Anthropology Department

Our faculty share an interest in the holistic study of humans and a curiosity about the varieties of human experience. We believe that such an understanding forms an integral part of an undergraduate liberal education, and that the application of insights gained from such an understanding will contribute critical elements to the solution of contemporary medical, social, economic, and political problems. Our Department works across several broad areas of concentration, including Cultural Anthropology; Experimental Anthropology; Human Rights; Medical Anthropology; New World Archaeology; and Old World Archaeology. Our area strengths include Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America, North America, and Southwest Asia. Our faculty has also worked in Europe, South and Southeast Asia, and Oceania. We offer extensive expertise in many research methods in ethnology and archaeology. Our Department is part of The Higher Education Opportunities Act. If you would like to support the Anthropology Department, please visit College of Liberal arts and Sciences.

Dimitris Xygalatas on Rituals and First Civilizations in PBS Documentary

May 3, 2018

A recent episode of First Civilizations interviews UConn Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Dimitris Xygalatas on the role of ritual in the emergence of the first civilizations, religions, and priestly classes. First Civilization is a PBS documentary series that uses “the latest in archaeology, anthropology and genetics” to explore “how and why civilization first sparked into life.”

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Nicholas Belantoni and the New England Vampire Panic

April 30, 2018

UConn Anthropology Professor Nicholas Blentoni is featured in a discussion of the 19th-century New England vampire panic on the Stuff You Should Know podcast. Stuff You Should Know is an award-winning educational podcast and one of the most popular podcasts in the world.

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Department Alumnus Co-Author of Science Paper on Early Humans’ Use of Symbolism and Technology

March 16, 2018

UConn Anthropology Department alumnus, David Leslie, is co-author of a new paper published in Science Magazine that examines evidence of symbolic and technological innovation of early Homo sapiens at a series of Middle Stone Age sites in southern Kenya. The evidence shows that hominins at the sites dating to around 320 years ago made prepare […]

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Natalie Munro’s Newsweek Article on Earliest Evidence of Holiday Feast in Israel

December 24, 2017

In a recent article in Newsweek and in light of the upcoming holiday season, UCONN Professor of Anthropology, Natalie Munro, presents evidence for evidence of a 12000-year-old holiday feast in the Hilazon Tachtit cave in northern Israel. This archaeological site was discovered and excavated by Professor Munro and her colleague Dr. Leore Grosman of the […]

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Alumni Spotlight
Shan-Estelle Brown is a Post-doctoral Research Associate at Yale University School of Medicine
Alumni Spotlight
John Shaver is a lecturer in Religion, University of Otago
Alumni Spotlight
Post-Doctoral Fellow
Department of Anthropology, Trent University, Peterborough Canada
Alumni Spotlight
David Leslie is a Senior Archaeologist at the Archaeological and Historical Services Inc., and a Research Scientist at UCONN
Alumni Spotlight
Nathan Wales is a Post-doctoral Fellow at the University of Copenhagen
Alumni Spotlight
Marie Brault is an Associate Research Scientist at the Yale Global Health Leadership Institute
Alumni Spotlight
Sarah Sportman is a Senior Archaeologist and Faunal Analyst at the Archaeological and Historical Services, Inc.
Alumni Spotlight
Timothy Ives is the State Archaeologist of Rhode Island
Alumni Spotlight
Post-doctoral Fellow at Harvard University Department of Anthropology, Post-doctoral Research Affiliate at the Max Planck Institute
Gabriel Hrynick is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at University of New Brunswick
Alumni Spotlight
Alumni Spotlight
Bayla Ostrach is an Assistant Professor, Boston University School of Medicine Master's Program in Medical Anthropology & Cross-Cultural Practice
Alumni Spotlight
Austin Hill is a Research Associate at Dartmouth College, Department of Anthropology
Alumni Spotlight
Ann Cheney is Associate Professor in Residence at School of Medicine, University of California, Riverside