At this moment in human history, our experience of the world is deeply mediated by the power and influence of digital technologies; at the same time, we are profoundly aware of the physical impacts humans have had on the biophysical workings of our planet. This is to say that living and thriving in our current human world—in the age of the Anthropocene—is both profoundly virtual and physical. At its core, the discipline of anthropology has always focused on a breadth of human experience stretching from culture to material processes—the ways humans make meaning and make things. This concentration studies humans at the intersection of digital and material worlds—combining questions of cross-cultural human meaning, community, protest, creativity and play with concerns about sustainability, climate, pollution, collective violence, and human effects on the planet. It prepares students with functional theories, knowledge and research methodologies for understanding humans at our present moment.
