stanford university phd anthropology

Thomas Hansen

Reliance-dhirubhai ambani professor, anthropology.

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Thomas Hansen is the Reliance-Dhirubhai Ambani Professor of Anthropology. He founded and directed Stanford’s Center for South Asia from 2010 to 2017. Hansen is an anthropologist of political life, ethno-religious identities, violence and urban life in South Asia and Southern Africa. He has multiple theoretical and disciplinary interests from political theory and continental philosophy to psychoanalysis, comparative religion and contemporary urbanism. Much of professor Hansen’s early fieldwork was done during the tumultuous and tense years in the beginning of the 1990s when conflicts between Hindu militants and Muslims defined national agendas and produced frequent violent clashes in the streets. Out of this work came two books: The Saffron Wave. Democracy and Hindu Nationalism in Modern India (Princeton 1999) which explores the larger phenomenon of Hindu nationalism in the light of the dynamics of India’s democratic experience, and Wages of Violence: Naming and Identity in Postcolonial Bombay (Princeton 2001) which explores the historical processes and identity formations that gave rise of violent socioreligious conflict and the renaming of the city in 1995. In the early 2000s, professor Hansen pursued a detailed study of religious revival, racial conflict and transformation of domestic and intimate life from the 1950’s to the present in a formerly Indian township in Durban, South Africa. This resulted in a book entitled Melancholia of Freedom. Social Life in an Indian Township in South Africa (Princeton University Press, 2012). In addition to these ethnographic engagements, professor Hansen has pursued a number of theoretical interests in the anthropology of the state, sovereignty, modern convictions, religion, violence and urban life in the Global South. Hansen is currently finishing a book on the global spread of notions of popular sovereignty and the rise of illiberal democracy. He is also engaged in a long term historical and ethnographic investigation of ‘vernacular urbanism’, that is, the dynamics of social segregation and community-based capitalism in the fast-growing provincial cities across South Asia.

Academic Appointments

• Professor, Anthropology

Administrative Appointments

• Chair, Department of Anthropology, Stanford University (2018 - Present)
• Guest professor at the Global South Asia Program, University of Copenhagen (2012 - 2012)
• Senior Visiting Fellow and Adjunct Professor, Department of Anthropology and South Asia Institute, Columbia University (2009 - 2010)
• Dean of the International School of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Amsterdam (2008 - 2008)
• Director of the Graduate School in Social Sciences, University of Amsterdam (2008 - 2008)
• Lichtstern Visiting Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Chicago. (2007 - 2007)
• Senior Visiting Research Fellow, WISER, University of the Witwatersrand (2006 - Present)
• Professor of Anthropology and Religious Studies, University of Amsterdam (2006 - 2010)
• Senior Research Scientist, Department of Anthropology, Yale University (2006 - 2008)
• Visiting Professor, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociale (EHESS) in Paris (2005 - 2005)
• Visiting Professor, School of Social and Political Studies, University of Edinburgh (2004 - 2007)
• Chair of the South Asia Council, The Yale Center for International and Area Studies (2004 - 2006)
• Professor of Anthropology, Department of Anthropology, Yale University (2004 - 2006)
• Professor of Political Anthropology, Department. of Social Anthropology, University of Edinburgh (2003 - 2004)
• Benjamin Meaker Visiting Professor, University of Bristol (2001 - 2001)
• Reader, Department of Social Anthropology, University of Edinburgh (2000 - 2003)
• Senior Researcher, Danish Centre for Human Rights, Copenhagen (2000 - 2000)
• Visiting Fellow, University of Natal (1998 - 1999)
• Visiting Scholar, Department of History, University of Natal, Durban (1998 - 1999)
• Associate Professor of International Development Studies, Roskilde University (1997 - 2000)
• Assistant Professor, International Development Studies, Roskilde University (1994 - 1997)
• Visiting Scholar, Tata Institute of Social Science and Bombay University (1992 - 1993)
• PhD-candidate, International Development Studies, Roskilde University (1990 - 1994)
• Teaching Assistant, International Studies, Aalborg University, Denmark (1989 - 1991)
• Research Assistant, International Studies, Aalborg University, Denmark (1987 - 1988)

Boards, Advisory Committees, Professional Organizations

• Chair, Global Academic Advisory Board at Habib University, Karachi, Pakistan (2017 - Present)
• Member, Institutional Development project for Anthropology at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (2017 - Present)
• Member, London School of Economics and Political Science, External Review Board (2017 - 2017)
• Member, International Evaluation Committee of Nordic Institute for Asian Studies, Copenhagen (2015 - 2015)
• Editor, “South Asia in Motion” book series, Stanford University Press (2014 - 2014)
• Chair of the Graduate Committee, Department of Anthropology, Stanford University (2013 - 2015)
• Chair of the External Review Committee, reviewing the Department of Anthropology at Cornell University (2013 - 2013)
• Member, Editorial Board, Stanford University Press (2012 - Present)
• Chair of the Curriculum Committee, Department of Anthropology, Stanford University (2012 - 2013)
• Member of the Center for Urban Studies, Stanford University (2011 - Present)
• Chair of the Graduate Admission Committee, Department of Anthropology, Stanford University (2011 - 2012)
• External reviewer of Faculty Fellowships, Humanities Institute, University of Michigan (2011 - 2012)
• Member of professorial appointment committee, Faculty of Social Science, University of Gothenburg, Sweden (2011 - 2012)
• Member of selection committee, CCSRE External fellowships (2011 - 2012)
• External expert (promotions and appointments), Department of Anthropology, Stockholm University (2010 - Present)
• Member of the Center for Comparative Study of Race and Ethnicity, Stanford University (2010 - Present)
• Member of the advisory Board, Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies at Stanford University (2010 - Present)
• Member of Search committee, Socio-cultural anthropology at Stanford University (2010 - 2011)
• Appointed member, International panel evaluating anthropological training and research in Norway. (2010 - 2010)
• Founding Director, Center for South Asian Studies, Stanford University (2010 - 2010)
• Director of the Graduate School of Social Sciences, University of Amsterdam (2008 - Present)
• External Examiner, Asian Studies, University of Aarhus, Denmark (2008 - Present)
• External Expert, (promotions and appointments), London School of Economics and Political Science (2008 - Present)
• External expert (promotions and appointments), Dept of Asian and South Asian Studies and Dept of Anthropology, University of Copenhagen. (2008 - Present)
• Member, Board of the International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS), Leiden (2008 - 2010)
• Dean of the International School of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Amsterdam (2008 - 2009)
• Coordinator, “Sister City Project” sponsored by the Society for the Study of Transnational Culture (2006 - 2010)
• Director of the research cluster, ‘Religion and identity in a transnational perspective’ at the Amsterdam School of Social Science Research (2006 - 2010)
• Program director, Research Master ‘s in Social Sciences, University of Amsterdam (2006 - 2009)
• Member, Editorial collective behind the journal Public Culture (2005 - Present)
• Member, Society for the Study of Transnational Culture, sponsor of the journal Public Culture (2005 - 2009)
• Site-coordinator in South Africa for the international research project, “The Religious Lives of Migrants” funded by SSRC (New York) and the Ford Foundation. (2005 - 2009)
• Member of the board, New interdisciplinary ethnography Journal IF: Interview Forum based at Harvard University (2004 - Present)
• Chair of The South Asia Studies Council, Yale Center for International and Area Studies (2004 - 2006)
• Member, Social Science Research Council initiative on Religion and Migration. (2004 - 2006)
• Member, Research network on ‘Imagining Politics’, and interdisciplinary network of scholars from CERI (2003 - 2008)
• Visiting Examiner, Dept. of Social Anthropology. Goldsmiths College, London (2003 - 2005)
• Honors Course organizer, Department of Social Anthropology, University of Edinburgh (2003 - 2004)
• Member, task force undertaking a thorough evaluation of all Social Anthropology departments at Swedish universities, National Agency for Higher Education in Sweden (2003 - 2003)
• Postgraduate convener, Department of Social Anthropology, University of Edinburgh (2002 - 2004)
• 4th year course organizer, International Development Studies, Roskilde (1999 - 1999)
• In charge of post graduate seminar (MA and MSc), International Development Studies (1999 - 1999)
• 3rd year course organizer, International Development Studies, Roskilde University (1997 - 1997)
• 4th year course organizer, International Development Studies, Roskilde (1997 - 1997)
• In charge of post graduate seminar (MA and MSc), International Development Studies (1997 - 1997)
• Key Member and Initiator, Research program ‘Livelihood, Identity and Organization in Situations of Instability' (1996 - 2000)
• 3rd year course organizer, International Development Studies, Roskilde University (1995 - 1995)
• Participant in the comprehensive ENRECA research cooperation program, Center for the Study of Social Sciences, Calcutta and Center for Basic Research, Kampala and Roskilde University (1994 - 2000)
• Book Reviews Editor, European Journal of Development Research (1994 - 1996)
• 3rd year course organizer, International Development Studies, Roskilde University (1994 - 1994)
• Member, Editorial Committee of GRUS (1988 - 1996)
• Member, Association for Asian Studies
• Member, Association of Social Anthropologists (UK)
• Member, American Anthropological Association
• Reviewer, Columbia University Press
• Reviewer, Modern Asian Studies
• Reviewer, European Journal of Development Research
• Reviewer, Stanford University Press
• Reviewer, Indiana University Press
• Reviewer, Berg Publishers
• Reviewer, University of California Press
• Reviewer, Critique of Anthropology
• Reviewer, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute
• Reviewer, University of Chicago Press
• Reviewer, Nations and Nationalism
• Reviewer, Ethnos Journal
• Reviewer, Journal of Asian Studies
• Reviewer, Contemporary South Asia
• Reviewer, Minnesota University Press
• Reviewer, University of Michigan Press
• Reviewer, American Ethnologist
• Reviewer, South Asia
• Reviewer, Cambridge University Press
• Reviewer, Routledge
• Reviewer, Princeton University Press
• Reviewer, Cultural Anthropology,
• Reviewer, Duke University Press

