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This archived information is dated to the 2011-12 academic year only and may no longer be current.

For currently applicable policies and information, see the current Stanford Bulletin.

Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology

University requirements for the Ph.D. are described in the "Graduate Degrees" section of this bulletin.

ADMISSION

The deadline for graduate application to the Ph.D. degree program is December 13, 2011. Prospective applicants should see http://anthropology.stanford.edu for information about application for graduate admission. Successful applicants for the Ph.D. program may enter only in Autumn Quarter. It is department policy not to defer graduate admission. Applicants must file a report of their Graduate Record Examination score electronically, submit a writing sample in English that demonstrates the ability to produce original analytical work at the graduate level, and provide a statement of purpose. In addition to a clear statement of research interests in the statement of purpose, it is especially important for applicants to provide a detailed description of the area of specialization as well as the topical interests for dissertation research. Applicants should also submit three letters of reference and recent, original transcripts.

FINANCIAL SUPPORT

The department endeavors to provide needed financial support (through fellowships, teaching and research assistantships, and tuition grants) to all students admitted to the Ph.D. program who maintain satisfactory degree progress. Applicants for the Ph.D. program must file a request for financial aid http://www.stanford.edu/dept/finaid/grad/apply/grad_loans/form.html if they wish to be considered for funding support.

First-year students who have not obtained a higher degree previous to entering the Ph.D. degree program and who have not obtained extramural funding previous to entering the Ph.D. degree program are required to submit one extramural funding application by the first day of finals week in the Autumn Quarter of the first year.

Second-year students are required to perform one or more teaching assistantship quarters. Second-year students who have not secured funding for the second year summer for pre-dissertation field research are required to make at least two pre-dissertation field research or area/language studies funding applications for summer funding support in the second year.

In order to be eligible for department funding for summer field research (dependant on the availability of funding), first-year students must submit the department's Graduate Research Proposal application establishing eligibility for summer funding; second year students must submit the Graduate Report of Degree Progress and make at least two applications for pre-dissertation field research; third-year students must pass the qualifying examinations and receive department approval from the Dissertation Reading Committee for the dissertation proposal.

Third-year students who have not secured fourth-year field research funding are required to make at least three extramural funding applications to support dissertation research by the end of Autumn Quarter of the third year. If receiving department funding, fourth-year students must submit a department application for funding as a predoctoral research affiliate before leaving for field work and must make quarterly reports on their degree progress to their dissertation reading committee. In addition, fourth year students must make a quarterly Report of Degree Progress in order to maintain their eligibility for funding.

Fifth-year students are required to perform one or more quarters of teaching assistantship. Fifth-year students who have not secured extramural funding for the sixth year are required to make at least two dissertation write-up funding applications to secure extramural or intramural funding for dissertation write-up in order to be eligible for consideration of a department teaching affiliateship in the sixth year.

PROGRAM

The Ph.D. program allows the student to develop a flexible program reflecting special research interests, under the supervision of a faculty committee chosen by the student. Students are encouraged to plan for completion of all work for the Ph.D. in five years. Note: The University required oral examination may be scheduled in the fifth year or beyond depending upon a student's dissertation completion progress. Ph.D. students in Anthropology must complete a minimum of 135 quarter units with a minimum grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 (B). The maximum allowable number of transfer units is 45.

Degree Options—Students may pursue three different tracks in the Anthropology Ph.D. degree program. The tracks are not declarable in Axess; they do not appear on the transcript or the diploma. The three tracks are:

DEGREE REQUIREMENTS

For students who matriculate beginning 2011-12, the requirements for the doctoral degree program include the following:

  1. For the first year in the degree program, students must submit a Plan of Study detailing the courses by quarter to be taken in the first year of the degree program. The Plan of Study should be signed by the faculty adviser prior to the Autumn Quarter course enrollment deadline. The Plan of Study should also confirm the department track:Archaeology, Culture and Society, or Ecology and Environment.
  2. Within the first two years, pass with a minimum grade of 'B+',six graduate level ANTHRO subject code Department Review Courses appropriate to the student's chosen track.
  3. In the first year of the program:
    1. pass with a minimum grade of 'B+' the theory course(s) appropriate for the chosen track:
      1. Archaeology track—ANTHRO 303, Introduction to Archaeological Theory
      2. Culture and Society track—ANTHRO 300, Reading Theory Through Ethnography, and ANTHRO 301, History of Anthropological Theory, Culture and Society
      3. Ecology and Environment track—ANTHRO 302, History of Anthropological Theory, Ecology and Environment, or comparable, approved course at the ANTHRO 200 level.
    2. pass with a minimum grade of 'B+' at least one track-designated methods course:
      1. Archaeology track—ANTHRO 307, Archaeological Methods and Research Design
      2. Culture and Society track—ANTHRO 306, Anthropological Research Methods
      3. Ecology and Environment track—within the first year, pass at least one of two required methods courses:
        1. ANTHRO 304, Data Analysis for Quantitative Research
        2. ANTHRO 305, Research Methods in Ecological Anthropology
        3. or comparable, approved courses at the ANTHRO 200 level.
    3. complete at least 55 units overall (including 45 units of course work) by the end of Summer Quarter in the first year.
    4. satisfy the department ethics requirement for review of ethics in Anthropology by enrolling in a research methods course or by attending a specific meeting of ANTHRO 306. Anthropological Research Methods for the purpose of ethics review.
    5. enroll in ANTHRO 310G, Introduction to Graduate Studies in Anthropology, during Autumn Quarter.
    6. Culture and Society track students only enroll in ANTHRO 311G, Introduction to Culture and Society Graduate Studies in Anthropology, during Winter and Spring quarters for 1-2 units (no more than 5 units total over two quarters).
    7. enroll in ANTHRO 444, Anthropology Colloquium, and attend the departmental colloquia series each quarter.
    8. submit a Graduate Report of Degree Progress and Research Proposal to the adviser and the graduate committee on or by May 15 in Spring Quarter of the first year. Receive approval for the proposal from the adviser and the graduate committee by the beginning of finals week in Spring quarter of the first year.
    9. submit at least one extramural funding application within the first year.
    10. complete the appropriate CITI tutorial for non-medical human subjects, and, either submit a non-medical human subjects protocol, based on the pre-dissertation research proposal, to the Institutional Review Board before departing for summer field research in the first year, or confirm approval for Exemption status. Alternately, a Notice of Determination may be confirmed with the Institutional Review Board for a pilot study proposal that does not require protocol submission.
    11. complete the appropriate CITI tutorial for Responsible Conduct of Research on or by May 15 in Spring Quarter.
  4. In the second year:
    1. as required by the chosen track, pass with a minimum grade of 'B+' ANTHRO 308, Proposal Writing Seminar (offered Spring Quarter). For all tracks, submit the dissertation proposal to the adviser and the graduate committee by the beginning of finals week in Spring quarter. Receive approval for the draft proposal for the purpose of the second year summer pre-dissertation research from the adviser and the graduate committee on or by the first day of Summer Quarter.
    2. complete at least 40 units of course work in the second year for a total of at least 85 units of course work (95 units overall) by the end of the second year.
    3. pass with a minimum grade of 'B+' remaining ANTHRO subject code review courses to complete the six course requirement.
    4. Ecology and Environment students track only—pass the second of two required methods courses, if both were not completed in the first year:
      1. ANTHRO 304, Data Analysis for Quantitative Research
      2. ANTHRO 305, Research Methods in Ecological Anthropology
      3. or comparable, approved courses at the ANTHRO 200 level.
    5. at the beginning of Autumn Quarter attend the teaching assistantship training workshop.
    6. serve as a teaching assistant for at least one quarter in the second year.
    7. submit a second-year Graduate Report of Degree Progress on or by May 15 in Spring Quarter of the second year. Receive approval from the adviser and the graduate committee by the beginning of finals week in Spring Quarter.
    8. by the beginning of finals week in winter quarter, confirm the qualifying examination committee advisor for each examination committee to the department Graduate Committee.
    9. by the beginning of finals week in winter quarter (for those whose native language is English), either pass a foreign research or field language exam or petition the department's language committee for exemption from a foreign research or field language examination (based on a description of previous field or research language training).

      For those whose native language is not English, demonstrate satisfactory command of English, as evidenced by completion of the first two years of graduate study and a petition to the language committee.

