Anthropology, Ph.D

Admission

Admission to the doctoral program is competitive and is normally also dependent upon completion of the requirements for the M.A. degree in Anthropology.

Requirements

1. The Ph.D. student will be required to obtain a minimum average of B+ in all graduate coursework required for the Ph.D. The minimum course requirement for students entering with a completed M.A. in Anthropology is normally four graduate half-courses beyond the level of the M.A. Students promoted from within our M.A. program (after completing coursework but before completing the thesis or MRP), may be exempt from taking any further courses if they have sufficient training for their program of study.  The supervisor will make this decision in consultation with the student and Graduate Chair.  In the rare cases in which Ph.D. students are admitted directly from a Bachelor’s degree, they will normally be required to take four half-courses at the graduate level. This course requirement will normally be met by taking seminars within the department. Reading courses or courses outside the department may be substituted for seminars on the recommendation of the student’s supervisor and approved by the Graduate Committee. All Ph.D. students are required to complete the department Professional Development Workshop in the first 12 months of their program.
2. There is no formal language requirement, but in cases where the student needs facility in a foreign language, either to read literature or for use in field research, the Supervisory Committee has the authority to require the student to demonstrate acceptable facility in that language. Students may demonstrate acceptable facility by obtaining a grade of B+ or better in a university course or an accredited language course in the language chosen. The Graduate Committee makes final decisions on what the department recognizes as an accredited non-university course.
3. Ph.D. candidates will take a Comprehensive Examination designed to test the breadth of their knowledge of the sub-discipline of anthropology in which they are conducting research. The examination has both a written and oral component and is intended to go beyond an assessment of the student’s factual knowledge, to demonstrate ability in relational thinking at a general abstract level and preparedness to undertake dissertation research.
4. All Anthropology Ph.D. candidates are required to have exposure to field work.
5. Doctoral candidates will be required to submit a scholarly thesis on an approved subject and to defend it during a final oral examination.