Program Affiliations

• Center for Latin American Studies
• Modern Thought and Literature

Professional Education

• Dr. Phil., Roskilde University, Denmark, Habilitation in the social sciences (1997)
• Doctoral program, Roskilde University, Denmark Roskilde, International Development Studies (1993)
• MA., Department of Political Science, Aalborg University, Denmark, Political Theory (1989)
• MA, Center for International Studies, Aalborg University, International Studies (1988)
• BA, Aalborg University, Denmark, Sociology (1986)
• Academic [email protected] University - Faculty Department: Anthropology Position: Professor

Additional Info

• Mail Code: 2034

• Curriculum Vitae PDF
• Office hour sign up
• Personal website

Current Research and Scholarly Interests

Anthropology of political life, ethno-religious identities, violence and urban life in South Asia and Southern Africa. Multiple theoretical and disciplinary interests from political theory and continental philosophy to psychoanalysis, comparative religion and contemporary urbanism

2023-24 Courses

• Anthropology Colloquium ANTHRO 444 (Aut, Win, Spr)
• Anthropology Lunch Talk Series ANTHRO 445 (Aut, Win, Spr)
• Dissertation Writers Workshop ANTHRO 400 (Win)
• Foundations of Social Theory ANTHRO 301A (Win)
• Introduction to Culture and Society Graduate Studies in Anthropology ANTHRO 311G (Win, Spr)
• Introduction to Graduate Studies ANTHRO 310G (Aut)
• Marxism and Dravidian Politics ANTHRO 11SI (Aut)
• Urban Culture in Global Perspective ANTHRO 126, URBANST 114 (Aut)
• Directed Individual Study ANTHRO 451 (Aut, Win, Spr, Sum)
• Directed Individual Study ANTHRO 96 (Spr)
• Directed Reading URBANST 197 (Win)
• Graduate Internship ANTHRO 452 (Aut, Win, Spr, Sum)
• Graduate Teaching ANTHRO 440 (Aut, Win, Spr, Sum)
• Independent Study for Honors or Senior Paper Writing ANTHRO 95B (Aut, Win, Spr, Sum)
• Internship in Anthropology ANTHRO 97 (Aut, Win, Spr)
• Master's Project ANTHRO 441 (Aut, Win, Spr, Sum)
• Qualifying Examination: Area ANTHRO 401B (Aut, Win, Spr, Sum)
• Qualifying Examination: Topic ANTHRO 401A (Aut, Win, Spr)
• Research Apprenticeship ANTHRO 450 (Aut, Win, Spr, Sum)
• Research in Anthropology ANTHRO 95 (Aut, Win, Spr, Sum)
• Senior Honors Thesis URBANST 199 (Win)

2022-23 Courses

• Anthropology Brown Bag Series ANTHRO 445 (Aut, Win, Spr)
• Proposal Writing Seminar in Cultural and Social Anthropology ANTHRO 308 (Spr)

2021-22 Courses

• Reading Group ANTHRO 442 (Aut, Win, Spr)
• Reimagining Democracy: Social Mobilization in Indian Elections ANTHRO 10SI (Spr)

2020-21 Courses

Stanford advisees.

• Doctoral Dissertation Reader (AC) Noor Amr , Alisha Cherian , Shan Huang , Venolia Rabodiba , Alexa Russo
• Doctoral Dissertation Advisor (AC) Byron Gray , Aaron Hopes , Saad Lakhani , Shikha Nehra , Esteban Salmon Perrilliat , Isabel Salovaara , Utsavi Singh
• Doctoral Dissertation Co-Advisor (AC) Shubhangni Gupta , Shantanu Nevrekar
• Master's Program Advisor shandana waheed
• Doctoral (Program) Ronald Chen, Byron Gray , Aaron Hopes , Saad Lakhani , Richard McGrail , Shikha Nehra , Shantanu Nevrekar , Poornima Rajeshwar, Esteban Salmon Perrilliat , Isabel Salovaara , Chen Shen, Shan Yang , shandana waheed

All Publications

View details for DOI 10.1080/02757206.2023.2275789

View details for Web of Science ID 001091427000001

View details for DOI 10.1017/S0026749X23000045

View details for Web of Science ID 001011155200001

View details for DOI https://doi-org.stanford.idm.oclc.org/10.1017/9781009118873

View details for DOI 10.1017/9781009118873

• When the Past is Tense: a democratic history of monuments in an Indian city State of Democracy in India: Essays on Life and Politics in Contemporary Times Hansen, T. edited by Ray, M. Delhi: Primus Books. 2022 ; 1 : 110-137

View details for DOI https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780197647950.003.0002

View details for DOI 10.1215/08992363-8742160

View details for Web of Science ID 000660994600006

View details for DOI 10.1215/1089201X-8747469

View details for Web of Science ID 000604652600012

• Majoritarian State: How Hindu Nationalism is Changing India edited by Hanson, T., Jaffrelot, C., Chatterji, A. London: Hurst and Co.. 2019
• Introduction Majoritarian State. How Hindu nationalism is changing India Jaffrelot, C., Chatterji, A., Hansen, T. London: D Hurst and Co.. 2019
• Democracy against the Law. Reflections on India’s Illiberal Democracy Majoritarian State. How Hindu nationalism is changing India Hansen, T. London: D Hurst and Co.. 2019

View details for DOI 10.1177/1463499618773663

View details for Web of Science ID 000445712600007

View details for DOI 10.1017/S0026749X17000282

View details for Web of Science ID 000438520800011

• The state as an object of ethnographic inquiry Contributions to Indian Sociology, Special 50th Anniversary Issue. Sage: Delhi Hansen, T. 2018

View details for DOI 10.1080/1070289X.2015.1034135

View details for Web of Science ID 000372410500001

View details for DOI 10.1111/glob.12059

View details for Web of Science ID 000337589700002

• On narrative authority in the global cultural economy Anthropology Now and Next: Diversity, Connections, Confrontations, Reflexivity Hansen, T. edited by Garsten, C. Oxford: Berghahn Books. 2014
• Religion A Companion to Urban Anthropology Hansen, T. edited by Nonini, D. London: John Wiley and Sons . 2014 : Pp. 364–380
• Secular Speech, Popular passion and Public Order in modern India Contesting Secularism Hansen, T. edited by Sorensen, A. B. London: Ashgate Publishing. 2013 : 207–231
• Rethinking the city. Neighbors, strangers and public life in urban India Modernity and Citizenship: Challenges of Building Democratic India Hansen, T. edited by Surinder, J. Delhi: Oxford University Press. 2013
• Melancholia of Freedom. Social Life in an Indian Township in South Africa Hansen, T. Princeton University Press. 2012
• From Houses to Barbed Wire: on Houses and Walls in South Africa Texas International Law Journal Hansen, T. B. 2011 ; 47 : 345-353
• Secular Speech and Popular Passion. Antinomies of Indian Secularism The Law and the Secular/Sacred Divide. Hansen, T. edited by Sullivan, W., Taussig, M. Stanford University Press. 2011 : 261–281
• Cool Passions: The Political Theology of Modern Convictions Hansen, T. University of Amsterdam Press. 2009
• The Unwieldy Fetish. Desire and Disavowal of Indianness in South Africa Eyes Across the Water Hansen, T. edited by Gupta, P., Hofmeyr, I. Pretoria: UNISA Press. 2009
• The Political Theology of Violence in Modern India SAMAJ-Revue (on-line academic journal of South Asian studies edited in Paris) Hansen, T. B. 2009
• In Search of God’s Hand. Masculinity and Religion Piety and Gender. Comparative Perspectives Hansen, T. edited by Sjoerup, L., Roemer, C. H. Brill: Leiden. 2009

View details for DOI 10.1080/00020180903109565

View details for Web of Science ID 000269390100001

• Anthropologists and other interpreters in the global cultural economy Antropologie in een zee van verhalen Hanser, T. edited by Sunier, T. Amsterdam: Aksant. 2009
• Reflections on Salman Rushdie’s Bombay Midnight’s Diaspora. Critical Encounters with Salman Rushdie including a response from the author. Hansen, T. edited by Herwitz, D., Varshney, A. University of Michigan Press. 2008
• Race, Security and Racial Anxieties in the Post-apartheid City Gender and Urban Space Hansen, T. B. edited by Rieker, M. London: Palgrave. 2008
• Javeedbhai Muslim Portraits Hansen, T. B. edited by Banerjee, M. Penguin (London and Delhi). 2008
• On the Difficulties of being Hindu WISER review on Reasons of Faith Hansen, T. 2007
• The India that does not Shine ISIM Review Hansen, T. 2007

