Doctor of Philosophy Program in Anthropology

All students must formally petition for entry to the Ph.D. program. Those wishing to transfer credit from a prior M.A. in anthropology do so at the beginning of the second semester in residence; all others submit the petition at the beginning of the fourth semester in residence. To petition, a student must develop a program of study that has been approved by his or her Ph.D. committee, consisting of three faculty members in the department who formally agree to supervise the student’s research. The head of the Ph.D. committee is the student’s main dissertation adviser. A successful petition consists of a written statement indicating a plan of study and research, formulated in consultation with the proposed Ph.D. committee and then approved by the entire departmental faculty. Final acceptance is conditional on successful completion of the master’s course work and master’s paper. These course points are then applied toward the Ph.D., which requires a total of 72 points (or up to 86 points for students in the Program in Culture and Media).

On completion of at least 60 points of course work and no later than one year after completion of all Ph.D. course requirements, a student must take the written Ph.D. comprehensive examinations. These examinations cover work in three areas of specialization and are evaluated by the student’s Ph.D. committee. After completing all Ph.D. course work and passing the comprehensive exam, the student is eligible for the M.Phil. degree. Completion of these requirements as well as an oral defense of the dissertation proposal means that the student has achieved Ph.D. candidacy and may pursue dissertation research.

After completion of the dissertation, the student defends the dissertation at a final oral examination conducted by members of the Ph.D. committee and two additional scholars. Three members of the examining committee must be from the anthropology faculty.