Undergraduate Anthropology as White Academic Space: Perceptions and Experiences of Minority Anthropology Students at WVU

Tanisha Adams*, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506

Field (Broad Category): Anthropology & Archeology (Oral-Human Engagement)

Student’s Major: Anthropology 

Helping to establish scientific racism and reinforce eugenics, the foundation of American anthropology was built on colonialistic and eurocentric ideology. By focusing on discourse rather than action, decades of effort to diversify the discipline has led to graduate students and practicing anthropologists of color to continuously express marginalization within the field. Although there are studies regarding minority graduate student experiences, there is little research that focuses on undergraduate anthropology minority students. In 2011 the American Anthropological Association Commission on Race and Racism in Anthropology (CRRA) conducted a survey to examine the experiences and status of minorities within the field of anthropology. The survey focused on the graduate students and those in academic positions. The results of this survey demonstrate racial and ethnic marginalization within the field of anthropology. What the CRRA study does not include is the undergraduate experience. This ethnographic study explores the experiences and status of undergraduate students in anthropology (and related fields) at West Virginia University using an interview script adapted from the CRRA survey questions. 

Funding: Eberly College of Arts and Sciences 

Program/mechanism supporting research/creative efforts: WVU's Research Apprenticeship Program (RAP) & accompanying HONR 297-level course