View details for DOI 10.1177/0308275X06066583

View details for Web of Science ID 000240499700003

View details for DOI 10.1146/annurev.anthro.35.081705.123317

View details for Web of Science ID 000242032900016

• Where names Fall Short: Naming and Forgetting in contemporary South Africa The Anthropology of Naming Hansen, T. edited by Bodenhorn, B., Bruck, G. V. Cambridge University Press.. 2006

View details for Web of Science ID 000235350600012

View details for Web of Science ID 000231293700004

• Sovereigns beyond the State. On Legality and Authority in Urban India Religion, Violence and Political Mobilization in South Asia Hansen, T. B. edited by kaur, R. New Delhi: Sage Publications. 2005
• Between Autochthony and Diaspora. Indians in the ‘New’ South Africa Dislocating Nation States Hansen, T. edited by Tanabe , . Kyoto University Press/ Trans Pacific Press (Melbourne). 2005
• Sovereigns beyond the State. On Legality and Authority in Urban India Religion, Violence and Political Mobilization in South Asia Hansen, T. edited by Kaur, R. New Delhi: Sage Publications. 2005
• Sovereign Bodies. Citizens, Migrants and States in the Postcolonial World edited by Hansen, T., Stepputat, F. Princeton University Press.. 2005
• In Search of the Diasporic Self: Bollywood in South Africa Bollyworld Hansen, T. B. edited by Kaur, R., Sinha, A. 2005
• Between Autochthony and Diaspora. Indians in the ‘New South Africa' Dislocating Nation States Hansen, T. B. edited by Tanabe, A. Kyoto University Press/ Trans Pacific Press (Melbourne). 2005
• Sovereigns beyond the State. On Legality and Authority in Urban India Sovereign Bodies edited by Hansen, T. B., Stepputat, F. Princeton University Press. 2005
• BJP and the Compulsions of Politics Hindi Nationalism and Indian Politics edited by Hensen, T. 2004
• The Saffron Wage: Democracy and Hindu Nationalism in Modern India Hindu Nationalism and Indian Politics Hansen, T. edited by Mehta, P. B. Oxford University Press. 2004
• The Saffron Wave: Democracy and Hindu Nationalism in Modern India Hansen, T. Oxford University Press. 2004
• Politics as Permanent Performance: on the production of authority in the locality De-centering the Nation: Politics and Cultural Mobilisation in Contemporary India Hansen, T. B. edited by Wyatt, A., Zavos, J. Sage Publications. 2003
• Review Essay: “Politics by Other Means – a review of The Production of Hindu – Muslim Violence" IIAS Newsletter Brass, P. R., Hansen, T. B. 2003
• Souveraene jenseits des Staates Berliner Debatte Initial Hansen, T. B. 2003 : 18-28
• The Ironies of History. A response to Parvati Raman HIMAL Hansen, T. B. 2003 : 3 - 6
• Diasporic Dispositions HIMAL Hansen, T. B. 2002 : 12 - 20
• After the Excess: race, racism and reconciliation in contemporary South Africa Discrimination and Toleration Hansen, T. B. edited by hastrup, K., Ullrich, G. Amsterdam, Kluwer Press. 2002
• Urban Violence in India: Identity Politics, Mumbai, and the Postcolonial City Hansen, T. Permanent Black. 2001
• BJP and the Compulsions of Politics edited by Hensen, T. 2001
• Wages of Violence: Naming and Identity in the Postcolonial Bombay Hansen, T. Princeton University Press. 2001
• States of Imagination. An Introduction States of Imagination: Ethnographic Explorations of the Postcolonial State edited by Hansen, T. B., Steppulat, D. F. Duke University Press.. 2001
• Governance and State Mythologies in Mumbai States of Imagination. Ethnographic Explorations of the Postcolonial State. Hansen, T. Durham: Duke University Press. 2001
• Plays and Politics: Politics and Cultural Identity among South African Indians Afriche e Orienti Hansen, T. B. 2001 ; 3 : 40-48
• Predicaments of Secularism: Muslim Identities in Mumbai Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute Hansen, T. 2000 ; 6 (2)
• Plays and Politics: Politics and Cultural Identity among South African Indians Journal of Southern African Studies Hansen, T. B. 2000 ; 2 (2)
• Bridging the Gulf: Migration and Modernity among Muslims in Mumbai Empire, Migration, Community Hansen, T. B. edited by Bates, C. London, Macmillan. 2000
• Governance and Myths of State in Mumbai The Everyday State in India Hansen, T. B. edited by Benei, V., Fuller, C. J. Delhi, Social Science Press. 2000
• Predicaments of Secularism: Muslim Identities in Mumbai Urban Culture and Democracy: Politics in the City Hansen, T. B. 2000 : 16-37
• The Saffron Wave: Democracy and Hindu Nationalism in Modern India Hansen, T. Princeton University Press. 1999
• Introduction Compulsions of Politics. BJP and Competitive Politics in India Hansen, T. B., Jaffrelot, C. edited by Hansen, T. B., Jaffrelot, C. Delhi, Oxford University Press. 1998
• The Ethics of Hindutva and the Spirit of Capitalism Compulsions of Politics. BJP and Competitive Politics in India Jaffrelot, C. edited by Hansen, T. B. Delhi: Oxford University Press. 1998
• ‘Store faser, små historier: om fase teoriens skæbne i udviklingsforskningen’(in Danish) (Big phases, small stories: on the theory of phases within development research’), Den Ny Verden Hansen, T. B. 1998 ; 30 (3)
• Compulsions of Politics. BJP and Competitive Politics in India, Delhi Hansen, T. B. Oxford University Press. 1998
• BJP and the Compulsions of Politics edited by Hansen, T. 1998
• BJP and the Politics of Hindutva in Maharashtra Compulsions of Politics. BJP and Competitive Politics in India edited by Hansen, T. B., Jaffrelot, C. Delhi: Oxford University Press. 1998
• Indiens langsomme revolutioner Den Jyske Historiker Hansen, T. B. 1997
• Inside the Romanticist Episteme Thesis Eleven Hansen, T. B. 1997 ; 48
• Drømmen om Indien - forestillinger om den indiske nation 1857 -1930 Den Jyske Historiker, Special issue on India Hansen, T. B. 1997 : 26
• Rams Krigere. Religion, nation og politik i Indien Den Ny Verden Hansen, T. B. 1997 ; 30 (1) : 106-122

View details for Web of Science ID A1996WM11300001

View details for Web of Science ID A1996UL45600003

• Becoming a Light Onto Itself - Nationalist Imaginings in the Age of Globalisation Economic and Political Weekly Hansen, T. B. 1996 ; 3 : 603 - 615
• Rams Krigere. Religion, nation og politik i Indien Religion Hansen, T. B. 1996 ; 4 (96)
• Inside the Romanticist Episteme Social Scientist Hansen, T. B. 1996
• Review of Christophe Jaffrelot: “The Hindu Nationalist Movement in India” Nations and Nationalism Hansen, T. B. 1996
• Inside the Romanticist Episteme Occasional Paper Hansen, T. B. 1995
• Controlled Emancipation : Women and Hindu nationalism Ethnicity, Gender and the Subversion of Nationalism Hansen, T. edited by Wilson, F., Frederiksen, B. F. 1994
• Controlled Emancipation : Women and Hindu nationalism European Journal of Development Research Hansen, T. B. 1994 ; 6
• Making sense of Weber: Secularisation and legitimacy in Indian politics The Theoretical Heritage from Marx and Weber in Development Studies, Occasional Paper Hansen, T. B., Martinussen, J. 1994 ; 10 : 167 - 199
• Den vrede hindu : Kulturel mobilisering i den globale modernitet GRUS Hansen, T. B. 1993 ; 41 (14) : 50 - 66
• RSS and the Popularisation of Hindutva Economic and Political Weekly Hansen, T. B. 1993 : 2270-2272
• Sekularisering, religion og ideologi i den moderne verden GRUS Hansen, T. B. 1992 ; 38 (13)
• Religion and Ideology in Hindu nationalist Discourse Working Paper Hansen, T. B. 1992
• Protest. frigørelse eller manipulation - om studiet af sociale og politiske bevægelser i den tredie verden Den Ny Verden Hansen, T. B. 1991 ; 24
• From Regionalism to Nationalism: Hindu nationalism in Maharashtra NASA-proceedings Hansen, T. B. 1991
• Nationalismen som socialismens højeste stadium GRUS Hansen, T. B. 1990 ; 11 (30)
• Political Culture and Hegemony - towards a theoretical understanding GRUS Hansen, T. B. 1988 ; 9 (26) : 15

ANTHR-MA - Anthropology (MA)

Program overview.

