Faculty: See Anthropology
Graduate programs in the Department of Anthropology lead to the master of arts, master of science, and doctor of philosophy degrees with a major in anthropology. Concentrations within the major are available in archaeology, social and cultural anthropology, biological anthropology, or an inter-sectional degree track (see description below).
All programs assume that candidates have had general undergraduate training in the discipline equivalent to that required of an undergraduate major at UW–Madison. See Anthropology.
The primary focus of the anthropology graduate program is the doctoral degree. A master's degree is awarded in the process of pursuing the Ph.D., but students are not admitted for the sole purpose of obtaining a master's degree.
At the master's level, it is expected that candidates will begin to gain professional competence in a specialized field and will have the opportunity to explore a wide spectrum of interests within that field.
Programs for the master's degree in anthropology are intended to build professional competence in the field of concentration. Thorough undergraduate preparation is assumed. Basic training in archaeology, biological anthropology, and sociocultural anthropology, taken as an undergraduate major in anthropology, is recommended. Specific requirements vary for each concentration. Students are encouraged to consult Graduate Studies in Anthropology for details on requirements for each concentration.
The Ph.D. program assumes previous broad anthropological training in the undergraduate major and competence in a special field at the master's level (see Graduate Studies in Anthropology). Ph.D. programs are flexible in content and are constructed individually within the field of specialization by the candidate, in consultation with the appropriate faculty.
Students working toward the Ph.D. degree with a major in anthropology who prefer to pursue a program leading to a specialization in, for example, linguistic anthropology, may elect to take a joint major. The requirements for such candidates will be determined by the certification committee, which includes members of the participating departments, and must be approved by the Graduate School.
Within the doctoral program, students are expected to seek additional training in areas relating to the field of concentration; in most cases, such related subjects may be taken as the required minor program. The archaeologist, for example, should elect course work in surveying, geology, cartography, zoology, history, and so on, depending on special interests. The biological anthropologist is expected to take work in comparative anatomy, human anatomy, genetics, and other biological sciences. The cultural or social anthropologist are encouraged to take further work in area studies, geography, history, history of science, linguistics, political science, psychology, sociology, and related fields.
The university and vicinity provide many opportunities and facilities for training and research including specialized area and language programs, accessible American Indian reservations, significant archaeological sites, and important archaeological collections. Anthropological fieldwork is conducted in various parts of the world, and there is normally an archaeological field school every second summer. The department has major laboratories for biological anthropology and archaeology, and collaborates with the Center for Climatic Research. The archaeology laboratories maintain comparative collections; microscopes; a thin-section lab; a lab of archaeological chemistry; computerized drafting equipment; and modern drafting, computing, and analytical equipment for research and teaching. Facilities for training and research in biological anthropology include well-equipped laboratories for forensic anthropology, human and other primate osteology anatomy, plant chemistry, stable isotope analysis, and bone histomorphometry, in addition to two large teaching laboratories.
Occasionally students have special interests that can be pursued only through a combined program involving two or more of the subdisciplines within the program. Examples might include paleoanthropology, ethnoarchaeology, or biocultural anthropology. The department thus offers an intersectional degree track as an option for these special cases. Interested students should write a carefully prepared statement of intent at the time of application to graduate school. This area of study may take longer to complete, and it is strongly suggested that students who are interested in an intersectional program begin in one of the three major sections prior to making this commitment. Admission to the intersectional program requires prior approval by faculty in each section, and students should contact appropriate faculty before writing their statement.
Graduate students in other fields who desire to elect anthropology as a minor subject should contact the chair of the department. As a rule, prior preparation must equal four courses in social science, of which two should be in anthropology unless the area of concentration is to be a non-cultural field. Four courses must be taken, with the program of courses arranged to provide either (a) a general coverage of the field or (b) concentration in biological anthropology, cultural anthropology, or archaeology. Successful completion of the course program will satisfy the minor requirement.
A limited number of teaching, research, and project assistantships are available annually, with occasional special research work for qualified individuals in both laboratory and field situations. Students who are planning to study a language taught at the UW–Madison are encouraged to contact the relevant Area Studies Program to explore the possibilities for a (FLAS) Foreign Language Area Studies Fellowship.
For more information: Graduate Coordinator, Department of Anthropology, 5240 Social Science Building, 1180 Observatory Drive, Madison, WI 53706; 608-262-2868; ekschultz2@wisc.edu; www.anthropology.wisc.edu.
