Code | Title | Credits |
---|---|---|
Required | ||
Core proseminars | ||
Students are expected to take three of the four offered proseminars; however, students with significant background in a field, as determined through petition to the instructor, may waive one proseminar. | ||
Proseminar in Biological Anthropology | ||
Proseminar in Sociocultural Anthropology | ||
Proseminar in Archaeology | ||
Proseminar in Linguistic Anthropology | ||
One research methods seminar | ||
Methods in Sociocultural Anthropology | ||
One professional skills and ethics seminar | ||
Elective courses | ||
Dissertation Research (6-24 credits) | ||
Dissertation Research |
All students must demonstrate proficiency in one foreign language; an additional language may be required if it is needed for fieldwork or archival research. An internship in anthropology and public life at an institution responsible for communicating anthropological knowledge to diverse audiences is recommended.
Requirements for the second phase of the program
In the second phase, students prepare a research proposal that meets funding agency guidelines and take the general examination in at least three major areas (e.g., a general field in anthropological theory, a geographic area, and a thematically defined field). Following successful completion of the general examination, an oral defense of the student’s research proposal is held. Those who pass advance to candidacy for the PhD and engage in completion and defense of the dissertation.
Our Ph.D. program in anthropology is designed to provide a broad background in the field with a primary emphasis on sociocultural anthropology, biological anthropology, or archaeology. The degree prepares students for careers in academia, consulting, or other applied professions in the discipline.
The major foci of research and instruction in sociocultural anthropology include religion, law and politics, ethnicity, gender, history and anthropology, problems of social change and economic development, culture and the environment, cognition and culture, and medical/psychological anthropology. The study of the Islamic world, East and Southeast Asia, and Africa are the greatest strengths among our sociocultural faculty and students.
In biological anthropology, our faculty and students primarily study living and fossil human and non-human primates, including their evolutionary morphology, behavior, genomics, and sensory adaptations. For more information on ongoing research in biological anthropology, visit our laboratories page .
Finally, the major foci in archaeology include human-environment interactions, urbanism, households, and material culture viewed in deep historical perspective. Faculty and students are primarily interested in Mesoamerica, North America, and the Mediterranean. To learn more about research and fieldwork in archaeology, click here .
Each year, Boston University’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GRS) offers incoming Ph.D. students Dean’s Fellowships, which include full tuition, a living stipend, and health insurance for five years; along with a new summer stipend beginning in 2021.
For more information on financial aid for doctoral students, visit the GRS page on fellowship aid .
General ph.d. program information.
Students who enroll in one of the Anthropology Department’s Ph.D. programs join a vibrant and diverse community of scholars working to extend the disciplinary and interdisciplinary horizons of twenty-first century Anthropology. Students in all Ph.D. programs work closely with their advisers and other faculty to craft an appropriate sequence of graduate-level courses, professional experiences, and independent research culminating in a disse rtation.
The Director of Graduate Studies is L isa Messeri .
For general inquries, reach out to the Departmental Registrar .
Further information on all of our Ph.D. programs can be found in the links to the left, and the Department’s Graduate Student Handbook provides additional details.
Ph.d. program.
The graduate program in Brown’s anthropology department encourages a diversity of doctoral research agendas in socio-cultural anthropology, anthropological archaeology, and linguistic anthropology.
Our program balances a rigorous curriculum of core classes with more specialized training in advanced courses. Our graduate seminars and independent study courses provide an engaging and rigorous tutorial approach to training. Graduate courses offered this academic year are listed on Courses@Brown .
Brown’s graduate program is primarily PhD granting; students are not admitted to the department solely to seek a Master’s degree. Doctoral students complete requirements for a Master’s degree during their course of study, as well as additional requirements described below.
Generally awarded as part of the overall requirements for a Ph.D.
More detailed information about the program, including a general outline of the timeline for completing the program, can be found in the Anthropology Graduate Handbook .
They choose a topic within Anthropological Demography as one of their preliminary examination topics, participate in the activities of the Working Group in Anthropology and Population, and attend the regular colloquia of the Population Studies and Training Center (PSTC). PSTC also has a set of requirements trainees must meet. Special fellowships are available to students in this program.
