columbia anthropology phd application

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https://anthropology.columbia.edu/

The Department of Anthropology of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences has a PhD Program, in both social-cultural anthropology or archaeology, requires three years of coursework, 1-2 years of research, and 1-2 years of dissertation writing. Students are required to take a minimum of eight courses (not Independent Study classes) in the department for letter grades, including a two-semester core class during the first year. In addition, students commonly study outside the department, in a variety of specialized programs and institutes at Columbia. Many also take courses in the New York City Consortium (NYU, New School University, CUNY). The Department also has a terminal MA Program, which involves the equivalent of one full year of course work (30 credits) and may be pursued part or full-time. A concentration in archaeology is also available in the MA Program. Contact Ellen Marakowitz ([email protected]). A specialized MA Program in Museum Anthropology trains students to interpret ethnographic and archaeological collections for the general public; to work in registration or collection management; or to become scientific or research staff for a range of museum types. Contact Brian Boyd ([email protected]). The Department of Sociomedical Sciences housed in the School of Public Health offers a PhD with a concentration in medical anthropology. Contact: Jennifer Hirsch ([email protected]). The PhD Program in evolutionary primatology, formerly administered by the Department of Anthropology, is now housed in the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology (1200 Amsterdam Ave, Columbia U, New York, NY 10027). Teachers College offers PhDs in Anthropology and Education, and in Applied Anthropology Contact Hervé Varenne. ([email protected]).

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Departmental Office: 452 Schermerhorn; 212-854-4552 http://www.columbia.edu/cu/anthropology

Director of Undergraduate Studies:

Professor Naor Ben-Yehoyada; 462 Schermerhorn Extension; 212 854-8936; [email protected] ; (fall 2023) Professor Hannah Chazin; 964 Schermerhorn Extension; 212-854-7764; hc2986 @columbia.edu (fall 2023), Professor Maria José de Abreu; 957 Schermerhorn Extension; 212-854-4752; [email protected] (spring 2024)

Departmental Consultants: Archaeology : Prof. Zoë Crossland, 965 Schermerhorn Extension; 212-854-7465; [email protected]  Office Hours are by appointment  

Anthropology at Columbia is the oldest department of anthropology in the United States. Founded by Franz Boas in 1896 as a site of academic inquiry inspired by the uniqueness of cultures and their histories, the department fosters an expansiveness of thought and independence of intellectual pursuit.

Cross-cultural interpretation, global socio-political considerations, a markedly interdisciplinary approach, and a willingness to think otherwise have formed the spirit of anthropology at Columbia. Boas himself wrote widely on pre-modern cultures and modern assumptions, on language, race, art, dance, religion, politics, and much else, as did his graduate students including, most notably, Ruth Benedict and Margaret Mead.

In these current times of increasing global awareness, this same spirit of mindful interconnectedness guides the department. Professors of anthropology at Columbia today write widely on colonialism and postcolonialism; on matters of gender, theories of history, knowledge, and power; on language, law, magic, mass-mediated cultures, modernity, and flows of capital and desire; on nationalism, ethnic imaginations, and political contestations; on material cultures and environmental conditions; on ritual, performance, and the arts; and on linguistics, symbolism, and questions of representation. Additionally, they write across worlds of similarities and differences concerning the Middle East, China, Africa, the Caribbean, Japan, Latin America, South Asia, Europe, Southeast Asia, North America, and other increasingly transnational and technologically virtual conditions of being.

The Department of Anthropology traditionally offered courses and majors in three main areas: sociocultural anthropology, archaeology, and biological/physical anthropology. While the sociocultural anthropology program now comprises the largest part of the department and accounts for the majority of faculty and course offerings, archaeology is also a vibrant program within anthropology whose interests overlap significantly with those of sociocultural anthropology. Biological/physical anthropology has shifted its program to the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology. The Anthropology Department enthusiastically encourages cross-disciplinary dialogue across disciplines as well as participation in study abroad programs.

Sociocultural Anthropology

At the heart of sociocultural anthropology is an exploration of the possibilities of difference and the craft of writing. Sociocultural anthropology at Columbia has emerged as a particularly compelling undergraduate liberal arts major. Recently, the number of majors in sociocultural anthropology has more than tripled.

Students come to sociocultural anthropology with a wide variety of interests, often pursuing overlapping interests in, for example, performance, religion, writing, law, ethnicity, mass-media, teaching, language, literature, history, human rights, art, linguistics, environment, medicine, film, and many other fields, including geographical areas of interest and engagement. Such interests can be brought together into provocative and productive conversation with a major or concentration in sociocultural anthropology. The requirements for a major in sociocultural anthropology reflect this intellectual expansiveness and interdisciplinary spirit.

Archaeologists study the ways in which human relations are mediated through material conditions, both past and present. Particular emphases in the program include the development of ancient states and empires, especially in the indigenous Americas; the impact of colonial encounters on communities in the American Southwest, the Levant and Africa; and human-animal relations in prehistory, religion and ritual, and the archaeology of the dead.

Themes in our teaching include the political, economic, social, and ideological foundations of complex societies; and archaeological theory and its relationship to broader debates in social theory, technology studies, and philosophy. Faculty members also teach and research on questions of museum representations, archaeological knowledge practices, and the socio-politics of archaeology. The program includes the possibility of student internships in New York City museums and archaeological fieldwork in the Americas and elsewhere.

Majors and concentrators should consult the director of undergraduate studies when entering the department and devising programs of study. Students may also seek academic advice from any anthropology faculty member, as many faculty members hold degrees in several fields or positions in other departments and programs at Columbia. All faculty in the department are committed to an expansiveness of thought and an independence of intellectual pursuit and advise accordingly.

Senior Thesis

Anthropology majors with a minimum GPA of 3.6 in the major who wish to write an honors thesis for departmental honors consideration may enroll in ANTH UN3999 SENIOR THESIS SEM IN ANTHROPOL . Students should have a preliminary concept for their thesis prior to course enrollment. Normally no more than 10% of graduating majors receive departmental honors in a given academic year.

• Nadia Abu El-Haj (Barnard)
• Lila Abu-Lughod
• Partha Chatterjee, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology
• Myron L. Cohen
• Zoe Crossland
• Terence D’Altroy
• Ralph L. Holloway, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology
• Claudio Lomnitz
• Mahmood Mamdani
• Brinkley Messick
• Rosalind Morris
• Elizabeth Povinelli
• Nan Rothschild (Barnard, emerita )
• David Scott, Department Chair
• Lesley A. Sharp (Barnard)
• Michael Taussig, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology
• Paige West (Barnard)

Associate Professors

• Catherine Fennell
• Severin Fowles (Barnard)
• Marilyn Ivy
• Brian Larkin (Barnard)
• John Pemberton
• Audra Simpson

Assistant Professors

• Vanessa Agard-Jones
• Naor Ben-Yehoyada
• Hannah Rachel Chazin
• Maria Jose de Abreu
• Ellen Marakowitz
• Karen Seeley

Adjunct Research Scholar

Guidelines for all anthropology majors and concentrators.

No course with a grade of D or lower can count toward the major or concentration. Only the first course that is to count toward the major or concentration can be taken Pass/D/Fail.

Courses offered in other departments count toward the major and concentration only when taught by a member of the Department of Anthropology. Courses from other departments not taught by anthropology faculty must have the approval of the director of undergraduate studies in order to count toward the major or concentration.

