Faculty of Social Sciences

The history of teaching "Anthropology" at the University of Tehran dates back to 1937, when a German instructor was entrusted with delivering the course. In 1965, a section titled "Nomadic Anthropology" was established within the Institute for Social Studies and Research at the University of Tehran, officially commencing its scholarly activities. Following the founding of the Faculty of Social Sciences in 1972, this section continued its academic work under the name of the Department of Anthropology, with an increasing number of Iranian researchers joining their foreign counterparts in the study of Iran's peoples and cultures. The department now admits students at both the undergraduate and master's levels across all four principal branches of the discipline: cultural and social anthropology, biological anthropology, archaeological anthropology, and linguistic anthropology.

Introduction to the Discipline

The Department of Anthropology endeavors to cultivate specialists who, through the study of the biological characteristics and the cultural and social attributes of human groups within defined geographical boundaries and specific historical periods—and with attention to distinctive elements and phenomena such as language, art, music, customs and traditions, marriage, habits and temperaments, family, kinship, religion, economy, law, dress, and technologies—are able, in sum, through investigation and research into the realm of cultural and biological factors governing human societies, to offer constructive insights for the country's social, economic, cultural, and biological planning at regional levels (urban, rural, and nomadic). A central objective and orientation of the department is to advance toward studies in social, cultural, and bio-social anthropology, whereby the dynamics and transformations of human groups are examined in relation to social institutions and organizations, and investigated through the lenses of cultural anthropology, social anthropology, and biological anthropology.