About the Department
The Department of Sociology and Anthropology explores how societies, cultures and human experiences shape the world around us.
Making sense of a complex world
Through a combination of social analysis, cultural insight and hands-on research, we help students understand human experiences, from everyday interactions to global systems.
Our courses emphasize critical reflection and exposure to diverse perspectives while building practical skills in research, analysis and communication. Learning also extends beyond the classroom through guest lectures and speaker events, creating connections between students and wider academic and professional communities.
Where sociology and anthropology meet
What makes this department unique is the way these two disciplines intersect.
Sociology focuses on structures — institutions, inequalities, systems of power — while anthropology brings attention to culture and meaning across contexts.
Together, they offer complementary ways of understanding how societies function and how people navigate them. Students can specialize in one field or move between both, developing an approach that is flexible and deeply relevant to contemporary issues.
Research connected to real-world questions
Research in the department is diverse but grounded in a shared commitment to better understand and respond to challenges shaping today’s world. The five research themes that guide exploration in the department are:
- Power, inequalities and governance
- Migration, citizenship and social change
- Health, care and wellbeing
- Environment, technology and more-than-human worlds
- Identity, embodiment and contemporary culture
Our faculty
Our researchers and professors bring diverse expertise to the department, connecting students to new ideas and broad perspectives.
