Anthropology Ph.D.
General Graduate Program Requirements
Graduate School policies and standards can be found on the Graduate School Policies page.
The minimum GPA for any graduate program is 3.0. Individual programs may require more than a 3.0 to remain in good standing.
The minimum grade for a course to be accepted toward any requirement is C. Individual programs may require higher grades for specific courses.
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY - ANTHROPOLOGY
The Ph.D. in Anthropology requires 60 credits total beyond the bachelor’s degree, completion of the coursework for the UM Anthropology M.A. or an equivalent 30+ credit master’s degree from another institution, completion of courses in specific areas of the curriculum, a comprehensive examination consisting of a defense of the student’s research proposal, a dissertation on a topic of relevance to Anthropology, and a defense of that dissertation.
The faculty expects completion of the Ph.D. within three years of earning the master’s degree. All students entering the Ph.D. program must have the equivalent of an M.A. degree before they can proceed to Ph.D. status. Students accepted into the program with only an undergraduate degree must complete the requirements of an M.A. degree prior to moving into the Ph.D. program. Students initially accepted into the M.A. program may continue into the Ph.D. program, but they must complete the M.A. degree prior to continuing; those students must also apply for the Ph.D. program during the regular application cycle (even though they are extant M.A. students).
Required Coursework
- Coursework for the Ph.D. in Anthropology requires 30 credits beyond those required for the master’s degree, for a total of 60 credits.
- At least 20 of these credits must be in anthropology (ANTY) or linguistics (LING).
- A maximum of 10 credits of research courses may be applied to these 30 credits. Research courses include ANTY 590, ANTY 599, ANTY 690, and ANTY 699.
- No more than 9 credits total in any combination of independent study (ANTY 492, ANTY 592, LING 492, LING 592) and internship courses (ANTY 598, LING 498, LING 598) may be applied to these 30 credits.
- Reasonable substitutions of courses, including courses from other departments and institutions, may be approved by the student’s committee.
- In addition, students must:
- Successfully complete a comprehensive examination consisting of a defense of the student’s research proposal.
- Successfully complete and defend a dissertation on a topic of relevance to the field of anthropology.
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Core Courses | ||
| Complete all of the following courses: | ||
| ANTY 500 | Contemporary Anthropological Thought | 3 |
| ANTY 601 | Research Design & Proposal Preparation | 3 |
| Anthropological Theory | ||
| Complete one of the following courses: | 3 | |
| Seminar on Human Variation & Evolution | ||
| Seminar in Bioarcheaology & Skeletal Biology | ||
| Theory & Methods in Bioanthropology | ||
| Seminar in Contemporary Ethnography | ||
| Seminar in Archaeology | ||
| Seminar Historical Archaeology | ||
| Evolutionary Archaeology | ||
| Issues in Cultural Heritage | ||
| Seminar in Linguistics | ||
| Language and Culture | ||
| Methods | ||
| Complete one of the following courses: | 3 | |
| Anthropological Data Analysis | ||
| Osteology | ||
| Forensic and Mortuary Archaeology | ||
| Ethnographic Field Methods | ||
| Cultural Resource Management | ||
| GIS in Archaeology | ||
| Lithic Technology | ||
| Artifact Analysis | ||
| Archaeological Survey | ||
| Archaeological Field School | ||
| Methods for Native Languages | ||
| Seminar/Workshop | ||
| Applied Anthropological Statistics | ||
| Advanced Forensic Anthropology | ||
| Cultural Heritage Policy & Practice | ||
| Phonetics and Phonology | ||
| Historical Linguistics | ||
| Linguistic Field Methods | ||
| NA Indigenous Language and Linguistics | ||
| Morphology | ||
| Electives, Research, and Dissertation | ||
| Complete at least 48 credits of the following courses: | 48 | |
Any graduate level course chosen in consultation with your advisor | ||
| Research | ||
| Thesis/Professional Project | ||
| Advanced Research | ||
| Dissertation | ||
| Total Hours | 60 | |