The master’s program in Anthropology offers the following options for students who seek a Master of Arts (MA) degree:

Degree Options

Students may pursue one of two possible department tracks in the Anthropology MA degree program. The tracks are:

Archaeology

Culture and Society

The tracks are not declarable in Axess and will not appear on the transcript. Admission to the Coterminal Master’s Degree Program

The graduate application deadline for the coterminal MA degree program in Anthropology is December 5, 2023. Stanford University undergraduate majors are eligible to apply for the coterminal MA degree program if:

They have a 3.4 GPA in their department major

A 3.0 GPA in overall coursework

Have no more than one incomplete listed on the transcript at the time of application.

Successful applicants to the MA program may enter only in the following autumn quarter. However, the department may consider a request for early deferral of admission in the spring quarter by petition. Coterminal MA degree applicants are not required to submit their Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores.

Applicants must submit the following:

Online Application for Admission to Coterminal Master’s Program

Preliminary Program Proposal, Coterminal Degree Program

Coterminal Course Approval form

Three Letters of Recommendation: Two letters should come from  Anthropology faculty members. The third letter can come from an academic advisor and may be from outside Anthropology. 

All relevant transcripts

A two to three page, Statement of Purpose (single-spaced)

Writing Sample in English: A 10-12 page paper giving evidence of writing ability and the capacity for research, analysis, and original thought at the graduate level and demonstrating the ability to use theory in relation to evidence. If your writing sample is longer than 10-12 pages, please indicate which 10-12 pages should be reviewed by the admissions committee.

See the department’s website for additional information.

For tips on writing Statement of Purpose and Personal Statement Essays, see available resources at the Hume Center for Writing and Speaking . For further information on how to write a personal statement, contact your faculty recommenders. You may also contact current graduate students in Anthropology.

University Coterminal Requirements

Coterminal master’s degree candidates are expected to complete all master’s degree requirements as described in this Bulletin. Coterminal Master’s Program describes university requirements for the coterminal master’s degree. Graduate Degrees  describes university requirements for the master’s degree.

The university requires that the graduate advisor be assigned in the student’s first graduate quarter even though the undergraduate career may still be open.

The university also requires that the Master’s Degree Program Proposal be completed by the student and approved by the department by the end of the student’s first graduate quarter.

Course Transfer Undergrad to Graduate

After accepting admission to this coterminal master’s degree program, students may request a transfer of courses from the undergraduate to the graduate career to satisfy the requirements for the master’s degree. Transferring courses to the graduate career requires review and approval of both the undergraduate and graduate programs on a case-by-case basis.

In this master’s program, courses taken two quarters before the first graduate quarter or later are eligible for consideration for transfer to the graduate career. No courses taken before the first quarter of the sophomore year may be used to meet master’s degree requirements.

Course transfers are not possible after the bachelor’s degree has been conferred.

Admission to the Master of Arts in Anthropology

Graduate Degrees describes university requirements for the terminal MA.

The Department of Anthropology offers the terminal MA degree to the following:

Stanford graduate students, taking advanced degrees in other departments or schools at Stanford, who are admitted to the terminal MA program in Anthropology.

Anthropology PhD students at Stanford University who fulfill the MA degree requirements on the way to the PhD degree.

Current graduate applicants who are taking an advanced degree in other departments or schools at Stanford apply for admission to the MA in Anthropology ( on the way to another graduate degree program ) by submitting the Intention to Apply - Anthropology MA (for current Stanford Graduate Students ) form and the submission of the University Registrar’s Graduate Authorization Petition (submitted via Axess e-forms) by December 5, 2023. If approved, an admitted MA applicant usually matriculates in the MA beginning in the following spring quarter or the following autumn quarter (next academic year).

Anthropology PhD students choosing to take the MA in Anthropology on the way to the PhD are governed by separate requirements described in the Anthropology Ph.D. Guide.

Graduate enrollment at Stanford University for three consecutive quarters of full tuition for at least 45 units is required of all candidates for the terminal master’s degree. MA students in Anthropology must take a minimum of 45 units of coursework with an overall minimum grade point average of 3.0. For the master’s degree, all courses must be at or above the 100 level, and at least 23 of the required 45 units must be taken at either the ANTHRO 200 or 300 level.

The MA program may require more than one year of study. However, full-time students entering the program with appropriate backgrounds should complete the MA degree program within three consecutive calendar quarters after the student’s first quarter of master’s-level enrollment. The university allows no transfer units into the master’s program. To provide a meaningful master’s program within one year, advance planning of coursework with a faculty advisor is required. Requirements for the terminal master’s program must be completed within three years.

Consult the department webpages for further information about the department’s MA degree program requirements.

Admissions Information

The deadline for graduate application (via AXESS Graduate Authorization Petition only) to the MA degree program in Anthropology is December 5, 2023. Successful current Stanford student applicants to the MA program may enter in the following spring quarter or in the following autumn quarter (next academic year). The department requires additional terminal M.A. degree program application procedures. The department does not require the GRE test scores for admission to the MA degree program in Anthropology.

Consult the Department webpages .

No financial support is available to students enrolled for the MA degree.

Doctoral Admissions

Use this page to explore admissions data for Stanford's research doctoral programs. While the most common doctoral degree across the university is the PhD, the JSD in Law and the DMA in Musical Arts are also included here. The MD and JD are considered to be professional degrees and are not included. Note that any year referenced in this dashboard refers to the academic year in which the applicant was intending to enroll. For example, an application submitted in September 2018 for the 2019-20 academic year would be counted under 2019-20. These data are limited to new, external applicants only. If you are interested in the Biosciences programs in the School of Medicine, please read the important note below the dashboard.

More information is available about  doctoral program enrollment and demographics , as well as  doctoral degree conferrals, time-to-degree, and graduation rates . Note that local variation in policy and practice regarding admission, matriculation, and degree conferral may affect the departmental and school-level metrics below.

Methodology & Definitions

Application counts.

Applicant counts are based on the number of applications to doctoral programs from new applicants only. Current students who are transferring into a doctoral program from another graduate program at Stanford without submitting a new application are not included. If an application was transferred between programs during the admission process, the application is counted under the final program for which it was considered, not the original program.

Application Years

Applications and offers of admission are counted in the year in which the applicant was intending to enroll. The year in this case encompasses the summer quarter through the following spring, so the 2018-2019 application year would include students who intended to matriculate in Summer 2018 through Spring 2019. If an applicant was admitted and decided to defer their enrollment, that application and offer of admission are counted in the later, deferred year instead of the original year. The majority of new doctoral students matriculate in either autumn or summer. As these dashboards are updated annually in the autumn, the data for the most recent year will not include applicants or admits for winter or spring.

Admit Rates

The admit rate is calculated by dividing the number of offers of admission by the total number of applications received.

An Important Note about Stanford Biosciences

Prospective students may only apply to a single doctoral program at a time, with the exception of the  14 programs in Stanford Biosciences . Beginning with the 2022-23 application period, prospective students in Biosciences are permitted to select up to two programs for consideration as part of their application. (Prior to the 2022-23 application cycle, students were able to and would commonly select up to three programs for consideration.) A successful applicant will only be offered admission to one of these programs, which may result in an artificially low admit rate for some of these programs.  These programs include:

• Biochemistry
• Biomedical Informatics
• Cancer Biology
• Chemical and Systems Biology
• Developmental Biology
• Microbiology and Immunology
• Molecular and Cellular Physiology
• Neurosciences
• Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine
• Structural Biology

Visit the  Graduate Admissions website  for more information about pursuing graduate study at Stanford.

The data are available for download in Google Drive .

• Data Source(s): PeopleSoft Campus Solutions, Institutional Research & Decision Support

Stanford University is committed to providing an online environment that is accessible to everyone, including individuals with disabilities. If you cannot access this content or use any features on this site, please contact  [email protected]  to obtain alternate formats.

You may submit feedback on this dashboard through the  feedback form .

Explore Graduate Programs

Anthropology

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School of Humanities and Sciences

Anthropology is devoted to the study of human beings and human societies as they exist across time and space.

What You'll Study

Anthropology is devoted to the study of human beings and human societies as they exist across time and space. It is distinct from other social sciences in that it gives central attention to the full time span of human history, and to the full range of human societies and cultures, including those located in historically marginalized parts of the world. It is therefore especially attuned to questions of social, cultural, and biological diversity, to issues of power, identity, and inequality, and to understanding the dynamic processes of social, historical, ecological, and biological change over time. Education in Anthropology provides excellent preparation for living in a multicultural and globally-interconnected world, and helps to equip students for careers in fields including law, medicine, business, public service, research, ecological sustainability, and resource management. Students may pursue degrees in Anthropology at the bachelor's, master's, and doctoral levels.

Degrees Offered

More information.

Learn more about Anthropology in the Stanford Bulletin

• Department of Anthropology - Official Webpage
• School of Humanities & Sciences
• Explore IntroSems related to this major

Exploratory Courses

Anthro 1.

