Anthropology Major
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About the Major
Anthropology is the study of what makes us human. To understand the full complexity of cultures across all human history, anthropology draws and builds upon knowledge from the social and biological sciences as well as the humanities and physical sciences
Jobs in Anthropology
- Museum curator
- Archivist
- Archaeologist
- Cultural ambassador
- Human resources
- Heritage manager
Past Elon Anthropology Internships
- Smithsonian Institution
- Mebane (N.C.) Historical Society Museum
- Refugee Resettlement Agency in Greensboro, N.C.
- The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
- BTU The Broadway Marketing in New York
Related Majors
Student used anthropology research project to uplift refugees and raise their business profiles
Before John Luke Farah took his first anthropology class at Elon University, he had a limited perception of what culture meant. He was excited, he said, to learn about how different cultures celebrate festivals and make different foods.
So the freshman was shocked when his first assigned reading was about how the U.S. government funnels illegally migrating South and Central Americans through the deadly Sonoran Desert.
“My eyes were opened to the immensely diverse study of anthropology,” said Farah, who graduated from Elon in 2024 with a double major in anthropology and journalism. “I was introduced to power dynamics and the role of culture in our world … [how] cultures of supremacy and marginalization influence our economy and laws.”
The greatest thing about studying anthropology, Farah said, is that “your world view will never be the same.”
I learned that school is not just about making good grades. This project threw me into the real world off campus, and I grew a deeper understanding of the refugee experience in the U.S. because of this.
Farah’s certainly isn’t. His study of anthropology at Elon — and his mentor, Associate Professor Mussa Idris — pushed him to find purpose in the work he does, he said. When he learned that Idris focuses his ethnographic research in ways that benefit refugees and their communities, Farah approached him about collaborating on a mentored research project involving families and businesses served by the N.C. African Services Coalition’s Triad Refugee Business Center. The Greensboro center assists refugees in establishing microenterprises and credit histories through education, planning and micro-loans.
“I told Dr. Idris that no matter what, I wanted this research to make an impact on those I worked with,” Farah said. “He and I discussed how we could use my specialties to benefit refugee-owned businesses in Greensboro.”
Farah’s second major in journalism had provided him with skills in graphic design, website design and marketing, which he felt could be useful to the entrepreneurs to help them build up their businesses and become more self-sufficient. Idris and Farah brainstormed a research project where Farah would teach refugee micro entrepreneurs how to use social media platforms and Google business suite to increase their market reach. The goal was to make these microenterprises on par with other online-integrated American-owned businesses. (Microenterprises are businesses that employ five or fewer people and require less than $35,000 in startup capital.)
After meeting with Triad Refugee Business Center loan manager Ahmed Abdullah, who assists clients with startups and management, Farah, Idris and Abdullah began gauging client interest. By the end of fall 2022, Farah was working with a grocer, restaurateurs, a driving service and a traditional African hair braiding salon.
“The people that I worked with came here from struggle and now own a business,” said Farah, whose own father immigrated to America from Egypt. “They started from there and decided they wanted to use what they know from back home and start a business. That really motivated me and made me feel like I could do a lot with what I’ve been given.”
Farah consulted each of them after reading their business plans and reviewing their online presences. For some, he helped build out their Google business profiles. Another client needed business cards. Farah provided photos and designed a store logo and sign for the grocer. When the owner of the hair-braiding salon explained her difficulty scheduling clients and the cost of no-shows and last-minute cancellations — the braiding technique can take up to six hours per customer — he expanded her Square payment system to include an online scheduling platform with cancellation fees. Within six months, she’d brought in an extra $1,628 in profits directly related to the online scheduling.
“That’s the data I’m most proud of because you can see that as soon as we established it, appointments ramped up, and each appointment that you see is $25 in booking fees that she made; these were all new clientele,” said Farah, who used the money he received from an Elon research grant toward purchasing site domains and Square Appointment fees for his clients.
Part of Farah’s research was assessing which areas of online marketing clients were familiar with and using, and which they wanted training in. Most needed assistance with photography, graphic design and determining what types of print products would complement their business models. Farah wove in ethnographic research about how their backgrounds, culture and personal experiences influenced their business models.
His mentor, Idris, was critical to the project, Farah said. He accompanied Farah in the client interviews, often asking follow-up questions for new information or greater detail. He also helped Farah keep his focus on the anthropological lens when he sometimes would get too caught up in the necessary marketing work.
“He pushed me to find purpose in the work that I do,” Farah said. “I learned that school is not just about making good grades. This project threw me into the real world off campus, and I grew a deeper understanding of the refugee experience in the U.S. because of this.”
Not only did Farah achieve what he wanted with his research — to help refugees — but the project itself also made a difference.
It was chosen to be presented at two national conferences: the Society for Applied Anthropology’s national conference and the American Anthropological Association’s national meeting. And the research project was so encouraging to the Triad Refugee Business Center, there is discussion about including a workshop for clients to develop online skills and potentially mentor each other in their use, Idris said.
Farah said two of the most rewarding aspects of his time at Elon have been the relationships he built with faculty — “One of my favorite things about this university is that, with the smaller classes, these student-faculty relationships are extremely easy to build” — and the opportunities to study abroad; he went to Argentina and Ghana, the latter of which was part of Idris’ West Africa History and Culture trip.
“Being in a foreign environment and navigating it together really builds strong bonds,” Farah said. “I came back from both of my J-Term trips appreciative of my opportunities in the U.S. and understanding of the influence of globalization worldwide.”
Big picture, Farah said, the study of anthropology and his mentor at Elon gave him a vision of what was possible after graduation.
“Dr. Idris made it clear to me that there are career pathways that can both bring in steady income and make a meaningful social impact,” Farah said. “He has dedicated his life to researching a community that he identifies with — in this case the refugee community of America — to better their situation in this country. … He modeled a way for me to work with a disadvantaged community to become more self-sufficient.”
Farah plans to pursue a law degree and specialize in immigration law; for the fall of 2024, he was selected as a Public Interest J.D. scholar at Santa Clara University School of Law in California. The program is a small cohort of law students interested in fields from immigration to criminal justice to labor law. Learning about the various challenges refugees face when settling in a new country, Farah saw the need he could serve.
“This research catalyzed how much I want to help as much as I can,” he said. “I feel like I can really push myself to my potential by going to law school and learning how I can assist people who want to come here to the country that I’ve loved from the get-go and establish a business here, like my dad.”
Did You Know?
- There are many areas of applied anthropology: medical anthropology, which seeks to understand factors that influence people's health and well-being; business anthropology, which helps businesses gain a better understanding of their activities and customers; and digital anthropology, which studies the cultural and social domains of human interaction through the internet technologies they use.
- Students are given the opportunity to engage in anthropology internships in service, research, teaching and work/corporate settings, which allow them to apply their knowledge to real-life settings. Students interested in conducting original research in anthropology can develop research projects with faculty members or join an existing research project to get invaluable, hands-on research experience.
- During Winter Term each January, the Department of Sociology and Anthropology offers two study abroad programs: Ghana West African History and Culture and Latin American Social Movements in Argentina. During the summer, the department offers the Archaeology Field School, which takes place at the site of Dos Hombres in northwestern Belize, Central America.