The Department maintains its number one ranking in the most recent National Research Council (NRC) ratings. Our top rank was also reaffirmed in a 1998 newsletter of the American Anthropological Association. Ours is a strong and vibrant faculty that continues to span and integrate the four subfields of anthropology. We have exciting new initiatives, including operation of the third largest ancient DNA laboratory in the world.

Our faculty has several new and eminent members. Two former chairs of the Johns Hopkins University Department of Anthropology--Gillian Feeley-Harnik and Katherine Verdery--joined us in Fall 1998. Other recently added tenured faculty are Professor Judith Irvine, formerly of Brandeis University, and Associate Professor Webb Keane, formerly of the University of Pennsylvania. Our recently hired assistant professors are Kelly Askew (joint with CAAS, the Center for Afroamerican and African Studies, formerly of Indiana University), Janet Finn (joint with Social Work, formerly of the University of Montana), Alaina Lemon (from the Michigan Society of Fellows and the University of Chicago), Elisha Renne (joint with CAAS, formerly of Princeton), and Andrew Shryock, formerly of SUNY, Buffalo

Our faculty includes four members of the National Academy of Sciences (Kent Flannery, Joyce Marcus, Henry Wright, and Emeritus Professor Stanley Garn), as well as several members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In addition to our four-field breadth, we also cover most areas of the world. Our strength has grown in Latin America and particularly in Africa (with Askew, Feeley-Harnik, Irvine, and Renne), in addition to our longer-established area centers.

The University of Michigan Department of Anthropology maintains its strong commitment to four-field anthropology. Our goal is to keep on doing what we do best: documenting, interpreting, and explaining human biological and cultural diversity in time and space.

The History of the Department

The University of Michigan Department of Anthropology was established in 1929 by Carl E. Guthe, who was primarily responsible, and Julian H. Steward. The Department initially was housed in a room in the Museum of Anthropology that had previously been reserved for research visitors.

From this modest beginning, it has grown into a department internationally recognized for its excellence in scholarship and teaching and for the important contributions its members have made over the years to the field of anthropology. Today, the University of Michigan Department of Anthropology is considered the nation's top anthropology department, thanks both to the depth and breadth of its membership and course offerings and to its prominence in research and publications.

The Department has grown steadily in its more than seventy year history. The University's Museum of Anthropology was founded in 1924. The Department of Anthropology was established as part of the Museum in 1929, with its two founding members, Carl E. Guthe and Julian H. Steward. In 1930 Leslie A. White was added as an Assistant Professor. In 1936 Misha Titiev left his post as Director of Planning at the Archaeological Museum in Williamsburg, Virginia to join the Department. By 1940, White, Titiev and Guthe were offering 16 courses, an undergraduate major, and a master of arts program. From 1940 to 1955, the faculty gradually expanded, in response to the increase in the student population after World War II and the growing awareness of the importance of understanding different world areas.

The Ph.D. program, established in 1948, was the second in the Midwest, following the University of Chicago. By 1955, the Department had fifteen faculty members, with over 75 courses available to undergraduate and graduate students.

In 1954, Department headquarters moved from the Museum to the basement of Angell Hall. Faculty size continued to grow. There were 24 members in 1965 and over 30 by 1970. In 1963, Norma Diamond, a China specialist, was the first woman appointed to the Department. By 1981, it was again necessary to relocate the Department to accommodate its expansion. Department headquarters moved to the L.S.&A. building in early 1981, where it remains to this day, although faculty members maintain offices in various buildings around campus, and the archaeology faculty offices remain in the Museum of Anthropology. Today, there are some 60 faculty members and over 265 courses available at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

As the number of professors and courses rose, so too did student enrollments. In the 1946 fall term, there were 10 graduate students and some 640 course enrollments. By fall 1955, there were about 30 graduate students and almost 1000 enrollments. By 1975, there were 200 graduate students, 130 undergraduate majors, and over 4,500 course enrollments. These numbers have remained fairly stable since 1975, despite slight increases in the 1990s. Today, the Department has more than 200 graduate students, over 100 graduating majors annually (3.5% of all concentrators in the College), and more than 5,000 student enrollments per academic year.

The Department's major strength is its classic four subfield approach. Its faculty has made significant scholarly contributions in ethnology (sociocultural anthropology), linguistic anthropology, archaeology and biological anthropology. Basic training (core courses) in all four subfields are required for graduate students and undergraduate majors. After obtaining the master's degree, students pursue more specialized areas of knowledge, research topics, and geographic areas.

Ethnology has traditionally been the most represented subfield in the Department, in number of faculty members, students, and courses. Over 200 of the approximately 400 PhDs the Department has awarded have been in ethnology. Eight of fourteen Department chairs have been ethnologists (Leslie White, 1944-1956, Elman Service, 1962-1963, William Schorger, 1965-1966 and 1967-1970, Eric Wolf, 1970-1971, Richard Beardsley, 1971-1972, Roy Rappaport, 1975-1980, Sherry Ortner, 1986-1989, and Conrad Kottak, 1996-present).

