FAS - Anthropology

The Department of Anthropology takes a four-field approach, offering graduate training in cultural anthropology, archeology, physical anthropology, and linguistics. There are special programs in Latin American archeology, medical anthropology, conflict studies, and human evolutionary biology. Geographical emphasis is on Latin America, Asia and the Pacific Islands, Melanesia, Eastern Europe, and the United States. Among the research topics of faculty in social and cultural anthropology are urban and development studies, economic anthropology, demography, medical anthropology, legal and political anthropology, family and kinship, and religion and symbolism. Physical anthropology specialties include experimental study of morphology and behavior, development of cranio-facial structures, hominoid evolution, and evolution of behavior. Opportunities in linguistics are offered in cooperation with the Department of Linguistics, and are especially focused on Latin American Indian languages. Archeology stresses the empirical investigation of models of the origins and development of prehistoric complex societies. Training in cultural resources management and field training are available.

Strong ties to other departments in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and to other schools in the University provide for interdisciplinary study and research. Laboratories for archeology are maintained in the department. There are physical anthropology laboratories for paleontology, behavioral and environmental studies, primate research, and histology. Computer facilities are provided in the department and are integrated into all laboratories. A cooperative relationship with the Carnegie Museum of Natural History provides expertise, facilities, and training in museology.

Contact Information

Department Chair: Robert Drennan

Main Office: 3H01 Posvar Hall

Phone: (412) 648-7500

Fax: (412) 648-7535

E-mail: drennan+@pitt.edu

Web site: http://www.pitt.edu/~pittanth

Admissions

Entrance into programs leading to the MA and PhD degrees in Anthropology requires a baccalaureate degree in one of the arts or sciences from an accredited institution of higher learning. Qualified students from any discipline are considered for admission. Applicants must submit Graduate Record Examination scores.

Financial Assistance

Graduate student financial support awarded to PhD students by the Department of Anthropology includes fellowships, teaching assistantships and fellowships, research assistantships, and Heinz and Mellon Fellowships in Latin American archeology.

Degree Requirements

The minimal requirements established by the Graduate Faculty of the University, as described under General Academic Regulations beginning, and any additional requirements of FAS Graduate Studies described under FAS Degree Requirements, should be read in conjunction with specific departmental degree requirements described in the following sections.

Requirements for the Master's Degree

The MA degree program is separate from the PhD program; MA students should read the PhD requirements for additional clarification of certain requirements.

Course Credits

A minimum of 30 course credits in anthropology is required for the MA degree. Of these, at least 21 credits must be in formal courses (as opposed to readings courses, independent study, or thesis credits). At least 12 of these 21 must be courses at the 2000 level. If the student is accepted at a later date into the PhD program, courses taken toward the MA will satisfy doctoral degree credit and residency requirements. The student may petition the Committee on Graduate Studies to accept a maximum of six credits earned in another approved graduate school or courses taken in another department toward the total of 30 credits.

Advisory Committee

By the end of the first year, the student establishes an advisory/evaluation committee consisting of at least two Graduate Faculty members from the Department of Anthropology, including the student's advisor, plus at least one additional Graduate Faculty member who may be either from the Department of Anthropology or from another department. This committee will supervise and evaluate the MA paper. The student should request the Committee on Graduate Studies' approval of the composition of the advisory committee.

Core Course Requirement

Full-time MA students must pass the core course in their declared subfield by the end of their second term in residence (or, for part-time students, before they have completed 18 credits). An MA student specializing in a focused area within anthropology can petition the Committee on Graduate Studies for a specialized written examination (administered by his/her MA committee) in lieu of the core course. However, if such a student subsequently enrolls in the PhD program, the specialized MA exam will not substitute for the core course in the student's area of study.

Language Requirement

Same as for the PhD program. See below.

Method/Theory Requirements

Students in archeology must pass ANTH 2534 or 2524 with a B- or better. They may petition the Committee on Graduate Studies to accept another course in quantitative methods in lieu of these. Students in physical anthropology or linguistics must pass with a B- or better one course in quantitative methods selected from among those offered in the Department of Anthropology or elsewhere. They must petition the Committee on Graduate Studies for approval of this course. Students in cultural anthropology must pass with a B- or better one methods course approved by the Committee on Graduate Studies and ANTH 2750 or a comparable seminar approved for this purpose by the Committee on Graduate Studies (see the Method/Theory Requirements for the PhD).

MA Paper

The student plans an original research paper with his/her advisory committee. This committee will also evaluate the final paper. The student files a final copy of the paper with the department. Note that the required paper is not necessarily a "thesis" as defined in Faculty of Arts and Sciences requirements (although a thesis, as formally defined, would also satisfy the MA Paper requirement).

