The PhD program in sociocultural anthropology has had a long and distinguished history in generating the doctoral degrees of many of the most important figures in the discipline, ranging from early founders and pioneers in the field, like Margaret Mead and Ruth Benedict, to the newest generation of field-defining sociocultural anthropologists. Noted for its encouragement of interdisciplinary pursuits, its cutting-edge theoretical training, and its emphasis on rigorous language study and fieldwork, the PhD program in sociocultural anthropology combines the rich opportunities within the Department—dissertation writing groups, weekly Boas Seminars with invited guest speakers, proposal writing workshops—with the opportunity to take courses in affiliated programs at Columbia and at many other research universities in the New York area.
Sociocultural faculty research interests span the range of the domains most critical to contemporary sociocultural anthropology, including continental philosophy, law, political anthropology, semiotics, ecology and ecocriticsm, science and technology studies, native studies, aesthetics, affect theory, and media. Area specializations are similarly diverse, as faculty expertise is concentrated in, but not limited to, the areas of Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, the Middle East, North and South America, and Oceania.
Each student is supported by careful consultations with the Director of Graduate Studies and the Graduate Committee. After the second year, each student nominates and is supported by a sponsor and dissertation committee, who work with the student to develop grant proposals, craft and complete Admission to Candidacy Examinations, and write a dissertation prospectus. After the student's completion of dissertation fieldwork, the dissertation committee is also responsible for overseeing the dissertation writing process. Sociocultural PhD students from the Department have had great success in securing fieldwork grants, dissertation write-up fellowships, postdoctoral fellowships, and tenure-track teaching positions.
