Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology

University of Houston

Anthropology is the study of humanity in all of its diversity. It is a fundamentally comparative discipline uniquely positioned at the junctures between the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. We study, document, and analyze cultural difference, political and economic inequality, and social change, understanding variation in and across human populations and social formations, as well as interpreting the past through the investigation of material evidence, both prehistoric and modern. Anthropology is therefore exceedingly well positioned in the study of contemporary global social and cultural transformations, since the discipline has always had a global and comparative perspective on the human condition and sees our species as having been ''globalizing'' all along. Our students are educated in theories, methodologies, and empirically rich case studies that prepare them to better understand and engage with diverse and changing experiences of what it means to be human in the contemporary world.Our faculty is actively engaged in field research throughout the world, including cultural anthropology, ethnography, medical anthropology, and archaeology, with particular expertise in the study of the United States and North America, Latin America and the Caribbean, South Asia, Africa, and Europe. Students are encouraged to gain firsthand experience in various aspects of anthropological research, both domestically and abroad. On-campus and Houston-area research and public engagement opportunities are also often available each term. Our program especially encourages and supports diverse forms of community-based research collaborations and partnerships in the Houston metropolitan area as part of the work of publicly engaged anthropology.

College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences