Keep ethnographic research in the public conversation
The Comitas Institute supports anthropologists whose fieldwork brings public understanding to the most pressing questions of our time — from climate and conflict to health and community. Your gift keeps that work going.
The Comitas Institute is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Gifts are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.
Rigorous fieldwork takes time, and time takes support.
As an independent nonprofit founded by Columbia University faculty, the Comitas Institute exists to make in-depth ethnographic research possible — and to make sure its findings reach the public, not just the academy. Every contribution goes directly to that mission.
Gifts help sustain the Field School's hands-on methods training, recognize scholarship that changes public understanding through the Comitas Institute Award for Public Knowledge and Engagement, and preserve five decades of visual anthropology in the Comitas Gallery. Whatever the size, your support sustains work that would not happen otherwise.
Three ways your support makes a difference
Sustain the Field School
The Field School in Ethnographic Methods offers hands-on training in a focused 30-hour curriculum, taught online and on-site each year and open to anyone who wants to learn the craft. Your gift helps keep it running and within reach.
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Recognize Public Scholarship
The Comitas Institute Award for Public Knowledge and Engagement honors ethnographic work that reaches beyond the academy, with two $5,000 prizes each year. Your support sustains the awards and helps us grow what they can offer.
Preserve and Share the Work
The Comitas Gallery opens five decades of fieldwork photography and film to everyone. Your gift supports preserving and digitizing that work — and building out the resources around it, from field notes to papers, that will grow alongside the digital exhibits we're creating.
Give securely to the Institute
Give once, or choose a recurring gift — monthly, quarterly, or yearly. A recurring gift is the steadiest way to support this work: it lets us plan ahead with confidence.
More paths to support the Institute
Matching Gifts
Many employers will match charitable contributions from their staff, and some match gifts from retirees and spouses as well. It's often a short form through your HR department — and it can double what your gift does here.
Give by Check
Prefer to mail a gift? Make checks payable to the Comitas Institute for Anthropological Study and send to:
The Comitas Institute at Teachers CollegeMailbox 49N, Office RH-01J
Teachers College, Columbia University
525 West 120th Street
New York, NY 10027
Major & Planned Gifts
Interested in endowing an award, supporting the Gallery and the resources being built around it, or remembering the Institute in your estate? These gifts shape what the Comitas Institute can take on next, and we'd welcome the conversation — get in touch
Thank you for standing with our scholars
Every gift — of any size — helps keep in-depth ethnographic research alive and in the public conversation. We're grateful for your partnership.
Donate NowThe Comitas Institute for Anthropological Study is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Contributions are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. EIN32-0078139 Questions about your gift? Contact us.