Anthropology is the study of humankind in the broadest sense: biological, sociocultural, and historical. The Department of Anthropology at UCSB has been a vibrant and active center of research and teaching for a half century. We offer undergraduate emphases in cultural anthropology (which includes archaeology) and biological anthropology. We offer graduate specializations in archaeology (including bioarchaeology), sociocultural anthropology, and integrative anthropological sciences. At present the Department is organized into two units with different but overlapping research agendas. These units function independently in the hiring of faculty, but our undergraduate programs follow traditional lines and are unaffected by the reorganization.  We offer B.A. degrees in two emphases:  Cultural Anthropology (including archaeology), and Biological Anthropology. 

Sociocultural Anthropology, Archaeology, and Bioarchaeology is currently made up of ten core faculty members.  Research interests of the faculty in this unit include human ecology, political economy, borderlands studies, cultural landscapes, religion, paleoethnobotany, bioarchaeology, hunter-gatherers, the origins of social inequality, and applied anthropology.  Faculty conduct fieldwork in such places as California, the Southeastern US, Mexico, Central America, Peru, Germany, Sudan, and India. This unit offers graduate training in sociocultural anthropology and archaeology (including bio-archaeology).

Integrative Anthropological Sciences covers sociocultural anthropology and biological anthropology, and is currently made up of four core faculty members and five affiliate members from Sociocultural Anthropology, Archaeology, and Bioarchaeology. Research interests of the faculty in this unit include human biology, ecological anthropology, behavioral ecology, evolutionary psychology, demography, psychological anthropology, and evolutionary anthropology. Faculty conduct research in laboratory settings and in field locations including the Solomon Islands, Bolivia, and Ecuador. This unit offers graduate training in ecological anthropology, scientific sociocultural anthropology, and biological anthropology.