Learning About Anthropology

Anthropology is the comparative analysis and understanding of cultures and societies through-out the world, and how those change through time. It is a discipline that is comprehensive in scope, considering peoples in all places and at all times. The field includes work as widely ranging as he archaeology of early humans to the ethnography of modern bureaucracies.

Anthropology is unlike any other discipline because of its emphasis on local level and comparative research in non-Western settings. Our approach is distinctly "ground up" ÷ that is, we collect our data using ethnographic methods (long-term field work and cultural immersion through which we develop fine grained analyses of the people and communities with whom we work), archaeological methods (the collection of material remains of ancient cultures), and other methods focusing on the language and biology of local populations. We are in a unique position to study how people and communities shape and are shaped by social forces outside of their control, whether those people are the Ancient Maya with their complex trade and alliance networks or contemporary ethnic minorities within our own borders. Our focus on the intersection of local and global history makes Anthropology a key linking discipline within the social sciences.

About Our Department

The UTSA Department of Anthropology is dedicated to providing students with a well-rounded understanding of the four sub-fields of anthropology (cultural anthropology, archaeology, physical anthropology, and linguistic anthropology). Our program emphasizes cultural anthropology and archaeology with a regional specialization in Mesoamerica, the US/Mexico borderlands, and the U.S. Plains and Southwest. The anthropology faculty have wide ranging interests encompassing both academic and applied research. We offer an undergraduate major and minor, oversee an American Studies minor, and offer a master's level graduate program

The Master's Program in Anthropology is intended to provide students with professional-level training in archaeology and cultural anthropology that will prepare them to pursue doctoral studies at other universities or to take positions in Federal, State, or local institutions where an ability to conduct ethnographic and/or archaeological research is a prerequisite.

The Master of Arts degree in Anthropology at UTSA was formally authrorized in 1980 by the UT System Coordinating Board. However, graduate-level courses in archaeology had been offered since the opening of the University in 1973. The 1980 authorization created Master's program specializations in both archaeology and ethnohistory. A specialization in cultural anthropology was added in the Fall of 1993. The specific focus in ethnohistory was phased out in 1996, although ethnohistorical research may still be conducted within the current specializations.

The College of Liberal and Fine Arts was formed in 2000 with the merger of the former College of Fine Arts and Humanities and most of the programs from the former College of Social and Behavioral Sciences. The new College, which provides the liberal arts core of the undergraduate experience at UTSA through coursework in the arts, humanities, and social sciences, also offers 19 undergraduate and 11 graduate degree programs. The School of Architecture , previously a part of COLFA, became an independent academic division in Fall 2002.

The largest undergraduate programs are Psychology, Communication, and English, and graduate programs in English, History, Anthropology, and Music enroll the largest number of students.