Research
RESEARCH AGENDA
The faculty of the Department of Anthropology engage in various researches within the
scope of the discipline’s four fields – Social or Cultural Anthropology, Biological Anthropology,
Archaeology, and Linguistic Anthropology – as well as on special topics that engage
methodologies and approaches from other disciplines. These researches are in line with the
Department’s mission statement, which calls for inter-disciplinary research – both basic and
applied – that contributes “to the resolution of relevant social issues”. The following are the
research agenda of the faculty of the Department.
1. Biological Anthropology
● Anthropology of Healthcare
The study of healthcare systems as cultural systems
● Genetics and Culture
Interplay of culture with human genetics
● Forensic Anthropology
This area involves the application of concepts and methods from physical
anthropology and archaeology, especially the study of human remains, to
forensics.
● Anthropology of Aging
This area focuses on the cultural dimensions of the aging process, including
meaning-making as the body changes over time.
● Anthropology of the Body and the Senses
Applications of the biocultural approach in the anthropology of the body and
anthropology of the senses.
● Anthropology of drugs, pharmaceuticals, and other chemicals
Ethnographic and biological approaches to the study of consumption of
various chemical products.
● Traditional medicine
Traditional medicine in context, including the changes as a result of adapting to
contemporary settings.
● Anthropology of mental health
This area examines the interplay of cultural processes upon issues of mental health,
such as the role of kinship, power and power relations and the impact of economic
capability. This also includes neurodiversity and how people act as being-in-theworld and simultaneously outside of immediate realities.
● Cultural Ecology of Health
● Embodied Ecologies
This area explores the fluid relationship between changing biological and scientific
ideas about the body and the lived realities of bodies in contemporary settings, with
special attention paid to the intimate interaction of the body with the immediate
environment
● Multispecies Ethnography and Conviviality
More-than-human and beyond-human approaches to ethnography that de- centers
humans and features investigations and analysis of conviviality, or the co-creation of
mutually life-sustaining forms of multispecies co-existence
● Medical Anthropology – providing education services to medical schools through
lectures on health and illness as cultural systems, addressing issues of health and
illness through cultural lenses.
● Pharmaceutical anthropology – research and documentation on the meanings and
use of pharmaceuticals in everyday life
2. Linguistic Anthropology
● Language acquisition
The anthropological study of linguistic practices relating to human development and
socialization.
● Linguistic forms, local classification systems and worldviews Ethnographic
studies that expound on the theory of linguistic relativity
● Linguistic acts, genres and communities
Ethnographic studies of language use and linguistic acts, genres in language
communities from the perspective of native language users
● Power, identity, and language use
The anthropological study of the politics of / in language use
● Language change
The study of language change in various population groups/speech/ language
communities, including those which use spoken and non-spoken languages
(e.g. deaf community) from an anthropological perspective
● Filipino Sign Language
Anthropological studies of and on Filipino sign language and deaf communities.
● Linguistic diversity and linguistic imperialism
Understanding the politics of language use in relation to the process of language
change language change
● Discourse studies in politics, media, academia (including research), religion, popular
culture and other fields of social life
Using analytical approaches in linguistic anthropology to highlight politics in language
use towards identifying and correcting linguistic practices that reproduce
microaggressions and other forms of inequality
● Linguistic approaches to the study of expressive traditions (‘music’, ‘dance’, etc.)
Using analytical approaches in linguistic anthropology to understand and document
expressive forms and related practices from the practitioners’ perspective
● Study of ‘speech genres’ and ‘speech events’
Documentation of speech genres (e.g. verbal art forms) based using ethnographic
approaches (e.g. identifying and understanding linguistic genres from the local
community’s perspective)
3. Social Anthropology
● Anthropology of Religion
Study of beliefs, rituals, symbols, and conversion, the processes they involve, the
ways they are conceptualized and (re)shaped in sacred spaces and influence
individuals’ identities, relationships, aspirations and engagements with the world.
These studies can provide a deeper understanding of the dynamic, harmonious, and
conflicting relationships between individuals, communities, and everyday religious
practices within diverse cultural contexts, towards mediation of interreligious dialogue
to address issues of mutual concern.
