Anthropology is the scientific discipline that examines the origins of humans as well as their biological characteristics, social structures, and cultural expressions. The field of anthropology is traditionally divided into three main sub-disciplines: Paleoanthropology, Physical Anthropology, and Social Anthropology.
Paleoanthropology
Paleoanthropology is the branch of anthropology that investigates the origins and evolutionary history of humans. By analyzing skeletal remains and fossils from past communities, paleoanthropologists seek to understand demographic structures, age and sex distributions, health conditions, and biological relationships among different populations.
Physical Anthropology
Physical Anthropology studies the place of humans within the biological world, focusing on intra-species variation (biological diversity), human biological structure, growth and development, genetic traits, adaptations to environmental changes, and the morphological, anatomical, and physiological features of humans. These aspects are examined through both metric and morphological methods.
Social Anthropology
Social Anthropology can be defined as the comparative study of human behavior. It examines all components of social life—including behaviors, ideas, principles, values, religious practices, organizational systems, and technologies—as well as the relations that shape them within and across societies.
Employment Opportunities for Anthropologists
Anthropologists have employment opportunities in both the public and private sectors. They work in various institutions and organizations under the Ministry of Culture and Tourism (such as HAGEM and museums). They may also serve as social researchers within institutions like the State Planning Organization, Turkish Statistical Institute, and TRT. In recent years, anthropologists have increasingly been employed in the National Intelligence Organization (MİT), the General Directorate of Security, and the Council of Forensic Medicine.
Established in 2012 within Hitit University’s Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, the Department of Anthropology continues its academic activities across the subfields of Paleoanthropology, Physical Anthropology, and Social Anthropology with 7 faculty members and 1 research assistant.
