SUB-DISCIPLINARY PROGRAMS
Social Anthropology seeks to study and understand the complexity of human social relationships, behaviors, cultural systems, lifestyles and habits, religious beliefs, political views, economic forms of organization, relations of production and technologies. The discipline, in its early stages of study focused on non-industrialized (underpopulated, technologically less developed, relatively isolated) communities, and has now expanded its field of interest to explore complex and industrialized societies.
The Social Anthropology Program at Istanbul University offers a teaching environment where students gain experience in field study. Bachelor’s theses submitted in past academic years are available online at the Istanbul University Library and Documentation Department website. You can find the cataloged theses here.
The Program focuses on rural, urban, psychological, visual, political, symbolic, economic, medical, and family anthropology. Current research themes focus on marriage, family and kinship networks, women and fertility, migration, identity and memory, social stratification, education, social and cultural capital, urban space and gender, nomadic cultures, religious rituals and symbolism, identity and post-identity political movements, rural landscape, heritage, and the politics of conservation.
Physical Anthropology is mainly concerned with the question of why and how human societies are similar or different in physical and biological terms. Related research topics question the distribution of humans on earth (migration), the physical and genetic changes experienced during this process, adaptation, and human-environmental relationships (human ecology). Physical anthropologists also seek to understand the culture-environment-biology (genetics) interaction. They question how human growth and development (auxology), physical dimensions (anthropometry), and diseases are shaped by cultural-environmental-biological (genetics) factors. The knowledge gained through theoretical studies and field research finds application in various areas of daily life. Study in physical anthropology is implemented in an interdisciplinary manner, that can be integrated with studies in ergonomics and sports sciences, nutrition, dietetics, pediatrics, population genetics, public health, and archaeology.
Paleoanthropology, simply defined, is the study of the evolutionary and historical changes undergone by humans and species biologically related to humans. Paleoanthropologists aim to link bridges between the past and the present by focusing on the anatomic, biological, and morphological changes humans have experienced. The research material consists of human skeletal remains, usually obtained from archaeological excavations as fossils. The human past is reconstructed using these materials and related cultural by-products. The main areas of study include examination of the biological and cultural relations between human societies, their demographic structure, social and ecological environment, diseases, diet, and migration patterns. Paleoanthropologists integrate non-human primate study to their studies to understand all aspects of the human biological and cultural change. They try to uncover the similarities and differences between human and non-human primates by focusing on adaptation, genetics, behavior, and ecology. They carry out multidisciplinary studies in collaboration with studies in biology, anatomy, physiology, genetics, and pathology. They also contribute to forensic science research on human skeletal remains.