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
July 2026
Prof. Kevin Birth’s recently published book “The Unsettled Clock: The Persistence of Time Pluralism” (Berghahn Books) is about multiple co-existing ways of reckoning time. It features case studies from the Middle Ages, early modern Europe, the 19th century, and a discussion of the leap second policy and debate.
Table of Contents:
Introduction: What Is Time Pluralism?
Chapter 1. Producing Public Timekeeping and Time Pluralism
Chapter 2. A Bell for Every Market: Time Pluralism in Late Medieval York
Chapter 3. Cosmopolitan Times: Time Pluralism Habsburg Horology
Chapter 4. Time Pluralism and Scientists’ Choices
Chapter 5. Humbuggery and Time Pluralism: Nineteenth-Century Time Gambits
Chapter 6. Time Pluralism and Current Timescales
Chapter 7. Using Atoms versus Earth’s Rotation
Chapter 8. Time Pluralism and the Leap Second Problem
Chapter 9. Unsettling the Clock
Click here for more information: https://www.berghahnbooks.com/title/BirthUnsettled
July 2026
Prof. Megan Victor’s book: “Archaeogaming as Scholarly Play – The Intersection of Archaeology and Gaming” was recently published by Berghahn Books.
“With over 3 billion individuals that play video games worldwide, gamers consume immense amounts of data about the digital worlds they explore. Archaeogaming as Scholarly Play encourages readers to step into the intersection of archaeology and video games to critically examine how these games (re)present the past and those associated with exhuming it, should they be archaeologists or adventurers. In doing so, this volume suggests alternative approaches to archaeological pedagogy and provides new narratives in theoretical discourse.”
Click here for more information: https://www.berghahnbooks.com/title/RhodesArchaeogaming
Adjunct Faculty Chihiro Shibata and Tomomi Emoto receive Zora Neale Hurston Writing Fellowships
June 2026
Anthropology adjunct faculty members, Chihiro Shibata and Tomomi Emoto, just completed a summer residency program at Bard College for which they received Zora Neale Hurston Writing fellowships. To read more about their work here, follow this link: https://tinyurl.com/4jtcsz9h
Prof. Robert Nyamushoso discusses The Great Zimbabwe on South African radio
June 2026
Prof. Nyamushosho was recently interviewed on South Africa’s leading public radio programs, “Nightfall”, and discussed how archaeological and historical evidence continues to reshape our understanding of one of Africa’s greatest civilizations, The Great Zimbabwe. He reflects on his recently published essay in The Conversation Africa where he debunks long-standing myths of tyrants and forced labor in the construction of Great Zimbabwe. To hear the interview, click here: Rainbow Nation: Great Zimbabwe: debunking the myth of tyrants and forced labour