Department of Anthropology

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In USC College's anthropology department, anthropologists study humankind through a cross-cultural, social science perspective, exploring the importance of culture in shaping human behavior and cultural relativity. Special emphasis is placed on the analysis and understanding of cultural differences, whether in human communities or among other primates.

Faculty members maintain a strong research and training program in visual cultural anthropology, focusing on ethnography, the use of film and other visual media in research, and the problems of cultural representation. At the Center for Visual Anthropology, faculty scholars work to preserve, create and interpret ethnographic documentary film.

The small but active bioanthropology program runs archival and field research programs on the great apes and human foraging societies from the Jane Goodall Research Center, which preserves and gives students access to materials gathered from Goodall's 30 years of studying primates.

The department's growing medical anthropology program examines the body, illness and healing from a cultural perspective. This approach includes comparative studies of folk healing systems, curing rituals, reproduction and childhood, aging and the elderly, and western biomedical practices.

Working with faculty, graduate students in the Ph.D. program undertake research projects spanning a broad range of topics, including ethnoecology, urban and applied anthropology, sociobiology, sociolinguistics, primatology and ethnography.

The department offers undergraduate programs leading to a B.A. in anthropology, a B.A. in health and humanity, and a combined B.A. in linguistics and anthropology. Minors include cultural anthropology and medical anthropology.

Undergraduate degrees and programs