement of blacks, as well as brutal counterinsurgency campaigns in overseas colonies like the Philippines and Haiti. Northeastern capitalists in the United States, dating back to the nascent period in the late-18th Century, were not particularly enthusiastic for this type of territorial expansion to the West or the growth of the agrarian sector of the economy. The party of Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson and James K. Polk, which represented the South planters and white small farmers, was always the main driving force behind manifest destiny, including the Mexican War and the early filibustering expeditions to Latin America

Paper Undergraduate

Narrative analysis and institutional bias in healthcare decision-making

¶ … Crepeau (2000) entitled "Reconstructing Gloria" attempts to unsettle rather than describe or confirm existing healthcare paradigms by using a narrative analysis of the team meetings of hospital workers at a mental…

Paper Undergraduate

Structural violence framework's utility in analyzing international conflict

Structural Violence Framework in International Conflict

Paper Undergraduate

Legba as mediator between human and divine worlds in Haitian voodoo

This paper discusses Legba the messenger god of Haitian voodoo. Legba has the ability to communicate between both the world of human beings and the world of the gods. He can be shown as either an old man who carries a stick and is accompanied by dogs or as a virile young man often with a pronounced phallus who is the god of fertility.

Paper High School

Yoruba culture and symbolism in Moyo Ogundipe's "Soliloquy"

This paper discusses a work of art from a Nigerian painter. The artist is a part of the Yoruba culture in Africa and utilizes the traditional components of that community's artwork to convey their sense of ethnicity. The artist is able to successfully capture the type of art that the Yoruba would make and to paint a subject that would be likley for the Yoruba.

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