Anthropology

University of California, Berkeley

This is an archived copy of the 2019-20 guide. To access the most recent version of the guide, please visit http://guide.berkeley.edu.

Spring 2020 COVID-19 Measures

Overview

The Department of Anthropology offers students the opportunity to study humankind from the broadest historical and geographical perspective. Courses in the department offer knowledge of social and cultural aspects of behavior, as well as the physical nature of humans. Lower division courses are intended to give a general understanding of human evolution, prehistory, and the nature of human cultures, while upper division courses elaborate particular themes.

The collections and research facilities of the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology are available for study in archaeology, ethnography, physical anthropology, and related subjects by graduate and undergraduate students, and visiting scholars. The museum's exhibition hall is used for instructional and educational purposes, particularly in connection with classwork. Those interested may address the Director at 103 Kroeber Hall.

Students seeking information on the Undergraduate Program may inquire at 215 Kroeber Hall. Students seeking information on the Graduate Program may inquire at 205 Kroeber Hall.

Library

The George & Mary Foster Anthropology Library contains a deep and rich collection of books and journals in all areas of anthropological research, including especially strong historical collections related to California Native American culture and California archaeology.  The Anthropology Library is part of the larger UC Berkeley Library — an internationally renowned research and teaching facility with a collection of over 11 million volumes. In addition to extensive collections, the library offers robust services to connect users with information in all formats and to build their related research skills.

Undergraduate Program

Anthropology: BA, Minor

Graduate Programs

Anthropology: PhD, with specializations in archaeology, biological anthropology, and sociocultural anthropology
Folklore: MA (through the interdisciplinary Folklore Program)
Medical Anthropology: Joint PhD (in cooperation with UCSF)

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Courses

Select a subject to view courses

Anthropology

Folklore

Faculty and Instructors

Faculty

Sabrina C. Agarwal, Professor. Bioarchaeology, skeletal biology, gender research, biological and evolutionary anthropology, osteology and osteoporosis, health and disease, paleopathology .
Research Profile

Stanley H. Brandes, Professor. Cultural anthropology, ritual and religion, food and drink, alcohol use, visual anthropology, Mediterranean Europe, Latin America, Spain, Mexico.
Research Profile

Charles L. Briggs, Professor. Linguistic and medical anthropology, social theory, modernity, citizenship and the state, race, and violence.

Lawrence Cohen, Professor. Social cultural anthropology, medical and psychiatric anthropology, critical gerontology, lesbian and gay studies, feminist and queer theory.
Research Profile

Terrence W. Deacon, Professor. Neuroscience, anthropology, cognitive neuroscience, evolutionary biology, neurobiology, semiotics, primates, linguistic theory.
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Nicholas Dirks, Professor. History and anthropology of South Asia, social and cultural theory, history of imperialism, historiography, cultural studies, globalization.
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Mariane C. Ferme, Professor. Material culture and agrarian landscapes, gender, historical anthropology, Sierra Leone, contemporary Africa, political culture, transitional justice in post-conflict societies.
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Daniel Fisher, Associate Professor. Social Cultural Anthropology, Anthropology of Media, Aboriginal Australia, Music and Sound, Art and Expressive Practice, Photography, Ethnographic Film and Video, Citizenship and the State, Bureaucracy .
Research Profile

Junko Habu, Professor. Japan, anthropology, archaeology, climate change, sustainability, East Asia, Jomon hunter-gatherers.
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William F. Hanks, Professor. Social and cultural anthropology, linguistics, shamanism, language, Yucatan Mexico, Maya culture.
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Christine Hastorf, Professor. Anthropology, archaeology, paleoethnobotany/archaeobotany, ancient plant use, foodways, Andean South America, ritual, agriculture.
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Cori Hayden, Associate Professor. Latin America, Mexico, social and cultural anthropology, kinship, anthropology of science, technology, and medicine, post-colonial science, gender, queer studies.
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Charles Hirschkind, Associate Professor. Islam, anthropology, religious practice, media technologies, political community, Middle East, Europe.
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James Holston, Professor. Citizenship, Brazil, architecture, law, planning, the United States, cities, democracy, political and social anthropology, urban ethnography, the Americas.
Research Profile

Rosemary Joyce, Professor. Latin America, anthropology, gender, archaeology, sexuality, museums, cultural heritage, ethics, Central America, feminism.
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Kent Lightfoot, Professor. California archaeology, coastal hunter-gatherers, North American archaeology, archaeology of colonialism, indigenous landscape management.
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Xin Liu, Professor. History and/of anthropology, contemporary trends in social theory, social/cultural anthropology, comparative societies, capitalism and culture, America and China/East Asia.
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Lisa A. Maher, Associate Professor. Archaeology, hunter-gatherers, prehistory, geoarchaeology, landscape use, stone tools technology, emergence of social complexity.
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Donald S. Moore, Associate Professor. Ethnicity, development, cultural politics, race, and identity, spatiality and power, governmentality, environment, postcolonial theory, Africa.
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Laura Nader, Professor. Latin America, Mexico, social anthropology, comparative ethnography of law, dispute resolution, conflict, controlling processes, comparative family organizations, the anthropology of professional mind-sets, ethnology of the Middle East, contemporary U S .
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Karen Nakamura, Professor. Cultural anthropology, Disability Studies, LGBT movements, minority social movements and identity politics, visual anthropology and ethnographic filmmaking, Japan.