Major in Anthropology

The requirements for this program were modified on January 29, 2016.

The program of study should be planned as early as possible in consultation with the director of undergraduate studies.

The anthropology major requires 30 points in the Department of Anthropology.

Sociocultural Focus

Students interested in studying sociocultural anthropology are required to take the following courses:

Archaeology Focus

Students interested in studying archaeological anthropology are required to take the following courses:

NOTE: Students wishing to pursue an interdisciplinary major in archaeology should see the Archaeology section of this Bulletin.

Biological/Physical Focus

Students interested in studying this field should refer to the major in evolutionary biology of the human species in the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology.

Concentration in Anthropology

The anthropology concentration requires 20 points in the Department of Anthropology.

Students interested in studying sociocultural anthropology are required to take the following course:

Students interested in studying archaeological anthropology are required to take the following course:

Students interested in pursuing study in this field should refer to the concentration in evolutionary biology of the human species in the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology.

Fall 2024 Sociocultural Anthropology

ANTH UN1002 THE INTERPRETATION OF CULTURE. 3.00 points .

The anthropological approach to the study of culture and human society. Case studies from ethnography are used in exploring the universality of cultural categories (social organization, economy, law, belief system, art, etc.) and the range of variation among human societies

ANTH UN2004 INTRO TO SOC ＆ CULTURAL THEORY. 3.00 points .

This course presents students with crucial theories of society, paying particular attention at the outset to classic social theory of the early 20th century. It traces a trajectory of writings essential for an understanding of the social: from Saussure, Durkheim, Mauss, Weber, and Marx, on to the structuralist ethnographic elaboration of Claude Levi-Strauss and the historiographic reflections on modernity of Michel Foucault. We revisit periodically, reflections by Franz Boas, founder of anthropology in the United States (and of Anthropology at Columbia), for a sense of origins, an early anthropological critique of racism and cultural chauvinism, and a prescient denunciation of fascism. We turn as well, also with ever-renewed interest in these times, to the expansive critical thought of W. E. B. Du Bois. We conclude with Kathleen Stewart’s A Space on the Side of the Road--an ethnography of late-twentieth-century Appalachia and the haunted remains of coal-mining country--with its depictions of an uncanny otherness within dominant American narratives

ANTH UN3040 ANTHROPOLOGICAL THEORY. 4.00 points .

Open to majors; all others with instructor's permission.

Prerequisites: an introductory course in anthropology. Comprehensive and in-depth engagement with foundational and contemporary theoretical concepts and texts in Anthropology. Required of all Barnard students majoring in Anthropology (including specialized tracks). Permission of instructor required for non-majors. Not open to First Year students. Prerequisite: an introductory (1000 level) course in Anthropology

ANTH UN3091 Disability. 4.00 points .

This course centers disability in its many manifestations and meanings – as an embodied, social, and cultural experience, as an organizing discourse in local and global contexts, as an analytic framework, and as a position from which to approach, think about, and engage in the world. Together, we will seek to understand disability in diverse settings and contexts through ethnographic texts, autobiography, documentary film, and essays, drawing primarily from works in anthropology but also more broadly from the interdisciplinary traditions known as (Critical) Disability Studies. Throughout the semester, we will move between considering disability in more and less specific and categorical terms. We will ask what the stakes are – intellectually, socially, politically - for different ways of doing, thinking, and representing disability. What becomes apparent when we consider, say, the experiences of deaf young adults in India working together to learn Indian Sign Language, or physically disabled adults in the United States whose disabilities must be situated within histories of racialized poverty and urban neglect? What happens – what are the resonances and the tensions – when we put these settings into conversation? Through our engagements with materials analyzing these and many other instances, we will think together about what it means to study and think with disability from different disciplinary perspectives, different methods, and different media

ANTH UN3321 INFRASTRUCTURES. 4.00 points .

Infrastructures are the built networks moving goods, commodities, people, energy, waste organizing human action in modern societies. This course critically examines the work of infrastructures globally. It examines issues of urbanism, racial infrastructures, infrastructural breakdown and emergency, postcolonial infrastructures, climate change, and extraction

ANTH UN3605 Against Dystopia. 4.00 points .

Ideas of dystopian futures haunt present-day imaginings of the climate crisis. Such futures are typically characterized by worsening inequality, disastrous weather effects, and deeply disrupted social relations. Apocalyptic imaginaries also tend to invoke an individualist politics oriented around struggle over scarce resources. But what about those for whom the present is already post-apocalyptic? What about political configurations that insist on solidarity, mutuality, care, and justice to create liberatory futures? Just solutions to the climate crisis are only as capacious as the imagination of what the problems are, how the present came into being, who is most affected, and who gets to decide what futures are created. This interdisciplinary course engages ethnographic work alongside theorizations of contemporary life and other world-building genres, including climate fiction, visual art, and poetry. In doing so, the course offers an argument against the fatalism of dystopia and seeks to imagine what reparative methods centering climate justice could look like

ANTH BC3808 Punishment Culture. 4.00 points .

What is punishment, and what might attention to punitive practices teach us about the cultures in which they are used? Modern American culture is so saturated with punishment that it is difficult to know where to begin such an investigation. From childhood education to mass incarceration and from the crafting of financial futures to the training of horses and dogs, punishment is ubiquitous and often unquestioned. In many cases, punishment is the thread that connects allegedly disparate institutions and produces allegedly unforeseen forms of violence. In this course we will question both the practice and its prevalence, combining a genealogy of the concept with case studies in its modern use

ANTH UN3812 Accusing Corpse-forensic trace. 4.00 points .

This colloqium explores the history of forensic anthropology, and the ways in which it produces the body as evidence. We will consider how truth claims are made based on the evidence of the dead body and follow the ways in which the evidence of the dead is explained and delineated for peers and for different publics by forensic anthropologists. The course will also trace the history and background to forensic anthropology and explore the assumptions around race and ancestry that were folded into its methods and which remain a part of forensic anthropological practice today

ANTH UN3823 ARCH ENGAGE: PAST IN PUB EYE. 4.00 points .

Enrollment limited to 15. Enrollment Priorities: Seniors and Juniors in ARCH or ANTH

This course provides a panoramic, but intensive, inquiry into the ways that archaeology and its methods for understanding the world have been marshaled for debate in issues of public interest. It is designed to examine claims to knowledge of the past through the lenses of alternative epistemologies and a series of case-based problems that range from the academic to the political, legal, cultural, romantic, and fraudulent

ANTH BC3871 SENIOR THESIS SEMINAR I. 4.00 points .

Prerequisites: Limited to Barnard Anthropology Seniors. Offered every Fall. Discussion of research methods and planning and writing of a Senior Essay in Anthropology will accompany research on problems of interest to students, culminating in the writing of individual Senior Essays. The advisory system requires periodic consultation and discussion between the student and her adviser as well as the meeting of specific deadlines set by the department each semester. Limited to Barnard Senior Anthropology Majors

ANTH UN3879 THE MEDICAL IMAGINARY. 4.00 points .

Enrollment limited to 15. Instructor's permission required. Non anthropology majors require instructor's permission.

How might we speak of an imaginary within biomedicine? This course interrogates the ideological underpinnings of technocratic medicine in contexts that extend from the art of surgery to patient participation in experimental drug trials. Issues of scale will prove especially important in our efforts to track the medical imaginary from the whole, fleshy body to the molecular level. Key themes include everyday ethics; ways of seeing and knowing; suffering and hope; and subjectivity in a range of medical and sociomedical contexts. Open to anthropology majors; non-majors require instructor’s permission. Enrollment limit is 15

ANTH UN3888 ECOCRITICISM FOR THE END TIMES. 4.00 points .