More information @ PSTC
The program offers specialized courses, funds field-based research, provides fellowships, hosts visiting faculty, and promotes collaborative research initiatives with partner institutions in the global south. The program builds on a core group of faculty internationally renowned for their research and scholarship in the area of development and inequality. Program activities are open to all PhD students at Brown. All trainees and fellows are eligible for summer fieldwork research grants.
More information @ Watson
Medical anthropology is a subfield of anthropology that seeks to understand human experiences of health, illness, and suffering. Medical anthropologists study topics such as global health, local health systems, indigenous medicine, violence and trauma, disability and the body, gender and sexuality, biotechnology, bioethics, and social suffering. Brown’s PhD program offers an array of opportunities for students seeking specialized training in medical anthropology. Brown’s anthropology faculty are actively engaged in researching a wide variety of topics within the subfield of medical anthropology, including HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases, mental illness, reproductive health, gender and sexuality, violence and trauma, biotechnology, language and medicine, anthropology of drugs, and bio-archaeology.
For more information, contact Professor Daniel J. Smith or Professor Katherine A. Mason.
Department of anthropology.
The emphasis in the Graduate Program is on training candidates for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. This degree certifies that, in addition to having a sound knowledge of anthropology as a whole, the holder has been trained to do independent research at a professional level of competence in at least one of the major subfields of Anthropology (Anthropological Archeology, Biological [Physical] Anthropology, Cultural Anthropology, Linguistic Anthropology).
Applicants should apply to only one program within GSAS (Graduate School of Arts and Sciences). If you are interested in another department within GSAS, you may include this in your personal statement. Upon review, our faculty will decide if the candidate is a good fit for our department or if another program is more suited to their academic interests.
Applicants may, however, apply to more than one school simultaneously (i.e.: Penn Medical School, Penn Graduate School of Education, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences). In the case of a dual degree, Anthropology will be the secondary department and funding will come from the primary department. For more information about the MD/PhD program click here .
The PhD degree requires a minimum of twenty (18) course units (one unit per course); a normal full-time program consists of three to four units per term. Of these units, at least twelve (12) must be taken at this University. Up to eight (8) course units may be transferred from another institution. Students should request credit transfer from the Graduate Group Chair after the first year of residence.
All PhD students must complete successfully a core program of four courses in the first year. The first-year courses cover the four subfields of anthropology and are mandated by the Graduate Group (GG). These courses include ANTH 6000, 6010, 6020, and 6030. Failure to complete the first year core courses with a final grade (i.e., no Incompletes) by the end of the second semester disqualifies a student from continuing in the program. The Graduate Group will determine the action to be taken.
The Comprehensive Examinations (Comps) are taken during the last week of May of the student's first year, following completion of the first-year core courses. Held over eight hours on two consecutive mornings, the Comps will cover the field of anthropology as presented in the first year core program and focus upon an integration of the material discussed therein. In addition to formal course work, further opportunities for preparation for the Comps include departmental colloquia and lectures, the basic anthropological references in the Van Pelt Library and the University Museum Library, and ethnographic and archaeological collections of the University Museum.
Core course faculty will evaluate the Comps and the student's first-year academic record within two weeks after the exams are completed. Faculty approval of both is necessary for the students to able to continue to work toward PhD Candidacy and/or the MA Degree in the department.
Students pursuing the PhD (and MA) degree in Anthropology are required to demonstrate a reading knowledge of one foreign language used in written source material or scientific literature relevant to the student's professional career. Language examinations may be taken in French, German, Spanish, or Russian (or other languages with permission of the Graduate Group). Dates for language examinations will be arranged by the Department. Students are strongly urged to take the language examination at the first opportunity but, in any case, are encouraged to complete the requirement by the end of their second year. The language exam must be completed before the student is able to take the Oral Examination. Students whose first language is not English are exempt from the requirement.
At the time of matriculation, students shall work together with the GG Chair to determine an appropriate advisor, if they have not already done so. An advisor will work with a student on a regular basis in order to determine the shape of the student's program from semester to semester. As the student gains familiarity with other faculty within the GG, he/she may invite those professors to serve on his/her Oral Examination and Dissertation Committees. It is expected that the core members of the committees will be determined by the time the student is defending his/her field statements and dissertation proposal (in most cases, by the end of the third year) during the Oral Exam (see below). When special expertise is required, additional committee members may be appointed from outside the GG or the university. The Advisor is responsible for initiating regular meetings with the student for the purpose of guidance. These meetings occur at least once per semester, at least until the student has passed the Oral Examination.
