
Quick links
- Resources for Undergrad students
- MA Handbooks and Resources for Current and Prospective Grad students
- Information about Faculty & staff
- SAGA Anthropology Student Association


Department of Anthropology
At NAU, anthropology is a dynamic and collaborative exploration of cultures.
We offer qualitative and quantitative research opportunities that elevate marginalized perspectives—and encourage you to make a positive difference in facing the environmental, political, economic, and social challenges of a rapidly changing world.
You’ll tackle vital issues that matter today, including substance abuse, forensic strategies in crime scene investigation, and immigration. Historical perspectives on agriculture, archaeology, and human interactions with the environment and animals provide context for complex, interdisciplinary topics such as community development, and health equity.
Whether taking a medical anthropological approach to researching opioid use or seeing archaeology as a tool for social justice, our engaged faculty guide students in working with local and global communities. Our labs at the Flagstaff campus study paleo diet, ceramic analysis, Mesoamerica, faunal and lithic analysis, and medical anthropology.
NAU Anthropology in the news!
Recent news from the Department of Anthropology
- Dr. Justin Lund is featured in “The Anthropology of Star Trek: Boldly taking undergraduates where no one has gone before”
- Dr. Lisa Hardy explains why she is participating in National Novel Writing Month
- Recent Anthropology MA Graduate and current IH PhD student David “Kofi” Mensah wins the Wadsworth International Fellowship award through the Wenner-Gren Foundation
- Dr. Emily Dale co-edited a new book, “The Archaeology of Place and Space in the West”
- Dr. Sharon Moses was featured on a series of the podcast: Just Science! Where she discusses her work as a forensic anthropologist and locating victims in “no body” homicides
- Dr. Emily Dale’s Historical Archaeology Field School was featured in the NAU News article, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure”
- Dr. Lisa Hardy co-authored a new book, “The Inequality of COVID-19 Immediate Health Communication, Governance and Response in Four Indigenous Regions” with Dr. Eric Otenyo
- Dr. Jaime Awe receives the Society for American Archaeology’s 2022 Award for Excellence in Latin American and Caribbean Archaeology