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College of Family, Home, and Social Sciences
Anthropology

Subdisciplines and Research Areas

The following subfields represent some of the areas of research conducted by our full-time faculty. A list of faculty that conduct research in each field is given, along with a brief description of each subfield. Links to individual faculty pages—where you can view CV's and lists of publications—can be found on our Faculty page.

Anthropology of Religion
All of our faculty deal with issues of religion to varying extents in their research. However, the Anthropology of Religion is an important subdiscipline and the Society for the Anthropology of Religion constitutes a section of the American Anthropological Association (http://www.aaanet.org/sections/sar/). Some of the areas of religious practice researched by our faculty include:

  • Ancestral Practice (Jacob Hickman)
  • Christianity (Jacob Hickman, Greg Thompson)
  • Islam (David Johnson)
  • Religious Iconography (David Johnson)
  • Shamanism (Jacob Hickman)

Asian Studies
The BYU Kennedy Center offers both a major and a minor in Asian Studies. The following faculty conduct research in Asia and teach courses that count toward the Asian Studies programs: Jacob Hickman

U.S. Southwest/Northwest Mexico Archaeology
In addition to conducting their own research in the Greater Southwest, faculty in our department have offered a number of field schools at archaeological sites in Utah and surrounding states. These include sites that were part of the Fremont, Ancestral Puebloan, and Casas Grandes traditions. Faculty: Jim Allison, Mike Searcy, Scott Ure

Near East Archaeology
Faculty in our department also conduct research in Jordan, and the archaeology field school has been held in Jordan several times. The Petra field school that has most recently been run by David Johnson.

Psychological Anthropology
Psychological Anthropology research occurs at the intersection of mind and culture. Our department offers courses in psychological anthropology, and perspectives from this subdiscipline are expressed in the range of courses taught by psychological anthropologists in our department. Faculty: Jacob Hickman, Greg Thompson.

Medical Anthropology
Medical anthropology is the study of health and healing practices and beliefs as they vary in different cultural contexts. Our department offers courses in medical anthropology and related areas of interest, which range from modern epidemiology to shamanic healing rituals. Faculty: Emily Brunson, Liz Thomas, Jacob Hickman

Linguistic Anthropology
Linguistic anthropologists study the linguistic dimensions of cultural experience. These go beyond the mere expression of culture through language, and include that ways that humans' thinking is shaped by linguistic processes and investigating the linguistic resources that people draw on as they engage in cultural practice. Faculty: Becky Schulthies, Greg Thompson, Janis Nuckolls (Dept. of Linguistics).