The mission statement of the University of Houston states that it is to serve the education and research needs of the Greater Houston area, which is an urban center with great cultural diversity as a community and which functions as an important port and center for global interaction. Accordingly, the Department of Anthropology provides academic training and field experience in human biological diversity, cultural diversity, medical anthropology, and archaeology.at the undergraduate and master's level for full-time and part-time students. Since Houston is a multicultural society and part of a world system (trends that will only become more prevalent in the next century), knowledge and training in these areas is important to the University's mission to provide graduates who can function successfully in the modern world and improve their lives and the quality of their communities. The department contributes to research in all four of these areas and uses the diverse ethnic and cultural population which makes up the urban setting of Houston as a focal point for these research activities. In addition, faculty members from the department engage in international research and focus on global concerns in many of the courses they teach. The mission of the department is to provide research on multicultural concerns and to educate students to function successfully in a multicultural community as well as to have a better understanding of how the United States and Houston can integrate into a global system.