In recent years advanced students have earned credit for research assistance on a variety of faculty-directed projects. These include the analysis of human skeletal remains from a 19th-century cemetery in Chicago; laboratory analyses of archaeological artifacts from Mesoamerica; the study of captive primate behavior at the Lincoln Park Zoological gardens; and a study of aging at a local retirement center, to name a few.

Students are encouraged to gain summer fieldwork experiences in archaeology, biological anthropology and cultural anthropology. The Loyola Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (LUROP) offers competitive fellowships and grants to help support faculty-mentored student research. Cooperative programs between Loyola and other universities around the world provide additional opportunities.

Senior anthropology majors are also encouraged to consider undertaking a "capstone" experience, which may involve a faculty-mentored research project, an internship, or other independent study.