Anthropologists study societies, cultures, and language across time and space. We are concerned with questions of social, cultural, and biological diversity; to that end, we celebrate differences while exploring issues of power, identity, and inequality.
Meron Benti ’19, photo by Brett Simison
Anthropology
Anthropology crosses boundaries between the humanities and the sciences to study people past and present.
Some anthropologists study human origins. Others study the changing societies, cultures, and movements of our contemporary world. All anthropologists seek a deeper understanding of what differentiates human beings and what also brings us together.
Why Study Anthropology?
Do you want to be aware of our place in nature—who we are, where we come from, and how we understand the diversities as well as the similarities in being humans? Anthropology explores what it is to be human, in all its facets.
A saint procession in Nebaj, Guatemala, during the 1980s. Photo by David Stoll.
Our Courses
Anthropologists create a global picture of the human experience and use that picture to solve contemporary problems. To create that picture, we explore several subfields of anthropology, including archaeology, biological anthropology, cultural anthropology, linguistic anthropology, and medical anthropology.
Archaeologists explore history and prehistory through the excavation of sites and the analysis of artifacts and other material remains.
Biological anthropologists study evolution, using evidence from the fossil record, genetics, and primate behavior to explore human origins as well as human diversity.
Cultural anthropologists examine contemporary or recent societies, studying not only cultural diversity but also a host of social issues, from the dynamics of power and inequality to the ways in which culture shapes economic, political, and legal systems.
Linguistic anthropologists study the characteristics of human language and question how language shapes, and is shaped by, social interactions.
Medical anthropologists consider how people view disease and illness in different parts of the world and explore how global, historical, and political factors influence those views.
Our courses build bridges between anthropology and other disciplines—particularly African studies, Black studies, economics, education studies, environmental studies, food studies, global health, international and global studies, linguistics, and sociology.
Some courses consider the relationship between education, social policy, and urbanization. Others explore the causes, dynamics, and consequences of global migration. Our curriculum appeals to variety of students, particularly those pursuing careers in education, medicine, and the nonprofit sector, as well as students pursuing careers in business and politics.
Together, our classes “make the strange familiar and the familiar strange.” They celebrate the unity and diversity of the human experience.
Celebrating Difference
Spotlight
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Please join us in congratulating Professor Oxfeld on becoming the president of the Society for East Asian Anthropology.
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Before he graduated, Daniel Krugman ’21 researched refugees in Uganda. He is now a student at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health.
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Visit the Body Online, a critical digital studies lab dedicated to student learning and engagement of ethnographic theory, method, and design online.
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Our faculty publish across a range of topics and regions. Here is an example from one of our authors: a collection of Maidu creation stories edited by Professor Nevins.