Students may pursue two different tracks in the Anthropology Ph.D. degree program. The tracks are not declarable in AXESS; they do not appear on the transcript or the diploma.
Culture and Society
The scope of cultural and social anthropology at Stanford includes the study of the full range of human societies and cultures, especially as these are drawn together in transnational and global interactions. The Culture and Society track faculty are committed to an intellectually rigorous and socially responsible pursuit of answers to questions that urgently matter in the contemporary world. The track has a focus on understanding a wide range of issues in the comparative study of society and culture. These include issues of:
- anthropology of religion;
- anthropology and the arts;
- anthropology of science;
- cities;
- colonialism and indigeneity;
- culture and mind;
- cultural politics and the nation state;
- ethnicity and collective identity;
- gender and sexuality;
- linguistic anthropology;
- medical anthropology;
- transnational and global political economy;
- development, conservation, and humanitarianism; and
- sovereignty, the modern state and biopolitics.
Faculty are engaged in ethnographic and documentary research informed by a wide array of theoretical perspectives, and focused on both traditional and emerging topics.
Archaeology
The archaeology track is committed to giving students a strong basis in the discipline and its ethical standards while providing the opportunity for diverse and open-minded inquiry in facing the challenges that confront archaeologists today. There is a strong global range of interests, with student and faculty researchers working from Southeast Asia to Europe, Africa and the Americas. These research interests include:
- Cities;
- Colonialism and Indigeneity;
- Anthropology and Art;
- Ethnicity and Collective identity;
- Gender and sexuality;
- Global heritage;
- Materiality; and
- World Archaeology.
Students accepted into the graduate program participate in the activities of the Archaeology Center. The Center through the cutting-edge research carried out in its research laboratories and through its program of distinguished visiting scholars, workshops and public lecture programs provides a forum for interaction amongst faculty and students in different parts of the University and gives students opportunities to engage in multi- and interdisciplinary research in archaeology and related fields.
