The Department of Social Anthropology at Cambridge is a major centre for anthropological research. It combines expertise in the central traditional fields of social anthropology with active explorations of new areas of study. Most of the main anthropological fields of kinship, religion and ritual, economics, law and politics are studied.

Particular current interests in the department include gender relations, comparative sociology, modes of communication, medical anthropology, demographic anthropology, urban studies, philosophy and anthropology, historical anthropology, symbolic systems, economic and development anthropology, ethnicity, history of anthropology, art and aesthetics.