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Program Overview
Anthropology, MA
Department of Anthropology, College of Arts and Sciences
Degree Awarded: Master of Arts in Anthropology
Chairperson: Katheryn Twiss, Ward Melville Social and Behavioral Sciences Building, S-S-533
Director of MA Program: Jeroen Smaers, Ward Melville Social and Behavioral Sciences Building, S-525
Academic Programs Coordinator: Tara Powers, Ward Melville Social and Behavioral Sciences Building, S-503
Department Website
The Department of Anthropology, within the College of Arts and Sciences, offers a graduate program leading to the M.A. in Anthropology. The M.A. Program in Anthropology is designed for students aspiring to non-academic or academic careers, including those, for example, who wish to pursue anthropological training for careers in education or for those whose undergraduate training did not prepare them for doctoral level work in Anthropology. Students take professional training, and foundational and advanced anthropology coursework toward the M.A., with the option of a capstone project (with the approval and supervision of a faculty advisor). Admission and credit requirements are the same regardless of whether a student carries out a capstone project, but the course of study differs. Depending on the course of study, students may earn degree credits through one of the Study Abroad programs as well as potentially earn one of SBU’s Advanced Graduate Certificates, including the Advanced Graduate Certificate in Human Origins, offered jointly through Stony Brook University and the Turkana Basin Institute in the Kenya study abroad program.
This program (ANT) is independent from the Doctoral Program in Anthropological Sciences (DPA). MA students are not considered for teaching or graduate assistantships, or tuition scholarships. Full-time or part-time attendance is possible.
Admission Requirements
- In addition to the admission requirements of the Graduate School, acceptance by the Department of Anthropology Admissions Committee is required.
- Please also visit this page for additional information about how to apply for the Anthropology MA program.
Degree Requirements
- In addition to the degree requirements of the Graduate School, the Department of Anthropology requires:
- Completion of a minimum of 30 graduate credits;
- Maintaining a 3.0 grade point average;
- Minimum residence of one year;
- A course of study planned and carried out with the approval of the MA Graduate Program Director (GPD). Students who pursue the coursework-only pathway must pass a Comprehensive Examination in their last semester; students who pursue the capstone pathway complete at least 6 credits of ANT 599.
Required Coursework
- ANT 525 - Research Areas in Anthropological Sciences 0-1 credits
- ANT 599 - Capstone Project 0-6 credits (at least 6 credits) Required only for students who pursue the capstone pathway
At least 3 credits of professional training in ethics and skills:
- One ethics course such as ANT 593 or another GPD approved responsible conduct of research course from a different department (e.g., GRD 500)
- Two courses in professional skills areas, such as
- ANT 591 - Professional Skills in the Anthropological Sciences, I. 0-1 credits
- ANT 592 - Professional Skills in the Anthropological Sciences, II. 0-1 credits
- ANT 600 - Practicum in Teaching 0-3 credits
- or courses from other departments with GPD
Two of the following foundation courses:
- ANT 515 - Approaches in Archaeology 4 credits
- ANT 564 - Primate Evolution 4 credits
- ANT 565 - Human Evolution 4 credits
- ANT 567 - Primate Behavior and Ecology 4 credits
Electives Coursework
- At least 5 (or 3 if choosing the capstone pathway) additional 500-level elective courses. One or two courses can be taken from another program with GPD permission. Courses cannot be the same as those counted toward the Foundation Coursework requirement. Up to three (i.e., 0-3) credits from 600-level courses may be counted toward the electives.
- ANT 504 - Ecology: Linking People & Nature (emphasis Turkana Basin) 3 credits 1,2
- ANT 505 - Earth & Life Through Time: Vert Paleo (Turkana Basin) 3 credits 1,2
- ANT 506 - Human Evolution and evidence from the Turkana Basin 3 credits 1,2
- ANT 507 - Prehistoric Archaeology of Africa (emphasis Turkana Basin) 3 credits 1,2
- ANT 508 - Paleoanthropological Field Methods in the Turkana Basin 3 credits 2
- ANT 510 - Environments, Ecosystems and Evolution: Evidence from the Turkana Basin 3 credits 2
- ANT 5112
- ANT 513 - Origins of Agriculture 4 credits
- ANT 514 - Human Osteology 3 credits
- ANT 515 - Approaches in Archaeology 4 credits
- ANT 516 - Research Design in Archaeology 3 credits
- ANT 518 - Lithic Technology 3 credits
- ANT 519 - Zooarchaeology 4 credits
- ANT 527 - Field Methods and Techniques in Archaeology 3-9 credits
- ANT 535 - Ethnoarchaeology 4 credits
- ANT 536 - Phylogenetic Comparative Methods for trait evolution 3 credits
- ANT 555 - Ancient African Civilizations 4 credits
- ANT 557 - Building Bones: Bone Development and Evolution 3 credits
- ANT 559 - Archaeology of Food 3 credits
- ANT 560 - Ancient Mesopotamia 4 credits
- ANT 564 - Primate Evolution 4 credits
- ANT 565 - Human Evolution 4 credits
- ANT 582 - Comparative Primate Anatomy 4 credits
- ANT 567 - Primate Behavior and Ecology 4 credits
- ANT 573
- ANT 577
- ANT 610 - Individual Research 1-12 credits
- ANT 620 - Research Seminar in Topical Problems 3 credits
- ANT 630 - Research Seminar in Physical Anthropology 3 credits
- ANT 650 - Research Seminar in Archaeology **
- GEO 504 - Geology of the Turkana Basin 3 credits 1,2
Notes:
1 These courses also comprise the Advanced Graduate Certificate in Human Origins offered through Stony Brook University and the Turkana Basin Institute during the Spring or Fall Semesters 2 These courses are only offered through the Spring or Fall semester Human Origins Field School.
