Anthropology and sociology were traditionally thought of as separate disciplines—anthropology focusing on non-literate cultures and sociology looking at the problems of complex industrial and literate societies. At Knox, anthropology and sociology are complementary parts of a holistic program that examines modern social issues in their complex global and developmental contexts.

The Department of Anthropology and Sociology focuses on the problems of contemporary industrial society, on the nature of non-industrial societies, on the impact of technological and administrative change on the traditional societies of the Third World, and on the methodological and theoretical issues that arise in the study of these topics.

The Program
As an anthropology and sociology major, faculty will assist you in designing a personalized program of study, emphasizing relevant courses in allied disciplines and independent study or research as required. If you are contemplating the major, you are urged to take courses in allied departments (particularly economics, political science, psychology, Black studies, gender and women's studies, and history, as well as in philosophy and mathematics).

Within the department, a two-term program places students in social service internships within the local community, encouraging an experimental approach to learning about social policies, social problems, and social services. Students with other interests, such as archeology, are encouraged to transfer their credits from independent summer field schools.

Aided by one-on-one faculty tutors, you will undertake an extended research project of your own design during your senior year, culminating in a formal paper and a seminar presentation. Some recent topics include:

• Land use and housing segregation in a small Midwestern city
  
• A study of Galesburg garbage collectors, examining their values and outlooks, behavior and work patterns
  
• The omnipresence of pornography in respectable Japanese society
  
• Societal perceptions of domestic violence
  
• Images of Africa: a study of elementary school students

Resources
In addition to campus-wide resources such as libraries and technology, the department has equipment and work spaces for transcribing social interviews, extensive reading material on career planning, and files of information on opportunities for graduate study, field schools, off-campus programs, internships and the like. The department also maintains rotating displays of folk art, artifacts and fossil casts, which are periodically redesigned by students in the department's museum studies class. In addition, the Centel Data Analysis Lab is designed specifically for statistical work in the social sciences.