Our focus is on the U.S.-Mexico borderlands, and we are recognized for high-quality research and teaching on the unique social and cultural features of border regions. Within the overall border studies focus, the department has six emphases: migration, health, environment, education, criminology, and applications of social sciences for social justice.

Because of our regional focus, we also have topical strength in Latinos and Native Americans and ethnic and racial relations. Because our department has anthropologists, geographers, and sociologists, we encourage extensive interdisciplinary sharing, in courses, programs, research projects, and faculty collaborations.

The Department is an Affiliate of the American Sociological Association and American Anthropological Association. The borderland region of El Paso, Texas and Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico is a natural laboratory for the study of important social science issues that affect the nation as a whole.

Consequently, the Department of Sociology and Anthropology offers undergraduate and graduate students unique opportunities to work and study in a multi-cultural bi-national setting. Research programs in the Department have been funded by National Science Foundation, National Institute of Health, National Endowment for the Humanities, and other respected foundations and agencies.

We offer hands-on learning opportunities that provide students with job and graduate program-related skills. We are committed to research and teaching that meets the goals and needs of the people of the El Paso-Ciudad Juárez region.