It seeks to understand cultural influences such as gender relationships, social hierarchy, and symbolic representations of human behavior. Archaeological Anthropology studies the excavated material remains of past cultures, uses scientific methods to decipher how people have lived and worked in the past. Special interests include the study of prehistoric hunters and gatherers and the development of more complex societies in North America, Europe, Egypt and Mesopotamia, and South Asia, among others. Linguistic Anthropology examines language as a key to understanding the social, symbolic and expressive lives of members of society. It studies language's impact on other aspects of cultural life, such as social organization, religion and politics.
Students conduct supervised fieldwork in various speech communities in New York City.
Physical Anthropology concentrates on the evolution, biology, and comparative behavior of human and non-human primates. It is linked to the subfields by its commitment to the study of evolution and biology within the context of culture, society, and ecology. Faculty and students are currently doing research in Ethiopia, Tanzania and Borneo. The Department offers a major in Anthropology as well as joint majors with the Department of Classics and with the Department of Linguistics . The requirements for these majors are listed below.