The Graduate Program in Sociology and Anthropology (PPGSA) began in 1980 with the creation of the Master's Degree in Social Sciences. In 1988, this course became the Master's Degree in Sociology, and five years later, it became the Graduate Program in Sociology with the beginning of the Doctoral course. In 1998, in line with the significant participation of anthropologists in the faculty and the intensification of the articulation between sociology and anthropology, the Program was institutionalized as PPGSA.

PPGSA aims to train high-level professors and researchers. It offers a Master´s degree in Sociology (with a concentration in Anthropology) and Doctoral degrees in Human Sciences in Sociology and cultural anthropology. Between 2004 and 2018, PPGSA graduated 298 masters and 211 doctors, who currently expand their knowledge in the most important teaching and research institutions in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and abroad.

The Brazilian Federal Agency for Support and Evaluation of Graduate Education (CAPES), graded the graduate program with the highest note (7). In this program, sociology and anthropology work together in teaching and research, keeping their particularities and specific disciplinary contributions apart. The confrontation of diverse professional and disciplinary backgrounds and the constant work of knowledge construction invigorate research themes, thus boosting the debate in the Social Sciences.

The faculty, composed of sociologists and anthropologists, is evenly distributed among Research Lines, teaching activities, dissertation and thesis supervision, and Research Laboratories. It favors the development of complex approaches to social issues. We also highlight the university's vast national and international performance through exchanges and agreements among professors and students, the creation of the Sociology & Anthropology Journal, the publication of books in the Sociology & Anthropology Collection, and the numerous awards for accomplished works.

PPGSA regularly holds scientific events and welcomes researchers and visiting professors from other research institutions in Brazil and abroad. It is part of the Institute of Philosophy and Social Sciences (IFCS) at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, UFRJ. The institute library has a vast collection of books, including more than 60,000 specialized titles in Social Sciences, History, and Philosophy. In addition, there is a Computer Laboratory and a Sound and Image Laboratory.