Graduate Program in Anthropology

approved March 4, 2009

Graduate School requirements for advanced degrees from MU are given in the Graduate Catalog. A student considering graduate work at MU should acquire a recent copy of the Graduate Catalog and become familiar with the general degree requirements. In brief, to maintain good standing in the Graduate Program in Anthropology, the student must:

• maintain a GPA of 3.0 or better for all graduate work attempted at MU (Graduate School requirement);
• maintain a GPA of 3.5 or better for all anthropology courses for which the student receives graduate credit (normally numbered 7000 and above; Anthropology Department requirement); and
• make satisfactory progress toward completion of degree requirements every year while enrolled (progress to be determined by the student's advisor).

Graduate Program Tracks

Incoming graduate students would be admitted into one of three tracks:

1. MA track
2. Ph.D. students required to complete MA coursework
3. Ph.D. students with MA in hand

Details for each category are listed below.

Track One: MA students

Students admitted to this track will be classified as MA seeking students with the graduate school. These students will complete all requirements for the MA degree as currently outlined in the Anthropology graduate program, including the MA exam and completing a thesis. Upon completion, the student can, if eligible, apply to the Anthropology program for acceptance as a PhD seeking student.

Track Two: Ph.D. students required to complete MA coursework

Students admitted to this track will be classified as PhD seeking students with the graduate school. These students will complete all course requirements for the MA, as well as the MA exam. With the consent of the student’s committee, they will then complete either a thesis OR a proposal that will serve as their PhD dissertation proposal, OR a published, primary authored paper. In each of these cases, the student will need to orally defend the work. Upon successful completion of these requirements, they will be awarded an MA, and will then be eligible to continue work towards their PhD without the need of reapplying to the program or changing their student status.

Track Three: Ph.D. students with MA in hand

Students admitted to this track will be classified as PhD seeking students with the graduate school. They will not be required to complete the MA exam or prepare a thesis, proposal or published paper, nor will they earn an MA during their graduate work at Mizzou. Upon completion of the requirements currently listed for the Department’s PhD program, the student will be awarded a PhD. To be accepted into the track three doctoral program in anthropology, a student must show superior performance on the aptitude test of the GRE, have a master’s degree with a 3.5 or higher GPA, and three favorable letters of recommendation (at least two of which are from anthropologists familiar with her/his graduate work). Further, an anthropology faculty member who is a member of the Doctoral Faculty must agree, as a condition of admission, to accept the student as a PhD advisee. These qualifications apply to all applicants, including those with an MA degree from this department. Applicants whose MA is in a field other than anthropology will be considered under the policies for individuals holding the baccalaureate degree except that the quality of graduate work will be taken into consideration.

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