Introduction to Cultural and Social Anthropology (ANTHRO 201)

ANTHRO 132C

Technology and Inequality (CSRE 132C)

ANTHRO 3

Introduction to Archaeology (ARCHLGY 1)

ANTHRO 82

Medical Anthropology (ANTHRO 282, HUMBIO 176A)

Related Links 

Department of Anthropology- Facebook

Undergraduate Research Opportunities

Department of Anthropology- LinkedIn

Archaeology Center

Archaeology

Archaeology provides students with a broad and rigorous introduction to the analysis of the material culture of past societies.

Field Experiences

Integrates artifactual evidence

We would like to recognize that Stanford sits on the ancestral land of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe. This land is of great importance to the Ohlone people, and has been since time immemorial. Consistent with our values of community and diversity, we have a responsibility to acknowledge, honor and make visible the university’s relationship to Native peoples. Read more on the history of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe.

Our Mission

The Stanford Archaeology Center is an interdisciplinary hub focused on innovative research and education in archaeology and heritage. We seek to understand the past and also the complex ways in which the archaeological past contributes to contemporary and future worlds. We work to redress the colonial foundations of archaeology through an enduring  commitment to ethics and to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion . Through dedicated lab facilities, workshops and lectures with distinguished scholars, opportunities for hands-on fieldwork and access to the  Stanford University Archaeological Collection , the Center supports excellence in archaeological research and fosters dynamic links between scholars in disparate fields. 

Explore Our Program

Undergrad Program

Stanford's Archaeology Program provides students with an interdisciplinary approach to the material remains of past societies.

Graduate Program

Graduate students participate in the Archaeology Program through their affiliate departments, from which they receive their Ph.D. degree.

Our field experiences are an opportunity to participate in an active archaeological lab and dig research on campus and around the world! 

The Center hosts a variety of events including lunch club, workshops, and distinguished Lecturer Series.

Current news on our students, faculty, and the Center.

Collections

The Stanford University Archaeology Collections (SUAC) is a museum-style collection of archaeological, anthropological, and archival materials.

Recent discoveries from the archaeology of mission sites in the Mangareva Islands of Polynesia

Not informants but authors: Academic expertise and the new framework of heritage authority

Peter Johansen

News and announcements.

Krish Seetah awarded the McMurtry Arts Initiatives Fund by The Office of the Vice President for the Arts

Krish seetah named new e-iper faculty director.

Danielle Raad digs in as the new curator of the Stanford University Archaeology Collections

Crawford Lake shows humans started a new chapter in geologic time, scientists say

Archaeology faculty bookshelf.

Regional Economies in Action. Standardization of Transport Amphorae in the Roman and Byzantine Mediterranean

Climate Without Nature: A Critical Anthropology of the Anthropocene

Connecting Continents: Archaeology and History in the Indian Ocean World

Foragers, Farmers, and Fossil Fuels

Maritime studies in the wake of the Byzantine shipwreck at Yassıada, Turkey

Archaeology of China: From the Paleolithic to the Early Bronze Age

The Archaeology of Colonialism: Intimate Encounters and Sexual Effects

Bones for Tools – Tools for Bones.

Italy’s Lost Greece: Magna Graecia and the making of modern archaeology

Program Requirements

Migration, Ethnicity, Race, Nation Workshop

The following program requirements apply to students who entered the Ph.D program in 2010-11 or later; students admitted prior to 2010 should consult the department or the  Bulletin from their year of admission  for requirements specific to their cohort. Please review the department's Doctoral Program Handbook for more details on each requirement.

Students must complete the following department requirements for the Ph.D. degree in Sociology:

• Proseminar:  Students must enroll in  SOC 305  Graduate Proseminar in Autumn Quarter of the first year. The course provides an introduction and orientation to the field of sociology, and to the department and faculty.
• Colloquium:  The Sociology Colloquium is a semi-monthly seminar held throughout the academic year, in which distinguished scholars lecture about their cutting-edge research. This course,  SOC 396 , is required for all first and second years.
• Minimum sociology units in years 1 and 2:  Students are required to complete 45 units of course work in Sociology in the first academic year, then 15 units of Sociology course work in the second academic year.
• Theory:  Students are required to take two courses in sociological theory. The first course is macro-sociological theory:  SOC 370A  Sociological Theory: Social Structure, Inequality, and Conflict, and the second course:  SOC 372  Theoretical Analysis and Design, should be taken during the first year of the program. 
• Methodology:  Students are required to complete a four course series in methodology. The required methods sequence, to be taken are: SOC 380 Qualitative Methods,  SOC 381  Sociological Methodology I: Introduction,  SOC 382  Sociological Methodology II: Multivariate Regression,  SOC 383  Sociological Methodology III.
• Survey Courses:  Students must complete four broad survey courses to demonstrate command of a range of sociological literature.
• Workshops:  Beginning in year two, doctoral students are required to enroll in at least one workshop each quarter. 
• Qualifying Exam #1:  The first comprehensive examination is designed to ensure that students enter their second year with a firm reading knowledge of two substantive subfields. Students write two essays in response to questions provided by the examining committee. Students choose one of two questions to write on for each subfield. Examinations are offered in a variety of subject areas, and are based on comprehensive readings lists that are available at the beginning of each academic year.
• Qualifying Exam #2 : In their second year of residence, students must pass qualifying exam #2, which is a research paper that is intended to provide students with a more focused engagement in a specialized subfield or research area, and tests the student’s ability to work and think independently. Second year students are required to enroll in  SOC 385A  Research Practicum 1 and  SOC 385B  Research Practicum II  (both workshops assist in developing the front end of the research paper). Students must submit a one-page proposal to the reading committee that includes a brief statement of the problem; a preliminary research design; a data source and proof of reasonable access to it; and a short reading list. Students should produce a paper that makes an original contribution to sociological knowledge and that is ultimately publishable. That generally means writing a paper that includes data analysis; a full and focused analytic discussion of relevant theory and research; and frame the findings as a contribution to the literature. Students may also produce a paper with a primarily theoretical contribution so long as the prospects for eventual publication are clear to the committee. This paper may not also be employed to meet the Third Year Paper requirement, even in revised form.
• Third Year Paper:  In preparation for a career of writing scholarly papers, each student must complete a research paper in the third year of residency. This third-year paper may be on any sociological topic, and may address theoretical, empirical, or methodological issues. The paper is expected to reflect original work and be of publishable quality. Students select a committee of at least two Sociology faculty members to serve as third year paper readers.  
• Conference Presentation:  Students are required to present at least two papers at a major professional meeting (e.g., ASA), department workshops, or a combination of the two in their first five years of graduate study. 
• Dissertation Prospectus and Prospectus Defense:  In order to demonstrate the ability to conduct independent scholarly work, each student must prepare and defend dissertation prospectus by the end of May during the fourth year in residence.
• Doctoral Dissertation and Defense:  Each student must complete and defend a doctoral dissertation. At the choice of the student (and in consultation with his/her adviser), the dissertation requirement may be met either by (1) submitting a book-length document, or (2) submitting three independent papers. The papers may address the same topic, but should be written as stand-alone, single-authored papers in standard journal format (i.e., AJS or ASR). None of these papers may overlap substantially with one another, and none of them may be co-authored. (The main criterion in judging substantial overlap is whether any standard journal, such as AJS, would regard the papers as too similar to publish both.) The dissertation must be submitted to all committee members at least 30 days in advance of the defense date. The dissertation defense serves as the  Oral Examination required by the University . Assessment of satisfactory completion is determined by the student's doctoral committee members. All students are invited to present their dissertation findings at an informal department colloquium.

Students must complete a minimum of  three quarters of teaching apprenticeship in departmental courses, or in other courses by approval. Students working as either a teaching assistant (TA) under the supervision of a faculty member or as a teaching fellow (TF) fulfills this requirement. Students are required to take  SOC 300, Workshop: The Art & Joy of Teaching , in the first year. In addition, students are encouraged to take advantage of department and University teacher training programs. Students for whom English is a second language are expected to acquire sufficient facility in English to be an effective teacher.  It is recommended that students complete their teaching requirements early in their graduate program; the requirement must be completed by the end of the fourth year of residency.

As partial preparation for becoming an accomplished researcher, each student must complete three quarters of research experience, working under the supervision of one or more faculty members, including regular, emeritus, and affiliated faculty. The experience may involve paid (or unpaid) work as a Research Assistant (RA). With the approval of the Director of Graduate Studies, research experience may be acquired by involvement in research projects outside the department. It is recommended that students complete their research requirements early in their graduate program; the requirement must be completed by the end of the fourth year of residency.

At any point during the degree program, evidence that a student is performing at a less than satisfactory level may be cause for a formal academic review of that student.

Anthropology

Salma Elkhaoudi

Bilal Nadeem

Elliott Reichardt

Mahder Takele Teshome

Books in Brief

The Way That Leads Among the Lost: Life, Death, and Hope in Mexico City's Anexos

Author:  Angela Garcia

Via  Macmillan Publishers

“ The Way That Leads Among the Lost  reveals a hidden place where care and violence are impossible to separate: the anexos of Mexico City. The prizewinning anthropologist Angela Garcia takes us deep into the world of these small rooms, informal treatment centers for alcoholism, addiction, and mental illness, spread across Mexico City’s tenements and reaching into the United States. Run and inhabited by Mexico’s most marginalized populations, they are controversial for their illegality and their use of coercion. Yet for many Mexican families desperate to keep their loved ones safe, these rooms offer something of a refuge from what lies beyond them—the intensifying violence surrounding the drug war.”  

