Student Experience

Supportive + Stimulating

Our department is a collegial community where you will meet and form bonds with other students and faculty from across the world. We aim to provide an atmosphere for all of our students—grad and undergrad—that supports their personal lives and academic achievement.

Teaching opportunities

Anthropology graduate students at IU are eligible to receive teaching positions across campus in a variety of departments, including Area Studies, International Studies, Biology, Geography, and Linguistics. Aside from opportunities to teach original topics courses in the department (such as Bizarre Foods), our graduate students also have a high rate of acceptance to teach unique courses in the Collins Living-Learning Center and the Global Living-Learning Community.

Anthropology Graduate Student Association

The Anthropology Graduate Student Association (AGSA at IU) is active in advocating for graduate students in the department, developing professionalization workshops in conjunction with faculty in the department, organizing social gatherings for students, and holding the student symposium every Spring semester.

Student government

Involvement in student government provides a way to engage with the graduate community as a whole on the IU campus. Our department nominates one graduate student to represent us within the Graduate and Professional Student Government (GPSG) organization. Representatives work to improve the graduate student experience on campus. They also may serve on committees that distribute Research and Travel funds for the organization.

Cultural diversity on campus

Diversity is woven into campus life, with six campus cultural centers unique to IU. The African American Arts Institute preserves and promotes African American culture, as does the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center. The Asian Culture Center brings together students from Asia and the Asian-Pacific. La Casa is the IU Latino Cultural Center, and the First Nations Educational and Cultural Center, affiliated with the Anthropology department, is open to everyone regardless of cultural, racial or tribal background. The LGBTQ+ Center also serves as a resource and information center for campus and community individuals, groups, events, and activities.

Each of these centers seeks to create a welcoming environment where those who identify with a particular culture and their allies and advocates can come together to build friendship and community, supporting one another in their personal lives and academic achievement.