Cultures and Societies with tracks in Cultural Anthropology and Sociology

Available only to the Class of 2029 and beyond.

Cultures and Societies is a social sciences major that critically examines diverse societies and cultures around the world. Understanding societies requires both a “top-down” and “bottom-up” approach, so students in this major will learn how, on one hand, the social structures and institutions in a society influence people’s opportunities and life outcomes and how, on the other hand, individuals and local communities grapple with these constraints and try to enact change. Cultures and Societies focuses on roles that culture, inequality, and social change play in shaping the world we live in today, providing students with theoretical and conceptual tools to analyze pressing social issues related to topics such as globalization and migration, technology and new media, religion, the environment, gender, and community in societies around the globe.

Cultures and Societies has two tracks: cultural anthropology and sociology. Cultural Anthropology students will acquire a holistic and critical perspective on the study of meanings and norms in practice, as well as how they shape and are shaped by the material world such as the media, technology, and environment in both the present and past. Sociology students will develop their “sociological imagination,” which will allow them to understand how wider societal forces such as cultural norms and social institutions shape individuals’ personal experiences through quantitative and qualitative research. Both tracks emphasize practice-based empirical research, and students from this major will be able to understand and interpret both quantitative and qualitative research as well as conduct original research using research methods appropriate to their track and research interests. What these methods have in common is a focus on people and their lived experiences, as well as the communities in which they are embedded.

This training will provide students with critical, analytical, and intercultural skills that can be applied to a range of jobs in the public and private sectors. Students will be well-prepared to succeed in jobs that require interactions with people and involve the study of human experience, including positions in government, NGOs, journalism and new media, consulting, human resources, and marketing. This major can also serve as a stepping stone for students interested in studying the social sciences in graduate school, not only in anthropology and sociology but also fields such as public policy, education, global health, East Asian Studies, cultural studies, and international and development studies.

Major Requirements

(Not every course listed is offered every term, and the course list will be updated periodically. Please refer to the online Course Catalog for Courses offered in 2025-2026.)

Cultures and Societies / Cultural Anthropology

Divisional Foundation Courses

Interdisciplinary Courses

Cultural Anthropology Disciplinary Courses  

[64] This course was numbered CULANTH 302 Ethnographic Field Methods prior to Fall 2025.

[65] This course was named CULANTH 211 Gender, Mobility, and Labor prior to Fall 2025.

[66] This course was named and numbered CULMOVE 101 Cultures of Globalization prior to Fall 2025.

[67] This course was named CULANTH/POLSCI 314 Refugees and the Biopolitics of Citizenship prior to Fall 2025.

[68] This course was named CULANTH 405 Medical Anthropology prior to fall 2025.

Electives

Courses listed in the table below are recommended electives for the major. The course list reflects the most recent intellectual organization of major electives. Depending on the academic year in which you matriculated, some of the courses below may be requirements for your major. To verify required courses, always consult the requirements for the relevant class year in the bulletin of the year in which you matriculated unless you have been approved to complete the major requirements of a subsequent year.  (See Ability to Meet Major Requirements Published in Years Subsequent to Year of Matriculation.)

[69] This course was named CULANTH 206 Ethnography of China: New Directions prior to Fall 2025.

[70] This course was named GCULS 302 Gender in Global Perspective prior to Fall 2025.

[71] This course was named ETHLDR 203 Conceptions of Democracy and Meritocracy prior to Fall 2025.

Cultures and Societies / Sociology

Divisional Foundation Courses

Interdisciplinary Courses

Sociology Disciplinary Courses

[72] This course was named ECON 203 Introduction to Econometrics prior to Fall 2025.

[73] This course was named and numbered SOCIOL/PUBPOL/SOSC 309 Education, Policy, and Society prior to Fall 2025.

Electives

Courses listed in the table below are recommended electives for the major. The course list reflects the most recent intellectual organization of major electives. Depending on the academic year in which you matriculated, some of the courses below may be requirements for your major. To verify required courses, always consult the requirements for the relevant class year in the bulletin of the year in which you matriculated unless you have been approved to complete the major requirements of a subsequent year.  (See Ability to Meet Major Requirements Published in Years Subsequent to Year of Matriculation.)

[74] This course was named CULANTH 211 Gender, Mobility, and Labor prior to Fall 2025.

[75] This course was named and numbered CULMOVE 101 Cultures of Globalization prior to Fall 2025.

[76] This course was named CULANTH/POLSCI 314 Refugees and the Biopolitics of Citizenship prior to Fall 2025.

[77] This course was named GCULS 202 Empires and Culture prior to Fall 2025.

[78] This course was named GCULS 302 Gender in Global Perspective prior to Fall 2025.

[79] This course was numbered CULANTH 302 Ethnographic Field Methods prior to fall 2025.

[80] This course was named POLSCI 301 Program Evaluation prior to Fall 2025.

[81] This course was names SOSC 320 Data in the World: Applied Social Statistics prior to Fall 2025.