Anthropology

Degree Types: PhD

The Graduate Program in Anthropology fosters the historic diversity of the discipline by building an intellectual dialogue between different humanistic and scientific approaches. Our research and graduate training program emphasizes the integration of the major anthropological subfields, including Archaeology, Biological Anthropology, Cultural Anthropology, and Linguistic Anthropology. We train graduate students to harness these strengths in basic research, in effective teaching, and in the application of anthropology both inside and outside of academia.

Current strengths of graduate training include the areas of political economy, gender, sexuality and race, social class, life course, material culture, health/medical anthropology, reproductive ecology, urban anthropology, human biology, prehistoric complex societies, and historical archaeology. Faculty specialize in a range of world areas, including North and South America, Africa, and the Middle East and North Africa.

Additional resources:

• Department website
• Program handbook(s)

Degree Requirements

The following requirements are in addition to, or further elaborate upon, those requirements outlined in The Graduate School Policy Guide.

Master's

The Department of Anthropology is devoted to the preparation of professional anthropologists. Only students who intend to pursue the PhD are accepted into the program. The MA in Anthropology is an intermediate degree granted upon application to students who fulfill second-year department requirements.

Coursework Requirements

• See PhD Degree Requirements below
• Total Required Units: (variable, depending upon subfield)

Other MA Degree Requirements

• Research/Projects: subfield field statements
• Master's Thesis: see Research/Projects above
• Other: none

PhD

Total Units Required: the total varies by subfield

Course Requirements

The Department of Anthropology’s core requirements for all PhD students include:

1. the four-quarter sequence of ANTHRO 401-1 Logic of Inquiry in Anthropology (Bio), ANTHRO 401-2 Logic of Inquiry in Anthropology (Archy), ANTHRO 401-3 Logic of Inquiry in Anthropology (Cultural), ANTHRO 401-4 The Logic of Inquiry in Anthropology (Ling)
2. ANTHRO 496 (a topically focused, advanced course designed to integrate the four subfields)
3. a subfield specific methods course
4. ANTHRO 519-0 Responsible Conduct of Research Training

Subfield Course Requirements

Cultural Anthropology

Cultural Anthropology: In addition to the core requirements, Cultural Anthropology students are required to complete the following:

• ANTHRO 460 “Ethnographic Methods”
• ANTHRO 361 “Talk as Social Action/Linguistic Methods”
• ANTHRO 462 “Ethnographic Writing”
• ANTHRO 470 “History of Anthropological Theory”
• ANTHRO 471 “History of Anthropological Theory II”
• ANTHRO 475 “Seminar in Contemporary Theory”
• ANTHRO 483 “Seminar in Contemporary Linguistic Theory”
• ANTHRO 484 “Seminar in Linguistic Anthropology"

Linguistic Anthropology

Linguistic Anthropology:  In addition to the core requirements, Linguistic Anthropology students are required to complete the following: 

• ANTHRO 460 “Ethnographic Methods”
• ANTHRO 361 “Talk as Social Action/Linguistic Methods”
• ANTHRO 462 “Ethnographic Writing”
• ANTHRO 470 “History of Anthropological Theory”
• ANTHRO 471 “History of Anthropological Theory II”
• ANTHRO 475 “Seminar in Contemporary Theory”
• ANTHRO 483 “Seminar in Contemporary Linguistic Theory”
• ANTHRO 484 “Seminar in Linguistic Anthropology"

Archaeology

Archaeology:  In addition to the core requirements Archaeology, Anthropology students are required to complete the following:

• ANTH 490 "Topics in Anthropology" minimum of 3 from those offered in 1st and 2nd years of program
• ANTH 431 “Writing for impact in the social sciences” spring quarter of 2nd year
• ANTH 432 “Research design and proposal writing” fall quarter of 3rd year

Biological Anthropology

Biological Anthropology: In addition to the core requirements, Biological Anthropology students are required to complete the following:

• ANTHRO 425 “Human Population Biology”
• ANTHRO 486 “Evolution and Biological Anthropology”
• ANTHRO 426 “Primate Diversity”
• At least one quarter of any statistics course at NU (course determined at the discretion of students & advisor)
• ANTH 431 “Writing for impact in the social sciences” spring quarter of 2nd year
• ANTH 432 “Research design and proposal writing” fall quarter of 3rd year

Required Papers and Proposals

Students are required to complete Field Statements (number of statements varies by subfield), a Dissertation Proposal, and a Dissertation.