Prerequisites: the instructor's permission. Prerequisites: the instructors permission. This seminar aims to show what an anthropologically informed, ecocritical cultural studies can offer in this moment of intensifying ecological calamity. The course will not only engage significant works in anthropology, ecocriticism, philosophy, literature, politics, and aesthetics to think about the environment, it will also bring these works into engaged reflection on living in the end times (borrowing cultural critic Slavoj Zizeks phrase). The seminar will thus locate critical perspectives on the environment within the contemporary worldwide ecological crisis, emphasizing the ethnographic realities of global warming, debates on nuclear power and energy, and the place of nature. Drawing on the professors long experience in Japan and current research on the aftermath of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant disaster, the seminar will also take care to unpack the notion of end times, with its apocalyptic implications, through close considerations of works that take on the question of ecocatastrophe in our times. North American and European perspectives, as well as international ones (particularly ones drawn from East Asia), will give the course a global reach

ANTH BC3911 SOCIAL CONTEXTS IMMIGRATN LAW. 4.00 points .

Examines the historical and contemporary social, economic, and political factors that shape immigration law and policy along with the social consequences of those laws and policies. Addresses the development and function of immigration law and aspects of the immigration debate including unauthorized immigration, anti-immigration sentiments, and critiques of immigration policy

ANTH BC3932 CLIM CHNG/GLOBAL MIGR/HUM RGT. 4.00 points .

While the existence of processes of anthropogenic climate change is well established, predictions regarding the future consequences of these processes are far less certain. In no area is the uncertainty regarding near and long term effects as pronounced as in the question of how climate change will affect global migration. This course will address the issue of climate migration in four ways. First, the course will examine the theoretical and empirical literatures that have elucidated the nature of international migration in general. Second, the course will consider the phenomena of anthropogenic climate change as it relates to migration. Third, the course will consider how human rights and other legal regimes do or do not address the humanitarian issues created by anthropogenic climate change. Fourth, the course will synthesize these topics by considering how migration and climate change has arisen as a humanitarian, political, and economic issue in the Pacific. Human Rights elective

ANTH UN3997 SUPERVISED INDIVIDUAL RESEARCH. 2.00-6.00 points .

Prerequisite: the written permission of the staff member under whose supervision the research will be conducted

ANTH UN3999 SENIOR THESIS SEM IN ANTHROPOL. 4.00 points .

Enrollment limited to 15. Open to CC and GS majors in Anthropology only.

Prerequisites: The instructor's permission. Students must have declared a major in Anthropology prior to registration. Students must have a 3.6 GPA in the major and a preliminary project concept in order to be considered. Interested students must communicate/meet with thesis instructor in the previous spring about the possibility of taking the course during the upcoming academic year. Additionally, expect to discuss with the instructor at the end of the fall term whether your project has progressed far enough to be completed in the spring term. If it has not, you will exit the seminar after one semester, with a grade based on the work completed during the fall term. Prerequisites: The instructors permission. Students must have declared a major in Anthropology prior to registration. Students must have a 3.6 GPA in the major and a preliminary project concept in order to be considered. Interested students must communicate/meet with thesis instructor in the previous spring about the possibility of taking the course during the upcoming academic year. Additionally, expect to discuss with the instructor at the end of the fall term whether your project has progressed far enough to be completed in the spring term. If it has not, you will exit the seminar after one semester, with a grade based on the work completed during the fall term. This two-term course is a combination of a seminar and a workshop that will help you conduct research, write, and present an original senior thesis in anthropology. Students who write theses are eligible to be considered for departmental honors. The first term of this course introduces a variety of approaches used to produce anthropological knowledge and writing; encourages students to think critically about the approaches they take to researching and writing by studying model texts with an eye to the ethics, constraints, and potentials of anthropological research and writing; and gives students practice in the seminar and workshop formats that are key to collegial exchange and refinement of ideas. During the first term, students complete a few short exercises that will culminate in a substantial draft of one discrete section of their senior project (18-20 pages) plus a detailed outline of the expected work that remains to be done (5 pages). The spring sequence of the anthropology thesis seminar is a writing intensive continuation of the fall semester, in which students will have designed the research questions, prepared a full thesis proposal that will serve as a guide for the completion of the thesis and written a draft of one chapter. Only those students who expect to have completed the fall semester portion of the course are allowed to register for the spring; final enrollment is contingent upon successful completion of first semester requirements. In spring semester, weekly meetings will be devoted to the collaborative refinement of drafts, as well as working through issues of writing (evidence, voice, authority etc.). All enrolled students are required to present their project at a symposium in the late spring, and the final grade is based primarily on successful completion of the thesis/ capstone project. Note: The senior thesis seminar is open to CC and GS majors in Anthropology only. It requires the instructor’s permission for registration. Students must have a 3.6 GPA in the major and a preliminary project concept in order to be considered. Interested students should communicate with the thesis instructor and the director of undergraduate study in the previous spring about the possibility of taking the course during the upcoming academic year. Additionally, expect to discuss with the instructor at the end of the fall term whether your project has progressed far enough to be completed in the spring term. If it has not, you will exit the seminar after one semester, with a grade based on the work completed during the fall term. Enrollment limit is 15. Requirements: Students must have completed the requirements of the first semester of the sequence and seek instructor approval to enroll in the second

ANHS GU4001 THE ANCIENT EMPIRES. 3.00 points .

CC/GS/SEAS: Partial Fulfillment of Global Core Requirement

The principal goal of this course is to examine the nature and histories of a range of early empires in a comparative context. In the process, we will examine influential theories that have been proposed to account for the emergence and trajectories of those empires. Among the theories are the core-periphery, world-systems, territorial-hegemonic, tributary-capitalist, network, and IEMP approaches. Five regions of the world have been chosen, from the many that could provide candidates: Rome (the classic empire), New Kingdom Egypt, Qin China, Aztec Mesoamerica, and Inka South America. These empires have been chosen because they represent a cross-section of polities ranging from relatively simple and early expansionist societies to the grand empires of the Classical World, and the most powerful states of the indigenous Americas. There are no prerequisites for this course, although students who have no background in Anthropology, Archaeology, History, or Classics may find the course material somewhat more challenging than students with some knowledge of the study of early societies. There will be two lectures per week, given by the professor

ANTH GU4196 Mexico’s Disappeared Practicum. 4.00 points .

This practicum is an exercise in engaged pedagogy. The academic work we do will be conducted for the benefit of the cause of Mexico's now over 110,000 disappeared persons. Students will be engaged in a sustained research effort to development a "context analysis" of disappearances in the state of Zacatecas (Mexico)-- an exercise in social study that focuses on the economic, political, social, and criminological context in which disappearances occur. Research is done in coordination with Mexico's National Commission for the Search of the Disappeared. Alongside the practical, real-world, objective, this Practicum is designed to perfect research skills in the social sciences PREREQUISITE: Spanish language comprehension is compulsory for 60％ of those enrolled

ANTH GU4282 ISLAMIC LAW. 3.00 points .

ANTH GU4653 Art beyond Aesthetics: Decolonizing approaches to representation. 4.00 points .