Aihwa Ong, Professor. Cultural anthropology, anthropology, transnationalism, citizenship, global cities, migration, Southeast Asia, urbanism.
Research Profile

Stefania Pandolfo, Professor. Cultural anthropology, Islam, Middle East, theories of subjectivity, postcolonial criticism, anthropology and literature, the Maghreb, mental illness.
Research Profile

Jun Sunseri, Associate Professor. Historical archaeology, zooarchaeology, ceramic material science, GIS, landscape archaeology, experimental archaeology, community-engaged scholarship, outreach, foodways, actualistic research.
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Sarah Vaughn, Assistant Professor. Cultural anthropology, (Post)colonial Science studies, environment, expertise, climate change, vulnerability, critical theories of race and racialization, theories of liberalism, Caribbean/Latin America.

William A. White, Assistant Professor. Historical archaeology.

Laurie Wilkie, Professor. Anthropology, historical archaeology, oral history, material culture and ethnic identity, family and gender relations, North America, Northern California, Caribbean Bahamas, African consumerism, creolization, multi-ethnic community.
Research Profile

Alexei Yurchak, Associate Professor. Language, Discourse, power, social theory, late socialism, theories of ideology, subjectivity, popular culture, ideology, Soviet and post-Soviet culture and society, post-socialism, telecommunications, linguistics, speech synthesis.
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Emeritus Faculty

Overton B. Berlin, Professor Emeritus.

Margaret W. Conkey, Professor Emeritus. Anthropology, gender, archaeology, prehistoric art, hunter-gatherers, feminist perspectives, Paleolithic art, rock art.
Research Profile

Phyllis C. Dolhinow, Professor Emeritus. Anthropology, development, ecology, physical anthropology, primate social behavior, human behavior, evolution .
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Nelson H. Graburn, Professor Emeritus. Social and cultural anthropology, kinship, art, tourism, Japan, circumpolar, China, Heritage, Inuit.
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John A. Graham, Professor Emeritus.

Eugene A. Hammel, Professor Emeritus. Kinship, social anthropology, stratification, statistical and formal analysis, computer applications, peasant society and culture, demography, Balkans.
Research Profile

Patrick V. Kirch, Professor Emeritus. Historical anthropology, Oceania, ethnoarchaeology, Melanesia, Polynesia, environmental archaeology, prehistoric agricultural systems, human paleoecology, ethnobotany.
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Herbert P. Phillips, Professor Emeritus.

Jack M. Potter, Professor Emeritus. Anthropology, social anthropology, U S , Thailand, classical social theory, peasants, change, ethnographic film, China.
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Paul M. Rabinow, Professor Emeritus. Cultural anthropology, social thought, modernity, biotechnology, genome mapping, France, Iceland.
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Nancy Scheper-Hughes, Professor Emeritus. Critical medical anthropology, violence, genocide, inequality, marginality, childhood, family, psychiatry, deinstitutionalization, medical ethics, fieldwork ethics, globalization medicine, social/ political illness, disease, AIDS, Ireland, Brazil, cuba.
Research Profile

M. Steven Shackley, Professor Emeritus. Northwest Mexico, anthropology, archaeology, North America, geochemical analysis.
Research Profile

William S. Simmons, Professor Emeritus.

Ruth Tringham, Professor Emeritus. Archaeology, Central European, Eastern European, Mediterranean, Anatolian prehistory, early agriculturalists, neolithic, bronze age, prehistoric architecture, household archaeology, feminist practice of archaeology, multimedia (hypermedia).
Research Profile

Contact Information

Department of Anthropology

232 Kroeber Hall

Phone: 510-642-3392

Fax: 510-643-8557

Visit Department Website

Department Chair

Rosemary Joyce

Kroeber Hall

rajoyce@berkeley.edu

Folklore Program Chair

Charles L.Briggs PhD

333 Kroeber Hall

Phone: 510-643-2012

clbriggs@berkeley.edu

Medical Anthropology Program Director

Seth Holmes, PhD

Graduate Student Affairs Officier

Tabea Mastel

205 Kroeber Hall

Phone: 510-642-3406

tmastel@berkeley.edu

Undergraduate Student Affairs Officer

Frances Bright

215 Kroeber Hall

Phone: 510-642-3616

f.bright@berkeley.edu

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