The programme encourages a critical perspective on the practice and epistemology of conservation and anthropology, paving the way for the integration of the two disciplines methodologically and theoretically. We pay particular attention to the inter-relationship between local/indigenous populations and environmental groups, policy-makers, legislators, and institutions concerned with the protection of the environment (for example, natural parks or green development projects).

We are concerned with the fundamental questions of what it means to be human and how we became human. We strive to draw upon data from many fields to provide scientific answers to those questions. We delve into the nature of the scientific process that continuously refines our ideas with new information and new insights that add to their accuracy. We draw from debates and discourses in a challenging process know more about the ultimate intelligence test for our species is to understand ourselves.

In this area teaching and research focus on the interaction between culture, language and society. We also focus on individual, agency and society, including concepts of identity, and social action, social institutions, urban, rural and global societies.