Anthropology

Anthropology is the study of humans, and at the University of Oregon we accomplish this through the integration of three distinct yet complementary subfields: archaeology, biological anthropology, and cultural anthropology.

The Department of Anthropology is dedicated to better understanding human cultural and biological origins and diversity through education and research. The faculty is committed to excellence in teaching and to the advancement of knowledge through local, national, and international programs of research. As anthropologists, we are engaged in understanding recent and historical developments in the world at large, and we also seek to bring anthropological perspectives to bear on the problems of a modern global society.

The department embraces a broad intellectual pluralism where different theoretical and methodological approaches are recognized and valued.

What you can do with a degree in Anthropology

Our students leave our program well equipped to step into multiple careers, including:

  • Academia
  • Government and nonprofit sectors
  • Public and social policy
  • Human rights work
  • Land and resource management
  • Cultural heritage management
  • Primatology
  • Conservation biology
  • Forensic science
  • Public health and medical professions
  • Laboratory or field technician
  • Independent consulting and contracting
14
FACULTY labs
11th
national ranking in doctoral programs
3
subfields within the department
Anthropology faculty, Katelyn McDonough

Faculty Spotlight

Katelyn McDonough

Katelyn McDonough is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology and Native American and Indigenous Studies, and Curator of Great Basin Archaeology at the UO’s Museum of Natural and Cultural History. An environmental archaeologist interested in long-term relationships between people, foodways, and landscapes, Katelyn focuses on people’s interactions with plants and changing environments during and since the late Pleistocene in North America and uses archaeobotany, ethnobotany, palynology, and parasitology to investigate these dynamics. As Director of the Northern Great Basin Archaeology Field School, Katelyn is currently leading education and research programs at the Connley Caves, a series of rockshelters in central Oregon where Indigenous communities intermittently resided for more than 12,500 years. She also is involved with field- and collections-based projects throughout the Far West, including environmental and dietary studies in Washington, Oregon, and Nevada.

Anthropology faculty, Gabe Sanchez

Faculty Spotlight

Gabriel Sanchez

Gabriel Sanchez is an Indigenous Anthropologist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology and Native American and Indigenous Studies. He also is the Curator of Zooarchaeology at the UO’s Museum of Natural and Cultural History and the director of the Coastal Archaeology and Ancient Proteomics Laboratory. Gabriel currently participates in a collaborative and community-based participatory research project with the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band, the Esselen Tribe of Monterey County, and California State Parks, to investigate the native range of California’s endangered salmon species, which are vulnerable to extinction or extirpation. Another focus of Gabriel’s investigation is Indigenous persistence in California during the Spanish mission era to understand how Esselen ancestors evaded the Spanish mission system and continued practicing traditional lifeways.

Our Degree Programs

The Department of Anthropology is dedicated to better understanding human cultural and biological origins and diversity through education and research. We embrace a broad intellectual pluralism where different theoretical and methodological approaches are recognized and valued. 

Concentrations
Archaeology
Cultural Anthropology
Biological Anthropology
Concentrations
Archaeology
Cultural Anthropology
Biological Anthropology
Two researchers look at a mesh sieve

Learn from Experts in the Field

Our faculty are committed to excellence in teaching and to the advancement of knowledge through local, national, and international programs of research. As anthropologists, we are engaged in understanding recent and historical developments in the world at large, and we also seek to bring anthropological perspectives on the problems of a modern global society.

Connley Caves

Get Real-world Experience

Students have multiple opportunities to extend their education through opportunities like studying abroad during a term or a full academic year, or attending research conferences and archaeological site digs while at the UO. 

Early Condon Hall, University of Oregon

Continue Our Legacy of Groundbreaking Research

The Department of Anthropology has roots stretching back as far as 1929, when Dr. Luther S. Cressman joined the UO faculty to develop advanced research in sociology and teach social anthropology. His landmark contribution to the archaeology of the West remains his discovery in the early 1930s that human occupation of the Northwest was as early as that known anywhere in North America.

Scholarships & Funding

The Department of Anthropology offers several small awards to support undergraduate research and conference attendance. Multiple scholarships funded by the UO are also available for students that can be used to fund tuition, study abroad, research and other academic expenses. 

Undergraduate Scholarships

Graduate Funding

Academic Support

Advising in the Department of Anthropology starts with our Undergrad Advising Coordinator, who welcomes students to the major and helps them understand our degree requirements. She introduces students to departmental resources, connects them with departmental advising, answers students' general questions about the program, courses and other opportunities, and helps students check their degree requirements for timely graduation.

Undergraduate Advising
Support for Graduate Students

The Department of Anthropology welcomes gifts from donors to enhance its dynamic academic programs for undergraduate and graduate students. The donated funds go directly to support student and faculty research, colloquia, departmental events, etc.

 

Anthropology News and Events

November 20, 2023
ANTHROPOLOGY - The monthly roundup from the Department of Anthropology includes news of a Rhodes scholar, a faculty book award, conference presentations — and more.
November 14, 2023
GLOBAL HEALTH - University of Oregon senior Nayantara Arora has been awarded a Rhodes Scholarship for graduate study at the University of Oxford, making her the first Duck to earn the prized award in more than 15 years. Arora is majoring in neuroscience and minoring in global health and chemistry. At Oxford, Arora plans to pursue two master’s degrees, one in modeling for global health and the other in international health and tropical medicine.
September 6, 2023
ANTHROPOLOGY - University of Oregon researchers are teaming up with scientists throughout the US to study the most recent mass extinction—the one in the late Cretaceous that killed the dinosaurs—to prepare for a future one caused by humans.

All news »

Let's Talk - Wednesdays 2-4PM @ BCC
Dec6
Let's Talk - Wednesdays 2-4PM @ BCC Dec 6 Lyllye Reynolds-Parker Black Cultural Center
Special Collections Research Fellows Speaker Series: Zoey Kambour, 2023 Martha Thorsland Baker Fellow
Dec21
Special Collections Research Fellows Speaker Series: Zoey Kambour, 2023 Martha Thorsland Baker Fellow Dec 21
Reading by Claire Luchette & Morgan Thomas
Jan10
Reading by Claire Luchette & Morgan Thomas Jan 10 Knight Library
Special Collections Research Fellows Speaker Series
Jan18
Special Collections Research Fellows Speaker Series Jan 18
New Media and Culture Certificate Open House
Jan22
New Media and Culture Certificate Open House Jan 22 Knight Library
Wine Chat: "The Sisterhood: How a Network of Black Women Writers Changed American Culture"
Jan25
Wine Chat: "The Sisterhood: How a Network of Black Women Writers Changed American Culture" Jan 25 Capitello Wines
Never Convicted, Never Prosecuted: How Traitors Wrote Their Way Out of Prison and Into Lost Cause Mythology
Jan30
Never Convicted, Never Prosecuted: How Traitors Wrote Their Way Out of Prison and Into Lost Cause Mythology Jan 30 McKenzie Hall
Winter Career & Internship Expo
Feb1
Winter Career & Internship Expo Feb 1 Erb Memorial Union (EMU)
Guest Worker: Lives across Borders in an Age of Prosperity, 1919-75
Feb13
Guest Worker: Lives across Borders in an Age of Prosperity, 1919-75 Feb 13 McKenzie Hall
Poetry Reading by Aaron Baker 
Feb14
Poetry Reading by Aaron Baker  Feb 14 Knight Library

All events »