Master of Arts Program in Anthropology

A total of 36 points of course work is required for the M.A. degree, 12 of these being in the core courses. All students in each of the subdisciplines are required to take certain departmental core courses. Each of the subdisciplines also has its own courses; students generally take most of their courses within their own subdiscipline of specialty.

HUMAN SKELETAL BIOLOGY TRACK

The department’s only stand-alone M.A., this track prepares graduates to apply the principles and techniques of skeletal biology and genetic research in biological anthropology to a variety of contexts, including those in the forensic sciences (e.g., medical examiner’s office, coroner’s office, armed forces, criminal justice, law enforcement, mass disasters). HSB also provides useful training for students who are preparing for admission to doctoral programs in skeletal biology and human evolution. Prospective students should hold a B.A. or B.S., preferably with an emphasis in anthropology, biology, or the natural sciences.

Students take the following courses or their approved equivalents: (1) Departmental Seminar (G14.1000; formerly G14.3210), (2) Human Osteology (G14.1516), (3) Interpreting Human Skeletal Morphology (G14.1520), and (4) Biological Variation Among Human Populations (G14.1517) or Human Genetics and Biology (G14.339X). In addition, students take an approved statistics course and at least one field training or internship course.


BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY

Students in the biological track of the Ph.D. program take (1) Departmental Seminar (G14.1000; formerly G14.3210) or an alternative course approved by the director of graduate studies and their M.A. advisory committee, (2) all three of the New York Consortium for Evolutionary Primatology (NYCEP) core courses, and (3) Seminar: Physical Anthropology I (G14.3217) or II (G14.3218) or an equivalent seminar approved by their M.A. advisory committee.


ARCHAEOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY

Students in this track take (1) Departmental Seminar (G14.1000; formerly G14.3210), (2) either History of Archaeological Theory (G14.2213) or History of Anthropology (G14.1636), (3) Archaeological Methods and Techniques (G14.2214) or an approved substitute, (4) one archaeology course focusing on a specific geographic region, and (5) a supervised field trip experience approved by their M.A. advisory committee.


CULTURAL AND LINGUISTIC ANTHROPOLOGY

Students in this track take (1) Departmental Seminar (G14.1000; formerly G14.3210) or an alternative course approved by the director of graduate studies and their M.A. advisory committee, (2) Social Anthropology Theory and Practice (G14.1010), (3) History of Anthropology (G14.1636), (4) Linguistic Anthropology (G14.1040), and (5) at least one Ethnographic Traditions course, chosen in consultation with their advisory committee.

On entering the M.A. program, each student is assigned an advisory committee consisting of three faculty members who meet with the student once each semester to plan the student’s course work for the following semester. During the first year of matriculation, the department evaluates M.A. graduate courses taken at other universities, and credit may be transferred within the limits set by the Graduate School of Arts and Science.

No later than the middle of the term in which all M.A. course work has been completed, usually the third semester of full-time course work, the student selects an M.A. paper committee, consisting of two readers, from among the permanent department faculty. The topic of the paper is selected in consultation with the M.A. paper committee, and this committee must approve the M.A. paper before the master’s degree is awarded. Note: Students in the master’s program may take no more than 8 points in research or reading courses.

During the second year of graduate study, students petition to enter the Ph.D. program, as described below. By the beginning of the third year of study, the M.A. paper must be approved as pre-Ph.D. quality by the M.A. committee and the petition accepted by the full faculty. Students failing to meet this requirement will be placed on academic probation and may be dropped from the program.