When course work, the language exam and the Comps have been completed, the student is eligible to stand for the Oral Examination (Oral Exam). At least one year must have lapsed since the completion of the Comps before the Oral Exam can be taken. At least one semester in advance, after consulting with her/his Committee, the student should reserve a date for and petition the GG Chair to take the Oral Exam.
The Oral Exam will concentrate mainly on the student’s specialized fields of interest, theoretically and geographically, and on his/her program of proposed research. The student, in conjunction with his/her advisor, and the GG Chair, will determine the appropriate fields of examination (see examples of approved fields in the Graduate Handbook) and produce Oral Exam statements summarizing research on those topics. In addition, the student must generate a PhD dissertation proposal. This proposal should demonstrate the student’s ability to plan and execute independent research in accordance with professional standards.
Two weeks prior to the Oral Exam, the student is required to submit the PhD dissertation proposal and three Oral Exam statements on areas of concentration for distribution to the Graduate Coordinator (“tabling”). The proposal and statements should be reviewed and approved by the Oral Exam Committee before being tabled. While the Oral Exam is open to all members of the GG, a quorum of five GG members, including the student’s advisor, the GG Chair and other Oral Exam Committee members, must be present in order for the Oral Exam to proceed.
Within one month following successful completion of the Oral Exam, the PhD candidate, in consultation with the Oral Exam Committee, must produce a final version of the proposal for approval by the Graduate Group and submission to the Graduate Division.
The PhD dissertation proposal should demonstrate the candidate's ability to plan and execute independent research in accordance with professional standards and to present its results in a manner that is coherent and readily intelligible to fellow professionals. The dissertation is based on the candidate's own field investigation and is written under the direction of a Dissertation Committee appointed by the GG Chair. The Dissertation Committee will consist of a student’s Advisor and 2-4 other faculty members who are usually appointed at the time the student passes his/her oral examination. At least two members of the Dissertation Committee must be active members of the GG.
After the Dissertation Advisor and Committee reads and approves a complete, “defendable” or “close to completion” (but not necessarily the final) version of the dissertation, the PhD Candidate will schedule the Dissertation Defense. The version of the dissertation for the Dissertation Defense should include all chapters, including the introduction and conclusions, and a complete literature cited section that have been read and approved.
At least two weeks in advance of the Dissertation Defense, the PhD Candidate must make a physical and a digital version of the dissertation available to the Graduate Group (“tabling”). The digital version is sent with an announcement of the Dissertation Defense to the entire Graduate Group. At the public defense, the PhD Candidate will present his/her research and respond to questions from the Dissertation Committee members and others in attendance. The Dissertation Committee, in concert with the Graduate Chair, will determine if the PhD Candidate has passed the defense.
Upon passing the Dissertation Defense, the newly minted PhD must submit a final copy (consisting of two copies for the University and one copy for the Department) to the GG for final acceptance, according to Graduate Division guidelines.
Each student's program of study and research is an individual one and the timing will vary from person to person. The total years to degree has traditionally ranged from 5 (for students transferring in) to 9 (with allowance for MA degree and/or additional time in the field). The general schedule provided below may be used as a template for planning purposes. While this schedule reflects the five-year funding package, it is expected that students will apply for external research funds to support dissertation research during their third and fourth years, which will extend their Ben Franklin funding by a year.
Students must complete all course requirements, the foreign language requirement, the Comps, and the Oral Exam within a period of five consecutive years. The granting of a leave of absence or research leave does not extend this limit.
- American Anthropological Association
Concentrate in anthropology.
The study of anthropology prepares students to address global concerns through a contextualized study of society, culture, and civilization, and can lead to careers in global health and medicine, law, government, museums, education, the arts, cultural and environmental management, business and entrepreneurship, among other fields, not to mention academia.
What is anthropology.
By the most common definition, anthropology is the study of human diversity and, as such, teaches us to recognize the remarkable array of circumstances in which human beings live their lives and make meaning from them. On our faculty, we have scholars whose work covers every time period from the prehistoric to the present, and every major world area.
