M.A. Requirements

The Masters of Anthropology degree is awarded as a stepping-stone to a  Ph.D. degree in Anthropology. To be accepted into the Anthropology graduate program, a student must be interested in continuing on to a doctoral degree.

The Graduate School requires that a Master's degree program include a minimum of 30 semester hours of coursework, including at least 6 hours in a related minor subject, and a thesis or a report that is approved by the Department and the Graduate School. For students choosing the thesis option, 6 of the 30 hours are represented by the thesis. Students choosing the report option need 30 hours of regular coursework in addition to 3 hours for the report.

All M.A. programs must include at least 18 semester hours in Anthropology. Of these, at least 12 semester hours must consist of graduate level anthropology coursework, excluding ANT 398T (Supervised Teaching), archaeological field school, and thesis/report hours. There is also a 6-hour core course requirement (see below).

Master's degree with thesis--students choosing this option will normally have a program structured as follows:

• 6 hours anthropology core courses
• 12 hours other courses (including at least 6 graduate hours of anthropology, excluding courses listed above)
• 6 hours supporting work (minor)
• 6 hours thesis (ANT 698A & ANT 698B)

= 30 hours total

Master's degree with report--students choosing this option will normally have a program structured as follows:

• 6 hours anthropology core courses
• 12 hours additional anthropology courses (including at least 6 graduate hours, excluding the courses listed above)
• 6 hours supporting work (minor)
• 6 hours other courses
• 3 hours master's report (ANT 398R)

= 33 hours total

The M.A. curriculum in anthropology is designed to allow for considerable flexibility in the organization of individual program. Students should be sure to work with their individual advisers and the Graduate Adviser in tailoring their program of study to their individual needs and interests.

Core Course Requirement

Each student in the M.A. program must complete at least two departmental core courses, one of which must be in the student's primary sub-discipline. Core courses may not be taken on a Credit/No Credit basis, and students must receive a grade of B or better. Core courses serve as in introduction to advanced topics of study and students are urged to complete the core course requirement as early as possible in their program. The selection of core courses should be made in consultation with the Graduate Adviser and the student's individual adviser, taking into account the student's anthropological background, areas of interest, and field of specialization.

The Department offers the following core courses:

• Introduction to Graduate Archaeology
• Introduction to Graduate Cultural Forms
• Diaspora Studies
• Introduction to Graduate Linguistic Anthropology
• Mesoamerica and Borderlands
• Introduction to Graduate Physical Anthropology
• Introduction to Graduate Social Anthropology
• Women's and Gender Studies

The two core courses must be taken in the Department. In some cases, an exceptionally well-prepared student may have completed the equivalent of a core course at another university and wish to receive transfer credit for the course. The student may petition the Graduate Studies Committee for the transfer of this credit (the petition requires the support of the student's adviser). While the transferred course may be permitted to count as one of the maximum of two permitted transfer courses, it can not be used to satisfy the core course requirement; the student is still required to take two core courses from the Department.