Top Anthropology Schools in 2018 by Region

Known as one of the world’s leading social-science-focused universities, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is ranked fourth in the world for anthropology this year, achieving a very high score for its academic reputation.

LSE’s Department of Anthropology is one of the most famous in the world, having been associated with noted anthropologists like Bronislaw Malinowski. The university offers a full tutorial system in which you’ll work in small groups or on a one-to-one basis with tutors, as well as being taught through lectures and classes by highly experienced anthropologists.

Other top anthropology schools in Europe

Other highly ranked universities for anthropology elsewhere in Europe include the Netherlands’ University of Amsterdam at 14^th, Denmark’s University of Copenhagen at 17^th, Norway’s University of Oslo at joint 32^nd and Germany’s Freie Universitaet Berlin at 37^th in the world.

Up from 25^th to rank joint 21^st for anthropology this year along with the UK’s University of Edinburgh, National University of Singapore (NUS) offers anthropology courses at Yale-NUS College, a liberal arts college which was established in 2011 as a collaboration between Yale and NUS.

Students who choose to major in anthropology will develop their skills in written, verbal and visual expression, as well as in fieldwork, ethnography, and survey design. The course has a unique focus on the diversity of human experience, aiming to make the major particularly relevant in the increasingly diverse world of the 21^st century.

Based in Japan, the University of Tokyo is ranked 25^th among the top anthropology schools this year. The university’s Department of Cultural Anthropology is based at its Komaba Campus and has played a crucial role as an early pioneer of anthropological education in Japan, having graduated its first students in 1957.

The department focuses its research in three main axes: singular cultural studies, applied culture research and cutting-edge culture research.

Kyoto University is up six places to rank 34^th in the anthropology ranking in 2018. The university has a long tradition of cultural and social anthropology, with a unique, distinguished history of the close relationship between physical anthropology and primatology. However, the department of cultural anthropology itself is relatively new, having been established in 1993.

Climbing six places in the anthropology ranking this year, Australian National University (ANU) is now ranked seventh in the world for this subject and offers a wide range of courses within its School of Archaeology and Anthropology.

ANU’s faculty of 40 anthropologists are actively engaged in research and teaching across a wide range of areas including indigenous-state relations in Australia, multiculturalism, ethnographic film and visual media, visual cultural production, development, religion, violence and terror and gender and sexuality.

Also climbing six places among the top anthropology schools in the world this year is the University of Melbourne, up to 23^rd. The university’s Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology includes electives in “genders, bodies and borders”, “critical analytical skills”, “development in the 21^st century”, “understanding poverty” and more.

You’ll study in an award-winning learning environment in the Arts West building, which provides undergraduates with world-class learning spaces.

The University of Sydney is also up six places in this year’s anthropology ranking, to now be placed 28^th in the world. The university’s Department of Anthropology was the first of its kind to be founded in Australia back in 1925 by social anthropologist Alfred Radcliffe-Brown. The department has also published the highly respected anthropology journal Oceania since 1930, which serves as a highly renowned anthropological resource on the societies and cultures of Australia and the Pacific.

Top universities for anthropology in New Zealand

Looking at New Zealand, the University of Auckland is also ranked in the global top 50 for anthropology at 41^st (up three places from last year and with a very high score for employer reputation), while the University of Otago is featured at 51-100.

Ranked joint 32^nd with the University of Oslo, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) is the highest-ranked Latin American institution in the anthropology ranking, having earned its highest score for its academic reputation.

UNAM was established in 1910 and has seen a number of noted faculty members and alumni throughout its history, such as Paul Kirchhoff, a German-Mexican anthropologist noted for his influential work in defining the culture area of Mesoamerica, a term he coined.

Argentina’s largest university, the Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA), is ranked 38^th among the world’s top anthropology schools this year. UBA’s notable alumni includes Esther Hermitte, an anthropologist noted for her fieldwork in the Mayan community of Pinola.

UBA’s Bachelor of Arts degrees take five years to complete and are taught entirely in Spanish, with the university offering Spanish courses to help international students get their proficiency to the required level.

The highest-ranked of Brazil’s two entries in the anthropology ranking, Universidade de São Paulo (USP) is ranked 46^th in the world this year. USP’s postgraduate Social Anthropology course aims to provide students with solid theoretical training as well as research development.

Since 1988, the department has published the Revista de Antropologia, which is circulated worldwide and was the first of its kind published in the country.

The first of South Africa’s two entries in the anthropology ranking is the University of Cape Town (UCT), which is ranked 51-100 with a high score for employer reputation. UCT actively encourages anthropology students to become research assistants within the department and therefore gain practical experience in managing and conducting research projects.

Graduates of the department work in diverse fields such as medical research and activism, journalism, documentary production, psychology, advertising, urban planning, tourism, the environment and more.

Also ranked 51-100 within the world’s top universities for anthropology is the University of Witwatersrand, which actually received higher scores than the University of Cape Town in the indicators for research impact – citations per faculty member and H-index citations. The university’s faculty are deeply engaged in solving the most important questions facing South African and global society, and frequently undertake fellowships abroad and present their work at conferences, while many international students and scholars research and teach within the department every year.  

Want more content like this? Register for free site membership to get regular updates and your own personal content feed.