Graduate study in anthropology is open to individuals with varied undergraduate majors and training backgrounds. Students normally are admitted directly to the Ph.D. program; once they complete requirements for the M.A., their committees recommend whether or not they should continue to work toward the Ph.D.

M.A. students become competent in the discipline's four major subfields: sociocultural anthropology, linguistic anthropology, archaeology, and biological anthropology. Students also may choose to earn a terminal M.A. with a focus on cultural resource management archaeology (CRM), which prepares them for a professional career, in that field.

The Master of Arts program in anthropology requires 30-36 s.h. of graduate credit, depending on a student's previous anthropological training. Students may count a maximum of 9 s.h. earned in courses outside anthropology toward the M.A. in anthropology. It is expected that a full-time student will complete all M.A. requirements by the end of the second year in the program.

Master's degree students who choose to focus on cultural resource management archaeology (CRM) normally do not go on to earn a Ph.D. in anthropology.

By the end of their first semester, each student must select an M.A. committee, consisting of an advisor and two additional professors. Each year, students compile, in consultation with their advisor, the three strongest papers written for anthropology courses, conferences, or journals; an annotated bibliography; their current curriculum vitae; and a three-page narrative to describe their intellectual trajectory in the M.A. program to date.

Career Advancement

Graduates find rewarding careers in government, international affairs, conservation, economic development, public health, urban and regional planning, social work, museum work, and education. They might work to help resolve contemporary world problems by joining the Peace Corps, the AmeriCorps program, or an international or domestic nongovernmental organization.