Department of Anthropology Master’s Degree Requirements

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Overview

The M.A. and M.S. degrees each require a minimum of 45 credit hours, 32 of which must be in anthropology. Students who fulfill their requirements by demonstrating proficiency in a foreign language will obtain a Masters of Arts. All other students will receive a Masters of Science degree.

The Masters degree program requirements vary depending on whether the student focuses on archaeology, biological anthropology, or cultural anthropology.  To obtain the Masters degree, ALL students must complete the following requirements:

1. Proseminar, ANTH 615: Graduate Studies in Anthropology
2. Core courses in 1) Archaeology, 2) Biological Anthropology, and 3) one of two core courses in Cultural Anthropology
3. Masters paper or Masters Thesis
4. Additional requirements by subfield: described in subsequent sections for archaeology, biological anthropology and cultural anthropology.

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Core Courses

All Masters students, and Ph.D. students without a Masters in anthropology, are required to complete the archaeology, biological anthropology, and one of the cultural anthropology core courses during their first two years in residence. The three core courses required of students from all subfields are:

1. ANTH 680 Basic Graduate Physical Anthropology, or ANTH 610 Topics in Biological Anthropology
2. ANTH 681 Archaeology and Anthropology
3. ANTH 688 Social Theory I, or ANTH 689 Social Theory II

These courses offer an advanced introduction to biological anthropology, archaeology, and cultural anthropology. Each class is five credit hours and requires a concomitant amount of work.  There are no formal prerequisites for these core courses. Core courses must be passed with a grade of B- or better.  In the event of failure, only one retake of any single core course or reexamination will be permitted.  In the case of a second failure, the student will be dropped from the graduate program in anthropology.

The core course program is designed to give Masters Students an overview of each subfield, prepare them for introductory-level instruction in higher education, and more immediately, help prepare students to lead anthropology discussion and laboratory sections as a Graduate Teaching Fellow (GTF) (as described below and in the GDRS). Core course exams become part of the student’s permanent academic file.

Expected Core Course Offerings for Fall 2012 through Spring 2013

Students who believe they already have scholarly background equivalent to one or more of the core courses may petition the Graduate Committee to have the background accepted in place of one or more of the core courses.

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Masters Paper

A Masters paper is normally submitted by the end of the student’s second year in residence.  Planning for the paper should begin during the first year of the program, the earlier the better.  Working on the Masters paper provides the student with experience in conceptualizing (spring term), implementing (fall and winter terms), and writing up (spring term) a major piece of research, in preparation for the demands of professional research and publishing. The topic should be selected in consultation with the advisor. It should set out a problem and clearly follow the theme or themes involved. It should attend to the relevant literature and show an ability to synthesize material in a way that brings it to bear on the chosen subject. The length should be comparable to a typical journal article, decided in consultation with the advisor.  It must be presented in a finished format and of sufficiently high caliber that it is ready to submit to a professional journal. Students writing Masters papers register for at least 4 credits of ANTH 606 Special Problems during the final term of working on the paper. Most students take additional ANTH 606 credits to plan and conduct their Masters research. The Masters paper is read and approved by the student’s advisor and a second faculty reader.  Copies of all Masters Papers (and Theses) with the signatures of the advisor and second reader are maintained in the permanent files of the Department of Anthropology.

While most students choose to complete a Masters paper, a Masters thesis can be done instead. There are many more requirements associated with completing a Masters thesis as opposed to a Masters paper. For a discussion of the relative merits of these two options, consult the “Masters Paper or Thesis?” document on the “Graduate Program in Anthropology” blackboard page. It is located under “Professional Development” in the “Graduate Handbook” folder.

The application for the Masters degree must be filed in the Graduate School by the second week of classes in the term of graduation. Once all requirements for the Masters degree have been completed, the advisor will notify the Graduate Coordinator, who will then notify the Graduate School to clear the student for graduation.

