Join the Department of Anthropology at the University of South Carolina as we celebrate the department’s 50th anniversary with a special lecture featuring Dr. Thomas Leatherman.
Event Details
- Date: Thursday, April 16, 2026
- Time: 3:00 p.m.
- Location: 8th Floor, Westview – Close-Hipp Building
- Reception: Reception to follow the lecture
- Cost: Free event
- Registration: Requested
About the Event
The Department of Anthropology marks its 50th anniversary by honoring five decades of rigorous ethnographic inquiry, archaeological discovery and critical community engagement.
From its foundational roots in Historical Archaeology to contemporary research exploring global crises, the environment, migration, health and social justice, the department has maintained a commitment to anthropology’s four-field approach and interdisciplinary collaboration.
Over the years, the department has continually reinvented itself, building on its strengths while reflecting broader trends in the field of anthropology. The department’s integrated four-field structure helped foster a critical biocultural perspective that links structures of inequality, constrained agency and pathways to embodiment with ethnographically grounded local contexts.
This approach connects lived experience with situated biologies and reflects the department’s enduring commitment to understanding humanity across cultures and environments.