This course is a combination of lectures, seminar participation, and group practicums which probes the possibility of a decolonial art research practice. This course introduces students to western approaches to politics and art through a sustained engagement with critical Indigenous and anticolonial theories of human relations to the more-than-human world. It is a mixture of lectures, class discussion, and individual practicums which lead to final projects that combine image and text

ANTH UN1007 THE ORIGINS OF HUMAN SOCIETY. 3.00 points .

Mandatory recitation sections will be announced first week of classes.

An archaeological perspective on the evolution of human social life from the first bipedal step of our ape ancestors to the establishment of large sedentary villages. While traversing six million years and six continents, our explorations will lead us to consider such major issues as the development of human sexuality, the origin of language, the birth of “art” and religion, the domestication of plants and animals, and the foundations of social inequality. Designed for anyone who happens to be human

ANTH UN2031 Corpse Life: Anthropological Histories of the Dead [Previously Archaeologies of Death and . 4 points .

The awareness of mortality seems to be a peculiarly human affliction, and its study has been a key theme of 20 th century philosophy. This class will address the question of human finitude from outside of the western philosophical tradition. Anthropologists have shown that humans deal with the challenge of death in diverse ways, which nevertheless share some common themes. During the semester we’ll look at case studies from across the world and over time and also explore the ethics and politics of disturbing the dead. The evidence of past human mortuary assemblages will provide some of our key primary texts. We’ll analyze famous burials such as those of Tutankhamun, the Lord of Sipan, and Emperor Qin’s mausoleum, containing the celebrated terracotta warriors, but we’ll also consider less well-known mortuary contexts. We will also critically examine the dead body as a privileged site for anthropological research, situating its study within the broader purview of anthropological theories of the body's production and constitution.

ANTH UN3007 ARCHAEOL BEFORE THE BIBLE. 3.00 points .

Please note that this is not a class on “biblical archaeology”. It is a course about the politics of archaeology in the context of Israel/Palestine, and the wider southwest Asia region. This course provides a critical overview of prehistoric archaeology in southwest Asia (or the Levant - the geographical area from Lebanon in the north to the Sinai in the south, and from the middle Euphrates in Syria to southern Jordan). It has been designed to appeal to anthropologists, historians, and students interested in the Ancient Mediterranean and Middle Eastern Studies. The course is divided into two parts. First, a social and political history of archaeology, emphasizing how the nature of current theoretical and practical knowledge has been shaped and defined by previous research traditions and, second, how the current political situation in the region impinges upon archaeological practice. Themes include: the dominance of "biblical archaeology" and the implications for Palestinian archaeology, Islamic archaeology, the impact of European contact from the Crusades onwards, and the development of prehistory

ANTH UN3151 Living with Animals: Anthropological Perspective. 4 points .

This course examines how humans and animals shape each other’s lives. We’ll explore the astounding diversity of human-animal relationships in time and space, tracing the ways animals have made their impact on human societies (and vice-versa). Using contemporary ethnographic, historical, and archaeological examples from a variety of geographical regions and chronological periods, this class will consider how humans and animals live and make things, and the ways in which humans have found animals “good to think with”.  In this course, we will also discuss how knowledge about human-animal relationships in the past might change contemporary and future approaches to living with animals.

ANTH BC3234 Indigenous Place-Thought. 4.00 points .

This seminar considers what it means to be of a place and to think with and be committed to that place—environmentally, politically, and spiritually. After locating ourselves in our own particular places and place-based commitments, our attention turns to the Indigenous traditions of North America, to accounts of tribal emergence and pre-colonial being, to colonial histories of land dispossession, to ongoing struggles to protect ecological health and land-based sovereignty, to the epistemological and moral systems that have developed over the course of many millennia of living with and for the land, and to the contributions such systems might make to our collective future. The seminar’s title is borrowed from an essay on “Indigenous place-thought” by Mohawk/Anishinaabe scholar Vanessa Watts

ANTH UN3663 The Ancient Table: Archaeology of Cooking and Cuisine. 4.00 points .

Prerequisites: None Prerequisites: None Humans don’t just eat to live. The ways we prepare, eat, and share our food is a complex reflection of our histories, environments, and ideologies. Whether we prefer coffee or tea, cornbread or challah, chicken breast or chicken feet, our tastes are expressive of social ties and social boundaries, and are linked to ideas of family and of foreignness. How did eating become such a profoundly cultural experience? This seminar takes an archaeological approach to two broad issues central to eating: First, what drives human food choices both today and in the past? Second, how have social forces shaped practices of food acquisition, preparation, and consumption (and how, in turn, has food shaped society)? We will explore these questions from various evolutionary, physiological, and cultural viewpoints, highlighted by information from the best archaeological and historic case studies. Topics that will be covered include the nature of the first cooking, beer-brewing and feasting, writing of the early recipes, gender roles and ‘domestic’ life, and how a national cuisine takes shape. Through the course of the semester we will explore food practices from Pleistocene Spain to historic Monticello, with particular emphasis on the earliest cuisines of China, Mesoamerica, and the Mediterranean

ANTH GU4175 WRITING ARCHAEOLOGY. 3.00 points .

Prerequisites: the instructor's permission.

Like fiction archaeology allows us to visit other worlds and to come back home again. In this class we'll explore different genres of archaeological texts. How do writers contribute to the development of narratives about the past, what are the narrative tricks used by archaeologists, novelists and poets to evoke other worlds and to draw in the reader? What is lost in the translationfrom the earth to text, and what is gained? There is an intimacy to archaeological excavation, an intimacy that is rarely captured in archaeological narratives. What enlivening techniques might we learn from fictional accounts, and where might we find narrative space to include emotion and affect, as well as the texture and grain of encounters with the traces of the past? How does archaeological evidence evoke a particular response, and how do novels and poems work to do the same thing? What is the role of the reader in bringing a text to life?  Enrollment limit is 15.  Priority:  Anthropology graduate students, archaeology senior thesis students.

ANTH GU4345 NEANDERTHAL ALTERITIES. 3.00 points .

Enrollment priorities: Graduate students, and 3rd & 4th year undergraduates only

Using The Neanderthals partly as a metaphorical device, this course considers the anthropological, philosophical and ethical implications of sharing the world with another human species. Beginning from a solid grounding in the archaeological, biological and genetic evidence, we will reflect critically on why Neanderthals are rarely afforded the same reflexive capacities, qualities and attributes - agency- as anatomically modern humans, and why they are often regarded as lesser or nonhuman animals despite clear evidence for both sophisticated material and social engagement with the world and its resources. Readings/materials are drawn from anthropology, philosophy, ethics, gender studies, race and genetics studies, literature and film

Physical Anthropology

 spring 2024 sociocultural anthropology.

ANTH UN1008 THE RISE OF CIVILIZATION. 3.00 points .

CC/GS/SEAS: Partial Fulfillment of Global Core Requirement Mandatory recitation sections will be announced first week of classes. $25.00 laboratory fee.

Corequisites: ANTH V1008 Corequisites: ANTH V1008 The rise of major civilization in prehistory and protohistory throughout the world, from the initial appearance of sedentism, agriculture, and social stratification through the emergence of the archaic empires. Description and analysis of a range of regions that were centers of significant cultural development: Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Indus River Valley, China, North America, and Mesoamerica. DO NOT REGISTER FOR A RECITATION SECTION IF YOU ARE NOT OFFICIALLY REGISTERED FOR THE COURSE

ANTH UN2005 THE ETHNOGRAPHIC IMAGINATION. 3.00 points .

