Department Emphasis
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 track has a focus on understanding a wide range of issues in the comparative study of society and culture.
Example of courses within the Culture and Society Emphasis:
- ANTHRO 102: Cults - Mystics and Messiahs in a Modern World
- ANTHRO 121B: “The Will to Adorn” - An Anthropology of Dress
- ANTHRO 124A: Law in Social and Historical Perspective
- ANTHRO 126: Urban Culture in Global Perspective
Environmental Anthropology
Environmental anthropology brings together faculty with specialties in the anthropology of science, archeology, heritage studies, medical anthropology, political ecology and political economy. As anthropologists, we largely focus on changing human relationships of the world over and throughout time.
Example of courses within the Environmental Anthropology Emphasis:
- Anthro 103: The Archaeology of Climate
- Anthro 104A: Archaeological approaches to Landscapes: How people and things make Places and Spaces
- Anthro 124B: Environmental Justice and Anthropology
- Anthro 130: Ethography of the Built Environments
- Anthro 167: Body and Environment
Medical Anthropology
Medical anthropology is the study of how health and illness are shaped, experienced, and understood in light of global, historical, and political forces. It is one of the most exciting subfields of anthropology and has increasingly clear relevance for students and professionals interested in the complexity of disease states, diagnostic categories, and what comes to count as pathology or health.
Example of courses within the Medical Anthropology Emphasis:
- ANTHRO 82: Medical Anthropology
- ANTHRO 186: Culture and Madness: Anthropological and Psychiatric Approaches to Mental Illness
Self-Designed Emphasis
Students in the self-designed emphasis will work with their faculty advisor to discuss their emphasis interests and ideas in order to design an approved plan of study. This plan of study may include core emphasis courses from the Culture and Society, Environmental Anthropology, or Medical Anthropology fields.