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If you like history, people, and hands-on learning, studying anthropology at the University of Iowa is the place for you.

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As a discipline centered on human life, anthropology offers unique tools to analyze, understand, and address pressing issues facing people and the planet.

News and announcements

One Day For Iowa: March 26, 2025

Wednesday, March 5, 2025
Meena Khandelwal

Anthropology faculty member recognized with UI’s highest teaching honor

Thursday, February 20, 2025
Meena Khandelwal, associate professor of anthropology, received the Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad award from the U.S. Department of Education and the International Engagement Teaching Award from CLAS and UI International Programs.

Upcoming events

Locating Reproductive Justice: Global & Regional Perspectives — 2024–25 Obermann Arts & Humanities Symposium promotional image

Locating Reproductive Justice: Global & Regional Perspectives — 2024–25 Obermann Arts & Humanities Symposium

Thursday, March 27 to Friday, March 28, 2025 (all day)
As calls for transnational solidarity among reproductive justice movements emerge, communities are asking how reproductive liberation is tethered to various social movements. Directed by Lina-Maria Murillo (Gender, Women's, & Sexuality Studies and History) and Natalie Fixmer-Oraiz (Communication Studies and Gender, Women's, & Sexuality Studies), this symposium brings together scholars and artists with local, regional, and global perspectives to bear on the pursuit of reproductive justice as we...
The Swine Republic: A reading by Chris Jones at Prairie Lights Bookstore promotional image

The Swine Republic: A reading by Chris Jones at Prairie Lights Bookstore

Thursday, April 3, 2025 7:00pm
Prairie Lights Books
Come to Prairie Lights Books for a special Darwin Day reading by Chris Jones, author of "The Swine Republic." Published in 2023 by local publisher Ice Cube Press and named a 2024 "Great Reads from Great Places" book by the Library of Congress, The Swine Republic provides extensive research and reportage on the truth behind Iowa's infamously poor water quality.
Fostering Climate Resilience Together promotional image

Fostering Climate Resilience Together

Friday, April 4, 2025 12:00pm to 1:30pm
Iowa City Public Library
Researchers, sovereign tribal communities, and women farmland-owners will discuss how they are collaborating to foster climate resilience through the newly established Central Midwest Climate Opportunities and Learning Team (CM CO-Learn), funded by the NOAA Climate Adaptation Partnerships program, that supports Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, and Missouri. This panel brings together a tribal community member, a woman farmland owner, and several project researchers to share what they are learning from each other, what tangible climate-wise action is underway, and how these strategies participate in global efforts to adapt to a changing climate.
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Our teaching, research and public engagement are animated by anthropology’s appreciation for and study of all aspects of human difference.