The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences - Butler University

Europe. Within these areas we offer courses on
the fundamental conditions that shape human
life past and present: citizenship, politics, peace
and war, gender, race, class, sexuality, language,
economics, religion, and thought. We do not
process our students. The department offers a
small student-faculty ratio, individual attention,
and abundant opportunities for undergraduate
research. Most of our students also study away
from Butler, either abroad or in Washington,
D.C., offering them a taste of this increasingly
global world we inhabit.
Why Study Anthropology?
Anthropology explores the human condition,
appreciating humans as both biological and
cultural creatures. The primary focus of our
program is Cultural Anthropology, which studies
the ways that humans create meaning, forge
alliances, assert differences, reinforce and create
anew social and political hierarchies, and expose
vectors of inequality. Students are trained to
read critically and understand the complexities
of ethnography — the research method and
product that defines the discipline. They also
have the opportunity to produce their own
original ethnographic work in course research
assignments as well as larger honors thesis
projects, which may be the outgrowth of study
abroad, field school, or internship experiences.
The ability to analyze different cultures, figure
out how they work, and step into them —
applying the characteristic methods and
theories of our discipline — readily prepares
students for a variety of careers: health care,
education, NGOs, and, increasingly, various
forms of business. Anthropology majors are
also well prepared for advanced study in
anthropology and archeology, public health,
social work, law and business.
attention on the politics, wars and thought of
elites. In recent years, history has broadened its
scope to encompass the lives of all people. History
as a discipline characteristically teaches its
students to read and analyze texts and artifacts
of every sort. Its search for meaning requires
of its students creative intelligence to develop
from their findings hypotheses and theories that
seek an ever better, often changing, understanding
of the patterns of human life. History is
perforce a conversation since it takes many eyes,
ears and minds to fathom the complexities of
life on this planet, so historians offer their own
thoughts and listen carefully to the thoughts
of others to refine both. It is uncommonly
fun. Students of history take these skills and
habits of thought in every imaginable direction,
to graduate and professional study, often
to teaching, law, government, civil service, and
business, frequently to vocations that care for
people, finally to building communities and
raising children.
Why Study Geography?
Cultural geography brings together history,
culture, and spatial patterning, and reinforces
the message of both history and anthropology
in a common department. Geography at Butler
starts by studying Indianapolis, then moves
outward to Indiana, the United States and the
world. These courses are generally valuable but
particularly so to students preparing to teach
social studies in secondary school.
Why Study Anthropology and
History at Butler?
We offer just about the only curriculum in
America that weds the depth of history and the
breadth of anthropology. Like the blind sages
and the elephant, we address basic aspects of
life from different perspectives, and then talk
Why Study History?
about it with each other. Both programs work
History explores the human condition
together to train students to read with acuity,
throughout the world from earliest time to the
attend carefully to detail, write clearly, listen
present moment. It investigates what actually
carefully, say well what they have to say, think
happened in the world in order to comprehend
both imaginatively and analytically, and work
why people think what they think and do what
fruitfully with other people. We ask students,
they do. There is no question or problem of
not just to listen to us, still less mimic us, but
human life foreign to history. One age-old
to do the things we do: pose their own questions,
seek answers to their questions in archival
purpose of history is to ready people as citizens
to care for the common good and public life.
research or ethnographic investigation, develop
Another, equally venerable, is moral: history
their own ideas and opinions and address the
trained people to consider carefully the possibilities
of good life or better life together. Not
ideas and opinions of other people throughout
time and across the world, grapple with the
so long ago historians focused most of their
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