Mission Statement

The University of Tennessee’s Department of Anthropology is a community of scholars, students, and staff that:

Approaches anthropology from an integrative, contextual, and interdisciplinary perspective that considers all facets of human lives, experiences, and societies.

Nurtures an environment of empathy, compassion, and respect for multifaceted human experiences and relationships across space and time.

Creates an academic environment of intellectual and emotional growth, curiosity, and reflexive engagement.

Fosters an inclusive environment in which everyone has the opportunity to thrive.

We reach these goals through critical inquiry and rigorous investigation, engaged teaching and active mentorship, ethical research and professional practice, and accountability to the communities with whom we work, in Tennessee and beyond.

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Land Acknowledgment

The land upon which the University of Tennessee-Knoxville is built is part of the traditional territory of the Aniyunwiya peoples (now Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, Cherokee Nation, and United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma), Tsoyahá peoples (Yuchi, Muscogee Nation), and Shawnee peoples (Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma, Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma, and the Shawnee Tribe).

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