Introduction to the theory and practice of “ethnography”—the intensive study of peoples’ lives as shaped by social relations, cultural images, and historical forces. Considers through critical reading of various kinds of texts (classic ethnographies, histories, journalism, novels, films) the ways in which understanding, interpreting, and representing the lived words of people—at home or abroad, in one place or transnationally, in the past or the present—can be accomplished. Discussion section required

ANTH UN2028 THINK LIKE AN ARCHAEOLOGIST. 4.00 points .

$25 mandatory lab fee.

This course provides a comprehensive introduction to methods and theory in archaeology – by exploring how archaeologists work to create narratives about the past (and the present) on the basis on the material remains of the past. The course begins with a consideration of how archaeologists deal with the remains of the past in the present: What are archaeological sites and how do we ‘discover’ them? How do archaeologists ‘read’ or analyze sites and artifacts? From there, we will turn to the question of how archaeologists interpret these materials traces, in order to create narratives about life in the past. After a review of the historical development of theoretical approaches in archaeological interpretation, the course will consider contemporary approaches to interpreting the past

ANTH BC3223 Gender Archaeolxgy. 4.00 points .

This seminar critically reexamines the ancient world from the perspective of gender archaeology. Though the seedlings of gender archaeology were first sown by of feminist archaeologists during the 70’s and 80’s, this approach involves far more than simply ‘womanizing’ androcentric narratives of past. Rather, gender archaeology criticizes interpretations of the past that transplant contemporary social roles onto the archaeological past, casting the divisions and inequalities of today as both timeless and natural. This class challenges the idea of a singular past, instead championing a turn towards multiple, rich, messy, intersectional pasts. The ‘x’ in ‘archaeolxgy’ is an explicit signal of our focus on this diversity of pasts and a call for a more inclusive field of practice today

ANTH UN3465 WOMEN, GENDER POL-MUSLIM WORLD. 3.00 points .

Practices like veiling, gendered forms of segregation, and the honor code that are central to Western images of Muslim women are also contested issues throughout the Muslim world. This course examines debates about gender, sexuality, and morality and explores the interplay of political, social, and economic factors in shaping the lives of men and women across the Muslim world, from the Middle East to Europe. The perspective will be primarily anthropological, although special attention will be paid to historical processes associated with colonialism and nation-building that are crucial to understanding present gender politics. We will focus on the sexual politics of everyday life in specific locales and explore the extent to which these are shaped by these histories and the power of representations mobilized in a global world in the present and international political interventions. In addition to reading ethnographic works about particular communities, we read memoirs and critical analyses of the local and transnational activist movements that have emerged to address various aspects of gender politics and rights

ANTH UN3467 WOMEN/GENDER-MUSLIM WORLD-DISC. 0.00 points .

ANTH UN3604 As If: Anthropologies of the Future. 4.00 points .

This seminar engages--through science fiction and speculative fiction, film, and companion readings in anthropology and beyond—a range of approaches to the notion of the “future” and to the imagination of multiple futures to come. We will work through virtual and fictive constructions of future worlds, ecologies, and social orders “as If” they present alternative possibilites for pragmatic yet utopian thinking and dreaming in the present (and as we’ll also consider dystopian and “heterotopian” possibilities as well)

ANTH UN3661 South Asia: Anthropological Approaches. 4 points .

This course draws on ethnography, history, fiction, and other genres to think about diverse peoples and places in the region known as South Asia. Rather than attempt to fix or define "South Asia" as a singular category, we will explore how particular social and scholarly categories through which dimensions of South Asian life have come to be known (such as caste, class, religion, gender, sexuality, disability, and kinship) are experienced, negotiated, and reworked by actual persons in specific situations. By examining both categories and practices, we will ask: What kinds of relationships exist between the messiness of everyday life and the classifications used by both scholars and "local" people to describe and make sense of it? How do scholarly and bureaucratic ideas not merely reflect but also shape lived realities? How do lived realities affect the ways in which categories are named and understood? In addressing such questions, categories sometimes thought of as stable or timeless emerge as, in fact, contingent and embodied. 

ANTH UN3800 Black Death. 4.00 points .

he term ‘black death’ circulates in scholarship and public discourses often without a clear definition or attribution to a specific thinker. It can do this because the term is commonsensical—naming the unfortunate relationship between Black people and death. This seminar surveys death as an object of inquiry, metaphor, political occasion, and inspiration for aesthetic creation. Reading texts and engaging other materials across disciplines, genres, and media while focusing on Anthropology and African American Studies, the course recognizes that the threads of race and death are inherently global and connected to European colonial imperial expansion, racism, capitalism, and modernity. Throughout the course we ask: What is the relationship between Black people or “blackness” and death? Is “black death” unique? How do we take seriously ubiquitous legacies of antiblack violence while also accounting for socio-historical specificity? What are the attendant practices, creations, and modes of thinking and being responsive to black death? At the end of the course, students will have honed skills in close reading, critical thinking, and thoughtful discussion through the study of race and death. This is an advanced level course; students should have taken at least one course introductory critical race theories course (or similar) prior to enrolling

ANTH UN3821 Native America. 4 points .

CC/GS/SEAS: Partial Fulfillment of Global Core Requirement Enrollment limited to 40.

This is an undergraduate seminar that takes up primary and secondary sources and reflections to: a) provide students with an historical overview of Native American issues and representational practices, b) provide students with an understanding of the ways in which land expropriation and concomitant military and legal struggle have formed the core of Native-State relations and are themselves central to American and Native American history and culture, and c) provide students with an understanding of Native representational practices, political subjectivity, and aspiration.

ANTH UN3829 ABSENCE/PRESENCE. 4.00 points .

Enrollment limited to 15.

Prerequisites: Open to undergrad majors; others with the instructor's permission. Prerequisites: Open to undergrad majors; others with the instructors permission. Across a range of cultural and historic contexts, one encounters traces of bodies - and persons - rendered absent, invisible, or erased. Knowledge of the ghostly presence nevertheless prevails, revealing an inextricable relationship between presence and absence. This course addresses the theme of absent bodies in such contexts as war and other memorials, clinical practices, and industrialization, with interdisciplinary readings drawn from anthropology, war and labor histories, and dystopic science fiction

ANTH BC3872 SENIOR THESIS SEMINAR II. 4.00 points .

Prerequisites: Must complete ANTH BC3871x. Limited to Barnard Senior Anthropology Majors. Offered every Spring. Discussion of research methods and planning and writing of a Senior Essay in Anthropology will accompany research on problems of interest to students, culminating in the writing of individual Senior Essays. The advisory system requires periodic consultation and discussion between the student and her adviser as well as the meeting of specific deadlines set by the department each semester

ANTH UN3880 LISTENINGS: AN ETHNOG OF SOUND. 4.00 points .

Prerequisites: the instructor's permission. We explore the possibilities of an ethnography of sound through a range of listening encounters: in resonant urban soundscapes of the city and in natural soundscapes of acoustic ecology; from audible pasts and echoes of the present; through repetitive listening in the age of electronic reproduction, and mindful listening that retraces an uncanniness inherent in sound. Silence, noise, voice, chambers, reverberation, sound in its myriad manifestations and transmissions. From the captured souls of Edison’s phonography, to everyday acoustical adventures, the course turns away from the screen and dominant epistemologies of the visual for an extended moment, and does so in pursuit of sonorous objects. How is it that sound so moves us as we move within its world, and who or what then might the listening subject be?