But anthropology is more than just a catalog of diversity. There is an oft-cited phrase that anthropology “makes the familiar strange and the strange familiar.” What does this mean? At the very least, it means stepping back and seeing ourselves the way others might see us – a shift in perspective that is foundational to empathy and humility. Anthropology also invites deeper analysis of behaviors that we might think we fully understand but that have histories and complexities that only reveal themselves with careful investigation. This is why we do long term field research in local languages to understand social life in all its richness and depth. And finally, making the familiar strange demands an ethical and political accounting. It means not accepting the world as given. This might well be the heart of the discipline, what one of my favorite anthropologists calls its moral optimism: the conviction that things can be different and better -- and that knowledge about the world should be oriented towards greater equality and justice.
Cultures and traditions.
The Department of Anthropology specializes in socio-cultural anthropology: the study of social and cultural forms of human life using ethnographic, historical, and comparative methods.
Train in anthropological theory, using regional and cultural understanding to cross-cut problems, and ethnographic research methods conducted through intensive fieldwork.
Faculty explore themes such as the everyday, the state, religion, media, and health; focusing on the challenges of our own moment in history.
Undergraduate coursework introduces the methodologies and theories of anthropology through discussion and directed research.
Nafisah haque accepted into ohio state university.
We are excited to share that Nafisah Haque, an outstanding undergraduate student in the Anthropology Department, will soon be embarking on a new academic journey. Beginning in August, Nafisah will […]
The Society for Medical Anthropology (SMA) has announced the election of Clara Han as its new President. She will assume her position in November of this year. The Society for […]
Ben Andreesen is a rising junior majoring in Environmental Science and Anthropology. He will be using the 2024 Summer Research Grant to conduct field research for his project titled, “City […]
The PhD program normally requires about five years, and is completely separate from the MA program. That is, students may enter the PhD program directly following their undergraduate degree, and do not necessarily earn a master's degree (although earning the master's degree can be incorporated into the PhD program without increasing the total length of time needed). Students who have already earned a master's degree elsewhere can often receive credit for previous coursework which may shorten the time needed to earn a PhD by as much as a year. Requirements for the PhD include 72 credits of coursework; a foreign language; three of four core courses (cultural anthropology, archaeology, biological anthropology, or anthropological linguistics); two quantitative methods courses (for students in archaeology and biological anthropology) or a course in field methods and a course in contemporary theory (for students in cultural anthropology); three graduate seminar electives; written comprehensive examinations; fieldwork or equivalent research; and the dissertation.
Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences requirements for the PhD also apply. More information on requirements can also be found in the Anthropology Graduate Handbook .
A faculty advisor is assigned to each incoming student. Students are free to change their advisors at any time to a faculty member who has agreed to work with them. Students consult with their advisors on their course selections, research and career plans; advisors monitor their advisees' progress in the graduate program. Progress of all active graduate students is systematically reviewed by the faculty in each subdiscipline annually in the spring term. Students must petition the Graduate Studies Committee for approval of committees and at other points, as discussed below. Students may also submit petitions about other academic issues that may arise during their studies. Concerns of any kind may be discussed with advisors, the Chair of the Graduate Studies Committee, and the Department Chair.
A minimum of 72 course credits in the Anthropology Department at the University of Pittsburgh is required for the PhD degree. Of these, at least 42 credits must be in formal courses (as opposed to readings courses, independent study, or thesis or dissertation credits). The remaining 30 credits may be any combination of formal courses, readings courses, independent study, and/or thesis and dissertation credits.
Generally, a full-time student will be enrolled in a minimum of three formal courses during fall and spring terms until the required 42 credits of formal coursework are attained. Full-time students may or may not register or take courses during the summer term. Reading or independent study courses, if taken prior to completion of the 42-credit minimum of formal courses, are generally taken during the summer term or in addition to the three formal courses that are the minimum for full-time students during the fall or spring terms.
A student may petition the Graduate Studies Committee to have courses taken outside of the University of Pittsburgh count toward the 72 credits required for the PhD. Students can transfer up to 30 credits from another approved degree-granting graduate program (12 towards formal coursework and 18 towards informal coursework).
The core course system of the Department of Anthropology fills the role of the preliminary examination in the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences requirements for the PhD. A broad foundation based on a general familiarity with all four subfields is considered to be highly beneficial to the practice of anthropology, and core courses are offered in the four subfields of anthropology: cultural anthropology, archeology, biological anthropology, and linguistic anthropology. PhD students are required to pass (with a grade of B or better) at least three of these four core courses, one of which must be the core course in the student's subdiscipline. (Linguistic anthropology students must complete the core courses both in linguistic anthropology and in cultural anthropology.) Full-time students are expected to pass the required core courses by the end of their first year in residence.
