The study of history and anthropology fulfills the mission of Franciscan University by assisting our students in their discovery of truth. Furthermore, while we steadfastly honor the free agency of man, we also believe that Christ gives purpose and meaning to our subjects and our disciplines, and that both are best understood in the light of the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church and the Franciscan tradition.
It is the mission of the Department of History and Anthropology to teach our students the disciplines that they have chosen to study. Anthropology studies humans as biological and cultural beings in a holistic and comparative perspective from our earliest beginning to the present. The Anthropology Program offers students a broad-based, cross-cultural understanding of the dynamic nature of humankind. Students will learn the methods and works of anthropologists and related researchers, particularly in each of the four principle sub-fields: cultural anthropology, physical anthropology, archaeology, and linguistics.
For history, this includes introducing students to the historical past and training them to interpret the past in an honest and forthright manner. This is accomplished by imparting to the student the principles of historical method, which include: providing an adequate knowledge of the facts of the historical past; teaching the techniques necessary for the critical and analytical examination of historical evidence; fostering an appreciation for the synthetic and holistic study of the past (including the various aspect so culture, such as religion, intellectual ideas, politics, society, and economics); and introducing the student to the key historiographical debates regarding the interpretation(s) of the past.
