Rebecca Stein, Anthropology Department Chair
Rebecca Stein has taught at LAVC for nearly 25 years. Raised in Southern California, her early exposure to anthropology came through her father, who taught the subject at Pierce College and took her on field trips that revealed how people live, think, and connect. Though she once considered medical school, Stein realized her passion was understanding people and culture. When she first visited Valley College in 2000 for a job interview, she was struck by the campus’s warmth and sense of community, qualities that continue to define her experience today as Chair of the Anthropology Department.
Professor Stein’s classes invite students to explore human behavior across cultures while reflecting on their own beliefs and experiences. Whether discussing shamanism through pop culture or examining cultural traditions, she helps students connect theory to real life. In courses such as Anthropology of Religion and Medical Anthropology, student-lived experiences enrich classroom discussions.
Beyond the classroom, Stein’s work extends through Valley’s mobile anthropology labs and campus partnerships that bring anthropology’s human perspective to diverse fields such as Respiratory Therapy. Asked what she hopes her students remember most, her answer is simple: “Every human being deserves empathy, even when we disagree.” For Stein, anthropology’s greatest gift is curiosity by helping people understand one another and build stronger communities.