Anthropology is the study of cultural differences and connections in a globalised world. As a field of study anthropology is uniquely placed to interpret the widest range of contemporary social phenomena — from migration to religious fundamentalism, online communities and new social movements, contemporary indigenous cultural expression and identity politics, consumption and commodification, and the changing forms of social identity and relationships.

 

The Australian National University is Australia’s centre for research and training in the discipline of Anthropology. ANU’s Anthropology HDR Network represents one of the largest concentrations of expertise in anthropology anywhere, with over a hundred staff and PhD students who are engaged in exciting, long-term ethnographic research. ANU’s anthropology program is ranked 5th in the world and no. 1 in Australia according to the 2021 QS World University Rankings. The research and training activities program that operates across campus, bringing together anthropologists from several main and other locations on campus is called the Anthropology Higher Degree Research (HDR) Academic Network. This is its website and you can check here for general information, forthcoming events, announcements, research profiles and more.

ANU Anthropology offers a dynamic and engaged research culture. We combine innovative research in the unfolding contemporary world with a strong emphasis on long-term ethnographic fieldwork and a commitment to constructive but critical engagement with social theory. ANU’s anthropologists are primarily conducted in the School of Culture, History and Language in the College of Asia and the Pacific (CAP) and the School of Archaeology and Anthropology in the the College of Arts and Social Sciences (CASS). There are also close links with other disciplines within ANU such as Linguistics, Human Geography, History and Politics. The breadth of undergraduate and postgraduate education and research is correspondingly large, with concentrations in cultural, biological, and forensic anthropology and interdisciplinary linkages and programs in gender studies, Asia-Pacific Modernities, Development studies, Indigenous Australian studies, Ethnographic Film and Visual Anthropology, Pacific studies and more. In our postgraduate seminars, conferences, and weekly colloquium we strive for free-ranging and critical debate on current research in our discipline. CRICOS provider 00120C

Be sure to check out the dynamic blog and podcast ‘The Familiar Strange’, which seeks to take on contemporary issues from the lens of anthropology. They are always looking for new perspectives so do consider contributing yourself: https://thefamiliarstrange.com

*The photos on the banner of this page are a selection from the 2017 exhibition ‘The Art of Anthropology’. They are taken by the following current and former PhD students (in order of display): Helen Abbott, Justine Chambers, Maria Ibari Ortega Dominguez and Paul Hayes.