    10. upon completion of the above requirements and the recommendation of the Anthropology faculty, petition the University for candidacy by the beginning of finals week in Spring Quarter.
    11. Upon completion of the above requirements, and upon recommendation of the Anthropology faculty, request the Master's degree on the way to the Ph.D. degree program by the end of Spring Quarter of the second year, if desired.
  5. In the third year, complete the following:
    1. by the end of the third week of Autumn Quarter, confirm the reader for each of the qualifying examination committees.
    2. by the beginning of finals week in Autumn Quarter, confirm the schedule dates and times for the qualifying examinations to the graduate committee.
    3. by the beginning of finals week in Autumn Quarter, submit three dissertation research grant proposals, the grant application, and the approved non-medical human subjects protocol, to the faculty adviser.
    4. by the beginning of finals week in the Autumn Quarter, confirm the dissertation reading committee by submitting the university dissertation reading committee form to the Graduate Committee.
    5. by the end of the third week in Winter Quarter, submit the preliminary qualifying examination bibliographies to the respective committees.
    6. by the beginning of finals week in Winter Quarter, submit the approved qualifying examination bibliographies to the respective committees.
    7. by the end of the second week in Spring Quarter, complete the qualifying examinations for area and topic (two separate examinations to be scheduled approximately one week apart).
    8. by the end of the fourth week in Spring Quarter, schedule a meeting with the dissertation reading committee to review the dissertation proposal.
    9. by the beginning of finals week in Spring Quarter, submit the approved dissertation proposal to the graduate committee.
    10. before departing for field research, receive approval for the non-medical human subjects protocol from the Institutional Review Board.
  6. In the fourth year, complete the following requirements:
    1. by the beginning of finals week in a given quarter, submit a quarterly report of dissertation field research to the dissertation reading committee.
    2. submit a fourth-year Report of Degree Progress to the graduate committee on or by May 15 in the Spring Quarter.
  7. In the fifth year, complete the following requirements:
    1. during the fifth year and after returning from field work, complete one or more teaching assistant quarters in the department.
    2. during Autumn, Winter, Spring quarters in the fifth year, students attend a minimum of four of five class meetings of ANTHRO 400, Dissertation Writers Seminar (required of Culture and Society track, recommended for students in both the Archaeology and the Ecology and Environment tracks). Each quarter, chapter drafts of the dissertations must be handed in to the dissertation reading committed for review. Eligibility for department support is based on seminar attendance as well as on San Francisco Bay Area residency (the Bay Area is defined as Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, or Sonoma counties).
    3. after submission of the penultimate draft of the dissertation and before the quarter preceding the quarter in which the dissertation is to be submitted for the Ph.D. degree, students may schedule and deliver an oral presentation of the dissertation in the department.
  8. In the fifth year or beyond, complete the following requirements:
    1. a.submit a penultimate draft of the dissertation by the end of the first week of the quarter preceding the quarter in which the university required oral exam defense of dissertation has been schedule and the dissertation is to be submitted for conferral of degree.
    2. at least four weeks prior to a proposed date for the oral examination dissertation defense, submit the oral examination schedule form and a final draft of the dissertation, approved by the dissertation reading committee, to the graduate committee.
    3. Pass the university required oral examination defense of dissertation, prior to final submittal of the dissertation and in order to graduate.

REQUIRED COURSES

  1. Archaeology Track—Required courses include the following:

    ANTHRO 310G. Introduction to Graduate Studies in Anthropology

    ANTHRO 311G. Introduction to Culture and Society Studies in Anthropology (recommended)

    ANTHRO 303. Introduction to Archaeological Theory

    ANTHRO 307. Archaeological Methods and Research Design

    ANTHRO 308. Proposal Writing Seminar (recommended)

    ANTHRO 444. Anthropology Colloquium

  2. Culture and Society Track—Required courses include the following:

    ANTHRO 310G. Introduction to Graduate Studies in Anthropology

    ANTHRO 311G. Introduction to Culture and Society Studies in Anthropology

    ANTHRO 301. History of Anthropological Theory, Culture and Society

    ANTHRO 300. Reading Theory through Ethnography

    ANTHRO 306. Anthropological Research Methods

    ANTHRO 308. Proposal Writing Seminar

    ANTHRO 444. Anthropology Colloquium

  3. Ecology and Environment Track—Required courses include the following:

    ANTHRO 310G. Introduction to Graduate Studies in Anthropology

    ANTHRO 302. History of Anthropological Theory in Evolution, Ecology and Environment (or comparable, approved ANTHRO 200 level course)

    ANTHRO 304. Data Analysis in Quantitative Research (or comparable, approved ANTHRO 200 level course)

    ANTHRO 305. Research Methods in Ecological Anthropology (or comparable, approved ANTHRO 200 level course)

    ANTHRO 444. Anthropology Colloquium

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