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Contacts

Office: Building 50, Main Quadrangle, 450 Jane Stanford Way
Mail Code: 94305-2034
Phone: (650) 723-3421
Email: anthropology@stanford.edu
Web Site: Stanford Anthropology

Courses offered by the Department of Anthropology are listed under the subject code ANTHRO.

Mission of the Department of Anthropology

The courses offered by the Department of Anthropology are designed to: provide undergraduates with instruction in anthropology; provide undergraduate majors in Anthropology with a program of work leading to the bachelor's degree; and prepare graduate candidates for advanced degrees in Anthropology. Anthropology is devoted to the study of human beings and human societies as they exist across time and space. It is distinct from other social sciences in that it gives central attention to the full time span of human history, and to the full range of human societies and cultures, including those located in historically marginalized parts of the world. It is therefore especially attuned to questions of social, cultural, and biological diversity, to issues of power, identity, and inequality, and to understanding the dynamic processes of social, historical, ecological, and biological change over time. Education in Anthropology provides excellent preparation for living in a multicultural and globally-interconnected world, and helps to equip students for careers in fields including law, medicine, business, public service, research, ecological sustainability, and resource management. Students may pursue degrees in Anthropology at the bachelor's, master's, and doctoral levels.

The Department of Anthropology offers a wide range of approaches to the topics and area studies within the field, including archaeology, ecology, environmental anthropology, evolution, linguistics, medical anthropology, political economy, science and technology studies, and sociocultural anthropology. Methodologies for the study of micro- and macro-social processes are taught through the use of qualitative and quantitative approaches. The department provides students with excellent training in theory and methods to enable them to pursue graduate study in any of the above mentioned subfields of Anthropology.

Undergraduate Programs in Anthropology

Undergraduate training in the Anthropology major at Stanford is designed for students who seek the Bachelor (B.A.) degree. Eligible students may also pursue a Bachelor of Art with Honors (B.A.H.). In addition, the department offers a minor in Anthropology. To declare a major or minor in Anthropology, students must apply for the following B.A. degree options in Axess:

  • Bachelor of Arts (B.A.)

  • Bachelor of Arts with Honors (B.A.H.)

  • Anthropology Minor

Graduate Programs in Anthropology

Graduate training in Anthropology at Stanford is designed for students who seek the Doctoral (Ph.D.) degree. Eligible Ph.D. students may also pursue a Ph.D. Minor in Anthropology. In addition, graduate training in Anthropology is designed for students who seek the Master of Arts (M.A.) degree. The Master's program in Anthropology offers the following options for students who seek a Master of Arts (M.A.) degree:

  1. Coterminal degree program for current Stanford undergraduates seeking to obtain a Master's degree while completing their bachelor's degree in the same or different department.

  2. Stanford graduate students taking advanced degrees in other departments or schools at Stanford, who are admitted to the terminal M.A. program in Anthropology.

  3. Anthropology Ph.D. students at Stanford University who fulfill the M.A. degree requirements on the way to the Ph.D. degree in Anthropology.

Field School and Research Opportunities in Anthropology

Students majoring in Anthropology are encouraged to develop field research projects under the supervision of a department faculty member. The department offers research grants to support individually-designed and other summer field research in Anthropology. The department research grants are intended to support field research as a supplement to other field research grants such as the VPUE Undergraduate Research Student Grants and through other area studies centers. The department also offers opportunities to participate in faculty-led research projects.

The department's summer research opportunities, include: Franz Boas summer scholars programs and Michelle Z. Rosaldo Summer Field Research Grant program. Note: Applicants must have been previously enrolled in ANTHRO 92A or ANTHRO 92B, Undergraduate Research Proposal Writing Workshop, prior to application for a summer research grant. Writing Required courses for the Franz Boas summer scholars program and the Michelle Z. Rosaldo grant program also include:

Units

course

Prefield Research Seminar

5

course

Postfield Research Seminar

5

For more information about research opportunities and deadlines, see the department's website.

Faculty

Emeriti: (Professors) Harumi Befu, George A. Collier, Jane F. Collier, Carol Delaney, William H. Durham, Penelope Eckert (by courtesy), Charles O. Frake, James L. Gibbs, Ian Hodder, Raymond McDermott, Jr. (by courtesy), John W. Rick, Renato I. Rosaldo

Chair: Thomas B. Hansen

Director of Graduate Studies: Andrew Bauer

Director of Undergraduate Studies: Kabir Tambar

Professors: Lisa Curran, James Ferguson, Thomas Blom Hansen, S. Lochlann Jain, Liisa Malkki, Richard G. Klein, Tanya Luhrmann, Barbara Voss, Sylvia J. Yanagisako

Associate Professors: Andrew Bauer, Paulla Ebron, Duana Fullwiley, Angela Garcia, Miyako Inoue, Matthew Kohrman, Krish Seetah, Kabir Tambar, Sharika Thiranagama

Assistant Professors:  Mudit Trivedi, Serkan Yolocan

Courtesy Professors: Jonathan Daniel Rosa, Gabrielle Hecht

Visiting Associate Professor: Maria Trinidad Rico

Lecturer: Claudia Engel, Grace Alexandrino Ocana, Paul Christians, Allison Kendra

Teaching Affiliates:  Elix Colon, Aaron Neiman