Get your hands dirty.

Upon entering the anthropology department, you’ll be immersed in the experience of thousands of years of the human cultural past. The Archeology Laboratory, where the anthropology department is housed, is a self-sustaining business with experience in the survey, testing, and excavation of historic and prehistoric sites covering the breadth and depth of the Northern Plains, and serves as an important recourse for the study of anthropology at Augustana.

Dr. Hannus has recently overseen completion of the “Archeodome,” a new state-of-the-art research and teaching facility at the Mitchell Prehistoric Indian Village (a National Landmark and National Register site) located in Mitchell, South Dakota. This new center focuses on interpreting the lifeways of prehistoric horticultural village groups in the Northern Plains region and provides an excellent opportunity for additional learning experiences. There are literally millions of artifacts already recovered from the site, and millions more that remain to be excavated, processed, and interpreted.

The new developed alliance between the anthropology department at Augustana College and the University of Exeter in Exeter, England opens the door to many opportunities to participate in hands-on research, both in the United States and abroad.

In museum methods classes, working closely with the Eide Dalrymple Gallery on campus, students assist in the planning and design of small museum exhibits: lighting and assembling display material, preparing the exhibit catalog, and producing advertising.

With so many options, our dedicated faculty work hard to tailor the course of study to the goals of the student.

More about real-world experience through the anthropology department.