Graduate Program in Anthropology

Program Overview

UC Berkeley's PhD program in Anthropology offers a diverse and globally focused curriculum in archaeology, biological anthropology, sociocultural anthropology, and medical anthropology. Students benefit from strong research support, including departmental grants, mentorship, and student-initiated research groups. The program emphasizes student development through teaching skills, public research presentations, and engagement in academic practices.

Program Outline

Degree Overview:

The Department of Anthropology at UC Berkeley offers two PhD programs: Anthropology and Medical Anthropology. The program aims to shape emergent approaches in Archaeology, Biological Anthropology, Sociocultural Anthropology, and Medical Anthropology. Berkeley's graduate anthropology program boasts a diverse community of students with varying research approaches, backgrounds, and goals. Students can conduct research globally, with strong regional focuses on Latin America, Africa, Asia, the Islamic world, and contemporary North America. The program is renowned, attracting leading anthropologists from around the world who engage with students through lectures, workshops, and faculty positions. The program emphasizes student research support, including:

• Departmental grant programs: Support for pilot research
• Mentorship in grant writing: Leads to high success rates in securing research grants and fellowships
• Student-initiated research groups: Funded through Berkeley programs such as the Townsend Center and area studies centers
First-year seminars introduce incoming students to Berkeley anthropology and facilitate their transition into practicing anthropologists. The program's small size enables close mentorship and independent research development. Each student designs their course of study, guided by a faculty committee including at least one member from another department. Students are encouraged to:
• Develop teaching skills
• Present research publicly
• Engage in activities to understand the academic discipline and its practices

Other:

• The program features a vibrant community of students with diverse approaches to research, backgrounds, and goals.
• Students conduct research globally, with notable regional strengths in the study of Latin America, Africa, Asia, the Islamic world, and contemporary North America.
• The program is one of the top anthropology programs in the country.
• Leading anthropologists from around the world visit Berkeley, sharing their expertise through lecture series, workshops, and visiting faculty appointments.
• The program provides an opportunity to work closely with mentors while developing independent research.
• Students are encouraged to gain skills in teaching, present their own research in public, and engage in a wide range of activities that demonstrate the structure of the academic discipline and its practices.