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Summary Table of the Masters Degree Requirements in Anthropology Other Masters

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Other Masters Requirements for Archaeology Students

To obtain the Masters degree, archaeology students must complete the following requirements in addition to the proseminar, core courses and Masters paper or thesis:

1. Research Methods (one course)
2. Statistics (one course)
3. Skill (three courses taken outside the Department of Anthropology)

Research Methods. Completion of ANTH 549 Cultural Resource Management fulfills the research methods requirement for archaeology students. This course should help prepare students for research in contemporary archaeology. The course is generally offered once every two years. A graduate course in Historic Preservation, offered in the School of Architecture and Allied Arts, or other course as agreed upon by Archaeology Faculty may be substituted by petition.

Basic Statistical Methods Requirement. All archaeology Masters students, or those with a Masters in another field, are required to complete a basic statistics course during the first year of study.  Normally any basic upper-division or graduate-level statistics course offered in the University or its equivalent will be accepted, as long as the student has passed the course with a C or higher, for an undergraduate course, or a B- or higher for a graduate course. Traditionally this requirement is completed by Anth 570 Statistics for Biological Anthropologists or courses offered in other departments such as Math (MTH 525 or 526), Political Science (PS 445/545: Methods for Politics and Policy Analysis I), Psychology (PSY 302 Statistical Methods in Psychology) or Sociology (SOC 312: Quantitative Methods in Sociology).

Skill Requirement. Archaeology students choose a skill in consultation with the advisor during the first year of graduate study. Language skills, statistic skills, and a variety of “ancillary skills” may be used to fulfill this requirement. All classes used to satisfy the skill requirement must be taken on a graded basis.

Possible skill packages include:

Computer science skills: A three-term sequence of courses that provides an advanced introduction to computer science will be accepted in fulfillment of the skill requirement.  One of these courses must include programming in a language that facilitates numeric programming.  The student’s advisor must approve the courses selected.

Statistics skills: Students may define, in consultation with their advisors, a two-term advanced statistics course work package to be taken as a follow-up to the one term of introductory statistics required of all graduate students. The two terms of advanced statistics may be selected from among any appropriate offering available in any department of the university.  If desired, one of the two advanced courses may be taken as a tutorial within the department of anthropology by enrolling with a faculty member for at least four credits of ANTH 606 Special Problems to work on a statistical problem of specific relevance and professional interest to the student. Students should take the initiative in setting up such arrangements.

Language skills: Any foreign language may be submitted by the student, with the advisor’s approval. Competence in a foreign language is normally demonstrated by successful completion of the last term of the second year of college-level course work or by passing the GSFLT or other appropriate examination with a score equivalent to that of the 50^th percentile. International students may claim their English language competence in fulfillment of the skill requirement provided that their language of instruction for their high school or college education was other than English.

Ancillary skills: Competence in a variety of professional and scientific research skills may be developed through completing a set of three or more interrelated courses that include both practical and theoretical components. An ancillary skills package is designed in consultation with the advisor and should complement the student’s areas of expertise in anthropology.  The package of ancillary skill courses should be individually tailored to a student’s research interests and are typically not in anthropology, but from allied fields (art history, biology, folklore, geography, geology, public policy and planning, for example).

In archaeology, students frequently include an integrated set of three or more courses in cartography, advanced cartography, geographic information systems (GIS), geomorphology, hydrology, marine biology, paleopedology, Quaternary environments.  For example:

Landforms & Environments Skill Mapping & GIS Skill

GEOG 522: Advanced Geomorphology                    GEOG 511: Advanced Cartography

GEOG 527: Fluvial Geomorphology                                     GEOG 516: Intro to GIS

GEOG 530: Quaternary Environments                       GEOG 572: Advanced GIS

Ancillary skill satisfying course packages: a) are from allied fields (not from anthropology course offerings), b) comprise a minimum of three interrelated courses, c) develop practical expertise in data collection, manipulation, or analysis, and d) involve learning experiences in laboratory or field settings.  Students are encouraged to carefully plan their skill package with their advisor taking their professional and career goals and their research interests into account.  A one page description of the ancillary skill package, how it relates to the student’s academic program and research, and the courses that will fulfill the skill requirement should be approved by the advisor and submitted to the Director of Graduate Studies for approval by the Graduate Committee.

