Goals
Anthropology explores contemporary and historical connections between cultural and biological phenomena. The department believes that graduate students should acquire a general knowledge of the theory and methods of the four traditional sub-disciplines. Students work with their major advisor and advisory committee to determine the best way to acquire this holistic perspective of the field. In addition, the Anthropology Department offers graduate work in six broad areas of concentration. Our area strengths include Africa, the Caribbean, Latin American, Native North America, and North American minority populations; our faculty has also worked in the Middle East, Europe, South and Southeast Asia, and Oceania. We also offer extensive expertise in many research methods in ethnology and archaeology.

FOCI OF GRADUATE STUDY

Evolution, Cognition & Culture

Old World Archaeology

Cultural & Historical Anthropology

Applied Medical Anthropology

Indigenous Studies & Historical Archaeology

Graduate Courses

Currrent courses catalog

Graduate Admissions
Applicants for admission to our graduate program submit their materials for review January 15th and are admitted to the graduate program beginning the following Fall semester. Students who miss the deadline for admissions may enroll in graduate courses through the School of Continuing Education with permission of instructor, and may apply up to 6 units of courses taken prior to formal admittance to their graduate degree programs. Admission to the M.A. or PhD program is not limited to undergraduate majors in anthropology. Students who hold the B.A., B.S., or M.A. degree in other fields will be considered as long as they meet the requirements of the Graduate School and the Department. Recommendations for admission are based on the student's academic record, letters of recommendation, the student's interests as expressed in a personal essay, scholarly writing, and, where possible, a personal interview, and the results of the Graduate Record Examination. All of our doctoral students, except those who already have a Master's in Anthropology, are expected to demonstrate their promise for doctoral study as they complete the requirements for a Master's degree. M.A. students who wish to continue their studies for a Ph.D. must apply to the Department for admission. Minimum requirements will normally include (1) a grade point average of at least 3.5 in all graduate anthropology courses and at least 3.2 in other courses, and (2) either (i) a grade of pass on a comprehensive M.A. examination or (ii) a thesis, report, or paper judged to be of excellent quality by the student's supervisory committee. Entering students who already have earned a master's degree may apply for direct admission to the doctoral program. We perform a service function for the State of Connecticut by providing graduate education to people who are otherwise employed full-time. Although most of our graduate students take a full load of courses each semester, a small number of students move through our program slowly. Since 1995, 30% of our new graduate students have come from historically underrepresented racial/ethnic groups. Students from the Middle East, East Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean, add further to the diversity of our graduate program.

Graduate Student Mentorship & Support
The advisory system provides guidance to each entering student. Students are assigned to a major advisor within the Department, and work out a first-semester plan of study with her or him. After the first semester, students are expected to select a Major Advisor and at least two Associate Advisors. The Major Advisor and at least one Associate Advisor must be a member of the Department. The advisory committee determines specific degree requirements, supervises examinations, and eventually approves the dissertation. M.A. degree requirements may be met either by 15 credits of course work plus an acceptable thesis, or 24 credits of course work plus an exam. PhD degree requirements normally entail another 20 or more credits of course work, an appropriate language other than English, a General Examination approved by the student's advisory committee and two outside readers, a dissertation based on field research, and an oral defense of the dissertation before an audience that includes at least five PhDs. 

Financial Support of Graduate Study.  We encourage students to move through their graduate program quickly. We aim to support all graduate students through Graduate Assistantships (GAs), fellowships, or both.  Support typically takes the form of the Graduate Assistantship, which may be full or partial.  Such assistantships involve assignment to duties within the department, usually instructional, but sometimes associated with senior faculty research projects.  Duties so assigned are limited to 20 hours per week for a full assistantship, proportionately fewer hours for a partial.  Award of such assistantships must be recommended by the graduate committee and approved by the department head. 
Award of such assistantships and determination of related duties will reflect both the department's needs and resources and the recipient's continuing academic merit and progress toward the degree.  Every effort is made to match assignments to the student's level of experience and professional interests.
Ordinarily, we provide GAs in the form of Teaching Assistantships for the first three years of a student's program. We anticipate that a student will undertake field research during the fourth year. And we aim to provide a 4th year of funding to help the student complete the dissertation upon return.
Over the course of the PhD program of study, such awards are reviewed annually, and it is normally expected that no student will hold a Graduate Assistantship, regardless of its fund source, for more than ten aggregated semesters (no more than four semesters during the period of MA study).  Exceptions to these limits must be recommended by the graduate committee, and approved by the head. .)   Students who have exceeded financial support limits may still be considered for paid teaching assignments, but at a different rate of compensation. 
These limits are not intended to restrict additional awards or employment of the sort occasionally available in the department over the normal course of a student's program (e.g. summer or intersession duties, field work support, other types of grant or fellowship, etc.)