About the Department

Mission Statement

The mission of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology is to:

  • help students learn, understand, discover, and apply knowledge about sociology & anthropology;
  • create and maintain, with our students, a comfortable and challenging teaching-learning community, both inside and outside the classroom, in order to promote student development, shared responsibility for learning, and academic achievement; and
  • encourage and reward faculty/staff development in alignment with individual interests and strengths while promoting excellence in teaching, scholarship, and service.

Welcome from the Chair

Chair Fred Smith PictureWelcome to the webpage of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at ISU.  We invite you to browse our site and learn about the dynamic individuals and programs which define our department.  Sociology and anthropology faculty members provide both undergraduate and graduate students with a broad array of perspectives on the human condition – ranging from social movements, personal relationships, and various cultures and societies throughout the world to the archaeology of historic and prehistoric North America.  The department is large and diverse enough for you to find what you are interested in, but at the same time it is small enough that you will never feel like a number.

The members of the sociology and anthropology faculty share a commitment to providing students a first class educational experience.  That educational experience is grounded in curricula which emphasize collaborative learning, challenging courses and extensive opportunities for extra- and co-curricular learning activities.   ISU’s sociology and anthropology faculty members are generally nationally and internationally known for their research, but they are equally well-known on campus for their quality teaching and student mentoring.  This balance of excellence in research and teaching, and the truly outstanding people who have created it, is what makes ISU’s Department of Sociology and Anthropology so special.

We invite you to envision where you might fit into our exciting and challenging programs.  Please do visit or contact us.  We’d be happy to discuss your vision.

Fred H. Smith

Sociology and Anthropology Chairperson

Employment Opportunities

  • None available at this time. Please check back as positions become available.