Requirements for the PhD Degree

The following section details department-specific requirements for the PhD degree.

Advising and Supervision

A temporary faculty advisor is assigned to each incoming student. At any time after arrival, but not later than the end of the first year, each new student selects a permanent principal advisor (or advisors) with whom to work, and who agrees to serve in this capacity. Until the student selects an advisor, the Graduate Secretary and the temporary faculty advisor will provide general advice and help register the student for courses. Students are free to change their advisors at any time. Advisors consult with the students on their course selections and on their research and career plans, and monitor their advisees' progress in the graduate program. They are also responsible for formally approving their advisees' course programs term by term. Student progress is also monitored by the Committee on Graduate Studies and the Graduate Secretary. Progress of all active graduate students is systematically reviewed by the faculty in each subdiscipline annually early in the Spring Term.

Faculty advisors should notify the Committee on Graduate Studies of their advisees' successful completion of comprehensive examinations, and students should petition the Committee on Graduate Studies for formal approval of their comprehensive examination committees and thesis committees (see below). After review by the full faculty, students receive written response to their petitions from the Committee on Graduate Studies. The Graduate Secretary records progress towards advanced degrees. Students are advised to check with the Graduate Secretary periodically to ensure that their files are up to date.

Course Credits

A minimum of 72 course credits in anthropology is required for the PhD degree. Of these, at least 60 credits must be in formal courses (as opposed to readings courses, independent study, or thesis or dissertation credits). The remaining 12 credits may be any combination of formal courses, readings courses, independent study, and/or thesis and dissertation credits.

Generally, a full-time student will be enrolled in a minimum of three formal courses during Fall and Spring Terms until the required 60 credits of formal course work is attained. Reading or independent study courses, if taken prior to completion of the 60-credit minimum of formal courses, are generally taken during the Summer Term or in addition to the three formal courses that are the minimum for full-time students during the Fall or Spring Terms.

Students may petition the Committee on Graduate Studies to accept toward the 72-credit minimum (and/or the 60-credit minimum of formal courses) course credits taken outside anthropology. FAS regulations also apply to transfer credits.

Core Courses/Preliminary Examinations

The core course system of the Department of Anthropology fills the role of the preliminary examination in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences requirements for the PhD. Core courses are offered in the four subfields of anthropology: cultural anthropology, archeology, physical anthropology, and linguistics. PhD students are required to pass (with a grade of B- or better) at least three of these four core courses, including the core course in the student's chosen subfield of specialization. A broad foundation, based on a general familiarity with all four subfields, is considered to be highly beneficial to the practice of anthropology, but students may elect to omit one of the four core courses. Full-time students are expected to pass the required core courses by the end of their second term in residence.

A student with an MA from another institution, or with a strong undergraduate background in one or more subdisciplines, may petition the Committee on Graduate Studies to waive the core course in that/those subdiscipline(s), supporting the petition with transcripts and other relevant documents. If not granted a waiver, after consultation with the instructor and review of the core course syllabus, a student can take the final exam (when it is normally given) instead of taking a core course for credit. A student may opt to selectively audit a core course to remedy weaknesses in only a few areas, and then take the regular final exam. It should be stressed, however, that all exams will be evaluated in the same manner as those of students taking the course for credit.

Language Requirement

Before a student is advanced to candidacy, he or she must demonstrate competence in a language other than English that possesses a substantial body of anthropological literature. For common foreign languages (e.g., French, German, Spanish), the student may choose to pass in one of two ways:

1. Pass with a grade of B- or better the level IV or VIII course offered by the language department.
2. Pass the examination for evaluating graduate students currently offered by the language department.

In the case of languages for which such avenues of evaluation are not available, the student, after seeking advice from his/her advisor, should petition the Committee on Graduate Studies for alternative forms of evaluation.

Method/Theory Requirements

Students in archeology must pass with a grade of B- or better ANTH 2534 and ANTH 2524 (Archeological Data Analysis 1 and 2). They may petition the Committee on Graduate Studies to accept other courses in quantitative methods in lieu of these. Students in physical anthropology or linguistics must pass with a grade of B- or better two courses in quantitative methods selected from those offered in the Department of Anthropology or elsewhere. They must petition the Committee on Graduate Studies for approval of these courses. Students in cultural anthropology must pass with a grade of B- or better ANTH 2763 (Field Methods) and ANTH 2750 (Seminar on Contemporary Theory) or a comparable seminar approved for this purpose by the Committee on Graduate Studies. They may petition the Committee on Graduate Studies for approval of other courses to satisfy this requirement.

