The School of Anthropology admits students to the PhD program in Anthropology and the MA program in Applied Archaeology. Most students admitted to our programs have been in communication with potential advisors prior to submitting their application. Prospective students are therefore strongly encouraged to contact potential advisors via email to share your interests and confirm that they will be accepting students. Faculty expect and welcome this contact.
The candidate for the doctorate must show a broad factual and theoretical background in the fields of anthropology, an authoritative knowledge of a special field of research, a thorough grasp of research methods, and good critical judgment. Each student in the doctoral program will be advised by a major advisor and other faculty members representing the student's major and minor foci of study. The minimum unit requirement is 36 units in the major and 12 to 15 units in the minor. Unit requirements for minors outside of Anthropology are set by the minor field department. An additional 18 units will be devoted to preparing the dissertation. A minimum of 30 units must be taken in residence.
Concentrations for Ph.D. minor in Anthropology are available in Applied Anthropology; Ecological Anthropology; Medical Anthropology; Anthropology, History and Social Memory and Southwest Land, Culture and Society; and any of the four traditional subfields of Anthropology.
In addition to the unit requirements, there are foreign language, statistics, and examination requirements for the doctorate. The examinations for the program are: a comprehensive exam, which consists of both written and oral sections, and a final exam which is an oral defense of the dissertation. The dissertation is based on original scholarly research and usually requires extensive fieldwork. Up to 30 graduate semester credits maybe transferred from an MA degree program completed at the UA or another institution (note, however, the residency requirement.) Dissertation hours cannot be transferred. The maximum completion time for the doctorate is 5 years after comprehensive exams are taken.