Faculty research and teaching areas of interest include human rights, legal anthropology, political ecology, postcolonialism, social movements, migration, trafficking, labor, religion, race and gender. Faculty have conducted research in Columbia, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Pakistan, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, the West Bank, Gaza, Iraq, Turkey, France, Siberia, Ghana, Nigeria, Africa, and the United States. The Department's faculty not only are active scholars but also regularly engage with policy makers, the media, and non-governmental organizations. The faculty's scholarship and advocacy are a part of what has been termed "public anthropology." This commitment to social justice, both in and out of the classroom, dovetails with Georgetown's mission to understand -- and take action on -- issues of injustice close to home and across the globe.

Anthropological thinking and methods can be used in range of settings such as in government agencies, courts, businesses, non-profit organizations, and hospitals. Anthropology courses give students the tools and analytical framework to examine the cultural logic undergirding various communities around the world. Our courses prompt questioning of how power shapes individuals' lives and how social change happens. Some courses have a field-research component which allows students to navigate new communities in Washington D.C.