● Religion and the public
Examining how different religious beliefs relate within societies, contribute to public
discussions on morality, ethics, social issues, political ideologies, policies, and
governance, as well as the impact of political decisions on religious communities.
● Anthropology of Disaster
Ethnographic and multi-disciplinary studies on the social and cultural processes
involved in experiences of disaster with the perspective that ‘there is no such thing as
natural disasters.
● Anthropology of Arts
Ethnographic studies of ‘art’, art practices, and art appreciation in different societies
● Anthropology of Sports
Ethnographic studies of sports in local context, including interrogating the notion of
sports as a universal activity, and its meaning-making, that may be used for
documentation, advocacy and policy review and development.
● Anthropology of Human Movement
Study of the cultural and social significance of human body movement using
ethnographic approaches, and possible uses for documentation and preservation of
dance traditions, dance repertoires and other movement systems (using
Labanotation)
● Anthropology of Performance
Understanding different performative forms from the perspective of
practitioners and generating new theories on ‘performance’, including documentation
of performative traditions based using ethnographic approaches (e.g. understanding
performance from the local community’s perspective)
● Political Anthropology
Ethnographic studies of political dynamics, political movements, and governance in a
cultural setting, including the analysis of power, leadership, and influence in all their
social, cultural, symbolic, ritual, and policy dimensions, and how these impact on
communities.
● Pop Culture and Media
The exploration of ongoing processes of cultural production, both in real time and
online
● Urban Anthropology
Ethnographic studies of the urban setting with particular attention to human
settlements, relations, and issues between various stakeholders of the city, including
the impacts of urbanization on social relationships, social issues arising from dense
built environments, engaging in advocacy addressing these.
● Ethnohistory and Social Memory
Ethnographic studies demonstrating the interaction between history and
anthropology, the history of an ethnolinguistic group, and understanding how
societies collectively remember the past, including documentation of narratives of
the past and of social movements.
● History of Anthropology and Historical Anthropology
The study of the history of the discipline of anthropology from its beginnings as a
Western science to its present state as global discipline focusing on culture, society
and people with independent intellectual and academic traditions in different
nations; also explores intersections between Historiography and Ethnography.
● Anthropology of Death
Ethnographic explorations of the meanings of the end of life stage, especially in the
contemporary digital setting.
● Cultural studies of Filipinos in Diaspora
Analyzing the dynamics of diasporic communities, the formation of migrant
neighborhoods, their roles and contributions in economies, social and cultural
landscapes of both their host and home countries.
● Urbanization and Migration
Investigating the impact of migration on urban spaces.
● Genders and Sexualities
Looks into the issues and problems in relation to gender and sexuality;
understanding diversity of meanings, practices, relationships, and experiences inform
gender and sexual relations.
● Human Security
Focuses on broadening the understanding of security beyond the militaristic, to an
understanding of human security in contemporary neoliberal society.
● Media Anthropology
Investigating mass communication (broadcast radio and television) and digital media
(Internet, streaming, and mobile telephony) with a particular interest in the ways in
which media are designed or adapted to inform and shape culture.
● Economic and Ecological Anthropology
Analyzes implications, and investigates, economic systems, including the
relationships between a population of humans and their biophysical environment,
and what these might tell us about current issues in human ecology.
● Anthropology of Development
Applied to the body of anthropological work with a critical perspective on
development and how this impacts on communities and cultures.
4. Anthropological Archaeology
● Ethnoarchaeology
Analysis of contemporary material cultures alongside associated non-tangible
knowledge and practices using ethnographic techniques, which helps inform
understanding of the archaeological record, past human behavior, and past societies.
Includes documentation and cultural mapping of artifacts and the process of
production, consumption, and disposal, leading to advocacy and to proposals for policy
review and development.
● Zooarchaeology
Analysis of animal remains from archaeological contexts that encompasses study of
specific animal species, past ecologies and environments, and human- animal
interactions from past to present, noting implications for present policies for the
same.
