harvard medical anthropology phd

Anthropology

Share this page, fall 2025 admissions update.

Admissions to the PhD in social anthropology and the AM in medical anthropology have been paused and will not be accepting applications for fall 2025. The PhD in archaeology will be accepting applications, and the MD/PhD program will be accepting applications.

The Department of Anthropology is one of the world’s leading institutions for anthropological research. Our PhD programs provide in-depth conceptual and methodological training in archaeology and social anthropology , with faculty whose work covers every time period—from the Paleolithic to the present—and every major world area. The department also offers an AM in medical anthropology .

You will have the unique opportunity to work with a world-renowned faculty that has a long tradition of foundational research across nearly every continent. You will have access to a wide range of resources including the Harvard Medical School, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, various area centers such as the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, Korea Institute, Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies, Asia Center, and Weatherhead Center for International Affairs. You will also have access to extensive archaeological and anthropological collections of the Peabody Museum, an important resource for both research and teaching.

Projects that students have worked on include “Archaeology of the 19th and 20th Century Chinese Labor Migrants,” “Zooarchaeology in Ancient Mesopotamia,” and “Mass Media in Indonesia.” Our PhD graduates are now on the anthropology faculties at some of the top universities in the world. Others have secured positions with Facebook, the World Bank, and various museums.

Additional information on the graduate program is available from the Department of Anthropology , and requirements for the degree are detailed in Policies .

Areas of Study

Archaeology (PhD only) | Medical Anthropology (AM only) | Social Anthropology (PhD only)

Admissions Requirements

Please review the admissions requirements and other information before applying. You can find degree program-specific admissions requirements below and access additional guidance on applying from the Department of Anthropology .

Academic Background

Previous concentration in anthropology is not required; however, applicants must be able to clearly state their interests in anthropology and demonstrate familiarity with intellectual issues in current anthropological theory and method.

Writing Sample

For PhD applicants, a writing sample is required as part of the application and can be a term paper or thesis no longer than 20 pages (double spaced) not including bibliography. Do not submit a longer sample with instructions to read a particular section. Applicants should select an example of their best academic writing that demonstrates their capacity for rigorous analysis and independent work. It is not essential that the writing sample be directly related to the topics or areas that you are proposing to study in the future.

Statement of Purpose

A statement of purpose is not a biographical narrative. A persuasive statement of purpose (1) clearly describes the applicant’s proposed areas of research; (2) justifies the applicant’s research interests in terms of the relevant existing scholarship, the applicant’s personal intellectual motivation, and the applicant’s background and/or training; (3) explains why the anthropology faculty and curriculum at Harvard are ideal for supporting the applicant’s training and research. We strongly encourage applicants to read the publications of the faculty they are applying to work with. A clear connection with faculty research and teaching is the best gauge of an applicant’s potential “fit” with the Department. 

Personal Statement

Standardized tests.

GRE General: Optional

Theses & Dissertations

Theses & Dissertations for Anthropology

Anthropology Faculty

See list of Anthropology faculty

APPLICATION DEADLINE

Questions about the program.

• Utility Menu

• Internal Resources
• EDIB Committee

Anya Bernstein

Research and teaching interests ....

Davíd Carrasco

Research and teaching interests.

Urban ecology and ceremonial centers, ritual violence and state organization: Mesoamerica. ...

Lucien Castaing-Taylor

Sensory ethnography, phenomenology, media anthropology, post-human and multi-species anthropology;...

Amy E. Clark

Gabriella Coleman

Cultures of Hacking, Science and Technology Studies, Media Anthropology, The Cultures of Liberalism, Digital...

William L. Fash

Cultural process, settlement pattern analysis, symbolism...

Joseph P. Gone

Research and Teaching Interests : ...

Medical, psychological, and psychiatric anthropology; primary research on serious mental illness in Java and...

Nicholas Harkness

Language, music, and semiotics; urban anthropology; anthropology of religion; South Korea.

Arthur Kleinman

Global Mental Health; Social Medicine; Medical Humanities; Social Suffering; Caregiving; China; Social...

Matthew Liebmann

North American Archaeology, Southwest US, contact and colonialism in the Americas, Historic Pueblos, NAGPRA...

Ping-hsiu Alice Lin

Research interests.

Political and Economic Anthropology, value, commodification, labor and capital, expertise and tacit knowledge, history of...

Peter Der Manuelian

Shayla Monroe

African pastoralism, zooarchaeology of the Nile Valley, political ecology of the Sahara and the Sahel, faunal analysis,...

• Affiliates (25)
• Faculty (19)
• Graduate Students (60)
• Administration (9)
• Undergraduate Peer Concentration Advisors (8)

Faculty Role

• Faculty (19) Apply Faculty filter
• Emeriti (9) Apply Emeriti filter
• Associated Faculty (6) Apply Associated Faculty filter
• Lecturers (3) Apply Lecturers filter
• Social Anthropology (77) Apply Social Anthropology filter
• Archaeology (46) Apply Archaeology filter