Cultural Anthropology

Cultural Anthropology: an exploration of human possibility.

Novelist Amitav Ghosh and cellist Yo-yo Ma learned to see global cultural diversity through anthropology. Fantasy and science fiction writers - Samuel R. Delaney, Ursula K. Leguin, Kurt Vonnegut, and China Miéille - have enlarged their imaginations through anthropology. Anthropology can open your mind.

Cultural Anthropology: a conversation with the dispossessed.

Activists in the fields of human rights, environmental protection, feminism, and social justice train in cultural anthropology. Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! studied anthropology, as did Apollo Alliance's Michael Shellenberger. Activist musicians Tracy Chapman and Johnny Clegg were inspired by anthropology. Mary Allegretti, environmental advocate and Brazil's former Secretary for Amazonia, is an anthropologist. Anthropology tells of the life force of the oppressed.

Cultural Anthropology: the study of partial connections.

Follow colonial inscriptions through Africa or witness the death of authentic primitive art and other tales of progress. Find Chinese breathing spaces or explore upriver in Amazonia. Work into Chicana traditions, study tribes in India, and experience the friction of environmental crisis in Indonesia. Learn about these, and much more, in undergraduate and graduate anthropology classes.

Cultural Anthropology: an opportunity for good talk.

Gossip with Fijian Islanders. Stand in conviction of the Holy Spirit in Jerry Falwell's church. Hear out Russians who refuse to live by bread alone and Chinese silk workers who tell of gendered yearnings. Talk to Brazilians remade in Japan. Explore identity politics in Honduras. Have a long, leisurely chat instead of reducing someone to a statistic. The chance for a good talk: That's cultural anthropology.

Many students and scholars of cultural anthropology make good use of their studies in careers as lawyers, physicians, journalists, civil servants, and medical researchers. Many professionals in these and other fields return to school to learn cultural anthropology, which can expand the scope of their professional work. Anthropologists at UCSC maintain ties with numerous other campus units, including the Center for Cultural Studies, History of Consciousness, Sociology, Psychology, Women's Studies, Environmental Studies, Latin American and Latino/a Studies, the Chicano Latino Research Center, and the Center for Global, International, and Regional Studies.