The Graduate Anthropology Program

The Department of Anthropology is a medium-sized department with excellent faculty, high national visibility and a reputation for a first-rate graduate program. In October 2001 the National Association of Graduate-Professional Students survey of US graduate programs rated UCSB among its top five anthropology programs. Each student contracts a unique course of study and research directed towards the understanding of human culture, past and present. We offer an M.A./Ph.D. degree program in Anthropology with specializations in Sociocultural Anthropology, Archaeology, and Integrative Anthropological Sciences (IAS). Further specialization is possible within each of these fields. We offer a terminal M.A. degree program only in North American Archaeology with emphases including California archaeology and paleoethnobotany. The M.A.-only program is designed for students who wish to pursue careers in cultural resource management. An MA-only degree is not available in Sociocultural Anthropology or IAS. Optional Interdisciplinary Ph.D. emphases are available in Feminist Studies, Quantitative Methods in the Social Sciences (QMSS), Global Studies, Technology and Society , and Cognitive Science.

All prospective students wishing to ultimately pursue a Ph.D. must apply to the M.A./Ph.D. program. Applicants are admitted to the M.A./Ph.D. program with the expectation that they will meet the requirements for the M.A degree and advance to complete the Ph.D. degree. Students entering the program without an M.A. in anthropology must first satisfactorily complete all the requirements for the M.A. degree in the department's graduate program and then may be invited to work toward the Ph.D. degree. Students with an M.A. degree in anthropology from another institution normally must also take the required coursework, form a contract, pass the comprehensive exams, and prepare a research paper before beginning work on a dissertation, but these requirements may be waived depending on the research and academic background of the student. These decisions are made after the student is admitted and enrolled in the program, usually during their first year.

Students select their dissertation topics in consultation with their Ph.D. committees and submit research proposals by the end of the third year of study. Students entering with an M.A. degree from another institution normally prepare a research proposal during their second year at UCSB. Acceptance of the dissertation proposal and satisfactory completion of an oral examination permits the student to advance to candidacy. The research proposal can also form the basis for applications for research funding. Ph.D. students in both archaeology and sociocultural anthropology must spend at least 3 quarters doing fieldwork. The field research normally forms the basis for the dissertation in both programs.

Faculty Graduate Advisor: Associate Professor Casey Walsh (walsh@anth.ucsb.edu)

Graduate Program Assistant: Robin Roe (roe@anth.ucsb.edu)

List of PHD's Awarded