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Ph.d. in anthropology and middle eastern studies.
The joint program in Anthropology and Middle Eastern Studies is designed for students interested in enriching their program of study for the Ph.D. in Anthropology with firsthand knowledge about the Middle East based on literacy in its languages and an understanding of its political and economic realities, its culture and traditions.
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PhD Programs
The Center for Middle Eastern Studies offers three joint PhD programs with the departments of Anthropology, History of Art and Architecture, and History:
- Joint PhD in Anthropology and Middle Eastern Studies . Note that admissions to the PhD in Anthropology and MES has been paused and will not be accepting applications for fall 2024.
- Joint PhD in History and Middle Eastern Studies
- Joint PhD in History of Art and Architecture and Middle Eastern Studies
Students of the joint PhD programs complete both the requirements of the related department and the language and area studies requirements established by the Committee on Middle Eastern Studies . In addition to coursework and comprehensive exams, PhD students develop a high proficiency in at least one Middle Eastern language and complete a dissertation based on original research. More details for each program can be found at the links above.
Applicants to these programs are advised to consult the pages in this section, the information in the Harvard Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (Harvard Griffin GSAS) Policies site on programs in Middle Eastern Studies , and the CMES Prospective Student FAQs . Admissions information can be found in the Applying to CMES section of this site and on the Harvard Griffin GSAS website .
- Applying to CMES
- Concurrent AB/AM Program
- PhD Program in Anthropology and Middle Eastern Studies
- PhD Program in History and Middle Eastern Studies
- PhD Program in History of Art and Architecture and Middle Eastern Studies
- Recent PhD Dissertations
- Funding for PhD Students
- Middle Eastern Language Study
- Middle East-related Courses
- Harvard Griffin GSAS Policies
Human Evolutionary Biology
Undergraduate Program
The concentration in Human Evolutionary Biology (HEB) provides students with the skills and knowledge they need to investigate and answer questions about who we are, how we got here, and what makes us unique. Research in human evolutionary biology is increasingly influencing medical science, economics, linguistics, psychology, and political science, and HEB concentrators learn how to use an evolutionary perspective to help solve real world problems.
Harvard’s Department of Human Evolutionary Biology is one of the world’s leading programs to study the fundamental question “How did evolution make humans the way they are?” Our program evolved from the subfield of biological anthropology (sometimes called evolutionary anthropology), but we are more than that because we address issues in human evolutionary biology by bringing together and integrating scholars and students engaged in many fields of research relevant to our core question including: anatomy and physiology of primates and humans; primate and human behavior and ecology; molecular, developmental, and population genetics and genomics; and paleontology and the physical record of primate and hominin evolution.
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As a PhD student in the Harvard philosophy program, you’ll have the opportunity to develop your ideas, knowledge, and abilities. You'll work with other doctoral students, our faculty, and visiting scholars, all in a stimulating and supportive environment. The program has strengths across a broad range of topics and areas, so you'll be able to pursue your interests wherever they may lead, especially in moral and political philosophy, aesthetics, epistemology, philosophy of logic, philosophy of language, the history of analytic philosophy, ancient philosophy, Immanuel Kant, and Ludwig Wittgenstein. In addition, students can pursue joint degrees with classics, Harvard Law School, and in Indian philosophy.
Incoming cohorts consist of five to eight students per year. You will have substantial access to our renowned faculty and all the resources that Harvard makes available. This relatively small size also gives students a sense of intellectual community.
The curriculum is structured to help you make your way towards a dissertation: graduate-level coursework, a second-year research paper, a prospectus to help you identify a dissertation topic, and then the dissertation itself. Past dissertations in the department have addressed a broad range of topics: Aristotle, Kant, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau; contemporary moral and political philosophy; metaphysics; epistemology; and logic.
In addition to your research, you will also have the opportunity to develop your teaching skills in many different settings across the University.
You can find graduates of the PhD program in many universities. Some of our students have gone on to faculty positions at Yale University, Princeton University, Brown University, and Stanford University. Other graduates have gone on to diverse careers in, among others, the arts, the law, secondary education, and technology.
In addition to the standard PhD in philosophy, the department offers a PhD in classical philosophy in collaboration with the Department of the Classics and a coordinated JD/PhD program in conjunction with Harvard Law School.
Additional information on the graduate program is available from the Department of Philosophy and requirements for the degree are detailed in Policies .
Areas of Study
Philosophy | Classical Philosophy | Indian Philosophy
For information please consult the Department webpage on the graduate program overview .
Admissions Requirements
Please review admissions requirements and other information before applying. You can find degree program specific admissions requirements below and access additional guidance on applying from the Department of Philosophy .
Academic Background
Applicants to the program in Philosophy are required to have a solid undergraduate background in philosophy, indicating that they have a good grounding in the history of philosophy, as well as familiarity with contemporary work in ethics, epistemology and metaphysics, and logic.
Standardized Tests
GRE General: Optional
Writing Sample
A writing sample is required as part of the application and should be between 12 to 30 pages long. The sample must address a substantial philosophical problem, whether it is an evaluation or presentation of an argument, or a serious attempt to interpret a difficult text. The upload of the writing sample should be formatted for 8.5-inch x 11-inch paper, 1-inch margins, with double-spaced text in a common 12-point font, such as Times New Roman.
Applicants seeking admission to the coordinated JD/PhD program must apply to and be separately admitted to Harvard Law School and the Department of Philosophy.
Theses & Dissertations
Theses & Dissertations for Philosophy
See list of Philosophy faculty
APPLICATION DEADLINE
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Beyond the Degree
Anthropology alumni pursue careers in over 50 different fields
Meet Our Alumni
Margaret Irving '17
My engaging experiences in the department inspired me to pursue further study. After graduating in 2017 I obtained my master’s in Visual, Material and Museum Anthropology from the University of Oxford, with a dissertation examining the authenticity of digital reproductions of artifacts. I remained in the UK to work in corporate reputation at the PR agency Edelman.
Kat Kearney '17
I'm still in Aotearoa New Zealand 3 years after graduation with the help of a travel fellowship through URAF. Anthro was definitely to thank for getting me to think globally. After dancing with a Pacific contemporary company for a year, I secured a government job with NZ's Arts Council. I work in the International Services team, with a focus on connecting NZ artists to the global arts sector through fairs, markets, and festivals.
Eric Lu '09, HMS '16
Concentrating in Anthropology was one of the best decisions I made at Harvard. It has equipped and empowered me to understand the world more deeply and holistically, laying tracks for an unconventional but exciting career path and paying off currently in my work as a screenwriter.
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Fall 2024 Undergraduate Courses
AN 101 – Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
Shwartz: MWF 10:10 – 11:00 am
AN 102 – Human Biology, Behavior & Evolution
Glowacki: MWF 11:15 – 12:05 pm
AN 201 / AR201 – Indigenous Peoples of Americas
STAFF: MWF 11:15 – 12:05 pm
AN 210 – Medical Anthropology
Shohet: TR 11:00 – 12:15 pm
AN 211 – Humans Among Animals
Shipton: TR 12:30 – 1:45 pm
AN 250 / AR 250 – Aztec, Maya, & Predecessors
STAFF: MWF 9:05 – 9:55 am
AN 252 – Ethnicity & Identity
Sum: MWF 10:10 – 11:00 am
AN 283 / AR 283 – North American Archaeology
Campbell: MWF 10:10 – 11:00 am
AN 287 / AA287 – Slavery & the In-Between
Cunningham: TR 3:30 – 4:45 pm
AN 290 – Children & Culture
LaPorte: MWF 1:25 – 2:15 pm
AN 311 – Culture & Biotech: Beyond the Nature/Culture Divide
Arkin: TR 12:20 – 1:45 pm
AN 218 / 718 – Southeast Asia: Tradition & Modernity (Area)
Hefner: TR 11:00 – 12:15 pm
AN 327 – Islam in Africa (Area)
Ngom: TR 11:00 – 12:15 pm
AN 333 / 733 – Human Population Biology
Schmitt: MWF 10:10 – 11:00 am
AN 344 – Modern Japanese Society: Family, School, & Workplace (Area)
Whitelaw: TR 2:00 – 3:15 pm
AN 336 / 736 – Primate Evolutionary Ecology
Schmitt: MWF 1:25 – 2:15 pm
AN 339 / 739 – Primate Biomechanics
Garrett: TR 2:00 – 3:15 pm
AN 347 / 747 – Afghanistan (Area)
Barfield: TR 2:00 – 3:15 pm
AN 351 – Language, Culture & Society
Kelley: MWF 11:15 – 12:05 pm
AN 461 – Ethnography and Anthropological Theory I
Shohet: TR 3:30 – 4:45 pm
AN 532 – Literacy and Islam in Africa (Area)
Ngom: TR 2:00 – 3:15 pm
AN 550 / AR 550 – Human Osteology
Cunningham: TR 12:30 – 1:45 pm
AN 556 – Evolution of the Human Diet
AN 558 – Human Sex Differences: Behavior, Biology & Ecology
STAFF: TR 9:30 – 10:45 am
AN 559 – Evolutionary Endocrinology
STAFF: TR 2:00 – 3:15 pm
AN 565 / AR 565 – Memory in 3D
Berlin: R 3:30 -6:15 pm
AN 568 – Symbol, Myth & Rite
Weller: TR 11:00 – 12:15 pm
AN 595 – Methods in Biological Anthropology
STAFF: W 2:30 – 5:15 pm
AN 703 – Anthropological Theory: History and Practice
Arkin: TR 2:00 – 3:15 pm
AN 705 – Theory in Evolutionary Anthropology: The Biological & Historical Past
Knott: TR 3:30 – 4:45 pm
AN 791 / AR 591 – Theory in Archaeology
West: T 12:30 – 3:15
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COMMENTS
Graduate Program. Graduate Students in Anthropology are expected to familiarize themselves with the program requirements outlined below and with the requirements posted on the Harvard Griffin GSAS Policies . Application Information.
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.
Anthropology brings a global comparative and broad perspective to the study of human beings, exploring an enormous range of similarities and differences in time and space. ... Graduate Program. ... Harvard Anthropology Professor Peter Manuelian Named Cabot Fellow. Monday, May 6, 2024. Eli Johnson-Visio ('26) Named 2024 Sardis Intern ...
For matriculation in the Fall of 2024, the Department of Anthropology at Harvard will be accepting PhD applications for the Archaeology program only. Applications for the PhD in Social Anthropology, including for the MD-PhD program, as well as for the AM in Medical Anthropology will not be accepted. The temporary pause on graduate-level Social Anthropology admissions is due to limited advising ...
At Harvard, the Anthropology Department is divided into two programs: Archaeology and Social Anthropology. Learn more Apply Graduate Programs Master of Arts (M.A.) Harvard Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. ... The graduate program in archaeology provides informed, critical examinations of core issues; comprehensive ...
While most of the anthropologists at Harvard deal in some way with these issues, the Medical Anthropology program is comprised of a group of faculty, post-doctoral fellows, and graduate students, divided between Anthropology and Social Medicine. This group meets once a week for guest lectures by some of the most preeminent thinkers in the field ...
In exceptional circumstances, PhD students in anthropology may submit a petition to the DGS to receive credit for up to two courses (eight credits) taken outside Harvard University or prior to beginning the PhD program at Harvard. Petitions may be submitted only after the successful completion of eight courses (32 credits) in the PhD program.
An overall program coordinator, who will normally be the Director of Graduate Studies in Anthropology, and the two additional faculty members—ordinarily the Director of the Archaeology Program and the Director of the Social Anthropology Program—shall be named by the chair to oversee and coordinate the PhD secondary field program.
Degrees Offered. Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Deadline. Dec 01, 2023 | 05:00 pm. Next. The Harvard Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences is a leading institution of graduate study, offering PhD and select master's degrees as well as opportunities to study without pursuing a degree as a visiting student.
Applicants come from a broad range of undergraduate backgrounds including anthropology, biology, chemistry, engineering, genetics, and psychology. ... The Harvard Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences is a leading institution of graduate study, offering PhD and select master's degrees as well as opportunities to study ...
Faculty Director, Harvard University Native American Program. Byron Good. Professor of Medical Anthropology. Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School. ... Post-doctoral Fellow in Anthropology '23-'24; Assistant Professor of Anthropology, beginning July 1, 2024.
The joint program in Anthropology and Middle Eastern Studies is designed for students interested in enriching their program of study for the PhD in Anthropology with firsthand knowledge about the Middle East based on literacy in its languages and an understanding of its cultural traditions. As a student in an interdisciplinary program you are a ...
The joint program in Anthropology and Middle Eastern Studies is designed for students interested in enriching their program of study for the Ph.D. in Anthropology with firsthand knowledge about the Middle East based on literacy in its languages and an understanding of its political and economic realities, its culture and traditions.
PhD Programs. The Center for Middle Eastern Studies offers three joint PhD programs with the departments of Anthropology, History of Art and Architecture, and History: Joint PhD in Anthropology and Middle Eastern Studies . Note that admissions to the PhD in Anthropology and MES has been paused and will not be accepting applications for fall 2024.
Bachelor of Arts (A.B.) Harvard College. The concentration in Human Evolutionary Biology (HEB) provides students with the skills and knowledge they need to investigate and answer questions about who we are, how we got here, and what makes us unique. Research in human evolutionary biology is increasingly influencing medical science, economics ...
As a PhD student in the Harvard philosophy program, you'll have the opportunity to develop your ideas, knowledge, and abilities. You'll work with other doctoral students, our faculty, and visiting scholars, all in a stimulating and supportive environment. The program has strengths across a broad range of topics and areas, so you'll be able to ...
My engaging experiences in the department inspired me to pursue further study. After graduating in 2017 I obtained my master's in Visual, Material and Museum Anthropology from the University of Oxford, with a dissertation examining the authenticity of digital reproductions of artifacts. I remained in the UK to work in corporate reputation at ...
Per the Harvard University Anthropology Department, the PhD Program in Anthropology will be taking a temporary pause for the 2023-2024 admissions cycle; therefore, we are unable to accept MD-PhD applications in the field of Anthropology this cycle. MD-PhD applicants are welcome to submit applications to other social science program (s) at ...
Students in the MD-PhD Program pursue their PhD study in a variety of fields at Harvard and MIT. Listed here are the major programs of interest. Social Science applicants are encouraged to review details on the application process here. Please Note: Per the Harvard University Anthropology Department, the PhD Program in Anthropology will be ...
An exploration of field and laboratory methods used in biological anthropology, with students participating in hands-on exercises. Topics include health assessment, body composition, diet, energetics, morphological adaptations, reproductive status, habitat composition, spatial movements, and conservation. Professional skills are also developed.