Anthropology of Material Culture

[deconstructing]

This sub-field is relatively common in UK and continental Europe, but what about North America? How do things go? I suppose there aren't specialized programs or departments, but are there certain universities aiming for this type of research?

To be clear: I'm talking about anthropology of material culture, not archaeology.

[flowerblitz]

You might not be talking about archaeology, however some archaeologists are doing precisely the kind of work you seem to be pointing towards... If I were you, I would look into people at UChicago. Francois Richard and Shannon Dawdy are a good place to start. They are both doing fascinating work quite distant from what one might think of as archaeology. Good luck.