ANTH UN3893 THE BOMB. 4.00 points .

This course investigates the social history of nuclear arms in the context of World War II and the Cold War, exploring their ramifications for subjects and societies. We consider historical, ethnographic, medical and psychiatric accounts of the bomb’s invention and fallout, including the unknowable bodily injuries caused by radiation and the ecological contamination inflicted on indigenous communities where atomic weapons were tested. Throughout the course, we investigate government propaganda designed to produce political subjects who both endorse and fear nuclear imperatives; who support expanding militarization and funding for weapons development; and who abide escalating political rhetorics of nuclear aggression

ANTH UN3933 ARABIA IMAGINED. 4.00 points .

As the site of the 7th century revelation of the Quran and the present day location of the sacred precincts of Islam, Arabia is the direction of prayer for Muslims worldwide and the main destination for pilgrimage. Arabia also provides a frame for diverse modes of thought and practice and for cultural expression ranging from the venerable literature of the 1001 Nights to the academic disciplines of Islam and contemporary social media, such as Twitter. We thus will approach Arabia as a global phenomenon, as a matter of both geographic relations and the imagination. While offering an introduction to contemporary anthropological research, the course will engage in a critical review of related western conceptions, starting with an opening discussion of racism and Islamophobia. In the format of a Global Core course, the weekly assignments are organized around English translations of Arabic texts, read in conjunction with recent studies by anthropologists

ANTH UN3935 ARABIA IMAGINED-DISC. 0.00 points .

ANTH UN3939 ANIME EFFECT: JAPANESE MEDIA. 4.00 points .

Culture, technology, and media in contemporary Japan. Theoretical and ethnographic engagements with forms of mass mediation, including anime, manga, video, and cell-phone novels. Considers larger global economic and political contexts, including post-Fukushima transformations. Prerequisites: the instructor's permission

ANTH UN3947 TEXT, MAGIC, PERFORMANCE. 4.00 points .

Prerequisites: the instructor's permission. Prerequisites: the instructors permission. This course pursues interconnections linking text and performance in light of magic, ritual, possession, narration, and related articulations of power. Readings are drawn from classic theoretical writings, colonial fiction, and ethnographic accounts. Domains of inquiry include: spirit possession, trance states, séance, ritual performance, and related realms of cinematic projection, musical form, shadow theater, performative objects, and (other) things that move on their own, compellingly. Key theoretical concerns are subjectivity - particularly, the conjuring up and displacement of self in the form of the first-person singular I - and the haunting power of repetition. Retraced throughout the course are the uncanny shadows of a fully possessed subject --within ritual contexts and within everyday life

ANTH UN3998 SUPERVISED INDIVIDUAL RESEARCH. 2.00-6.00 points .

ANTH GU4108 Film at Low Temperatures: Cinemas of the Arctic. 4.00 points .

This seminar explores the screen cultures of the Indigenous peoples of the Polar and Circumpolar regions of Canada, The United States, Russia, Scandinavia, and Greenland as they exist at the unstable boundary between cinematic object and creative subject. Viewing work by Indigenous filmmakers, we will draw on from Indigenous Studies, Cultural Anthropology, and Film Studies to examine the complicated role of film in the Arctic

ANTH GU4116 Sympathy, Librlism, ＆ Conduct of Care. 3.00 points .

. This seminar examines the distribution and obligations of care under late liberalism. We work from classical approaches to human sentiment (e.g. Hume, Adam Smith) to explore the relationship of forms of care {management, empathy) to different modes of statecraft. In particular we examine links between imperial colonialism and liberal democracy in terms of different techniques of administering social difference (e.g. race, multiculturalism, class, population, ...). We critically investigate the role of the discipline of anthropology within this rubric and read several ethnographies that dwell on the interrelation of care and vulnerability. Across the course, we scrutinize what types of subjects care, for whom, and to what effect

ANTH GU4123 Historical Anthropology. 4.00 points .

This is an introduction to the interdisciplinary approaches of historical anthropology, in sources, methods and conceptualizations. Taking studies of differing Muslim societies by leading anthropologists as examples, we will examine the possibilities of this mode of inquiry. Students will give seminar presentations on the readings and complete a semester paper

ANTH GU4221 Community-Based Archaeology, Heritage, and Public Engagement. 4.00 points .

What is community-based archaeology? What constitutes a community, and what are the stakes of making claims to community? How does a community come into being around archaeological sites or contested heritage? In what ways does community archaeology align with or differ from public archaeology? How has public engagement been imagined in relation to descendant communities? Can collaborative research designs, foundational to community-based research, be developed in public archaeology? This seminar will explore the methodological boundaries of public and community-based archaeology and heritage. Using case studies from New York City and elsewhere, we will consider the ways in which concepts such as dialogue, process, flexibility, collaboration, activism, and sustainability are essential to an engaged and community responsive archaeology. We will also examine a diversity of methodological approaches that facilitate the integration of these ideas in on-the-ground practice

ANTH BC2012 LAB METHODS ARCHAEOLOGY. 4.00 points .

Only the most recent chapters of the past are able to be studied using traditional historiographical methods focused on archives of textual documents. How, then, are we to analyze the deep history of human experiences prior to the written word? And even when textual archives do survive from a given historical period, these archives are typically biased toward the perspectives of those in power. How, then, are we to undertake analyses of the past that take into account the lives and experiences of all of society’s members, including the poor, the working class, the colonized, and others whose voices appear far less frequently in historical documents? From its disciplinary origins in nineteenth century antiquarianism, archaeology has grown to become a rigorous science of the past, dedicated to the exploration of long-term and inclusive social histories. “Laboratory Methods in Archaeology” is an intensive introduction to the analysis of archaeological artifacts and samples in which we explore how the organic and inorganic remains from archaeological sites can be used to build rigorous claims about the human past. The 2022 iteration of the course centers on assemblages from two sites, both excavated by Barnard’s archaeological field program in the Taos region of northern New Mexico: (1) the Spanish colonial site of San Antonio del Embudo founded in 1725 and (2) the hippie commune known as New Buffalo, founded in 1967. Participants in ANTH BC2012 will be introduced to the history, geology, and ecology of the Taos region, as well as to the excavation histories of the two sites. Specialized laboratory modules focus on the analysis of chipped stone artifacts ceramics, animal bone, glass, and industrial artifacts. The course only demands participation in the seminars and laboratory modules and successful completion of the written assignments, but all students are encouraged to develop specialized research projects to be subsequently expanded into either (1) a senior thesis project or (2) a conference presentation at the Society for American Archaeology, Society for Historical Archaeology, or Theoretical Archaeology Group meeting

ANTH GU4346 LAB TECHNIQUES IN ARCHAEOLOGY. 3.00 points .

“Laboratory Methods in Archaeology” is an intensive introduction to the analysis of archaeological artifacts and samples in which we explore how the organic and inorganic remains from archaeological sites can be used to build rigorous claims about the human past. In 2023, this course will focus on pre-contact and post-contact assemblages from the New York-metro area, including materials from the legacy collections of Ralph Solecki. Participants will be introduced to the history, geology, and ecology of the New York area and specialized laboratory modules focus on the analysis of chipped stone artifacts, ceramics, animal bone, glass, and a range of post-contact artifacts. The course only demands participation in the seminars and laboratory modules and successful completion of the written assignments, but all students are encouraged to develop specialized research projects to be subsequently expanded into either (1) a thesis project or (2) a conference presentation at the Society for American Archaeology, Society for Historical Archaeology, or Theoretical Archaeology Group meeting

ANTH GU4148 HUMAN SKELETAL BIOLOGY II. 3.00 points .

