Anthropology
Anthropology is the study of human beings and humankind in the broadest sense. Anthropologists study present and past human cultures and societies, human and non-human primate biology and evolution, and language in social contexts.
Chair: Larissa Swedell
Office: Powdermaker 314
Phone: 718-997-5510
E-mail: LSwedell@qc.cuny.edu
For Anthropology Advising:
Anthropology at QC
Anthropology’s unique cross-cultural and deeply temporal approach to understanding human diversity is perhaps the smartest and most practical route that a general liberal arts student can select. A major or minor in anthropology can be easily supplemented with a variety of relevant courses focused on any number of specific career goals and orientations. If a solid liberal arts foundation is your first educational goal, consider a major in anthropology. It offers a way of “seeing” and “reading” the world that is in increasing demand in these changing multicultural times.
For a printable overview of Anthropology and the majors and minors, click here.
Looking to the past, preparing for the future
A major or minor in anthropology provides the necessary preparation for a variety of careers, including education, international studies, medicine and allied professions, social work, corporate consulting, market research, museum work, community organizing, academia, and many more. Students may focus mainly in one of the anthropological subfields – cultural, biological, archaeological, or linguistic anthropology – or they may follow a more general program of study that includes all four subfields.
Explore Anthropology at QC
Anthropology News
May 2026
Prof. Kevin Birth recently delivered a talk at St. Joseph’s Seminary in Yonkers: “The Parrot in the Library: Artificial Intelligence, Human Reasoning, and *SQUAWK*” which can now be viewed here: The Parrot in the Library
May 2026
Looking for interesting and engaging courses for Fall 2026? Check out our spring line up here: Fall 2026 Anthropology Courses. Questions about any of these courses, including waiving pre-requisites, should be directed to the instructor.
Prof. Makihara and Rodríguez publish book with Berghahn Press; interview with authors on CaMP Anthropology
September 2025
Prof. Makihara and Rodríguez recently published their new book “Language and Political Subjectivity: Stancemaking, Power and Politics in Chile and Venezuela” with Berghahn Press. They present an ethnographic and historical perspective on how Indigenous and diasporic communities, with their political subjectivities, expand over sociohistorical changes and struggles in the transformation of Chilean democracy and Venezuela’s Bolivarian Revolution.
To read more about the book, CaMP Anthropology recently posted an interview with the Prof. Makihara and Rodríguez.