A student with an MA from another institution, or with a strong undergraduate background in one or more subdisciplines, may present transcripts and other relevant documents to petition the Graduate Studies Committee to waive the core course in that subdiscipline(s), as long as it is not a core course specifically required for the student's own subdiscipline. If not granted a waiver, after consultation with the instructor and review of the core course syllabus, a student can take the final exam (when it is normally given) instead of taking a core course for credit. A student may opt to selectively audit a core course to remedy weaknesses in only a few areas and then take the regular final exam. It should be stressed, however, that all exams will be evaluated in the same manner as those of students taking the course for credit.
Language Requirement
Before students advance to candidacy, they must demonstrate competence in a language other than English that is relevant to the student’s research. For common foreign languages (e.g. French, German, Spanish), the student may choose either to 1) pass with a grade of B or better the level 4 or 8 course offered by that language department, or 2) pass at a level determined by this department the examination for evaluating graduate students currently offered by that language department. In the case of languages for which such avenues of evaluation are not available, the student should consult the Graduate Student Handbook and their advisor, and (if necessary) petition the Committee on Graduate Studies for alternative forms of evaluation.
Students are required to take three graduate elective anthropology seminars. (Students in cultural anthropology who began the program prior to 2022 can satisfy this requirement with Anthropology 2750 (Seminar on Contemporary Theory); students in biological anthropology and archaeology who began the program prior to 2022 are exempted from this requirement.
Students in archeology must pass with a grade of B or better Anthropology 2534 and Anthropology 2524 (Archeological Data Analysis I and II). Students in biological anthropology must pass with a grade of B or better: 1) Biostatistics 2041 and 2042 (Introduction to Statistical Methods I and II), or, for bioarchaeology concentrators =, Anthropology 2534 and Anthropology 2524 (Archaeological Data Analysis I and II). Archaeology and biological anthropology students may petition the Graduate Studies Committee to accept other courses in quantitative methods in lieu of these. Students in cultural and linguistic anthropology must pass with a grade of B or better Anthropology 2763 (Field Methods).They may petition the Graduate Studies Committee for approval of other courses to satisfy some of these requirements.
After completing the core course requirement and prior to advancement to PhD candidacy, students must pass two comprehensive examinations designed to test breadth and depth of knowledge in the chosen areas of expertise. Students generally take their comprehensive examinations at the end of their third year of residence. A student who fails a comprehensive examination or who has not passed comprehensive examinations by the end of the fourth year of residence (fifth for students in the joint PhD/MPH program) may be dismissed from the program.
Each examination is designed and administered by a committee constructed by the student in consultation with the advisor or the chair of the comprehensive examination committee. The committee consists of at least three faculty members (at least two of whom must be in the department). One of these is designated as chair of the committee. Well in advance of the exam, students submit to the committee a bibliography of sources from which they intend to work. Members of the committee may recommend additional sources. The student must petition the Graduate Studies Committee for approval of the topic and committee for each examination.
The structure of the comprehensive examinations differs from subfield to subfield:
In cultural & linguistic anthropology , one examination is in the student's ethnographic area (e.g., Africa, East Asia, Latin America, the Pacific). Students should demonstrate mastery not just of ethnographic work that is relevant to their projects, but also of the wider fields of literature that have informed anthropological study of their regions as identified by the members of the comprehensive exam committee. Reading lists should display historical depth and awareness of significant work in fields beyond cultural/linguistic anthropology. The second examination is of a more theoretical nature in a field chosen and defined by students in conjunction with their advisors. Examples are gender and sexuality, migration and transnationalism, medical anthropology, media anthropology, etc. For students focussed on linguistic anthropology, this exam should cover significant works relevant to the study of linguistic and cultural anthropology.
In archaeology , one examination is on either a significant world area (e.g., Eastern North America, Mesoamerica, Europe) or a significant time period (e.g., the Paleolithic). The other is on the theory and history of archeology, with special emphasis on broad topics and questions of relevance to the student's research.