Enrollment limit is 12 and Intructor's permission required.

Recommended for archaeology and physical anthropology students, pre-meds, and biology majors interested in the human skeletal system. Intensive study of human skeletal materials using anatomical and anthropological landmarks to assess sex, age, and ethnicity of bones. Other primate skeletal materials and fossil casts used for comparative study

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Take the next step in advancing your anthropology career by applying to our Master of Arts (MA) or our Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree programs at UBC Vancouver, British Columbia.

We look for applicants with developed intellectual interests and abilities, a strong commitment to their area of study, and interests that fall within the current interests of our department.

If applicants have questions about the match between their interests and those of the department, they should contact the Graduate Program Manager at [email protected] . It is also helpful for applicants to discuss their program with potential supervisors before making a final application.

Admissions to our graduate programs are competitive and we consider applications in terms of available faculty and resources.

2023 Application Deadline: MA and Ph.D. applications must be submitted by December 15, 2023. 

The Department of Anthropology is a competitive graduate program with application numbers that go above spots we have available to offer. Before applying to our graduate program, please consider the admission requirements and deadlines:

https://www.grad.ubc.ca/prospective-students/application-admission/check-your-eligibility

Application for MA and Ph.D. in Anthropology is now open:

Program Start Date – Sept 1, 2024 Application Deadlines (International) – December 15, 2023 Application Deadlines (Domestic) – December 15, 2023

MA Application Requirements

UBC Anthropology welcomes Canadian and international applicants from a broad spectrum of anthropological sub-disciplines, such as archaeology, socio-cultural anthropology, museum and visual anthropology, and linguistic anthropology.

Applicants must hold a four-year bachelor’s degree with a major, honours or concentration in anthropology or the equivalent.

Applicants to the MA program must have completed at least 12 credits in senior anthropology courses with a minimum average of 80 (“A-”). The courses should cover a broad range of anthropology, including at least three credits of archaeology or physical anthropology, six credits in ethnography, three credits in methods, and, if possible, at least three credits of anthropological theory, and three credits in museum and visual anthropology.

Highly qualified applicants lacking one or more of these requirements may have courses in contiguous fields accepted as equivalents or may be required to take such courses as part of their program of study.

Outstanding candidates with undergraduate degrees in other disciplines, but with substantial background related to anthropology, or who are missing one or more of our admission requirements, are occasionally admitted on the condition that they complete a number of additional courses in anthropology.

PhD Application Requirements

Admission to the PhD is open to candidates with an MA in anthropology, although we may, in special circumstances, admit students with a master’s degree in a related subject. Candidates without a MA will not be admitted.

In all cases, students applying for the PhD should possess substantive previous training at the undergraduate and/or graduate levels in anthropology or a related discipline, such as sociology, geography, history, or political science.

They are also expected to have had undergraduate preparation equivalent to that of the UBC major in anthropology. Outstanding candidates who are missing one or more requirements may be required to take such courses as a condition of entry or as part of the program of study.

Admission to the PhD program is by application and requires an evaluation of the applicant’s previous work and capacity to pursue and complete original research. Students completing their MA at UBC must also formally apply in order to be considered for the PhD program.

The PhD in anthropology requires a major research project (normally involving fieldwork) and writing a dissertation. We thus seek applicants with developed intellectual interests and abilities, and a strong commitment to their area of study.

Applicants should outline their proposed dissertation research in their statement of intent in clear, non-technical language and provide a sample of written work (if possible) that demonstrates preparation for PhD level research.

Application Procedure

Step 1: ubc application for graduate admissions.

To be considered for September entry, please submit your completed application, including all supporting documents, reference letters and official, endorsed transcripts, by the deadline. The deadline for applying to the Anthropology graduate program is usually early-to-mid December. Early submissions are encouraged. Also, we highly encourage Canadian applicants to apply for the Canada Graduate Scholarships – Master’s (CGS-M) when applying to the UBC Anthropology program.

Step 2: Submit required documents by the application deadline

The most important first step in applying for admission to our graduate program is finding and approaching a potential supervisor in the department. This gives you an opportunity to discuss the research you are interested in completing as a graduate student and to determine if there is a good ‘fit’ with faculty expertise. However, all admissions decisions are made by the Anthropology Graduate Studies Committee and are only communicated after the application deadline following full review of all submitted applications.

English proficiency requirements

Applicants from a university outside Canada in which English is not the primary language of instruction must provide results of an English language proficiency examination as part of their application.

All official post-secondary transcripts

If you are admitted to our program, two copies of official transcripts of all previous academic work from each university or college attended are required, including for courses taken but not yet completed.

Requirements

• A minimum overall average of 76% (“B+” in UBC grading system) in third- and fourth-year courses.
• Academic standing with at least 12 credits of third- or fourth-year courses of at least 80% (“A” in UBC grading system) in the field of study.

Alternatively, applicants who do not meet the requirements stated above, but who have had other significant formal training, relevant professional experience, and/or otherwise possess demonstrable knowledge or expertise that would prepare them adequately for successful study in a specific graduate program, may be granted admission on the recommendation of the appropriate graduate program and approval of the Dean of UBC Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies.

Applicants will be asked to upload transcripts with their grade key (usually located on the back of the transcript). Even if the applicant does not yet have final marks on the transcript, we still require a copy as evidence of registration and academic progress.

If you are admitted to our Graduate Program, you are required to submit 1 copy of all official transcripts from the issuing institution to the UBC Anthropology Department, and 1 copy to UBC Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies by postal mail.

Three reference letters

Three reference letters are required for a complete application. The three references the applicant chooses should be requested from individuals who are prepared to provide a report on your academic ability and qualifications.

Statement of interest

Your prospectus should be around 500 words (two pages, double-spaced). It should indicate your proposed area of study, outline what research you plan on undertaking in graduate studies, how you plan to accomplish your research, who you wish to work with, etc. Essentially, it outlines your research interest and intent at the graduate level.

Writing sample

The writing sample is to assess your writing. It is appropriate but not necessary for it to be on the topic of your proposed graduate work.

If you are applying for the MA program, an undergraduate upper-level major paper is appropriate.

If you are applying for the PhD program, we prefer to have students submit some portion of their MA thesis or major paper.

Please try to limit your writing sample to 20 pages double-spaced. If you wish to submit a writing sample that is longer than 20 pages, please include a rationale for doing so in your submission.

Curriculum Vitae (CV)

Provide details of education, academic awards, relevant work experience, relevant volunteer experience, publications, conference presentations, workshops, etc.

The UMass Amherst Department of Anthropology

Anthropology is the study of people and cultures of the past and present in their cultural, biological, and material contexts. From human evolution to endangered languages, cultural diversity to health disparities, we seek answers to some of today's most complex questions. Explore what the UMass Department of Anthropology has to offer.

Major in anthropology

Anthropology majors work closely with our nationally recognized faculty to explore cultural, linguistic, archaeological, and physical anthropology in all its intricacies while developing the ability to think critically and to develop research methods.

