Anthropology is a social science with roots in the humanities and in natural sciences. Some anthropologists study human biology and evolution, others visual and verbal art; most study some aspect of social life and the human cultures that organize social life and human adaptations to the natural world.

From the study of ancient cultures, anthropology developed a distinctive combination of close analysis and comparative perspectives now applied to everything from popular culture to changing patterns of migration, economic integration, the information revolution, and the constant revaluation of ethnic and other heritages. Anthropology today focuses particularly on the sweep of globalization, aiming to understand how it opens individual lives and small worlds to large changes in surprising ways that affect us all.

Catholic University anthropologists apply this approach to the social and cultural life of both past and contemporary societies, to migration issues, ethnicity and religion, and ancient civilizations of the Americas. We invite you to explore this website and to learn more about anthropology at Catholic University.