Founded in 1988, the Doctoral Program in Anthropology and History at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor offers unique opportunities for students to develop studies and research amidst the productive dialogues that have engaged the disciplines of anthropology and history. One of the first joint doctoral degree programs institutionalizing interdisciplinary dialogues, the Doctoral Program encourages students to examine how human societies and their interconnections may be analyzed through a wide variety of research techniques and analytical approaches, including fieldwork, archival research, literary analysis, and performance studies. Program students often join interests in experimental research design with interests in political engagement, public history, social theory, and applied anthropology. In developing their course work and in forming their preliminary and dissertation committees, students in the Doctoral Program draw on the expertise of faculty in anthropology, history, sociology, and other disciplines covering most areas of the world and time periods, from archeologically documented periods (such as Classical, Indian, and Mayan antiquities) to the present. Through rigorous training and innovative research projects, students are prepared to enrich research and instruction in the disciplines of anthropology and history as well as to contribute to the strengthening of interdisciplinary scholarship in the humanities, social sciences, and international studies more generally.