The MA and PhD programs

Our graduate program offers both MA and PhD degrees in anthropology. Students can choose from a broad range of graduate-level courses in anthropology and pursue interdisciplinary approaches within related departments.

Recent news

Machmer Hall 240 Hicks Way Amherst, MA 01003-9278 Tel: 413.545.2221 Fax: 413.577.4217

May 2024 On My Mind

Organizational psychology m.a. program newsletter.

Dear Students,

The end of the semester has arrived. It feels a little surreal given that it feels like winter one day and summer the next, but never really like Spring. It feels a little surreal given all we’ve experienced on our Columbia campus the past few weeks and in our shared world the past many months. It feels a little surreal given that the passage of time has not felt normal since 2019. It feels a little surreal given I’m not nearly ready to say goodbye to our graduating students. 

What does feel real is how hard you all have worked this semester and this year, how much you’ve learned, the bonds you’ve formed and the wisdom and friendships you will carry with you into the summer and really, forever. If you are feeling a little unsteady – excited but apprehensive, confident but unsure, thrilled but melancholy, energized but fatigued, hopeful but hesitant – you are in good company. This is a time of transition. It’s a wonderfully celebratory time of academic, professional and personal accomplishment and it’s also a time of moving, moving on, changing jobs, cities, countries, embracing new roles and eschewing old ones. You’re navigating many boundaries right now (yes, B.A.R.T. is relevant to pretty much everything.) It’s normal to feel at sea even as you are also feeling proud and happy. 

You all have worked extremely hard in challenging times and you have juggled myriad commitments, tasks, relationships, and contexts. You are resilient, whip smart, and kind. And, you are strong! Don’t even get me started on the fortitude it takes to deal with the rats in the NYC subway. (Thank you to those at the OHDCC end-of-year social event last week who gave me an enlightening tutorial on the relationship between NYC zip code and rat size. Interesting statistics!) Try to trust yourself and know that you have everything you need to manage what’s next in your education, career and life. And you have a lifelong network in our S-OP Community to help you do it. 

Be gentle with yourselves over the next few weeks. Try to be present in the good feelings as well as the hard ones and know that you are boundary-crossing and all of it is normal. As much as you can, do things that fill you up with joy. Reach out to one another. Celebrate. Make each other laugh. Listen. Know we are proud of all of you. 

Congratulations to all our graduating students. Warm wishes to all of our continuing students. Regardless, see you soon. 

Current Student Profile

Carol Jaksec  is a captain in the United States Army and is completing her final semester as a student in the S-OP M.A. Program. She is also a member of the Eisenhower Leader Development Program (ELDP) at the United States Military Academy at West Point. Carol is a 2016 Reserve Officer Training Corps graduate from the University of Maryland where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Arabic Studies. She is from Pittsburgh, PA and has enjoyed several assignments on the east coast in the last ten years.

Prior to coming to West Point, Carol was stationed in Fort Campbell, KY just outside of Nashville. There, she commanded a logistics distribution company and a logistics headquarters company. After her graduation from TC this May, she will serve as a Tactical Officer at West Point. In this role, she will act as the primary coach and mentor for 120 cadets. She will help them navigate the balance between academic, physical fitness, and military requirements while developing their character.

Carol has had a transformational experience in the S-OP Program at TC. She discovered a passion for research about leadership practices and coaching and a fascination with group dynamics and organizational development. She has chosen to pursue a certification in coaching with the Army Coaching Program to foster her cadets’ development. Carol is confident that her education has effectively prepared her for future leadership challenges.

When not at school or work, Carol enjoys running, making homemade pasta, and watching hockey. She is excited to continue exploring NY with her husband, Gregory, and their vivacious one-year-old daughter, Elizabeth.

Alumni Profile

Robert "RC" Whitehouse  started a journey of self-discovery and professional growth upon joining the S-OP M.A. Program in 2009. Moving from Vermont with his partner, now spouse, RC relocated to NYC to pursue his academic aspirations. Immersed in the program's rich learning environment, RC found himself drawn to the intricacies of group relations and dynamics, an interest that continues to shape his career to this day. RC credits the S-OP M.A. program for supercharging his career.

After graduating in 2011, RC continued his study of groups and systems through participating in over 20 group relations conferences (about half of them at TC) as a staff member, leveraging his experience to explore the complexities that arise when individuals come together to form a larger whole. Certified as an A.K. Rice consultant, he has committed himself to refining his understanding of the multifaceted factors influencing the groups and organizations to which we all belong.

Remaining rooted in vibrant NYC, RC's professional journey initially began in Learning and Development, gradually expanding to encompass a broader talent portfolio. Over the past seven years he has been employed by a tech firm, helping it to transform from a scrappy start up to a major player in the adtech space. Starting as Head of L&D, RC is currently the Senior Vice President of Talent Business Partnership for EMEA and NA.

A champion of people-centric leadership, RC strives to strike a balance between individual well-being and organizational objectives, recognizing that an imbalance can create challenges - no matter the setting. Drawing from his understanding of group dynamics theories, he helps individuals to understand the nuances of authority, unravel interpersonal conflicts, and foster a high performing team.

Beyond his work, RC is an avid runner. Though he is not the fastest, he finds focus in the rhythmic nature of running. He and his spouse have become proud New Yorkers after all these years, while maintaining a deep love of nature and the outdoors. RC cherishes moments spent with his family, friends, and the many nieces and nephews that have joined he and his spouse's lives by birth and by the blessings of friendship. RC loves to read, watch movies, and enjoy the playful sounds of pop music. Feel free to connect with RC on LinkedIn  here .

Recommended Readings

For those of you on the internship or job hunt, you may find  this AI exercise   from Professor Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic helpful to your search. In this exercise four steps are outlined to help you leverage AI technology to get hired.

These network maps  from Polinode visually represent all of this  year's SIOP Conference  presenters and topics.  These maps involved the details of about 200 events and 3,000 presenters, which included many current and alumni members of our larger S-OP community!

Published Wednesday, May 8, 2024

Teachers College, Columbia University Room 222 Zankel

Contact Person: Ometria Seebarran

Phone: (212) 678-8109

Email: oks2107@tc.columbia.edu

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Genetic Counseling

There’s never been a better time to be a genetic counselor. Opportunities abound in any number of university, hospital, laboratory, research and industry settings. With a master's in genetic counseling, you’ll be ready for the workforce and a challenging, rewarding health professional career in one of the most dynamic areas of medicine.

Our Program

Learn about who we are as a program. Learn about our mission, our vision, our values, our goals and our history.

The people that make it happen. Meet our incredible faculty, staff, students and alumni.

Through coursework, fieldwork and community engagement, our curriculum cultivates a well-rounded genetic counselor.

Application

Find information, forms and deadlines on how to apply for our program, here.

Tuition, Scholarships and Financial Aid

Learn more about our program's tuition for both South Carolina residents and non-residents, as well as scholarship and financial aid opportunities, here.

Preparing for Graduate School

We know how important it is to be certain of your chosen profession and prepared for graduate education. We've created several opportunities that will help you explore a career in genetic counseling.

Program Events and Special Lectures

Our program is uniquely positioned in an academic, research and medical school setting allowing for special curricular events outside of the classroom.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice

The USC Genetic Counseling Program strives to consistently foster an environment of inclusion for students, and we recognize that more can be done to improve diversity, equity, inclusion and justice (DEIJ) in our program and in the genetic counseling profession.

Challenge the conventional. Create the exceptional. No Limits.