Over the years, the Department's contributions to sociocultural anthropology have been significant. Leslie White, Marshall Sahlins, and Elman Service led the resurgence of cultural evolutionary studies in anthropology around 1960. Roy Rappaport drew international attention to the Department with his work in ecological anthropology and the anthropology of religion. Conrad Kottak's influential textbooks Anthropology: The Exploration of Human Diversity and Cultural Anthropology entered their eighth editions at the millennium. Ecological and historical anthropology continue to be among our foci in the 1990s. Research on complex and contemporary societies is another traditional departmental strength, ranging from Eric Wolf's studies of peasants in the 1960s to current interests in colonialism, postcolonial studies, globalization, and nationalism.

Anthropological archaeology also has remained a strong and well represented subfield at Michigan. Over one hundred PhDs have been awarded in archaeology. Two archaeologists have served as Department chair (James Griffin, 1972-1975 and Richard I. Ford, 1989-1996). Our archaeologists balance teaching responsibilities in the Department and curatorial duties in the Museum of Archaeology. Important work on cultural evolution, early cultural development of the human species, the origin of ascriptive rank, and the origin of the state have come from the archaeology section (sometimes through collaboration with ethnology faculty). In the 1950s and 1960s, our archaeologists were pioneers in the field of biochemical analysis. Professor James Griffin worked with Professor Crane of the University's physics department to develop the second radiocarbon dating lab in the U.S. used to analyze archaeological remains. Richard Ford is recognized for his work in paleoethnobotany. His book The Nature and Status of Ethnobotany is in its second edition. Michigan, and specifically Prof. Ford, have been leaders in emphasizing the importance of systematic collections in teaching and research.

Michigan's biological anthropology has gained importance in recent years as a small, yet progressive and productive subfield faculty. Over 70 PhDs have been awarded at Michigan in biological anthropology. Three biological anthropologists (Fred Thieme, 1957-1958, James Spuhler, 1959-1962, 1963-1965 and 1966-1967, and Frank Livingstone, 1983-1986) have served as Department chair. Research specialties of Michigan's bioanthropologists include molecular anthropology (e.g., ancient DNA analysis), paleoanthropology, primate behavior and communication, human adaptation, evolutionary biology and ecology. The Department is also known for its application of theory to explain major problems, especially those related to health in modern day populations. Andres Roberto Frisancho's Human Adaptation and Accommodation has been a pivotal work in establishing that area of study within biological anthropology.

Linguistic anthropology, traditionally the most underrepresented of the four subfields at Michigan, has been strengthened by the recent additions of Professor Judith Irvine, who has joined us from Brandeis University, and Assistant Professor Alaina Lemon, who received her Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. They have joined Bruce Mannheim as members of a growing linguistic anthropology faculty. Emeritus Professor Robbins Burling served as chair from 1980-1983 and is recognized for his work with linguistic theory. Bruce Mannheim has done significant work with ethnopoetics, semiotics, and the politics of language. Our Ph.D. program in linguistic anthropology was started in the early 1990s.

The Department has a tradition of working actively with other departments, centers, and units at this renowned public university. Many faculty members have a joint appointment with another unit, and virtually every member has a significant affiliation with another department or program. Our anthropologists maintain affiliations with diverse fields including biological and health sciences, social sciences, and humanities, as well as with geographic area centers, Women's Studies, Latino Studies, and African/Afro-American Studies. The archaeology faculty maintains particularly close ties with the departments of geology, zoology, botany, and history. The Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies offers joint programs in anthropology and human genetics, ethnomusicology, anthropology and social work, and anthropology and history. Department members have been influential in the establishment and direction of area studies centers, and the development of interdisciplinary initiatives, most notably the Evolution and Human Behavior Program and the Program in the Comparative Study of Social Transformations.

The Department's Ph.D. program has also expanded and evolved over the years. The number of Ph.Ds awarded yearly has grown considerably. More than 100 of the approximately 400 Ph.Ds awarded since 1948 have been earned in the last ten years. From 1927 until 1970, only 15 of the 90 Ph.Ds awarded in the Department were to women. By 1975, Michigan was awarding equal numbers of anthropology Ph.Ds to men and women. By the 1990s, more women than men were receiving Ph.Ds from the Department. Our anthropology faculty is also distinguished by the presence of several senior women scholars: Ruth Behar, Gillian Feeley-Harnik, Janet Hart, Judith Irvine, Joyce Marcus, Jennifer Robertson, Carla Sinopoli, Ann Stoler, and Katherine Verdery.

Our graduate student body is more diverse than previously with respect to ethnicity and nationality. The geographic scope of studies is very broad, with anthropology doctoral candidates studying cultures from all regions of the world. Many students are doing progressive work studying modern problems and rapid changes taking place in the world today.

The Department has been careful to keep up with recent changes in anthropology while avoiding superficial trendy scholarship. Various faculty members are investigating issues of globalization, development, gender, race, ethnicity, and environmental anthropology. Studies of colonialism, states, power relationships and the analysis of the ethnographic enterprise itself have also been important.

Since its founding in 1929, the University of Michigan Department of Anthropology has grown into a large and inclusive academic institution. Today, it is remarkable for the diversity of geographic foci and theoretical directions in the work produced by its members and in the courses available to students. The scholarly accomplishments mentioned so far, along with excellence in teaching and research, have made the University of Michigan Department of Anthropology the respected institution it is today.