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The Department of Anthropology

Social/Cultural Anthropology

Social/Cultural, or Sociocultural, Anthropology is the study of the cultures, societies, and social institutions that exist in the contemporary world. Social/cultural anthropologists explore the diversity of the world’s cultures and social systems, both western and nonwestern. These studies include work with indigenous people and marginalized groups, but always in a framework that incorporates the global social, political, and economic interconnections. Social/cultural anthropologists use a variety of methods, famously including ethnographic field studies, where researchers live, talk with, and observe a group for an extended period, an approach that creates a long-term, local, and deep understandings of social-cultural systems. The theoretical frameworks used by Social/Cultural Anthropologists are perhaps as diverse as the people that they study, and include ecological, demographic, economic, and political, and symbolic approaches.

At The University of Montana - Missoula students have the opportunity to learn social/cultural Anthropology as part of their general education in Anthropology, or to specialize by pursuing the BA degree in Anthropology with an option in Cultural and Ethnic Diversity. Cultural Heritage studies draws heavily from social/cultural anthropology, and the M.A. degree in Anthropology with an option in Cultural Heritage and the Ph.D. program welcomes post-baccalaureate sociocultural students with an appropriate focus.

Resources in Social/Cultural Anthropology