Graduate Program Information

Click here to request additional information

Graduate Requirements

Recent M.A. Thesis, Project, and Internship Titles

Apply Online

Graduate Requirements

Completion of Requirements

Graduate students are expected to pursue their studies energetically and to complete their advanced degree without undue delay. Procrastination in any form is regarded unfavorably by the department. Incoming graduate students must meet the same undergraduate requirements as those receiving the B.A. degree from WSU, a grade point average of 2.75 in the last 60 hours of credit, and a 3.00 grade point average in undergraduate anthropology courses.

To meet the needs of diverse students with differing interests, the department features a flexible M.A. program with three separate tracks. Students should choose one of the tracks by the time they have acquired 12 credit hours. Occasions may arise when students wish to switch tracks. Such issues can be worked out in consultation with the chair, graduate coordinator, the students' M.A. chair, and the student.

Back to Top of Page
Tracks

Track One:
Designed for students who want to go on for a Ph.D. in anthropology, teach at a community or liberal arts college, or who want a general broad education in anthropology, this track includes an M.A. with a comprehensive examination in all four subfields and an original thesis, preferably based on fieldwork.

  • This track requires all the core courses (marked by an asterisk), and six credit hours of anthropology seminars.

  • Students selecting this track are expected to read beyond the course requirements, and the comprehensive examination tests this expectation in all four subfields. All members of the faculty evaluate student responses to the examination questions.

  • This track requires a minimum of 30 credit hours in anthropology, 60 percent of which must be in courses numbered 700 or higher.

  • The committee consists of at least three members, one of whom must be from outside the department.

Track Two:
Designed for students who, for example, are interested in museum work, archaeology, or work in a medical examiner's office, this track includes an M.A. without a comprehensive examination but with an original thesis, project, or internship related to the students' interests.

  • This track requires three core courses (marked by an asterisk), and six credit hours of anthropological seminars.

  • The students are evaluated by their own M.A. committee, which consists of at least three members.

  • This track requires a minimum of 33 credit hours in anthropology, 60 percent of which must be in courses numbered 700 or higher.

  • One copy of the report on the internship/project must be permanently bound in yellow or gold for the department archives.

Track Three:
Designed for students with a specific interdisciplinary interest in, for example, business, education, the arts, or health related professions, in combination with anthropology, this track includes an examination or a thesis (or project or internship) to be decided in consultation with the students' committee. The students are evaluated by their own M.A. committee. This track is not intended to prepare students for a Ph.D. program in anthropology.

  • This track requires three core courses (marked by an asterisk), 12 to 15 credit hours in the other discipline(s), and six credit hours of anthropological seminars.

  • The students' M.A. committee consists of at least five members with a minimum of one and a maximum of two from other disciplines.

  • This track requires a minimum of 36 credit hours with 21 from anthropology, 60 percent of which must be in courses numbered 700 or higher.

  • One copy of the report on the internship/project must be permanently bound in yellow or gold for the department archives.

Back to Top of Page
Statistics Requirement

To successfully complete the graduate program most students must satisfy a co-requisite in statistics. This three-hour requirement comes out of electives and does not count as part of the minimum number of credit hours for the M.A. degree.

Track One: A statistics course is required of all students in this track, and they may satisfy the requirement with any one of the following courses or the equivalent taken elsewhere:

  • Math 370  : Elementary Statistics

  • Psy   401  : Psychological Statistics

  • Soc   501  : Sociological Statistics

Tracks Two and Three: The necessity of satisfying a statistics requirement for students in these tracks will be determined in consultation with the student's adviser.