Comprehensive Examination and Advisory Committee

After completing the core course requirement and prior to advancement to PhD candidacy, students must pass two comprehensive examinations designed to test breadth and depth of knowledge in the chosen areas of expertise. The acceptable forms of the exam are described in greater detail on the departmental Web site (http://www.pitt.edu/~pittanth). Students generally take their comprehensive examinations at the end of their third year of residence. Each examination is designed and administered by a committee constructed by the student. The committee consists of at least three faculty members (at least two of whom must be in the department). One of these is designated as chair of the committee.

Well in advance of the exam, the student submits to the committee a bibliography of sources from which the student intends to work. Members of the committee may recommend additional sources. The student must request approval of the topic and committee for each examination from the Committee on Graduate Studies.

The structure of the comprehensive examinations differs from subfield to subfield:

Cultural Anthropology

One examination is in the student's ethnographic area (e.g., Africa, East Asia, Latin America, the Pacific). The student is responsible not only for the pertinent ethnography and cultural anthropology, but also for the prehistory, physical anthropology and linguistics of his/her chosen area. The second examination is of a more theoretical nature in a field chosen and defined by the student in conjunction with the student's advisor. Examples are social organization, sociocultural change, comparative religion, cross-cultural studies, economic anthropology, cultural ecology, etc. Each examination will last approximately six hours and will be administered in the department.

Archeology

One examination is on either a significant world area (e.g., North America, Mesoamerica, Europe) or a significant time period (e.g., the Paleolithic). The other is on the theory and history of archeology.

Physical Anthropology

One examination covers a major body of theory such as evolutionary theory or developmental theory, and the second focuses on a coherent, substantive body of research such as hominoid evolution, functional anatomy, or evolutionary psychology.

Linguistics

The first exam (taken by all students) will cover the generalities of data collection (including recording), data processing (including computers), dialect surveys, lexicography (including ethnosemantics), orthography design, linguistic theory within field linguistics, and descriptive linguistics generally. The second exam (tailored to the area
and language family specialization of each student) will deal with the linguistic data of a particular region (for example_North America, Western Europe, Mesoamerica, South Asia, South America, Southeast Asia, etc.): what are the languages, how are they related, how well known are they, what are they like, what are the relevant sociolinguistic factors? Each exam will last approximately six hours. They will be scheduled at least two days apart.

Dissertation Committee

As soon as possible after completion of the core course requirements, and certainly by the third year in residence, prior to admission to candidacy, the student must establish a doctoral dissertation committee. See Doctoral Committee under FAS Requirements for the PhD Degree for further detail on the duties and make-up of the committee.

Dissertation Overview

Before actively pursuing dissertation research, the student makes an oral presentation of the intended project to his/her dissertation committee. The student gives the members of the committee a well-researched and well-written dissertation proposal at least one month ahead of time. This overview is not pro forma and should not be the first discussion of the project between the student and his/her committee members. If, after the overview, the committee members agree that the student should proceed with the dissertation project, they sign the Advancement to Candidacy form, which is then forwarded to the Assistant Dean of Graduate Studies.

Public Presentation

Each student presents a formal colloquium to the department based on the dissertation research. This may form part of the dissertation defense, or it may come at an earlier stage so that the experience may be of benefit as the ideas in the dissertation take shape.

Dissertation Defense and Graduation

By the time of the oral defense of the dissertation, the student will have prepared and presented to his/her committee members a final version of the dissertation. It is expected that there will be sufficient interaction between the student and the committee members that alterations subsequent to the defense will be minimal and minor. All members of the doctoral dissertation committee should be present at the defense. The procedures for the final oral examination are outlined in the Regulations Pertaining to Doctoral Degrees of this bulletin and in the FAS Requirements for the PhD Degree.

In addition to the final unbound University copy of the dissertation, a bound copy of the final dissertation must be filed with the department.

Part-time PhD Students

A part-time student in the doctoral program should take the core course in the student's chosen subfield before taking more than 18 credits of formal course work. The student should complete the core course requirement before taking more than 36 credits of formal course work and proceeding with the other aspects of the program.

General MA Degree for Doctoral Students

An MA degree may be awarded during the course of a student's PhD program after completion of the following requirements:

1. 30 course credits
2. The language requirement
3. The core course in the student's Area of Concentration
4. Course(s) that satisfy the MA Method/Theory Requirement (see MA requirements above)
5. An acceptable MA paper
6. Fulfillment of all Faculty of Arts and Sciences regulations published in this bulletin (for example, at least 12 credits of course work, not including readings or independent study, must be at the 2000 level).

The student selects at least three Graduate Faculty members (at least two of whom must be in the Department of Anthropology) to participate on the MA advisory and evaluation committee. The Committee on Graduate Studies should be petitioned for approval of the committee composition and the MA paper topic well in advance of the expected date of completion.

Department Course Listings

Anthropological Linguistics