Platform for the Promotion of Postgraduate Programs

The Doctoral Program in Anthropology is an academic hub that fosters the production of knowledge in Anthropology by training researchers capable of identifying pertinent and relevant problems from both academic and social perspectives. Through anthropological research and its dissemination, it strengthens the activity of national and international academic communities.

The Doctoral Program in Anthropology extends the training provided by the Department of Anthropology at the undergraduate and graduate levels, offering a perspective on the discipline that considers the human condition in a broad and comprehensive way. Both biological and evolutionary factors, as well as linguistic ones, are considered in the Anthropology programs at the University of the Andes as defining elements of the human condition and one of the greatest sources of variability and expression of the dynamism of cultures. Archaeological studies have broadened their focus from the historical development of peoples to the analysis of their role in the processes of identity formation, considering material culture as a central element in the construction of subjects, which allows for a deeper analysis of agency in the cognitive development of the human species.

The Doctoral Program in Anthropology is particularly interested in dialogue with Latin American anthropologies, linked through phenomena such as the diversity of American cultures and their interactions prior to the 16th century, the conquest and its various consequences for native societies, local and regional developments during the colonial period, and the contemporary situation of ethnic and racial groups in both ancestral and urban territories. Phenomena such as social movements, the identity and political demands of diverse peoples, communities, and social groups, the consequences of globalization, and participation in multiple international markets are studied through ethnographic methodological approaches as the foundation of anthropological practice.

The discussion surrounding the forms of knowledge and ethnographic writing, as well as their epistemological character, has been the subject of intense debate in recent decades and forms part of the core studies of the doctoral program. Among recent methodological developments, the program is also interested in incorporating hermeneutic approaches, which have gained ground as forms of anthropological interpretation.


With a theoretical approach that integrates diverse orientations from Anthropology and the Social Sciences, the Doctoral Program offers an interdisciplinary vision through four areas of work in which the lines of research, projects, seminars, and theoretical and methodological perspectives of the research groups converge. The Doctoral Program in Anthropology offers the following areas of work:

Anthropology and Health:
Ethnopsychiatry, pain, suffering, social medicine, public health, intervention models, mental illness and culture, alternative and complementary medicines, gender, body studies, public health policies.

Archaeology and Bioanthropology:
Complex societies (Central Andes, Cundi-Boyacá Plateau, Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Upper Magdalena and Cauca River Valley); archaeology of the intermediate area; space, territory and environment; archaeobotany, zooarchaeology, analysis, subsistence and sociocultural change; preventive archaeology.

Nature, Space and Territory:
Anthropology of nature; political-environmental conflicts; anthropology of development; urban anthropology; science, aesthetics, and spatiality; archaeology and the environment; use and management of resources in the past;

Politics, History and Culture:
Public and social policies (health, education, protection of cultural and archaeological heritage, environment, development, childhood); models of intervention in health; biopolitics, body and subjectivity; peasant movements; agrarian societies; anthropology of violence and memory; history of archaeology, ethnohistory, anthropology and history; linguistics, ethnography of indigenous peoples, regional history and culture.

Objectives

To train high-level researchers in the areas of Anthropology.
To contribute to national and regional scientific development through cutting-edge research. Graduates of the program will be able to critically understand and apply contemporary anthropological and social science theories to national and regional contexts, taking into account the specific social, economic, political, and cultural situations of their environment that foster multiculturalism, interculturalism, and the participation and inclusion of minorities and social movements.
Develop a study program that strengthens the various research areas of the Department of Anthropology.
Specific objectives:

To contribute to the formation of a more autonomous national academic community in the production of knowledge, with high critical, research and teaching capacity.
To expand the frontier of knowledge in the field of national and regional anthropology, and thereby strengthen the links of the regional academy.
To stimulate the skills inherent in high-level academic research performance, in order to contribute to the training of highly qualified professionals to perform in national and international fields where these skills are required with high standards of quality.
To be interlocutors for national and international researchers and academics.
To promote and strengthen the formation of national and regional academic communities characterized by independence, autonomy, and scientific creativity in the production of locally relevant knowledge.
Strengthen existing research centers and groups, as well as encourage the creation of new ones that in turn promote new topics.
To contribute to raising the level and impact of anthropological research in the country.
To place greater emphasis on the design, implementation, and evaluation of public and social policies through the formulation of a close link between academic knowledge and its application in health, education, land use planning, heritage, and the environment, among others.
Strengthen the development of high-level research in the Faculty of Social Sciences.
To strengthen the research and academic interests of professors in the Department of Anthropology with a view to enriching their academic life project.
To project the Department of Anthropology in the country and the region.
Expand the impact of anthropological research through international agreements and publications.
Who is the doctoral program aimed at?

The program is designed for professionals in anthropology, social sciences, and related disciplines interested in pursuing an academic and research career. A master's degree in anthropology or other social science disciplines is not required for admission to the Department of Anthropology's graduate programs.

The PhD in Anthropology from the University of the Andes will possess the skills to lead and conduct research projects in Anthropology, to establish connections with other social sciences, and to contribute to expanding the frontiers of knowledge. Graduates will be characterized by their excellence as researchers and their ability to create and strengthen research lines and groups in national and regional academic and research centers. To fulfill these tasks, PhDs in Anthropology will identify relevant and pertinent problems and will be trained to develop and lead research in these fields. To this end, they will establish international relationships and actively participate in national and international academic circles within their area of ​​specialization.