About the Department
Faculty and Staff
Undergraduate Studies
Graduate Studies
Admissions / Application
Degree Requirements
Grants and University Support
Course Descriptions
Graduate Student Association
Blackboard
UC Grad School
Taft Memorial Fund
Academic Calendar
Resources
News
Alumni and Friends
Graduate Studies - Degree Requirements
The M.A. program is normally completed in two years. First-year graduate course work surveys the history and current state of research in the four sub-fields. Second-year students improve their grasp of data and theory, and fulfill the Professional Activity Requirement (see below).
Graduate students participate directly in choosing their advisors from among the faculty. Upon entering the program, the student should consult the Director of Graduate Studies, who will serve as advisor until the student has requested and been accepted by another faculty member. In consultation with the advisor, each student designs a program to meet his/her educational and professional needs. Our program provides a firm grounding in each of the discipline's four subfields (archaeology, cultural anthropology, linguistics, biological anthropology), coupled with a more thorough specialization in one or two of these. The program is structured around the Division Requirements and the Professional Activity Requirement, explained below.
| Course Requirements (45 Hours Minimum) |
A. History and Theory of Anthropology (647)
B. Quadrant Theory - minimum of one of the following, as appropriate to student's choice of Professional Practice topic:| Archaeological Theory (696) | |
| Contemporary Anthropological Theory (648) | |
| Advanced Physical Anthropology and Advanced Linguistics courses, as arranged with student's committee. |
| Seminar in Economic Anthropology (501) | |
| Archaeo- and Ethno-astronomy (785) | |
| Advanced Medical Anthropology Seminar (779, 879) | |
| Anthropology of Religion (750) | |
| Ethnographic Methods (504) | |
| Identities Research in Anthropology (754) | |
| Country and City Seminar (746) |
| (2) Ethnography- minimum of 1 or 2, from such courses as: |
| Balkan Ethnography (720) | |
| Ethnography of Japan (726) | |
| Ethnography of Siberia, Central Asia, and Turkey (727) | |
| Carribean Ethnography (733) | |
| Ethnography of Mesoamerica (734) | |
| North American Indian Ethnography (735) | |
|
Identities: Research in Anthropology (754) |
D. Archaeology
| (1) All students: either World Archaeology (776); or Old World Archaeology (778) |
| (2) Students doing Professional Practice in Archaeology: |
|
(a) Minimum of one Methods course, from such courses as: |
| Assemblage Analysis (723) | |
| Advanced Field Course in Archaeology: Southwest (771) | |
| Advanced Field Course in Archaeology: Mesoamerica (772) |
(3) Students doing Professional Practice in a quadrant other than Archaeology: minimum of two electives, from such courses as:
| Southwest Archaeology (703) | |
| Maya Archaeology (705) | |
| New World Archaeology (708) | |
| Advanced Topics in Archaeological Interpretation (722) | |
| Agricultural Analysis (760) | |
| Analysis of Civilization (762) | |
| Water Management (515) | |
| Spatial Archaeology (555) |
| Language and Linguistics (630) | |
| Language Types (631) | |
| Ethnolinguistics (632) | |
| Linguistic Analysis (546) | |
| Sex and Gender in Language (500) |
| Advanced Intro to Physical Anthropology (751, 752, 753) | |
| Human Adaptation Seminar (789) | |
| Human Osteology (590) | |
| Human Skeletal and Dental Analysis (591) | |
| Skeletal Biology and Archaeology (593) | |
| Human Origins (594) | |
| Evolution of Homo sapiens (595) |
Additional courses are to be selected in consultation with your advisor. Some of these may be from appropriate allied disciplines (Biology, Sociology, etc.). It is strongly recommended that all students take at least one course in quantitative methods.
A minimum of 45 quarter hours of graduate study are required for the M.A., of which 30 hours must be derived from formal course work. Course requirements may be adjusted to take into account your undergraduate studies and your intended graduate training, as explained below.
Waiver of Course Requirements:
Students with strong undergraduate preparation in Anthropology may request that specific Division Requirements be altered or waived. Normally, all M.A. students must nevertheless take some course work in each quadrant (archaeology, cultural anthropology, linguistics, biological anthropology) at U.C. A written petition for a waiver or change should be addressed to the Director of Graduate Studies. The decision to accept or reject such a petition will be made by the Director of Graduate Studies, the student's advisor, and the faculty member responsible for the course(s) in question. Decisions may be appealed to the full faculty. Such waivers or alterations in Division Requirements do not alter the student's obligation to take 45 quarter hours of graduate study for the M.A., of which 30 hours must be derived from formal course work.
| Professional Activity Requirement |
Each degree candidate will, in consultation with her/his Advisor, choose one of the options below for demonstrating professional competence in anthropology. This activity will be done while the student is in good standing in the program, and it must be acceptable to the student's M.A. Committee. The M.A. Committee consists of the student's primary Advisor and at least one additional member of the full-time department faculty. Additional department members or, in appropriate cases, faculty from other departments, may be added at the request of the candidate, the Committee, or the Director of Graduate Studies.
A. Thesis - The thesis shall be the work of an individual student; joint work is not permitted. It shall demonstrate the ability to communicate effectively and to evaluate critically as appropriate to the discipline. While the thesis need not be the result of independent research in the sense expected of a doctoral dissertation, it is expected to clearly exceed the level of term paper and will normally exhibit a clear and appropriate problem focus.
The thesis shall conform to all rules and regulations of the Department and the Division of Graduate Studies, which provides detailed information about thesis format and the mechanics of preparing the final draft and abstract. Bibliographic style shall conform to that of anthropology journals, such as American Anthropologist, American Antiquity, Language, or the American Journal of Physical Anthropology, as appropriate to the subfield and subject matter. Students are individually responsible for the preparation of the final product; neither departmental equipment beyond that designated for student use nor secretarial or statistical service is normally available for this activity.
A final "thesis defense"--oral examination on the thesis and related topics administered by the student's M.A. Committee--is required. No student may stand this defense more than twice. Permission for a second defense on the same or a different thesis is not automatic but may be granted at the discretion of the Department.
B. Publication - This entails a single-authored professional anthropological publication, such as an article or chapter in a book/monograph, which is acceptable to the student's M.A. Committee. This generally means a peer-reviewed publication. Written notice of acceptance from the publisher or editor of the journal, volume, or series will normally be considered sufficient to meet this requirement.
C. Conference Paper - This entails the preparation of single-authored work equivalent to that of A or B (above), to be submitted for review by the faculty of the Department of Anthropology, and the presentation of the substance of this manuscript to a professional anthropological conference. The following procedures shall be observed:a. The paper must be circulated to the regular faculty of the Department at least 10 days in advance of the conference at which it is to be presented.
b. The paper as distributed must carry a covering letter by the student's M.A. Committee, stating their approval of the paper as fulfilling the Professional Activity requirement on condition that it is indeed presented at the specified conference.
c. The student's M.A. Committee Chair shall verify to the Department Head or Director of Graduate Studies that the paper in question or a paraphrase or condensation thereof, as permitted by time limits or other format conditions of the conference in question, has indeed been delivered at that conference by the student.
D. Written Examination - In special cases, a student will take a written examination in lieu of A, B, or C above. No student may take this Examination more than twice. Permission to repeat it after having failed it on the first sitting is not automatic, but may be granted at the discretion of the Department.
