ANTH364 - History of the UMass Amherst Anthropology Department

Welcome! This is the landing page for a website that will later host stories, images, documents, and oral histories documenting the UMass Amherst Anthropology department, as discovered and created by students in Professor Julie Hemment's course, Anthro 364: Problems in Anthropology, 2019-2021.

The course examines the history of the discipline of anthropology, focusing on some of the key theoretical trends that influence and inform it today, and in part seeks to understand those trends through study of the founding and early history of the UMass Anthropology department. Students engaged in this study via oral history interviews with former Anthropology department professors as well as through archival research in collaboration with the UMass Libraries Special Collections & University Archives (SCUA).

More about the current UMass Amherst Anthropology department:

The Anthropology Department is a place of research, new ideas, innovative teaching, public engagement, and hands-on learning.  The department advances innovative thinking that integrates knowledge from the different subfields of anthropology (archaeology, linguistic anthropology, cultural, and biological anthropology), and is especially known for research in the anthropology of Europe, indigenous and Afro-diasporic archaeology, community-based research methods, and for leading the way in developing a biocultural perspective on human adaptation and adaptability, enhanced by a strong foundation in political economy.

More about UMass Amherst Special Collections & University Archives (SCUA):

SCUA collects materials of enduring historical and cultural value relating to four major thematic areas: the history and experience of social change in America; the histories and cultures of New England with an emphasis on Massachusetts; innovation and entrepreneurship; and the broad community associated with the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Our collections are highly integrated and span all formats, including personal papers and organizational records, books and periodicals, maps, photographs, audio and video recordings, and digital materials of all kinds.

SCUA is home to thousands of archival and manuscript collections, many of which are not accessible online, so feel free to get in touch or stop by to investigate further!

Use & Permissions

If you would like to use a copy of any of this content, other than for research purposes, please get in touch with SCUA (contact info above) to see if any publication or copyright permissions are necessary. Unless otherwise cited, all images posted in these pages are attributed to Special Collections and University Archives, University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries.