Brief History

The Department of Sociology and Anthropology was founded in 1968, although graduate courses in Anthropology had already been offered since 1954. Its thrust started out as pure Cultural Anthropology under Fr. Rudolf Rahmann, and general social science under Fr. Ernest Brandewie, SVD. When Fr. Wilhelm Flieger, SVD, took over, the SoAn Department concentrated more on demographic research.

Social awareness and involvement in activism started in the late 70s and 80s amidst the economic and political turmoil in the country. The SoAn Department since then, has established a healthy balance between academic responsibility and social activism.