______________________
University
of Kentucky
Department of Anthropology
211 Lafferty Hall
Lexington, KY 40506
Phone: 859-257-2710
Fax: 859-323-1959
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Graduate Anthropology Programs (M.A., M.S., Ph.D.):
Culture Change and Historical Process
Culture change and historical process encompass prehistory, historical archaeology, and historical anthropology. An increasing anthropological interest in history has been accompanied by an increased conceptualization of "history" as a theoretical object and an ethnographic concern. Along with this, there has been a long-term focus within anthropology to employ material remains to examine the multiple dimensions of cultural development and change throughout the world. Faculty research interests involve attempts to reconstruct both the day-to-day experiences of individuals and the broader historical and evolutionary processes of the past. Research strategies combine archaeological, ethnohistorical, and ethnographical evidence, as well as the analysis of history as a discourse for negotiating, contesting, and debating contemporary issues. Besides receiving formal training in archaeological method and theory, students also learn to integrate multidisciplinary data in the investigation of past societies. The themes of culture change and historical process are linked to a variety of contemporary social issues through the practice of cultural resource management and public archaeology.
Gender
The anthropology of gender offers critical perspectives on the ways sex and gender become meaningful and constraining dimensions of people's lives and broader political processes. Expertise in the department includes post-structuralist approaches to gender from life course, cultural constructionist, and political economic perspectives. Faculty members are involved in research that analyzes gender in health and healing, social organization and kinship, social movements, post-socialist change, nutrition and food
Ecology and Economy
Through the concentration in ecology and economy, students explore the interaction among resource exploitation, economic organization, and the wider political economy in the context of recent and long-term historical change. Facets of this area of study can include the political ecology of natural resource management, environmental and economic change, resource degradation, the organization of production and distribution systems, migration, and technological choice. Additional foci are agrarian production systems and markets, household and community adaptation, and research on local labor organization and population movement.
Development Anthropology
Development anthropology encompasses the application of anthropological methods and concepts in evaluating international and domestic development programs, and the study of social processes and theories of development and underdevelopment. It emphasizes basic training in theory and method, in relevant subdisciplines (e.g., economic anthropology, political economy and ecological anthropology) and in specialized fields outside of anthropology. Our emphasis includes participatory rural development and local links to community, national and international organizations, in programs focusing on agriculture, food and food security, gender, health, nutrition, pastoralism, and resettlement. We also necessarily consider the effects of global development processes, including structural adjustment.
Life Course and Aging
The anthropology of the life course and aging focuses on the human diversity of experience and interpretation of different stages of life. It is particularly valuable in providing data to expand our knowledge of both culture-specific and universal aspects of the human developmental cycle and aging. Expertise in the department includes cultural constructionist, political economic, and social organizational perspectives, including network analysis and intergenerational relationships. Strong ties are maintained with the University's Sanders-Brown Center for Aging, a major center for multidisciplinary research on aging.
Medical Anthropology
Medical anthropology at UK uses post-structuralist, feminist, cultural, bio-cultural, and critical theories to examine power relations, the dynamics of culture, and gendered and raced dimensions of health and illness. Central to this approach is an examination of social inequalities as they are culturally and materially reproduced. Our analyses encompass the production of health and illness in children, adults, families, and communities. Current faculty research focuses on child growth and development; the intersections of anthropology and public health; cultures and politics of reproduction; health care delivery; HIV/AIDS; international health, nutrition, and health development; life course and aging; symbolic dimensions of health, illness, and healing; and women's reproductive cancers.