Garcia is an associate professor in the Department of Anthropology.

• Social Sciences

In the Shadow of Liberty by Ana Raquel Minian, History

The Patriarchal Political Order by Soledad Artiz Prillaman, Political Science

Measuring in the Renaissance by Emanuele Lugli, Art and Art History

Kurt Weills Musiktheater: Vom Songspiel zur American Opera by Stephen Hinton, Music

The Devil Prefers Mozart: On Music and Musicians, 1962-1993 by Anthony Burgess; edited by Paul Phillips, Music

Milton Friedman: The Last Conservative by Jennifer Burns, History

Multiracial Identities in Colonial French Africa: Race, Childhood, and Citizenship by Rachel Jean-Baptiste, History and Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

Defense Budgeting for a Safer World: The Experts Speak by Michael J. Boskin, Economics and The Hoover Institution

The Ecology of Collective Behavior by Deborah M. Gordon, Biology

The War That Must Not Occur by Jean-Pierre Dupuy, Division of Literatures, Cultures, and Languages

Residual Governance: How South Africa Foretells Planetary Futures by Gabrielle Hecht, History

Determined: A Science of Life Without Free Will by Robert M. Sapolsky, Biology

The Civic Bargain: How Democracy Survives co-authored by Josiah Ober, Political Science and Classics

Post-Cinematic Bodies by Shane Denson, Art and Art History

We’ve Got You Covered: Rebooting American Health Care co-authored by Liran Einav, Economics

The Mathematics of Shuffling Cards co-authored by Persi Diaconis, Statistics and Mathematics

Engage and Evade: How Latino Immigrant Families Manage Surveillance in Everyday Life by Asad L. Asad, Sociology

A Certain Justice: Toward an Ecology of the Chinese Legal Imagination by Haiyan Lee, East Asian Languages and Cultures and Comparative Literature

When I Waked, I Cried To Dream Again by A. Van Jordan, English

What Even Is Gender? co-authored by R.A. Briggs, Philosophy

Sacred Foundations: The Religious and Medieval Roots of the European State by Anna Grzymała-Busse, Political Science

The Cartel System of States: An Economic Theory of International Politics co-authored by Avidit Acharya, Political Science

The Greeks and the Rational: The Discovery of Practical Reason by Josiah Ober, Political Science and Classics

Election Day: How We Vote and What It Means for Democracy by Emilee Booth Chapman, Political Science

Shared and Institutional Agency: Toward a Planning Theory of Human Practical Organization by Michael E. Bratman, Philosophy

Bedouin Bureaucrats: Mobility and Property in the Ottoman Empire by Nora Elizabeth Barakat, History

The Gospel of J. Edgar Hoover: How the FBI Aided and Abetted the Rise of White Christian Nationalism by Lerone A. Martin, Religious Studies

The Forest: A Fable of America in the 1830s by Alexander Nemerov, Art and Art History

Knots, or the Violence of Desire in Renaissance Florence by Emanuele Lugli, Art and Art History

Words in My World series by Nandi Sims, Linguistics

The Socialist Patriot: George Orwell and War by Peter Stansky, History

Written Out: The Silencing of Regina Gelana Twala by Joel Cabrita, History

Life: A Journey Through Science and Politics by Paul R. Ehrlich, Biology

Exponential Families in Theory and Practice by Bradley Efron, Statistics and Biomedical Data Science

© Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305

KQED: Inside Mexico's Clandestine Drug Treatment Centers

Across Mexico, clandestine treatment centers for drug addiction – locally referred to as anexos – have been accused of unethical therapeutic practices and even patient abuse. But among Mexico’s working poor, in the absence of government support, they provide hope and protection from the country’s catastrophic drug war. Anthropologist Angela Garcia spent a decade studying anexos, getting to know the people who run them and families that have come to rely on them. She chronicles their stories and her own reflections in her new book, “The Way That Leads Among The Lost: Life, Death, and Hope In Mexico City’s Anexos.”

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Benjamin valentino named associate dean for the social sciences, posted on may 01, 2024 by arts and sciences.

The government professor will begin his new role on July 1.

Benjamin Valentino , government professor and chair of the Department of Government , will serve as associate dean for the social sciences beginning July 1, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Elizabeth F. Smith announced this week.  

As associate dean, Valentino will oversee Dartmouth's six departments in the social sciences— Anthropology , Economics , Geography , Government , History , and Sociology —as well as the Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for Public Policy and the Social Sciences , the Political Economy Project , and the minor in education . 

"I have always been proud to be part of the social sciences at Dartmouth," Valentino says. "Our faculty's research and teaching are among the best in the world. I am honored to help sustain that legacy in the years ahead."

"Ben is an influential political scientist in both academia and the public sector," Smith says. "With his leadership and public affairs experience, he will bring valuable insights to our academic leadership team. Please join me in congratulating him on his appointment as associate dean."

Valentino's scholarship illuminates how democracies can minimize the human costs of war. His research examines the causes and consequences of violent conflict and American foreign and security policies, with articles published in top political science journals including the American Political Science Review, International Security, and the Journal of Politics, as well as such mainstream outlets as the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and Foreign Affairs. 

Valentino's first book, Final Solutions: Mass Killing and Genocide in the 20th Century , received the Edgar S. Furniss Book Award for making an exceptional contribution to the study of national and international security. 

At Dartmouth, Valentino teaches courses on international relations, international security, American foreign policy, and the causes and prevention of genocide. He also serves as co-director of the Government Department Honors Program, and as faculty coordinator of the War and Peace Studies Program at the Dickey Center for International Understanding . For the past three years, he has served as chair of the Department of Government. 

The recipient of numerous honors and awards, including grants from the MacArthur Foundation, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Stanford University, National Science Foundation, and Dartmouth's Rockefeller Center, Valentino has delivered presentations on his research at academic and nonprofit institutions around the world. 

Valentino has also served as a consultant to U.S. government agencies involved in providing early warning of genocide and other forms of political instability. He was a member of the Genocide Prevention Task Force, a jointly sponsored initiative of the US Institute of Peace, the U.S. Holocaust Museum, and the American Academy of Diplomacy. He also served on the steering committee of the State Department's Global Futures Forum on Genocide Prevention. 

Among Valentino's many other public affairs roles, he serves as a non-resident senior fellow at the Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, where he was the co-creator of the museum's Early Warning Project . He serves as a board member of the Effective Peacebuilding Initiative, a foundation that supports evidence-based peace building and Every Casualty Counts, an organization that provides support to people and organizations around the world to document fatalities from armed conflict. He also serves on the board of visitors at the United States Army's Command and General Staff College, a graduate school for U.S. military and foreign military leaders. 

Previously, Valentino served for four years as a member of the Experts Committee on Preventing Mass Violence, an independent group of former policy makers, activists, and academics convened to formulate policy recommendations related to preventing and protecting civilian populations from mass violence. 

Valentino earned his PhD from MIT and his BA, with distinction and departmental honors in political science, from Stanford University. 

As associate dean Valentino will succeed John Carey , John Wentworth Professor in the Social Sciences, who has served as associate dean for the social sciences since 2019. 

Good ol’ Ways: The history of Ways general education requirements

Students took what they could get in the 1950s at Stanford. “This was not a time in which people raised big questions about what they were being taught,” history and humanities professor emeritus James Sheehan ’58 said in an interview with The Daily. “And that’s no longer true, which is a good thing, actually.”

Back then and still today, effectively every American college instated some form of general education requirements to receive accreditation from the U.S. Department of Education or the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, though curricula have undergone continual evolution.

Stanford, which is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, currently implements a set of breadth requirements collectively known as Ways of Thinking/Ways of Doing. The Ways system, as it is known, traces back to the Study of Undergraduate Education at Stanford University (SUES), which began in 2010 and whose results were published in a foundational report in 2012, two years before the implementation of the system.

At the time, undergraduate students devoted about 25% of their total units at Stanford to requirements outside their majors, according to the report.

For the 2023–24 academic year, more than a decade later, the Department of History offers the most Ways (220), followed by the Departments of Music (144) and English (115), The Daily found in an analysis of listings on ExploreCourses .

The SUES report and its downstream effects were somewhat the latest iteration of several initiatives aimed at enhancing the educational experience through academic policy changes, including the Study of Education at Stanford in 1968 and the Commission on Undergraduate Education (CUE) in 1994, the latter of which Sheehan chaired.

“If you look at the history of this common core, what you find is that each answer to the question has a shorter life,” Sheehan said, referring to Stanford’s Western Civilization requirement, which started in 1923, ended in the 1960s and was followed by a requirement called Cultures, Ideas and Values (CIV), which lasted for less than a decade. The most recent predecessor to Ways was developed in the early 2000s and lasted until 2014.

Today, across the School of Humanities and Sciences, an average of 23.6 Ways-eligible courses are listed per department, and the median is 17.0. As the disparity between the mean and median suggests, these data have substantial spread. The standard deviation over departments is about 27.5.

