The Council of Ministers has approved the establishment of the Royal Institute for Anthropology and Cultural Studies. Saudi writers and intellectuals warmly welcomed the decision on social media and cultural websites and expressed their happiness about the establishment of the institute.

The Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported the approval as part of its coverage of the Council of Ministers’ meeting held on Tuesday, March 10, 2026, via video conference and chaired by His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, may God protect him.

Minister of Culture, His Highness Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan, wrote on his X account:

“I extend my sincere thanks and gratitude to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince for approving the establishment of the Royal Institute for Anthropology and Cultural Studies.

The institute will be a Saudi scientific platform and a trusted source for telling the story of our culture. It will also make an important contribution to the study of humanity.”

The decision to establish the institute comes because anthropology is a broad field that uses different sciences to study human beings, including their origins, biological development, cultures, and social behavior across time and place.

This is especially important for the history of the Kingdom, the Arabian Peninsula, and the wider region, whose civilization dates back more than 16,000 years.

Anthropology aims to understand human diversity through several main fields, including cultural and social anthropology, which studies customs and traditions; physical anthropology, which studies human evolution and biology; linguistic anthropology; and archaeology.

It also studies both ancient and modern human societies, including their customs, beliefs, marriage practices, and economic and political systems.

The field also focuses on human biological development, adaptation to the environment, and the development of human populations through the study of bones and genetics. It also examines the role of language in social life and how languages develop.

Archaeology studies the physical remains left by different peoples to understand their past cultures. Anthropological theories can also be used to solve real-world problems in areas such as health, education, and development.

These areas of anthropology are expected to contribute greatly to the Kingdom’s cultural and knowledge landscape. Cultural studies will also add another important dimension by focusing on contemporary culture.

Through its different approaches, cultural studies examines literature, society, and culture and provides wider opportunities for critical and philosophical thinking in Saudi Arabia.

Cultural studies has become more common in Saudi universities over the past 25 years. This development began with the publication of critic Dr. Abdullah Al-Ghathami’s book Cultural Criticism in 2000, followed by many other cultural studies in Saudi Arabia and the Arab world.

Together, anthropology and cultural studies will provide important academic research into the Kingdom’s cultural and intellectual identity. They will also help produce valuable cultural knowledge about this historic land, which continues to develop and build a clear and influential civilization