• Anthropology

    Anthropology

  • Contact Us

    General Admission Contact
    The New School for Social Research
    Office of Admission
    72 Fifth Avenue, 1st floor
    New York, NY 10011
    212.229.5600 or 800.523.5411
    [email protected]

    Admissions Liaison
    [email protected]

    Department of Anthropology
    6 East 16th Street, 9th floor
    New York, NY 10003
    Tel: 212.229.5757 x3016
    Fax: 212.229.5595

    Mailing Address
    79 Fifth Avenue, 9th floor
    New York, NY 10003

    Chair 
    Hugh Raffles

    Senior Secretary
    Charles Whitcroft

    Student Advisor
    Jack Jiang

    Anthropology Student Handbook

  • Admission Links

  • Through cutting-edge empirical, historical, and ethnographic scholarship, students and faculty in the Department of Anthropology address the urgent social and political problems of the 21st century. Widely regarded as one of the leading anthropology graduate programs in the US, this lively community of active scholars hosts a dynamic intellectual environment with equal emphasis on fieldwork, archival research, and theoretical reflection.

    Since its inception in 1971, the Department of Anthropology has been dedicated to providing the interdisciplinary breadth necessary for innovative research. The department has close relations with the entire faculty of The New School for Social Research and the university as a whole.

    The department fosters an intimate, dynamic intellectual environment in which students can thrive, emphasizing critical reflection at all levels of inquiry. Students explore analytic and social issues through ethnographic fieldwork, archival research, and theoretical reflection, with work characterized by carefully conducted ethnography, innovative research methodologies, and an awareness of the importance of historical context.

    Students can participate in faculty courses and projects developed both individually and in collaboration with other graduate programs and centers at The New School, including:

    • The Zolberg Institute on Migration and Mobility
    • The Graduate Institute of Design, Ethnography, and Social Thought
    • The Center for Research with Infants and Toddlers
    • The Julien J. Studley Graduate Programs in International Affairs
    • Parsons School of Design
    • The India China Institute
    • The Janey Program in Latin American Studies
    • The Transregional Center for Democratic Studies

    Get to know the Anthropology community here and through the program’s student-run blog, AnthroBlog. 

  • Anthropology Degrees

    The Department of Anthropology offers MA and PhD degrees. All anthropology students at The New School enter through the MA program. Students who complete MA requirements with sufficient distinction may apply for admission to the PhD program. MA students may wish to enrich their study by focusing on areas within anthropology, including Anthropology and Design, and Science and Society.

  • Scholars and Work

    Look closer at our empirically-based, historically-informed, and critically-oriented ethnographic work:

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    Even amid a pandemic, NSSR students have envisioned incredibly creative, intellectually rigorous, and community-minded projects and conferences.

     Learn more about research
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    Meet David Bond, Anthropology PhD alum

     Graduating student outcomes

  • Take The Next Step

Submit your application

Undergraduates

To apply to any of our undergraduate programs (except the Bachelor's Program for Adults and Transfer Students and Parsons Associate of Applied Science programs) complete and submit the Common App online.

Undergraduate Adult Learners

To apply to any of our Bachelor's Program for Adults and Transfer Students and Parsons Associate of Applied Science programs, complete and submit the New School Online Application.

Graduates

To apply to any of our Master's, Doctoral, Professional Studies Diploma, and Graduate Certificate programs, complete and submit the New School Online Application.