Across the Doerr School of Sustainability, an average of 17.4 Ways-eligible courses are listed per department, and the median is 11.0. The standard deviation is approximately 15.4.

The School of Engineering has an average of 12.4 Ways-eligible courses listed per department, with a median of 9.0 and standard deviation of approximately 9.11.

Within individual departments, the different kinds of Ways credits offered can widely vary. All 46 Ways-approved courses in the Department of Mathematics exclusively satisfy Formal Reasoning, for example.

Upon learning from a classmate early on that the Department of Classics offered many courses with a mixture of various Ways, Emily Dickey ’23 M.S. ’25 decided to pursue the classics minor, and she said that it turned out to complement her studies as a major in mathematics.

When Dickey took CLASSICS 16N: “Sappho: Erotic Poetess of Lesbos,” an Introductory Seminar , it counted toward Engaging Diversity, a Ways requirement that has since been renamed to Exploring Difference and Power (EDP). EDP is listed for some courses in history, anthropology and feminist, gender, and sexuality studies among many other programs.

“Maybe I would not have been a classics minor had I not taken that class and really enjoyed it and met people,” she said. “I didn’t have to jump through that many hoops … I was able to get a lot of the requirements done in a meaningful way,” she said of her classics minor.

Whereas the predecessor to Ways defined breadth in terms of disciplines, breadth requirements are now defined in terms of sets of intellectual capacities:

• Aesthetic and Interpretive Inquiry (AII)
• Applied Quantitative Reasoning (AQR)
• Creative Expression (CE)
• Exploring Difference and Power (EDP)
• Ethical Reasoning (ER)
• Formal Reasoning (FR)
• Scientific Method and Analysis (SMA)
• Social Inquiry (SI)

In the system preceding the Ways system, named Disciplinary Breadth, students had to take at least one course in each of the five broad areas designated as Engineering and Applied Sciences, Humanities, Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences.

Additionally, students were required to fulfill Education for Citizenship, which breaks down into four subareas: Ethical Reasoning, American Cultures, Global Community and Gender Studies. Even though Education for Citizenship comprised four subareas, students only had to take two courses selected from any of the four. The SUES committee wrote in its report that it is “absurd on its face” to suggest that selecting two courses from four possible categories would equip students for meaningful citizenship.

Starting in 2005, nine years before Ways would take effect, Stanford used an “opt-out” approach, “presuming that courses fulfill their most logically related Disciplinary Breadth requirements unless instructors say otherwise.” Prior to Ways, students could also stack breadth requirements offered by a course, simultaneously receiving credit for multiple ones in some cases. In the current system, students can only count one Ways requirement from a completed course, even if it is listed with more than one.

Over the course of soliciting perspectives from the community in the early 2010s, the SUES committee found, with few exceptions, that the students to whom they spoke “described approaching their general education requirements in a purely instrumental way.”

Many students likewise reported cross-referencing ExploreCourses with CourseRank to find the intersection at which courses fulfill the most requirements while awarding A grades to the greatest percentage of enrolled students, according to the report.

“It is characteristic of faculty, on hearing all this, to condemn students for their cynicism, but the fault is more ours than theirs,” the report subsequently read. “If students conceive intellectual breadth as a series of ‘hoops’ or ‘tick boxes,’ it is because we have presented it in that way.”

John Etchemendy and John Bravman ’79 M.S. ’81 Ph.D. ’85, Provost and Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education at the time, respectively, initially charged the 15-person committee behind SUES with assessing the student experience of Stanford’s curriculum and presenting practical recommendations for keeping, removing or revising undergraduate requirements.

After SUES first proposed Ways, the Committee on Undergraduate Standards and Policies (C-USP) deliberated over the prospective system and wrote the legislation that would eventually be passed in the Faculty Senate, according to Senior Associate Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education Sharon Palmer ’90.

The upshot is that undergraduate students need to take at least two courses for each of AII, SI and SMA, as well as at least one course for AQR, CE, EDP, ER and FR.

“Obviously, there would be faculty arguing passionately for the need for more courses in each of the other Ways categories as well, but the 11 course total represents a negotiated balance … not only for major and general education requirements but also for free exploration,” she wrote in a statement to The Daily.

The University body responsible for fielding and granting instructors’ Ways requests is the Breadth Governance Board (BGB), according to Dan Edelstein, professor of French and formerly a member of the BGB (2013–17). During his time on the BGB, Edelstein noticed that many students, particularly those studying STEM fields, tended to put off fulfilling the more humanistic Ways requirements until senior year.

“That’s unfortunate, because I think that’s kind of like doing it backwards,” he said of what he noticed. “It can be really beneficial before you go into your major to have explored a bit more, to have learned a little bit more about different disciplines and different fields, and it may be that that knowledge will give you a different insight into your own field.”

The BGB reports to C-USP every year and the Faculty Senate every four years. While the BGB works closely with Institutional Research and Decision Support to assess metrics on Ways, the requirements are “so flexible and students take a wide variety of courses to fulfill each Way,” making it “challenging to measure uniform learning outcomes apart from what students report about themselves,” Palmer wrote.

There is some likelihood that the Ways system will need to adapt in the years ahead as generative artificial intelligence (genAI) technology matures, and the scope of its impact becomes clearer, according to Hideo Mabuchi, BGB chair and applied physics professor. “It’s quite possible that the perceived utility of conventional coding skills will decline, and that those courses will evolve to incorporate significant use of genAI tools,” Mabuchi wrote.

“Some other areas might well emerge in the future as critical interests that could potentially be served by adding or replacing a Way – perhaps AI, or sustainability, or something else– or be otherwise woven into the undergraduate curriculum and its requirements.”

“Most Stanford classes are rigorous in some level to probably warrant a Ways requirement, right?” Dickey said, adding that “it just feels arbitrary,” at times, which courses are designated as eligible. “If you wanted people to genuinely explore, and to have a lot of agency over that and not feel pigeonholed, you would have basically all classes counted for the Ways that they are.”

Today, the process of making a course eligible for fulfilling Ways credit is initiated by the instructor of a course, according to Geoff Cox, senior associate dean for administration and finance in the School of Education.

His offering of EDUC 204: “Introduction to Philosophy of Education” fulfilled no Ways requirements as recently as the 2021–22 academic year, according to ExploreCourses. Then Cox submitted a BGB request explaining his reasons why he believed his course could be listed with the ER and SI requirements. Before the course was approved for Ways, somewhere between 20 and 25 students enrolled. After it was approved for Ways, though, that number rose to about 60.

“It is not so much a problem. It’s just a very different course,” Cox said. “There’s a big difference between teaching 20 and teaching 60 … some courses work better as small classes.”

Dickey said that it might not be rewarding or as enjoyable for professors to teach Ways-eligible courses, because such eligibility could lead to a class consisting of comparatively more students who are there “just trying to check a box,” but still, “it would be nice if every class was actively categorized, or there was some petition mechanism.”

Ways requirements were “not a big deal” for Brooke Seay ’23 M.S. ’25, who majored in human biology and minored in creative writing. “It wasn’t like math, where everything is Formal Reasoning.”

“The philosophy of my major was aligned so strongly with the breadth and Ways of Thinking,” she said, citing the role of social context in understanding biology, as well as the necessity for strong scientific writing skills and a command of statistics. “I think Ethical Reasoning was the only one that I had to, like, seek out.”

She eventually found and enrolled in HUMBIO 174A: “Ethics in a Human Life,” an upper-division human biology course that worked with her schedule and fulfilled the requirement, which turned out to be one of her favorite classes.

ER is currently the most scarce Ways credit, per The Daily’s analysis of listings on ExploreCourses. However, with the guidance of the universal first-year requirement of the Civic, Liberal, and Global Education (COLLEGE) sequence, students may take “ Citizenship in the 21st Century ,” which satisfies ER, according to Edelstein, who has taught the course multiple times. 

“As an institution, maybe we need to find other ways to incentivize students to take classes outside of their comfort zone,” Edelstein said. “I think students who are pre-med or engineering tracks, where there are a lot of prerequisites, often feel like they have to do all the prerequisites first … It’s kind of an organizational problem,” he said, adding that a possible solution might involve adjusting when certain classes are offered and easing potential sources of burden.

Balancing an aspirational model of liberal arts with practical details is not a new challenge to Stanford. It was in the 1960s when the Western Civilization requirement began to fragment, said Sheehan, who taught at Northwestern University before joining the faculty at Stanford. “It became impossible really to keep this common experience together, and so it began to break up into a variety of ways to approach the same topic.”

Stanford does differ from many schools in that it has the same general education requirements for all undergraduate students, Sheehan said, citing departments housed in Northwestern’s Technological Institute , for instance, whose undergraduates have their own set of general requirements, he said.

Sheehan added that over the years universities have become “extremely complicated” with larger administrative staff and larger budgets and “increasingly difficult to run,” yet universities continue to hold a unique position in society.