Back to Top of Page
Graduate Course Rotation
Offerings Every Semester

Anthr 502  : Introduction to Archaeological Laboratory Techniques

          597  : Topics in Anthropology

          597B  : Topics in Museum Studies

          597J : Primate Behavior

          602  : Archaeological Laboratory Analysis

          609  : Biological Anthropology Laboratory Analysis

          870  : Independent Reading

    871-872 : Internship in Anthropology

    873-874 : Advanced Project in Anthropology

          875  : Thesis

          876  : Thesis

Back to Top of Page
Offerings Every Fall Semester

Anthr 511  : the Indians of North America

         515Q : China

          606  : Museum Methods

          613  : Archaeology of the Great Plains

        *736  : Advanced Studies in Archaeology and Ethnohistory

        *746  : Advanced Cultural Anthropology

Offerings Fall Semester in Even-Numbered Years

Anthr 600  : Forensic Anthropology

          802  : Methods in Anthropology

          820  : Seminar in Biological Anthropology

          848  : Recent Developments in Anthropology

Offerings Fall Semester in Odd-Numbered Years

Anthr 555  : Human Paleontology

Back to Top of Page
Offerings Every Spring Semester

Anthr 516Q : Japan

           607  : Museum Methods

           647  : Theories of Culture

         *756  : Advanced Biological Anthropology

Offerings Spring Semester in Even-Numbered Years

Anthr 508Q : Ancient Civilizations of the Americans

           557  : Human Osteology

           801  : Seminar in Archaeology

Offerings Spring Semester in Odd-Numbered Years

Anthr 556  : Human Variation and Adaptation

          612  : Indians of the Great Plains

          837  : Seminar in Cultural Anthropology

Offerings Every Summer

Anthr 690  : Field Methods in Anthropology

         750I : Wilderness Workshop

Other courses as may be necessary

Back to Top of Page
Offerings on Long-Term Rotation or Regularly Unscheduled

Anthr 506  : Peoples of the Pacific

          519  : Applying Anthropology

          522Q: Art and Culture

          526  : Social Organization

          542  : Gender and Culture

          577  : Introduction to Linguistics

          597N: Quantitative Applications in Anthropology

          597R: Dental Anthropology

          611  : Southwestern Archaeology

          651  : Language and Culture

          667  : English Syntax

          798  : Introduction to Research

          847  : Colloquium in Anthropology

Back to Top of Page
Comprehensive Examination

Students in Track 1 are required to take the comprehensive examination and students in Track 3 may take it in consultation with their M.A. committee. (The comprehensive examination is not required for students in Track 2.) Students must complete a minimum of 15 semester hours of graduate work in anthropology before taking the examination, and examination is usually given during the fourth week of each semester. All graduate students taking the comprehensive examination must obtain the Packet for the Comprehensive Examination (PACE) from the department office for detailed information on this requirement.

Back to Top of Page
Plan of Study

The Graduate School requires students to submit a completed Plan of Study form no later than one month following the completion of 12 semester hours of graduate credit, or the semester prior to the one of graduation, whichever comes first.

Thesis Procedures

  • Graduate students electing to write a thesis should choose a thesis adviser and a topic by the end of the first year with the adviser and the topic matching in some significant way. Most students doing an M.A. thesis see the work as part of a larger project, perhaps as a prelude to a Ph.D. dissertation. At any rate, the thesis should be designed to increase the student's ability to do independent study.

  • In consultation with their thesis adviser students choose the members of their thesis committee. These committees include a minimum of three and a maximum of five voting members and are approved by the department chair. A majority of the voting members must be from the department, and one voting member must be from outside the department and approved by the dean of the Graduate School. Also, these committees are usually composed of faculty members who have an interest in the selected topic and who can contribute to the development of the thesis.

  • The student should keep in touch with the adviser and members of their thesis committee throughout the development of the thesis and is responsible for consulting the Graduate School's Guide to the Preparation of Theses and Dissertations for guidelines on format and style.

  • During the first semester of the second year students should write a thesis proposal, consulting extensively, of course, with their thesis adviser and committee. (Appendix A is a suggested outline for the M.A. thesis proposal.)

  • Upon acceptance of the final version of the proposal the student begins gathering data and writing the thesis--again, keeping in touch with the thesis adviser and committee.