● Archaeology of coastal communities
Archaeological analysis of coastal sites that intersects with the archaeologies of
islands, archipelagos, and maritime cultures.
● Ceramic analysis
Study of ceramics as artifacts and sources of history and culture of past and present
societies.
● Material culture studies
Study of material culture produced by a specific group of people with particular
attention to production processes, distribution, and exchange, as well as its
symbolic and stylistic characteristics important in understanding and interpreting
societies.
● Indigenous and community archaeology
An expression of archaeological theory and practice that engages with Indigenous
values, knowledge, practices, and ethics; Also, archaeology done with, for, and/or by
Indigenous peoples and local communities.
● Multispecies archaeology
Application of multispecies approach in archaeology that investigates histories of and
relationships among various living organisms, situates humans within wider
ecologies, and considers the past beyond humans at the center of inquiry.
5. Heritage Studies
● Documentation, conservation, promotion, and protection of heritage sites and
heritage collections
Documentation, conservation, promotion, and protection of heritage collections as
part of national cultural patrimony
● Museology
Anthropological study of museums concerning its history, organization, management,
development, and interaction to its various publics.
● Material Culture
Study of material culture produced by a specific group of people with particular
attention to production processes, distribution, and exchange, as well as its
symbolic and stylistic characteristics important in understanding and interpreting
societies.
● Performances of heritage
Ethnographic studies of local expressions of heritage, including the politics of
heritage-making.
● Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH)
Documentation, conservation, and promotion of ICH by engaging in documentation,
cultural mapping and assistance in project monitoring and evaluation.
6. Area Studies and Special Topics
● Folklore Studies
Study of the various domains of folklore using anthropological methods and
interpretation
● Folklore and the public – public education through different media platforms, pursuing
documentation and advocacy on indigenous knowledge.
● Anthropology and Human Rights
Interrogating the concept of human rights through anthropological lenses; examining
indigenous concepts of human rights through ethnography
● Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Practices
Anthropological studies of indigenous knowledges and practices, including
interfaces with ‘expert knowledge’ and its possible applications.
● Philippine and Southeast and East Asia regional studies
Building linkages with different communities (both academic and social) in order to
address issues commonly faced by both sides.
● Public policies
Analysis, documentation of their impacts
● Social Impact Assessment
Engagement with different entities (government, non-government, private) to conduct
social impact assessments for various projects.
● Mining Communities
Investigating the impacts of mining in local communities; engaging various
stakeholders, especially mining-impacted communities, to understand the issues of
how mining activities changes the lifeways of communities and landscapes, towards
alternatives and equitable solutions.
● Disaster Risk Reduction
Engaging with different stakeholders (e.g. communities, experts, local government
units, NGOs) to work on sustainable and localized solutions to effects of climate
change.
● Climate Change
Various engagements through eco-social perspective and by political ecology theory
to better understand the politicized nature of human interaction with the environment
(Baer and Singer 2009) towards sustainable solutions.
● Globalization
Concerned with transnational processes, migration and technology, and with the
movement of information, symbols, capital, and commodities in global and
transnational spaces. Special attention is given to the significance of contemporary
increases in the volume and flows of commodities (tangible and intangible) in shaping
local practices and identities.
● Human Rights
Engaging human rights as practice and/or as discourse, foregrounded on local,
national, and international political and economic realities and processes, taking to
mind, and engaging social justice projects; includes but not limited to investigating,
documenting human rights violations.
● Indigenous Peoples Issues
Looks into the issues that indigenous peoples face in relation to “development”—
impacts of projects in their lifeways, the natural environment, as well as policies
(national and global); broad scope of IP rights and social and environmental justice
nexus, including but not limited to climate change, biodiversity, and landscapes
marginalization, dispossession of land, forced removal or relocation, denial of land
rights, impacts of large-scale development, issues of violence and brutality, abuses
by military forces and armed conflict, continuing assimilation policies, among others;
developing an engaged anthropological praxis.
● BangsaMoro issues
Building linkages with Bangsa communities and using anthropological methods to
address current issues.
● Education and Anthropology
Issues in education examined using anthropological lenses.