What Can I Do with My Anthropology Major?

Anthropology is simply the study of what makes us human. Anthropology helps us to understand the many different aspects of the human experience through research and experiential learning. There are four subgroups of anthropology: Archaeology, Biological Anthropology, Cultural Anthropology, and Linguistic Anthropology. Students who major in anthropology will have the opportunity to engage in research topics such as human rights, legal anthropology, political ecology, post-colonialism, social movements, migration, trafficking, labor, religion, race and gender. Anthropology courses at Georgetown will prompt questioning of how power shapes individuals’ lives and how social change happens.

Anthropologists can work in fields such as health care, education, non-profits, the federal government or sustainability. They also work within museums or state parks to help interpret history. They can even work within businesses to help companies further understand the consumer.

Anthropology aims to develop students’ abilities to conduct theoretically sound, methodologically rigorous, and multifaceted analyses of human society. Throughout your experience in the program, you will use, explore and build on the following skills:

Critical Thinking Skills

  • Careful Record Keeping
  • Approaching problems from multiple perspectives
  • Avoiding simplistic conclusions
  • Perceiving patterns and structures
  • Understanding components of complex problems

Effective Communication Skills

  • Writing effectively
  • Reading critically
  • Conveying complex information
  • Speaking to groups
  • Presenting research findings
  • Training others

Research Skills

  • Planning projects
  • Applying theoretical approaches to research problems
  • Establishing hypotheses
  • Participant observation of research subjects
  • Evaluating evidence
  • Examining electronic data

Social and Cultural Relations Skills

  • Understanding and appreciating human relationships between groups and individuals
  • Identifying cultural/social forces
  • Understanding diversity
  • Social ease in strange situations

You can use the examples above, and experiences from classes or research projects to enhance your resume. Try plugging in some of your experiences or skills gained into this formula: Accomplished (X) as measured by (Y) by doing (Z).

Sample Resume Class 1, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.
Member of Class, taught by Prof. _________

  • Investigated range of theoretical propositions concerning topics such as agency, technology-social change, power, culture, and the politics of representation in ANTH 495 Anthropological Theory course by (insert discussions/debates, projects, or assignments from course)
  • Developed research topic, designed study, surveyed a field site, and analyzed findings of research focused on (insert research topic) in ANTH 358 Anthropological Fieldwork course and found that (insert research results) 
  • Examined medical systems from a cross-cultural perspective by engaging with traditional theories of health and illness while accounting for international politics and the effects of globalization to (insert learning goals from course) in ANTH 250 Medical Anthropology course 

Georgetown alumni have taken their anthropology degree across multiple different industries and have applied the skills they learned in anthropology across multiple disciplines. 

Additional information about these outcomes can be found in Cawley’s Post Graduation Outcome Report

There are lots of ways to find good keywords to help your job or internship search process, or even just to learn more about the types of jobs you can do within a specific major. One way to explore this is by checking out the job search tool on Google. 

Once you are in, type in something generic like your major and the world internship afterward. Once you hit enter, it will give you lots of options to explore, but if you want to explore titles, possible career paths, or keywords, hover your mouse over the ‘Title’ tab on the top of the page. This will give you a ton of ideas and options to explore possible keywords. 

Sample Internship Opportunities

  • U.S. Census Bureau
  • Smithsonian museums
  • Physical anthropology laboratories
  • Social services organizations (e.g., American Red Cross)
  • Consulting firms
  • Historic preservation offices
  • Public defenders’ office
  • Library of Congress
  • Parks and historic sites
  • Ethnic and cultural organizations
  • International development agencies (e.g., USAID)
  • Research institutes/think tanks (e.g., Urban Institute, National Research Council)
  • U.S. or State Congress

The Georgetown Anthropology Department Website is rich with additional information on studying anthropology.

GU Anthropology Department

Professional Associations are a great place to go to dive deeper into the field of anthropology and learn more about what post grad life might look like. 

Vault is a fantastic resource to learn more about specific career fields, such as anthropology. Vault has information such as salary information, work environment, education and training requirements, outlooks, and specific tips for entering into the field.

Professors & Academic Deans
Georgetown professors and faculty members can be a wonderful resource for Georgetown students. If you are still curious to learn more about the disciplines of a specific major, we’d encourage you to connect with your professors! Outside of office hours, Georgetown has an online interface called GU360 where students can explore and connect with faculty members that are eager to mentor and support students. You can use this interface to learn more about specific department research, specialties, and areas of study within a major.  

You can also connect with your academic dean or counselor to further discuss opportunities within a given major. 

Lastly, each department has a dedicated Director of Undergraduate Studies (DUS). This is the individual in charge of coordinating the major program or department as a whole. You can find the Director of Undergraduate Studies by exploring the faculty and staff pages of individual departments websites.

Alumni 
Connecting with alumni is a fantastic way to explore a day in the life of any given major student. There are several different ways to connect with Georgetown Alums. Hoya Gateway is Georgetown’s premier networking platform which connects alumni and students to have meaningful conversations and build a strong network of support. This is a platform alumni opt into with the sole purpose of supporting current students, which means there is an extremely high response rate. 

You can also utilize LinkedIn to connect with Georgetown Alum. A simple alumni search on Georgetown’s LinkedIn profile will help you get connected to approximately 130 thousand alumni, which you can then filter to meet the location, major, industry, or skills that you are interested in exploring.

You can also check out our Post Graduation Outcomes to learn more about what Georgetown alumni in specific majors are up to after graduation. We survey our seniors at the end of each year and into the following year to learn about jobs they secured, service opportunities they committed to, or graduate schools they decided to attend. You can filter by first major to get an idea of what life after Georgetown looks like. You’ll see in many cases that alums are using majors in a wide variety of ways, and your major doesn’t always equal your career path. 

Career Center Staff
You can also connect with career center staff to talk through the possible outcomes of one major over another. In short, there are endless opportunities no matter what major you choose. However, connecting with someone might help you navigate your decision making process a little bit easier. 

At the career center, you have the opportunity to meet with either a Career Exploration Counselor or an Industry Advisor. Career Exploration Counselors can help you talk through concerns, goals, the big picture, and strategies to move forward. You can think of them as generalists and a great place to get started. Industry Advisors can help you think through specific questions about a given career path and provide specific industry information and trends. You can think of them as specialists for once you start to narrow down your possible path. If you think an appointment with one of these individuals would benefit you, you can make an appointment on Handshake.

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