  • When the thesis is completed, it may be circulated to other members of the faculty for comments. Then the student and the student's adviser set up a defense of the thesis, a meeting attended by the student's thesis committee, other interested faculty members, and open to the public, in which the methods, theories, and conclusions of the thesis are justified and explained. (Appendix B contains suggestions for oral presentations.) The version of the thesis that the student defends should be complete and ready for final editing, and copies of it should be in the hands of members of the thesis committee well in advance of the defense.

  • The student passes, passes with modification, or fails the defense. In consultation with the thesis committee the student may incorporate comments and suggestions resulting from the defense into the final draft of the thesis, which must be approved by the Graduate School for style and format.

  • At least three copies of the thesis are required--two for the Graduate School and one for the department. Customarily the student provides a copy to the adviser. Again, the student must follow the requirements in Guide to the Preparation of Theses and Dissertations.

Back to Top of Page
Projects and Internships

Graduate students electing projects or internships should make arrangements with their M.A. committee at the earliest possible date.

Application for Degree

Students must file an Application for Degree with the Graduate School within three weeks after the beginning of the regular semester in which the student plans to finish all requirements for the degree.

Clarification for Graduate Program 1997-1999

All students in the anthropology graduate program must complete Anthr736, 746, and 756. WSU students who took the 500-level courses during their undergraduate career are required to complete the 700-level courses in their M.A. program.

Time Limit

The Graduate School imposes a time limit of six years on course work to be accepted for credit. If necessary, work up to ten years, but not transfer credit, may be used with permission. Normal time for completing the M.A. degree is four to six semesters.

Note: It is the student's responsibility to make sure all requirements are met on schedule. Check with the Graduate Bulletin.

Back to Top of Page
Suggested Outline for M.A. Thesis Proposal

  1. Problem:  (one paragraph not to exceed one-half page)

    A brief statement of the problem to be covered in the thesis and
    the approaches to be employed in carrying out the research.

  2. Background:   (one to one and one-half pages)

    A.     Theoretical background - an overview of the framework of
             theory within which the thesis will be articulated.
    B.      Project background - who or what is investigated in the thesis,
             where did it happen, when did it happen, and what specific
             aspect of these events will the thesis cover.

  3. Methods:   (one to one and one-half pages)

    A.      Library research
    B.      Field or laboratory work
    C.      Interviews or whatever

  4. Expected conclusions (or hypotheses):  (not more than one page)

  5. Thesis Outline:  (not more than one page)

  6. Selected Bibliography:  (not more than two pages)

Back to Top of Page
Tips on Oral Presentations

Tell the audience what you will tell them--tell them--and then sum up what you have told them. Emphasize the important points of your talk and keep all materials focused on the subject. Always ask yourself what you would like to hear if you were in the audience. A good presentation will observe most of the following suggestions.

  1. Speak loudly and with conviction. Talk to the audience rather than to the slide screen, blackboard, or ceiling.

  2. Do nothing that distracts from your presentation, such as jangling change in your pocket, repeating phrases (unless for emphasis), continually rubbing your nose, or engaging in any other distracting mannerism.

  3. Speak naturally rather than reading from a manuscript. When you refer to notes, be sure to look up often and break from the notes with some ad-libbing.

  4. Use straightforward English and try to limit the technical jargon. Some in your audience may not be as versed in the subject as you are.

  5. Check your graphic paraphernalia carefully before the presentation. Upside-down slides, out of order overheads, and so forth distract the audience and set you off course.

  6. Use your graphics effectively. Each should only make one point. Keep them simple and do not copy complex figures from published sources. Make sure they are legible even from the back of the room.

  7. Keep the graphics simple, and let your audience see each one for a reasonable amount of time.

  8. This is your subject. You are the expert. Project your enthusiasm to the audience.

  9. Keep to the time schedule. Be sure that the schedule allows for questions from the audience. Practice your presentation so that you are sure you can get everything in within the allotted time.

  10. Also, practice your presentation in front of people who will give you an honest critique.

  11. Be sure that you make the end of the presentation obvious, perhaps with some variation of the phrase: "Let me sum it all up by saying." Do not just stop.

  12. Answer any questions fully but also as briefly as possible so that others have a chance to ask their questions.

Back to Top of Page