Department of Anthropology

About Department of Anthropology

The Department of Anthropology at Panjab University, Chandigarh, has established its academic excellence in the field of Anthropology ever since its inception in 1960 by Late Professor S.R.K. Chopra, F.N.A., as its founder head. The Department is well known for its researches in the fields of palaeoanthropology, palaeoecology, human growth and development, forensic anthropology, genetic epidemiology, twin studies, medical anthropology, and socio-cultural anthropology. It has made notable discoveries of primate and other mammalian fossils from the Siwaliks. It has on its faculty highly competent & efficient members whose work is internationally recognized and are recipients of many awards & honours.

The Department offers undergraduate program (B.Sc. Hons.), postgraduate program (M.Sc. Hons.) (under framework of Honours School System) and Doctoral Degree program in Anthropology. It also runs a one-year Diploma Course in Forensic Science and Criminology, which is not only useful for the students having interest in Forensics but also useful for practicing Lawyers & Police officials.

Infrastructure and Laboratory facilities for teaching and research are available in various sub-fields of Anthropology, namely, Osteology, Auxology, Serology and Bio-chemical Anthropology, Forensic anthropology, Forensic podiatry, Molecular anthropology, Palaeoanthropology, Prehistoric Archaeology, Dermatoglyphics, etc.

The unique and nationally acclaimed �Museum of Man� in the Department has a Living Primate Gallery, Human Evolution Fossil Gallery, Ethnographic gallery & Pre-Proto historic Gallery. The Museum displays life-size models based on the fossil material collected from the Siwaliks.

Regular fieldworks are organized in the fields of Archaeology, Palaeoanthropology/Human evolution & Dissertation work.

The Department has also been selected for support under UGC Assistance for strengthening of the Infrastructure of the Humanities & Social Science (ASIHSS) Programme in Anthropology for a period of five years i.e. 01-04-2005 � 31-03-2010. From 2010-11, the Department has been granted FIST-DST and is also a UGC Centre for Advanced Studies (CAS) in Anthropology (2011-2016). The Department has been awarded CAS-II in a recent meeting held in the UGC Office in the month of January 2017. From session 2017 the subject of anthropology is being introduced at the graduate level in Government College, Panchkula, Haryana

Placements:
Our students have worked for the companies like Boeing and Nokia. They have worked as Director of Forensic Science Institute & ICMR, Anthropological Survey of India and as professors in leading Departments of PGIMER. Many have gone abroad and are working in premier institutes and universities there. We are attempting to contact other organizations where high level placements may be provided in future. We are attempting to get our students placed through individual efforts and through the University placement Cell.