UCLA Department of Anthropology: An Overview

The Department of Anthropology at UCLA offers a comprehensive exploration of the human condition, consistently ranking among the top programs in the United States. Established in 1941, the department distinguishes itself through its commitment to cutting-edge research, excellence in teaching, and a balanced, integrated approach to the four traditional subfields of anthropology: archaeology, biological anthropology, linguistic anthropology, and sociocultural anthropology.

A Broad and Integrated Approach

UCLA's Department of Anthropology embraces a broad perspective, fostering both balance and integration among its four core subfields. Many faculty members actively engage in research and teaching across multiple fields and hold joint appointments in other UCLA departments and schools, enriching the interdisciplinary nature of the program. This integrated approach allows students to explore the multifaceted nature of humanity from diverse perspectives.

Archaeology

Anthropological archaeology at UCLA excels in investigating long-term cultural and historical processes through comparative analysis across space and time. Research areas encompass economic networks, production, urbanism, human-environment interactions, and the origins of social inequality and complex polities. UCLA archaeologists conduct research and collaborate with scholars worldwide, with active projects in Mesoamerica, the American Southwest, South Asia, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean.

UCLA archaeology is at the forefront of redefining archaeological research. Recognizing that archaeology is not solely the study of the past but also relevant to the present, the program emphasizes "engaged archaeology," involving descendant communities and stakeholders in research endeavors. This collaborative approach ensures that research is conducted ethically and with sensitivity to local communities. Methods employed are diverse, spanning techniques from geological, biological, and physical sciences, as well as frameworks for interpreting material and visual culture from various disciplines. The unifying focus is on generating knowledge about humanity's past and present efforts to address cultural and environmental change, social and political tensions, economic challenges, population growth and migration, conflict, and strategies for peaceful cooperation. The department collaborates with other UCLA departments and schools, including psychology, urban geography, sociology, mathematics, design, and education.

Biological Anthropology

Biological anthropology at UCLA adopts a Darwinian perspective to study humans and other primates. The program emphasizes the evolutionary ecology of early hominids, extant primates, and contemporary humans. Training encompasses evolutionary theory, behavioral ecology, evolutionary psychology, paleoanthropology, paleoecology, primate behavior, and biobehavioral studies of the physiological bases of primate social behavior. Faculty members associated with the program conduct fieldwork in Africa and Central America, focusing on human behavioral ecology, human ethology, primate behavior, and hominid evolution. The program maintains close ties with the Department of Biology and the School of Medicine.

Linguistic Anthropology

Linguistic anthropology at UCLA confronts and analyzes intensified social inequality, including racism, racialization, gender, and sexuality, within the contexts of late capitalism and settler colonialism. The program examines the relationships between language and land, environmental change, health and educational disparities, violence, globalization, and migration. Linguistic anthropologists investigate how these formations and activities are mediated by particular languages and communicative skills. They study how the global economy and the rise of new technologies transform multilingual communicative repertoires and associated forms of cultural knowledge and semiotic practices.

The program has strengths in verbal art and language activism, language and race/racialization, language and gender, language and politics, and language, technology, and multimodal research. Research interests include language ideologies, multilingualism, language and migration, globalization, new media, popular culture, language and health, language and disability, language and violence, language and the environment, language and social institutions, and language across the lifespan. The program emphasizes the micro-instantiation of sociality and sense-making through embodied communicative practices, as well as the political-economic forces that influence the viability of speech communities.

Sociocultural Anthropology

Sociocultural anthropology at UCLA explores the structuring of social relationships through economic, political, kinship, and gender systems, as well as the perceptions, attitudes, and sentiments that characterize people's outlooks. Faculty and graduate students conduct research on a wide range of theoretical questions about social and cultural systems through fieldwork and comparative/historical analysis. Fieldwork, whether abroad or in the U.S., is considered essential for all graduate students. Current faculty research projects are located in Asia and the Pacific, Africa, the Middle East, North America, South America, and Europe. The Program in Psychocultural Studies and Medical Anthropology, offered jointly with the Department of Psychiatry (School of Medicine), provides a distinctive emphasis within Sociocultural Anthropology. Faculty and graduate students affiliated with the program participate in the “Mind, Medicine, and Culture” (MMAC) interest group.

Academic Programs and Opportunities

The UCLA Department of Anthropology offers a variety of academic programs to suit different interests and career goals.

Anthropology B.A. Degree

The Anthropology B.A. degree provides a broad examination of the human condition. Integrating approaches from the social and natural sciences, as well as the humanities, the program studies human beings in all their diversity and similarity across space and time. Anthropology majors are well-prepared for careers in research and teaching in university and museum settings. They also develop skills that can lead to further postgraduate training in other social scientific fields, the humanities, and biological sciences.

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Anthropology B.S. Degree

The B.S. degree resembles the B.A. degree in its course requirements within the Department of Anthropology but adds courses offered by other departments in the physical sciences, life sciences, mathematics, and statistics. This degree is well-suited for students interested in pursuing careers in the health sciences or other fields that require a strong foundation in the natural sciences.

Anthropology Minor

The Anthropology minor is designed for students who wish to take a series of courses in anthropology while majoring in another discipline. This minor provides a valuable complement to a wide range of majors and can enhance students' understanding of human behavior and culture.

"Careers in Anthropology" Course

UCLA’s Anthropology Department offers a course titled “Careers in Anthropology” to provide students an overview of the various career paths that are available to them after graduation by bringing in UCLA anthropology alumni that have succeeded in a variety of fields from medicine to tech. The course is designed to help Anthropology undergraduates develop academic and professional skills in preparation for life after UCLA and to expand awareness of personal interests and needs to make deliberate career choices. This course exposes students to the success stories of UCLA Anthropology Alumni, who share their professional journeys, insights, and advice for translating an Anthropology degree into a variety of career opportunities.

Lemelson Undergraduate Honors Program

The Lemelson Undergraduate Honors Program provides an opportunity for anthropology students to engage in research with faculty in the department and receive a Departmental Honors Designation on their diploma. As part of the Honors Programs, students must submit a final Honors thesis to reflect their research in 25-30 pages of text.

Study Abroad Programs

UCLA offers study abroad programs for anthropology students. For example, physics courses and labs can be completed in just a span of 8 weeks compared to the 33 weeks it would take at UCLA at the University of Sussex in Brighton on the southern coast of England during the summer. There are also abroad programs for students pursuing their BA in Anthropology.

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Undergraduate Anthropology Association

The Undergraduate Anthropology Association connects anthropology department faculty and students. UCLA is home to over 1,000 student clubs and organizations.

Faculty Recognition and Research Support

UCLA's Anthropology faculty have earned international recognition, including election to the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Their work is supported by grants and contracts from numerous prestigious organizations, including the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control, the National Science Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Geographic Society, the Ford Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the Spencer Foundation, the Wenner-Gren Foundation, and the W.T. Grant Foundation. Faculty members have also been honored with fellowships from major foundations such as the MacArthur Foundation, the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, the Center for the Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, the Institute for Advanced Study, the Russell Sage Foundation, and the Max Planck Institute, as well as with book prizes.

Preparing for the Future

An Anthropology B.S. may be the perfect choice for those thinking about a career in any of the nearly 100 health sciences, medicine, nursing or forensics. Anthropology is a field that examines the human condition in the broadest possible scope. Integrating approaches that span the social and natural sciences as well as the humanities, anthropology studies human beings in all of their diversity and similarity across space and time. Students majoring in anthropology are well positioned to pursue careers in research and teaching in both university and museum settings. They also develop skills that can lead them to further postgraduate training in other social scientific fields, the humanities, and biological sciences.

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