Our Departments

The Anthropology Department specializes in social/cultural anthropology and archaeology. In social/cultural anthropology, students focus on the cultural roots of our world in the study of elites, gender, art, science, and medicine. Archaeology allows students to explore human prehistory through evidence of past human activities and excavations, notably in Africa.

The Economics Department specializes in microeconomics (how individuals make economic decisions), macroeconomics (how society makes economic decisions), applied economics (in health, tax, energy, labor, banking, finance), and econometrics (statistical theory). Undergraduates can major in Economics, Mathematical Economics Analysis, or Managerial Economics and Organizational Sciences.

The Linguistics Department specializes in cognitive/functional linguistics, typology and language universals, sociolinguistics, discourse studies, phonetics and speech processing, phonology, language change and grammaticization, and field studies in American Indian, Australian, Austronesian, and African languages.

The Department of Political Science specializes in American politics (U.S. government, elections, and citizens’ behavior), comparative politics (governments in other countries), and international relations (conflict and cooperation in the world).

The Psychological Sciences Department specializes in cognitive and affective neuroscience (investigating the relationship between the human brain and higher forms of behavior), health psychology and behavioral medicine (psychological, social, biological, and behavioral factors that enhance, preserve, or threaten mental and physical well-being), human-computer interaction and human factors (investigating interactions among humans and other elements of a system), and industrial-organizational psychology (human behavior in organizational and work situations).

The Sociology Department specializes in race and ethnic stratification (differences in income, health care, and education), gender (women’s groups and communication), religion (its influence on individuals’ decision making), health (access to care, differences in health problems across groups, drug use) and demographic change (migration and other population shifts over time).

The Sport Management Department explores basic business concepts as related to the sport industry, including finance, marketing, leadership, management, law, revenue generation, ethics, and public relations. Internships play a critical role in the learning experience for sport management majors. To that end, Rice has partnerships with the Houston Astros, Texans, Rockets, and Dynamo organization.