Program Description

Anthropology is the study of people. Its perspective is biological, social and comparative, encompassing all aspects of human existence, from the most ancient societies to those of the present day. Anthropology seeks to order and explain similarities and differences between peoples of the world from the combined vantage points of culture and biology.

Cultural and Social Anthropology deal with the many aspects of the social lives of people around the world, including our own society: their economic systems, legal practices, kinship, religions, medical practices, folklore, arts and political systems, as well as the interrelationship of these systems in environmental adaptation and social change. Physical Anthropology describes and compares world human biology. Its focus is on humans and the primate order to which they belong as part of nature, and it seeks to document and understand the interplay of culture and biology in the course of human evolution and adaptation. Anthropological Linguistics deals with varied aspects of human language, and the characteristics of non-human communication systems, in order to achieve an understanding of past and present human language systems and their significance in social life. Archaeology takes as its focus the material remains of human societies from the remote and recent past, with emphasis on reconstructing and understanding past modes of human cultural adaptation and change.