Anthropology

Return to: USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

The Department of Anthropology offers a BA in Anthropology with tracks in cultural anthropology, medical anthropology and biological anthropology; a BA in Anthropology with a concentration in visual anthropology; a BA in Global Studies; minor programs in cultural anthropology, medical anthropology, folklore and popular culture, and Southeast Asia and its people; an MA in Anthropology; a certificate in visual anthropology and a progressive master’s degree in visual anthropology. The Department of Anthropology encourages students to become involved in ethnographic research and fieldwork while gaining a firm theoretical foundation in anthropology. Special areas of emphasis in the department are provided by visual anthropology, biocultural approaches to human evolution, a medical anthropology program that examines the body, illness and healing from a cultural perspective, a folklore oriented course of study that links cultural practice to interpretive strategies and a newly initiated Global Studies major that seeks to provide conceptualizations of linkages of the global with the local. All of these topical interests are unified by a methodological approach that puts ethnography at the core and views personally experienced fieldwork as the foundation of our academic discipline.

Kaprielian Hall, 352
(213) 740-1900
FAX: (213) 747-8571
Email: anthro@dornsife.usc.edu

Chair: Gary Seaman, PhD

Faculty

University Professor and ARCO/William F. Kieschnick Chair in the Neurobiology of Aging and Professor of Gerontology, Psychology, Biological Sciences and Anthropology: Caleb E. Finch, PhD (Gerontology)

Andrew W. Mellon Professor of the Humanities, Linda and Harlan Martens Director of the Early Modern Studies Institute and Professor of History and Anthropology: Peter C. Mancall, PhD (History)

Albert G. and Frances Lomas Feldman Professor of Social Policy and Health and Anthropology: Lawrence Palinkas, PhD (Social Work)

Professors: Gelya Frank, PhD (Occupational Science); Janet Hoskins, PhD; Dorinne Kondo, PhD (American Studies and Ethnicity); Nancy Lutkehaus, PhD; Cheryl Mattingly, PhD; Alison D. Renteln*, PhD (Political Science); Craig Stanford*, PhD (Biological Sciences)

Associate Professors: Reighan Gillam, PhD; Lanita Jacobs, PhD; Gary Seaman, PhD

Adjunct Professor: Jane Goodall, PhD

Adjunct Professor of the Practice: Andre Singer, PhD

Professor (Teaching): Erin Moore, PhD

Associate Professors (Teaching): Tok Thompson, PhD; Thomas Ward, PhD

Assistant Professor (Teaching): Jennifer Cool, PhD

Lecturers: Tracie Mayfield, PhD; Kenneth Seligson, PhD; Emily Zeamer, PhD

Emeritus Professor: G. Alexander Moore, PhD

Associate Professor Emerita: Joan Weibel-Orlando, PhD

*Recipient of university-wide or college teaching award.

Undergraduate Degrees

Interdisciplinary Law and Society Minor

See the Department of Political Science .

Minor in Photography and Social Change

See Sociology .

Graduate Programs

The Center for Visual Anthropology

The primary goals of the Center for Visual Anthropology (CVA) are: to promote the incorporation of visual modes of expression into the academic discipline of anthropology; to promote mutual understanding and collaboration between professionals in the visual media and in anthropology; to create an awareness of the anthropological perspective in documentaries produced for mass audiences; to improve the materials and techniques available for using film in teaching anthropology; to encourage the collection, archiving and analysis of visual documentation for anthropological research. The Ethnographics Laboratory is a part of the Center for Visual Anthropology, which provides archival and computer facilities for students and faculty who work with non-linear editing systems and interactive media in anthropology. The primary mission of the Ethnographics Lab is to promote the integration of all forms of information, whether text, graphics of time-based media, into a new synthesis of anthropological knowledge. It provides support for research and representation in multimedia formats carried out in a new laboratory facility based on computer AV technologies and software.

The Jane Goodall Research Center is the designated repository of field data from Jane Goodall’s work among the primates of Gombe National Park in Tanzania. A computer interactive multimedia archive of these materials is being implemented to make them available to students, faculty and other interested scholars.

Policy on Films and Videos Produced by Students

All films and videos produced with school equipment, funding or facilities are the property of USC. Any income from distribution of student-produced films and videos will be used for the benefit of CVA students through production budgets, equipment purchases or scholarships.

Programs

Bachelor’s Degree

• Anthropology (BA)
• Anthropology (Visual Anthropology) (BA)
• Global Studies (BA)

Minor

Master’s Degree

• Anthropology (MA)
• Visual Anthropology (MVA)

Graduate Certificate

• Visual Anthropology Certificate

Courses

Anthropology

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