Digging up the past, looking to the future

Digging through the dirt to uncover the lost treasures of a prehistoric civilization may sound like the plot of an adventure movie to some, but to Augustana's 21 anthropology majors, this adventure is an everyday reality.

Since becoming an official major in 2008, anthropology has seen an increase in popularity. In the past year, the number of majors has risen from six people to 21, an increase of 250 percent.

Anthropology professor Adrien Hannus is not surprised by the increase in majors.

"Anthropology is a field that really has attracted large numbers of students over a very long period of time," Hannus said.

Many people, however, still remain unsure of what anthropology actually is.

"The thing that makes anthropology a little different than other majors is that it is never taught before the university level," Hannus said. "Most students don't even know what the field of anthropology is."

According to Hannus, anthropology is essentially the study of humankind.

"Anthropology gathers together what is the human condition." Hannus said. "We are looking at ourselves as the animal that we are and how we have evolved."

There are four basic sections, the most recognizable being archeology, which is the study of extinct cultures. Cultural anthropology is the study of living cultural groups. Linguistic anthropologists study language and its relation to culture, and biological anthropologists study human evolution and development.

"Anthropology is a field that is so diverse," Hannus said. "It is a field that is all about us as humans and that is vibrant and exciting."

Hannus came to Augustana in 1982 with the founding of the archeology lab. Then, the idea of an anthropology major was only a distant dream, as there were no anthropology classes currently being taught on campus. It was not until 1995 that a minor was added to the Augustana's liberal arts curriculum.

"The liberal arts environment is an exceptionally valuable tool for anyone interested in studying anthropology because it is a field that draws from a wide spectrum of disciplines," said Landon Karr, who graduated with degrees in Spanish and international studies from Augustana in 2005 He was interested by the anthropology classes he was able to take and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in archeology.

"At Augustana, exposure to this gamut of academic fields of study allows students to appreciate aspects of human involvement from various perspectives across both time and space," Karr said.

Seniors Amy Godsell and Morgan Tucker started at Augustana when anthropology was only offered as a minor and will be among the first to graduate with the major.

"I have always been a fan of history and culture," Godsell said. "I came to Augie as an undecided major, but after taking one course with Adrien, I was hooked. There is something about prehistory that grabs my attention and makes me wonder how we came to be the civilization we are today."

Tucker's love of anthropology grew out of a fascination with ancient Egypt and evolved into a love of archeology.

"Always throughout my history classes we would study Egypt and the pyramids and the tombs, etc, and from then on I wanted to go to Egypt," Tucker said. "I love traveling, I love history and, most of all, I love different cultures. I love learning how others live or lived and what they believe."

One of the problems, though, with creating a full anthropology major was the lack of resources.

"Augustana has a wonderful anthropology department that is growing tremendously," Tucker said. "But because it is still such a small department we don't have a lot of professors that can teach a wide range of classes in anthropology."