The University of the Philippines Department of Anthropology, founded in 1917, is one of the earliest academic anthropology programs in Asia. The Department is now part of the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy, UP Diliman. It offers undergraduate and graduate courses in the four fields of anthropology: cultural/social anthropology, archaeology, biological anthropology, and linguistic anthropology. The courses are designed to help students understand human biological and cultural diversity, and the forces that shape cultural evolution and social change. The Department promotes global perspective and comparative approach in anthropology that is contextualized by doing ethnographic fieldwork, producing cultural knowledge that is engaged, critical and reflexive.

“I became interested in Anthropology when I learned about its holistic approach to learning about humans and culture. I remembered how a new door of curiosity was opened when we discussed in class how our physical body was mediated by culture, ending the debate of nature versus nurture. Understanding the past through artifacts and analyzing how we utilize language for a variety of reasons gave me a better understanding of who we really are. Lastly, anthropology’s interest in similarities and differences, and relations of power, within and among cultures of the world, and love for understanding about fellow humans or kapwa, gives  balance to the hearts and minds of students in this discipline.” -a graduate student of Anthropology

The Department of Anthropology of the University of the Philippines is undertaking the University of the Philippines Anthropology Field School (UPAFS) at least once a year. The Field School aims to train graduating BA Anthropology students about field research methods in Anthropology. The core subjects taught during the field school are Anthro 195 (Field Methods in Archaeology) and Anthro 196 (Field Methods in Social Anthropology) although there are certain years where Anthro 161 (Introduction to Folklore), Anthro 172 (Traditional and Peasant Communities), and Anthro 197 (Laboratory and Field Methods in Physical Anthropology) were also taught in the field.