Drawing on the sub-disciplinary strengths of socio-cultural, linguistic, and archaeological Anthropology, we provide students with a critical introduction to human variation across time and space. With expertise both abroad and in the United States, faculty and students examine topics such as culture and communication, language preservation, colonial legacies and inequalities, health and well-being, ethics and care, and indigenous worlds and belonging.

“Our children may learn about the heroes of the past. Our task is to make ourselves the architects of the future.”

― Jomo Kenyatta

The Department mourns the passing of J. David Sapir, who passed away August 30, 2024. David was a specialist in West African languages, folklore, and culture, and more generally, in the place of symbolism in human thought. A separate interest was the history, practice, and ethnographic possibilities of still photograph.

(photo by David Plowden, courtesy of the Sapir family)

The Anthropology Department welcomes two new Assistant Professors, Drs. Aron Marie and Erin Moriarty. Dr. Moriarty researches the intersection of mobility and languaging practices in Cambodia and Indonesia. Dr. Marie focuses on how disabled people and their allies create political movements and communicate in innovative, non-normative ways in Vietnam.

Deaf Mobility Studies, by Annelies Kusters, our own Erin Moriarty, Amandine le Maire, Sanchayeeta Iyer, and Steven Emery revolutionizes how we think about deaf people’s international experiences. Equipped with a common theoretical framework, a team of five deaf ethnographers journeyed alongside their participants to delve into a rich array of experiences — ranging from career advancements and marriages to tourism and the challenges faced by deaf refugees. The authors present their findings within the framework of Deaf Mobility Studies, which brings together the transdisciplinary fields of Deaf Studies and Mobility Studies.