Anthropology and Sociology Home Page
The Department of Anthropology and Sociology of the University of Wisconsin Colleges offers lower division courses in these two disciplines as part of the liberal arts/pre-professional curriculum of the institution. Students at any of the thirteen UW Colleges campuses and in the UW Colleges Online Program may take introductory and intermediate courses in anthropology and sociology as they work towards the Associate of Arts and Sciences Degree in the UW Colleges or towards a bachelor's degree in one of the UW System comprehensive universities or elsewhere.
Anthropology is the scientific study of humans both as biological organisms and as social beings dependent on learned, shared behavior. Anthropology is traditionally divided into four main fields: physical (or biological) anthropology, archaeology, ethnology (or cultural anthropology), and linguistics. Sociology is the study of human society and social behavior; traditionally sociology has focused on contemporary complex societies, though it is not limited to such. While the two disciplines mesh in some respects as social sciences, especially since the methods and theories of cultural anthropology overlap somewhat with those of sociology, each discipline has its own distinctive perspectives. Even though they are classified as social sciences, both anthropology and sociology can and often do take a humanistic approach to their studies to augment the scientific method. Furthermore, anthropology, especially the fields of physical anthropology and archaeology, overlaps quite a bit with the natural sciences such as biology and geology.
Both disciplines are quite young and immature, tracing their scholarly roots no farther back than the middle to late 19th century. Anthropology as a social science discipline was born of the colonization of the New World, largely by European peoples. Early in its history, anthropology adopted a holistic approach to the study of humans and culture; i.e., the study of all of humanity, past and present, in a social, cultural, linguistic, biological, and evolutionary context. Anthropology was often concerned with the differences between cultural groups and societies, and later turned to the study of those aspects of society and culture shared by humankind.
Sociology, on the other hand, evolved from the European and American Industrial Revolution and the urbanization of western society. In this sense (and there are exceptions), it has generally identified more closely with relatively modern urbanized, and often "westernized" societies. Because of that history of the discipline, sociology, as opposed to anthropology, often generally focuses more on the problems of complex social arrangements. Anthropology and sociology share a common interest in the observation, recording, and interpretation of social arrangements with the goal of understanding the origin, evolution and consequences of social behavior.
Both fields of study contribute greatly to the present discussions in our society about sometimes vexing social policy issues, including gender/feminism, multiculturalism, affirmative action, welfare reform, genocide, religion, family arrangements, educational reform policies and much more. Familiarity with one or both of these disciplines will equip the undergraduate student to tackle the increasingly complex task of living, working, and learning in a multicultural, international society, the "Global Village."
Each discipline in its own way helps students to learn more about the nature of humans and of human behavior and society. Both disciplines are indispensable for a scholarly understanding of the modern world and of the challenges that humanity faces.
A few department members at Scholarship of Teaching and Learning workshop
at UW--Fox Valley, January, 2004