In biological anthropology , one examination covers a significant world area and time period relevant to the student’s research. The second focuses on a coherent, substantive body of research with emphasis on broad topics and questions of relevance to the student’s researchIn linguistic anthropology, one examination is in the student's ethnographic area (e.g., East Asia, Latin America, the Pacific, etc.). Students should demonstrate mastery not just of ethnographic work that is relevant to their projects, but also of the wider fields of literature that have informed anthropological study of their regions as identified by the members of the comprehensive exam committee. Reading lists should display historical depth and awareness of significant work in fields beyond linguistic and cultural anthropology. The second examination is of a more theoretical nature in a field chosen and defined by students in conjunction with their advisors. This exam should cover significant works relevant to the study of linguistic and cultural anthropology.
Students may designate cultural anthropology, biological anthropology, archaeology, or linguistic anthropology as an area of concentration, depending on which subdiscipline's degree requirements they satisfy. Alternatively, students may designate medical anthropology as an area of concentration if they have taken Patients and Healers, Medical Anthropology 1, Medical Anthropology 2, and 12 elective credits from a list of approved courses . The area of concentration will be officially recorded on the student's transcript, but does not appear on the diploma. In any case the degree awarded is not in the area of concentration but simply in anthropology.
Committee: As soon as possible after completion of the core course requirements, and certainly by the third year in residence, prior to admission to candidacy, the student must establish a doctoral dissertation committee that will: 1) participate in the student's preparation of the dissertation research proposal; 2) administer the oral dissertation overview; 3) offer advice while the student is collecting field or laboratory/museum data as well as while the student is writing the dissertation; and 4) conduct the oral dissertation defense. This committee consists of at least three Graduate Faculty members from the Department of Anthropology, including the student's advisor, and at least one graduate faculty member from another department of the University or from another university. If a member of the graduate faculty of another university is selected, they must be approved in advance by the Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Research. The student must petition the Graduate Studies Committee for approval of the dissertation committee.
Overview: Before actively pursuing dissertation research, the student makes an oral presentation of the intended project to the dissertation committee. The student gives the members of the committee a proposal at least one month ahead of time. The overview should not be the first discussion of the project between the student and committee members. If the committee members approve, their recommendation is forwarded to the Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Research. For research involving human subjects or animals, IRB or IACUC approval must be obtained before the student can be advanced to doctoral candidacy. A student who has not passed the dissertation overview by the end of the fourth year in residence (fifth year for students in the joint PhD/MPH program) may be dismissed from the program.
Dissertation Format: In addition to the standard dissertation format, students have the option to write their dissertations following the three-article format.
Three Article Dissertation
Students should decide at the time of their overview examination whether to pursue the three-article dissertation format. This decision must be made in consultation with the members of the student’s dissertation committee. All members must unanimously agree to the student’s plan to complete a dissertation in the three-article format. Students can also choose the three-article format after the overview, or switch from this format to the regular dissertation format with committee approval.
This dissertation format will be comprised of three full-length articles of publishable quality within a peer-reviewed journal, an introduction, and a conclusion.
The articles are expected to develop various aspects of an overarching theme presented in the introduction. Additional papers may be added above the minimum of three if approved by the committee. The student must be the sole author or lead author on all articles. The student should be responsible for the conceptualization, data analysis, and writing of the articles.
Only one of the three articles can be an article that has been published or accepted for publication prior to the student’s overview at the discretion of the committee. If the article is co-authored, the student must be the first author. The published article must represent work undertaken while the student was enrolled in the PhD program and be related to their dissertation project. The student is responsible for securing necessary permissions from the copyright holder and other authors. See the Pitt Library for questions and assistance.
The goal of writing an article-style dissertation should be to publish the articles that appear in the dissertation. Journals to which articles are being submitted must be approved by the dissertation committee. Serving as an “editorial board” for the student, the committee will help select journals that will challenge the student and offer a reasonable chance of publication success. Dissertation papers can be submitted for publication while the student is ABD. If a paper is rejected by a journal during the dissertation process, the student may submit to another journal approved by the committee. In the case of a “revise and resubmit” during the dissertation process, major revisions to the paper that change the paper’s overall relationship to the dissertation topic must be approved by the dissertation committee. After the successful dissertation defense, any new submission or resubmission, including changes in the authorship or article content, will be at the discretion of the PhD graduate.
