Anthropology is dedicated to the exploration of human diversity. As a social and biological science, the discipline embraces a broad view of humanity according to the methods and topics of its four subfields: cultural anthropology (the study of people as social and cultural beings, whether in small-scale societies or complex global organizations); linguistic anthropology (the study of language-use and linguistic diversity in social life); archaeology (the study of social and cultural life through material remains, from a long-term historical perspective); and biological anthropology (the study of human and non-human primate evolution, the biology and diversity of living human populations, and the behavior and ecology of non-human primates).

In addition to conducting academic research, anthropologists apply their knowledge to solve real-world problems in such fields as education, healthcare, forensics, cultural resource management, economic development, marketing, and environmental conservation.

About Our Department

The UTSA Department of Anthropology provides students with a well-rounded understanding of the four subfields of anthropology. We offer a major and minor at the undergraduate level and MA and Ph.D. degrees at the graduate level. Our focused doctoral program in Environmental Anthropology provides advanced training in political and cultural ecology, landscape perspectives, medical anthropology, primate behavioral ecology, environmental politics, and conservation policy and practice.

Faculty research specialties include: archaeology of the Maya lowlands and Andean South America; archaeology of Texas and the Greater Southwest; primate behavioral and conservation ecology in Southeast Asia and Africa; resource management practices and human-animal relations in island Pacific; indigenous and environmental politics in lowland and Andean South America; the cultural anthropology of Texas and the Plains; ethnography and applied anthropology of Mexico and the United States; and medical anthropology of the US-Mexico border region.