Inclusion and Belonging

Inclusion and Belonging

The Anthropology Department at the University of Notre Dame is committed to fostering
an inclusive community of scholarship and learning. We act to promote inclusion in our
departmental relationships, the discipline of Anthropology, and the communities within
which we live and work. Anthropology is at its heart an intellectual engagement with
human diversity and potential. That said, the discipline emerged in the second half of
the 19th century in the context of colonialism as expanding states sought to divest
indigenous people of their lands and autonomy. Much anthropological knowledge was
collected to document the practices and lifeways of people perceived as being in danger
of disappearing due to colonialism, or to aid in controlling and governing indigenous
peoples. In particular, we acknowledge the Pokagon Potawatomi as inhabitants of
South Bend/Notre Dame historically and their continuing attachment to the land on
which our university and department are located.

Anthropology also played a key role in promoting scientific racism, including playing a
formative role in the eugenics movement. This is not solely a phenomenon of the past;
some anthropological practice still contributes to exploitation and hurts communities. At
the same time, Anthropology has served as a powerful critique of these systems of
exploitation, and we recognize the promise of anthropology as the science of human
culture and diversity to combat continuing inequities in society.

We are committed to building a more inclusive and just community in our department
through research, mentoring, and teaching. This includes educating our students as to
the possibilities of human life and society to enhance our shared understanding of
human dignity. We recognize that there is much work to do, and we strive to continually
improve our ethical practices in research and fieldwork, particularly with vulnerable
populations, including making our research relevant to the needs of the communities we
work with.