About

The Department of Anthropology at UNC Chapel Hill fosters an environment where multiple approaches coexist and intersect. We support studies, research, and professional applications in the three subfields of foundational training, Sociocultural Anthropology, Human Biology, Ecology and Evolution; and Archaeology, and one cross-disciplinary program, Medical Anthropology. Cross-cutting these subfields, the department supports concentrations that integrate anthropology’s diverse expertise to address contemporary world problems. Current concentrations focus on: Health, Medicine, and Humanity; Heritage and Unwritten Histories; Global Engagement; Race, Difference, and Power; and Food, Environment, and Sustainability. The goals of this approach are to permit crosscutting research on the part of faculty and students, to encourage engagement with other programs and interdisciplinary units on campus, and to allow interest groups to form around particular problems as they emerge. Within this larger, open structure, the department maintains strong collective interest in issues of globalization, nature and the environment, public anthropology, cultural studies, and political economy. It also features strong collective interest in the regional study of North America (particularly the southern United States), Latin America, and the Caribbean, as well as Europe and Asia (particularly Southeast Asia). None of these interests are exclusive, however, and faculty members work on a variety of topics in a variety of settings.