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Other Masters Requirements for Biological Anthropology Students

To obtain the Masters degree, biological anthropology students must complete the following requirements in addition to the proseminar, core courses and Masters paper or thesis:

1. Research Methods (one course)
2. Statistics (three courses)

Research Methods Requirement. Completion of ANTH 587 Bioanthropology Methods fulfills the research methods requirement for biological anthropology students. The course is generally offered once every year, and should be completed during the first year in the Masters program. Another course as agreed upon by the Biological Anthropology Faculty may be substituted by petition.

Statistical Methods Requirement. All biological anthropology Masters students, or those with a Masters in another field, are required to complete a basic statistics course during the first year of study.  Normally any basic upper-division or graduate-level statistics course offered in the University or its equivalent will be accepted, as long as the student has passed the course with a C or higher, for an undergraduate course, or a B- or higher for a graduate course. Traditionally this requirement is completed by courses offered in other departments including Math (MTH 525 or 526), Political Science (PS 445/545: Methods for Politics and Policy Analysis I), Psychology (PSY 302 Statistical Methods in Psychology) or Sociology (SOC 312: Quantitative Methods in Sociology), for example.

Biological anthropology students go on to define, in consultation with their advisors, a two-term advanced statistics course work package to be taken as a follow-up to the one term of introductory statistics.  The two terms of advanced statistics may be selected from among any appropriate offering available in any department of the university. ANTH 570 (Statistics of Biological Anthropology) is designed to fulfill one term of this requirement and Biological Anthropology students are strongly encouraged to take this class which is typically taught every other year. If desired, one of the two advanced courses may be taken as a tutorial within the department of anthropology by enrolling with a faculty member for at least four credits of ANTH 606 Special Problems to work on a statistical problem of specific relevance and professional interest to the student. Students should take the initiative in setting up such arrangements.

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Other Masters Requirements for Cultural Anthropology Students

To obtain the Masters degree, cultural anthropology students must complete the following requirements in addition to the proseminar, core courses and Masters paper or thesis:

1. Second Core Course in Cultural Anthropology
2. ANTH 683 Core Course in Linguistic Anthropology
3. Research Methods (one course)
4. Language

Second Core Course in Cultural Anthropology. All graduate students of cultural anthropology are required to take both core classes in social theory, ANTH 688 Social Theory I and ANTH 689 Social Theory II.  Despite the numbering of these courses, one is not a prerequisite for the other and the courses do not have to be taken sequentially.  These courses are established around select keywords and their utility in social theory.  Cultural students should take these two courses as soon as possible when they are offered.  These courses should provide students with a solid foundation in contemporary social theory.

Core Course in Linguistic Anthropology. All cultural anthropology graduate students are required to take ANTH 683 Anthropological Linguistics.  Students without previous formal course work in linguistics should enroll in an appropriate linguistics course prior to taking ANTH 683.

Research Methods Requirement. This requirement prepares students for research in cultural anthropology.  Students should complete this requirement during their first year in the program in order to commence research for the Masters paper or thesis in the second year. It is strongly advised to take the course no later than fall term of the second year.  The research methods requirement can be met with any of the following courses:

1. ANTH 524 Feminist Methods
2. ANTH 611 Ethnographic Research: Epistemology, Methods, Ethics
3. SOC 612 Overview of Sociological Methods
4. SOC 613 Advanced Sociological Methods
5. Journalism 641 Qualitative Research Methods
6. Journalism 642 Quantitative Research Methods
7. Journalism 660 Advanced Research Methods

Additional courses may be added to this list as approved by the Graduate Committee.  Courses from another institution that are demonstrably similar in content to any of those on the list may be accepted upon approval of a petition.

Language. Any foreign language may be submitted by the student, with the advisor’s approval.  Competence in a foreign language is normally demonstrated by successful completion of the last term of the second year of college-level course work or by passing the GSFLT or other appropriate examination with a score equivalent to that of the 50^th percentile. International students may claim their English language competence in fulfillment of the language requirement provided that their language of instruction for their high school or college education was other than English.

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