“People don’t come here from other countries to ride our public transportation system. They do come in great numbers to study at our universities, which is a sign, I think, of their enormous success,” Sheehan said. And he said that the purpose of a university is what separates it from other institutions, and the failure to explicitly articulate said purpose “creates a vacuum.”

“Vastly different major requirements” are a persistent challenge in establishing a common basis for meaningful undergraduate experience, Sheehan said, especially when further expectations must be incorporated, such as discipline-specific standards set by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology .

“This sets real limits to what can be done,” Sheehan said. “At the same time, I would hate to think we would give the whole thing up. I think it’s worth genuinely trying to ask ourselves what it is our students should learn and what they need.”

Matthew Turk ’24 is a Data Director for The Stanford Daily and is majoring in computer science with a minor in mathematics. He has previously served as a desk editor in News, managing editor of The Grind and Chief Technology Officer. This past summer, he was a Software Engineering Intern at Apple. His novels, An Invincible Summer (2021) and Baba Yaga (2022), are in stores. Ask Matthew about astrophysics, football and the automotive industry. Contact him at mturk ‘at’ stanforddaily.com.

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Times and dates for spring 2024 commencement

This spring, more than 5,300 University of Iowa students will receive their degrees during in-person and livestreamed commencement ceremonies, beginning with the College of Pharmacy’s Doctor of Pharmacy ceremony on May 9 and concluding with the College of Dentistry’s ceremony on May 31. Other ceremonies will take place between May 9 and May 18.

See the fully list of commencement ceremonies below. 

For more information about dates, times, and livestreaming details for each ceremony, visit the UI commencement website.

Thursday, May 9

College of Pharmacy

Doctor of Pharmacy ceremony

10 a.m. 

Hancher Auditorium

Dean Donald Letendre will give remarks. Graduate and class president Savannah Anderson, of New Hampton, Iowa, will be the student speaker. Susan Vos, director of student affairs for the American Association of College of Pharmacy, will be the guest speaker. President Barbara Wilson will confer degrees. 

College of Education

Undergraduate and Teacher Education Program ceremony

4 p.m. 

Dean Daniel L. Clay and President Barbara Wilson will confer degrees, and Mark McDermott, associate dean for teacher education and student services, will recognize those who completed the Teacher Education Program. Matt Devlin, play-by-play announcer for the Toronto Raptors, will be the keynote speaker. Anne Estapa, College of Education associate professor of math education, will be the faculty speaker. McKenna Haag, a graduating elementary education major from North Liberty, Iowa, will be the student speaker. 

Graduate College

Master’s degree candidates

Carver-Hawkeye Arena

President Barbara Wilson and Dean Amanda Haertling Thein will deliver messages to students. Master of Public Affairs graduate Armando Bryson, of Anaheim, Calif., will give the student address.

Friday, May 10

College of Law

Hancher Auditorium 

President Barbara Wilson will give remarks. Samantha McCort, of Fort Dodge, Iowa, will be the student speaker. U.S. District Court Chief Judge CJ Williams, a College of Law adjunct professor, will be the alumni speaker.

Doctoral degree candidates

President Barbara Wilson and Dean Amanda Haertling Thein will deliver messages to students. The alumni speaker will be Tawny Tibbits, who earned a PhD in Geoscience from Iowa in 2016. Doctor of Nursing Practice graduate Mary Claire Wunderlich, of Mason City, Iowa, will give the student address.

Saturday, May 11

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS)

This CLAS ceremony will recognize graduates majoring in African American studies; American studies; ancient civilization; anthropology; art; art history; biochemistry; biochemistry and molecular biology; biology; biomedical studies; chemistry; cinema; classical languages; computer science; economics; English; English and creative writing; environmental policy and planning; environmental sciences; exercise science; gender, women’s and sexuality studies; geography; geoscience; health and human physiology; health promotion; health studies; human physiology; informatics; science studies; screenwriting arts; social justice; speech and hearing science; sport and recreation management; sport studies; sustainability science; and therapeutic recreation.

Dean Sara Sanders and President Barbara Wilson will confer degrees. The student speaker will be Preksha Kedilaya, of Bettendorf, Iowa, who will receive a Bachelor of Science in biomedical sciences and a minor in general health and healthcare equity. Samantha Martin, of Polk City, Iowa, will perform the National Anthem and receive a Bachelor of Music (performance-voice). 

College of Nursing

Dean Julie Zerwic will address students. New BSN graduate Alyssa Nahnsen, of Munster, Indiana, and new RN-BSN graduate Rachel Trumm, of Cascade, Iowa, will be the student speakers. Executive Vice President and Provost Kevin Kregel will confer degrees. 

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

This CLAS ceremony will recognize graduates majoring in actuarial science; applied physics; Asian languages and literature; astronomy; communication studies; criminology, law, and justice; dance; data science; enterprise leadership; ethics and public policy; French; German; global health studies; history; interdepartmental studies; international relations; international studies; Italian; journalism and mass communication; linguistics; mathematics; microbiology; music; neuroscience; philosophy; physics; political science; Portuguese; psychology; religious studies; Russian; social work; sociology; Spanish; statistics; theatre arts; and translation. 

Dean Sara Sanders and President Barbara Wilson will confer degrees. The student speaker with be Hope Hjelmeland, of Humboldt, Iowa, who will receive Bachelor of Arts degrees in economics and public policy and ethics, as well as a minor in gender, women’s, and sexuality studies. Brandon Burkhardt, of Coralville, Iowa, will perform the National Anthem and will receive a Bachelor of Arts in music (performance-voice) and a Bachelor of Arts in theatre arts (music theatre). 

Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine

Associated medical sciences degree candidates

David Asprey, the Denis R. Oliver Endowed Chair and professor in the Department of Physician Assistant Studies and associate dean for medical education and professional programs, will preside over the ceremony. The keynote speaker will be Bruno Policeni, the Kenneth L. and Gloria D. Krabbenhoft Chair and department executive officer in the Department of Radiology. MJ Jorgenson, Master of Clinical Nutrition graduate from Kansas City, Missouri, and Alexandra Hodal, a Bachelor of Science in nuclear medicine technology graduate, will be the student speakers. Marc Pizzimenti, associate professor of anatomy and cell biology and co-director of the Master on Clinical Anatomy Program, will deliver the charge to the graduates. Amanda Thein, associate provost for graduate and professional education and dean of the Graduate College, will confer degrees. 

University College

Virtual ceremony

This ceremony will include University College graduates earning the Bachelor of Applied Studies and Bachelor of Liberal Studies degrees. President Barbara Wilson and Associate Provost and Dean of University College Tanya Uden-Holman will deliver messages to the students. Rob Gettemy, assistant professor of practice in the Tippie College of Business, will be the faculty speaker. Summer 2024 University College graduate April Richer, of Dover, New Hampshire, will be the student speaker. 

Tippie College of Business

Undergraduate ceremony

Dustin Godsey, chief sales and marketing officer for the Milwaukee Bucks and Fiserv Forum, will give the alumnus address. Finance graduate McKenzie Turner, of Waukee, Iowa, will be the student speaker. J. Martin Scholtz, UI’s vice president for research, will confer degrees. 

College of Public Health

Dean Edith Parker and UI Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education and Dean of the University College Tanya Uden-Holman will confer degrees. Dean Parker will deliver a message to students. Graduates Nick Lembezeder, of Peosta, Iowa, and Arshi Sajid, of West Des Moines, Iowa, will be the student speakers. 

Sunday, May 12

College of Engineering

Dean Ann McKenna will deliver a message to students. Luke Farmer, an electrical engineering graduate from Manchester, Iowa, will be the student speaker. President Barbara Wilson will confer degrees. 

Friday, May 17

Carver College of Medicine

Doctor of Medicine and Master in Medical Education candidates

Christopher Cooper, senior associate dean for medical education, will give introductory remarks. Benjamin Linden, of Sioux City, Iowa, will be the student speaker, and Manish Suneja, clinical professor of internal medicine, will provide the commencement address. Rebecca Bushbaum, of Clermont, Iowa, and the 2024 recipients of the Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award, will administer the Physician’s Oath. Denise Jamieson, vice president for medical affairs and Tyrone A. Artz Dean of the Carver College of Medicine; Bradley Haws, associate vice president and chief executive officer of UI Hospitals & Clinics; Christina Taylor, Iowa Medical Society president; Kevin Kregel, UI executive vice president and provost; Jane Miller, professor and director of the Master in Medical Education Program; David Asprey, associate dean for medical education and professional programs; Amal Shibli-Rahhal, associate dean of student affairs; and James Choi, assistant dean of student affairs; will all participate in the ceremony.  

Saturday, May 18

Tippie MBA Programs

Executive Vice President and Provost Kevin Kregel will confer degrees. Jeff Disterhoft, retired CEO of GreenState Credit Union, will be the speaker. 

Friday, May 31

College of Dentistry 

President Barbara Wilson will deliver the greeting. Dean Clark Stanford will deliver a welcome and message to the graduating class. Luke Hovey, of Bettendorf, Iowa, will be the student speaker. Associate Dean Sherry Timmons will present honors and awards. Faculty members Steven Means, Maria Marcela Hernández Luna, Michael Santucci, and John Syrbu will present hoods to the candidates.