The introduction of the dissertation should clarify the rationale for grouping the three articles together. It is expected to include a summary of the research problem the three articles tackle, the methodology used to answer the research question(s), the significance of the research, the theoretical foundations of the research introduced in the context of an overview of pertinent literature.
The conclusion should summarize the dissertation’s major findings. It should also reinforce the linkages between the chapters, tying together the three articles into a cohesive body of scholarship. The conclusion is a place where the student can restate and reinforce the through-line that connects the individual chapter. The conclusion might also present a plan for future research on the research problem(s) engaged in the dissertation.
Large datasets and specific methods discussed in a published paper but not presented in their entirety, or presented in supplemental sections, should be (if permissible) included as appendices as appropriate.
Public Presentation: Each student presents a formal colloquium to the department based on the dissertation research. This may form part of the dissertation defense, or it may come at an earlier stage so that the experience may be of benefit as the ideas in the dissertation take shape.
Defense: By the time of the oral defense of the dissertation, students will have prepared and presented to their committee members a final version of the dissertation. It is expected that there will be sufficient interaction between the student and the committee members that revisions subsequent to the defense will be minimal and minor. All members of the doctoral dissertation committee should be present at the defense. The procedures for the final oral examination are outlined in the requirements for the PhD degree of the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences.
Policy on scheduling comps and defenses for summer months : Please note that graduate students are required to be registered during the academic term in which they take their comprehensive and overview examinations and defend their dissertations. Scheduling comprehensive examinations, overview examinations, and dissertation defenses for the summer months (May, June, July, and August) is strongly discouraged. Faculty are not obligated to facilitate or participate in milestone events in summer months.
Dietrich School regulations stipulate that the PhD must be completed within 10 calendar years of initial matriculation (8 years for students entering with a Master's degree). They also stipulate that comprehensive examinations must be retaken if they were originally passed more than 7 years before completion of PhD requirements.
An MA degree may be awarded during the course of a student's PhD program after completion of: 1) 30 course credits; 2) the language requirement; 3) the core course in the student's area of concentration; 4) course(s) that satisfy the MA method/theory requirement (see MA requirements); 5) an acceptable MA paper; and 6) fulfillment of all Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences regulations (e.g., at least 12 credits of course work, not including readings or independent study, must be at the 2000 level). The student selects at least three graduate faculty members (at least two of whom must be in the Department of Anthropology) to participate on the MA advisory and evaluation committee. The Graduate Studies Committee should be petitioned for approval of the committee composition and the MA paper topic well in advance of the expected date of completion.
Review of Student Progress
Procedures for Satisfying the PhD Comprehensive Examination Requirement
List of Courses for Medical Anthropology Concentration
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Students who choose the 2.5-year (five-semester) plan take 15 graded courses. The program's required courses (two semesters of Theories, Fieldwork Methods, and Grant Writing) comprise four of these 15. An additional five courses must be graduate seminars with primary faculty in Cultural Anthropology, but the department strongly encourages ...
The Department of Anthropology is one of the world's leading institutions for anthropological research. Our PhD programs provide in-depth conceptual and methodological training in archaeology and social anthropology, with faculty whose work covers every time period—from the Paleolithic to the present—and every major world area.The department also offers an AM in medical anthropology.
Learn how to apply anthropological concepts to contemporary social problems in Washington, D.C. The program offers full-time and part-time options, funding, internships and research areas in public life, governance, materiality, digital and disability.
Learn about the Ph.D. program in anthropology at Boston University, which offers a broad background in the field with a primary emphasis on sociocultural, biological, or archaeology. Explore the research and instruction foci, the learning outcomes, and the funding opportunities for doctoral students.
Students who enroll in one of the Anthropology Department's Ph.D. programs join a vibrant and diverse community of scholars working to extend the disciplinary and interdisciplinary horizons of twenty-first century Anthropology. Students in all Ph.D. programs work closely with their advisers and other faculty to craft an appropriate sequence ...
Learn about the diverse and rigorous doctoral program in anthropology at Brown, offering courses and tracks in socio-cultural, archaeological, and linguistic anthropology. Find out the degree requirements, timeline, and specialized tracks for Ph.D. students.
PhD Program The emphasis in the Graduate Program is on training candidates for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. This degree certifies that, in addition to having a sound knowledge of anthropology as a whole, the holder has been trained to do independent research at a professional level of competence in at least one of the major subfields of Anthropology (Anthropological Archeology ...
