Where We Are

Sheldon Scheps Memorial Library

The Sheldon Scheps Memorial Library is named after a graduate student in Anthropology who began the program in 1978. Sheldon was well known on the Columbia campus and was enormously popular with staff, faculty, and students. He died suddenly in September 1983, and his family provided funds to start a student library in his memory and over the years, faculty and alumni have donated many books and journals to this facility. Scheps has two functions: it is a reading room for graduate and undergraduate students, and it is the host for the Sheldon Scheps Memorial Workshop Series. 

Books in the library comprise of ethnographies of historical importance with varied geographical locations, including the Americas, Africa, the Middle East, the Pacific Islands, the Indian Subcontinent, and Europe. These books are all found on the shelves that flank the two seminar tables. On the reading stand are current periodicals, current reading packets, and very old books—mainly ethnographies and travelogues up to the 1930s. Additionally, the library houses books on gender and feminism, religion and magic, race, paradigms, anthropology and psychoanalysis, war and resistance movements, mass media, and the history of anthropology. 

The Sheldon Scheps Memorial is located in Room 457, Schermerhorn Extension.

Student Lounge

The Anthropology Student Lounge is open Monday–Friday from 9am–5pm during the academic year. The Lounge is available to current students as a quiet place to study, work, and relax. The space is also used for departmental gatherings and parties, as well as dissertation defenses. On days when an evening event is scheduled, the Lounge closes at 3pm. For questions about Lounge availability, please contact Marilyn Astwood ([email protected]).

The Student Lounge is located in Room 465, Schermerhorn Extension.


 

Graduate Student Spaces

In addition to the two dedicated facilities below, there are resources that are shared between graduate students of all departments, such as the Graduate Student Lounge with its affiliated cafe. The Institute for Research on Social and Economic Policy (ISERP) also makes study carrels in its offices available to departmental PhD students, who gain access via a keycard. Those interested in having space assigned in these carrels should contact Courtney Hooper ([email protected]) at the beginning of each semester.

PhD Student Lounge

The Department of Anthropology offers two rooms as facilities for graduate students. The first is the PhD Student Lounge. The room has three tables, which can fit six students at one time. There are also bookshelves where students can store a limited number of books, and a dedicated printer. All students have their own keys to this room to enter at any time. 

The PhD Student Lounge is located in Room 456, Schermerhorn Extension.

Teaching Assistant Room

The second room is the Teaching Assistant Office Hours Room, which students can book for allocated office hours, one TA at a time, to meet with undergraduate students in their classes.

The TA Room is located in Room 861, Schermerhorn Extension.