Careers
Study Anthropology. Do Anything.
What can I do with an Anthropology major?
Anthropology majors and minors access global, cultural, and holistic perspectives that are crucially needed in nearly every career path. Through engaging coursework, international fieldwork, and laboratory or independent research, they create local and global experiences as students that are immediately applicable to widespread career success.
Skills you'll learn
- Effective oral communication
- Strong writing
- Team Work
- Critical thinking and analytical reasoning
- Ability to apply knowledge to real-world settings
- Ethical judgment and decision making
- Ability to analyze and solve problems with people from different backgrounds
Kyle Bocinsky '08
Director of the Research Institute and William D. Lipe Chair in Research at the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center
Kyle Bocinsky, an anthropology major, now works as a computational anthropologist interested in human responses to environmental change. He completed his Ph.D. in Anthropology at Washington State University and is currently the Director of the Research Institute and William D. Lipe Chair in Research at the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center.
“The research opportunities open to Notre Dame undergraduates are phenomenal, especially in anthropology,” Bocinsky says. “I don’t know of any place else where I would have been able to work across multiple departments, have access to state-of-the-art labs, and learn the analytical methods that are so important to the research I do now.”
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Kyle Bocinsky '08
Director of the Research Institute and William D. Lipe Chair in Research at the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center
Kyle Bocinsky, an anthropology major, now works as a computational anthropologist interested in human responses to environmental change. He completed his Ph.D. in Anthropology at Washington State University and is currently the Director of the Research Institute and William D. Lipe Chair in Research at the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center.
“The research opportunities open to Notre Dame undergraduates are phenomenal, especially in anthropology,” Bocinsky says. “I don’t know of any place else where I would have been able to work across multiple departments, have access to state-of-the-art labs, and learn the analytical methods that are so important to the research I do now.”
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Madeline Boyer '09
Researcher and Facilitator, KPMG Innovation Labs
“Business is my object of study, but anthropology has always provided that lens, the way in which I look at the business world. Anthropology gives me that different way of looking at it than most people do,” says Madeline Boyer, an anthropology and business major. “It’s not just that I know different things because I took liberal arts courses, but I also think differently. I ask different types of questions and I challenge us to question assumptions because I have that much broader experience from my liberal arts background.” Boyer went on to complete a Ph.D. in Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania.
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Daniel Schmitt '11
Orthopedic Surgeon
Daniel Schmitt, an anthropology and biology major, relies on his liberal arts education to connect with his diverse patient base and treat them comprehensively
“My anthropology major has been invaluable thus far in my career as a physician,” Schmitt said. “Working at a hospital that largely treats underserved communities with socioeconomic backgrounds much different than mine, my anthropology experience has allowed me to appreciate the diverse worldviews of those I care for, enabling me to give the patient and their families the best care possible.”
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Stephanie Sluka Brauer '97
Director of Fundraising, African Parks Network
Stephanie Sluka Brauer serves as APN’s Global Director of Fundraising and brings the experience gained from working at the juncture of philanthropy, aid funding and international development over the last 20 years. She has overseen funding efforts for organizations working across Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East and ran her own NGO, Spheres of Exchange, to support refugee and immigrant groups in the U.S. She has her degree in Anthropology and Peace Studies from the University of Notre Dame and a combined Masters in Social Work and non-profit management from Boston University.
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Emily Vincent '18
Yenching Scholar, Peking University, Beijing, China
“Now as an international student at Peking University, I use Anthropology on a daily basis. Studying Anthropology taught me how to dig deeper than the apparent cultural differences to find the underlying human experience that connects us all. It showed me the importance of evaluating situations from multiple cultural perspectives and the validity of viewpoints that may seem strange or foreign at face value," says Emily Vincent, an anthropology and Chinese major.
“Anthropology equipped me to ask better questions about myself and the world while preparing me to seek the answers through my own experiences.”
98% of recent Notre Dame Anthropology majors found full-time employment, enrolled in graduate school, entered service programs, or launched independent projects within six months of graduation.
Note: Outcomes data comes from First Destination reports, a survey of recent graduates conducted by the Notre Dame Center for Career Development and Office of Strategic Planning and Institutional Research. Status is known for more than 90% of each graduating class.