Learn about the Ph.D. requirements, coursework, and skills training in Anthropology at Stanford University. The program prepares students to conduct original research and make contributions to the discipline.
The Department of Anthropology at Berkeley invites graduate students to be part of the shaping of emergent approaches in Archaeology, Biological Anthropology, Sociocultural Anthropology, and Medical Anthropology by joining one of two PhD programs, in Anthropology and Medical Anthropology. The breadth of fields that comprise graduate study in ...
By the most common definition, anthropology is the study of human diversity and, as such, teaches us to recognize the remarkable array of circumstances in which human beings live their lives and make meaning from them. On our faculty, we have scholars whose work covers every time period from the prehistoric to the present, and every major world ...
PHD Program Guide. Graduate training in anthropology in governed by requirements set both by the Department and the University. However, the most critical mediating role in the implementation of these requirements and in the achievement of the goals of graduate training is the relationship of each student to their faculty advisors.
The PhD program in Anthropology at the University of Virginia is designed to lead students from a common and broad acquaintance with fundamental issues of anthropological theory to their own individually tailored agenda of original scholarly research and writing. The accent throughout is on preparation to make a valuable contribution to ...
Cultures and Traditions. The Department of Anthropology specializes in socio-cultural anthropology: the study of social and cultural forms of human life using ethnographic, historical, and comparative methods. Degrees OfferedBA, PhD.
The graduate program in sociocultural anthropology is designed to train professional anthropologists to work in either academic or non-academic settings. Each student is expected to achieve high levels of competence in the theories and methods of the discipline through successful completion of a series of requirements, as outlined below.
A minimum of 72 course credits in the Anthropology Department at the University of Pittsburgh is required for the PhD degree. Of these, at least 42 credits must be in formal courses (as opposed to readings courses, independent study, or thesis or dissertation credits). The remaining 30 credits may be any combination of formal courses, readings ...
In addition to linguistic anthropology as a sub-field within the Department of Anthropology, there is also a joint Ph.D. program available to students who are admitted to both the Department of Anthropology and the Department of Linguistics.Administratively, the student is admitted to, and remains registered in, the primary, or "home" department, and subsequently seeks admission to the ...
Graduate students in Biological Anthropology acquire the PhD degree through mastery of a core curriculum and completion of advanced study and research in a chosen field of specialization. The curricular goal is to foster understanding of human biological adaptation and its evolutionary basis through study of ecological, demographic, genetic ...
PhD in Anthropology. The anthropology department is a place of research, new ideas, innovative teaching, public engagement, and extensive hands-on learning. Students are encouraged to challenge conventional thinking, design their education, and use what they learn to offer new perspectives on how we can respond to our present challenges.
The University of South Carolina, based in Columbia, SC, offers a fully funded PhD in Anthropology. Students choose a sub-field of anthropology to specialize in, including Archaeology, Biological/Biocultural Anthropology, Cultural Anthropology, and Linguistic Anthropology. Anthropology graduate students join small cohorts with guaranteed ...
Anthropology and Social Change is a small innovative graduate department with a unique focus on radical activist scholarship, critical theory, and social change. Our approach dissolves traditional barriers between researchers and communities of struggle.
Support some of the graduate students that are affiliated with the Anthropology Department! Students will present their research proposals with a 'lightning talk' and a poster. There will be short presentations to deliver concise summaries about the problem statement, background, objectives, methods, and justification or relevance of their ...
Graduate Student Kymberley Chu recently published her article entitled, "Seeing One Animal, Two Beings" in Anthropology Now.Seeing One Animal, Two Beings narrates how citizen scientists and urban residents come together in reframing the conservationist method of deterrence as a continuum of care—yielding another chance to transcend narrative frames of conflict and dominance.
The Interdepartmental Graduate Program in Nutritional Sciences (IGPNS) integrates information from across 10 disciplines to give students a well-rounded understanding of nutrition and its application: providing the structure for coordinating and enhancing interdisciplinary nutrition research and graduate education. Master of Science (M.S.) and ...
It has kept the graduate student from work toward finishing her dissertation in economics. ... Wrapping up a master's degree in anthropology, Sullivan will move to Ohio in the fall to pursue a ...