Anthropology, PhD

Print Degree Planner (opens a new window) |

A student completing the requirements for the MA may request admission to the PhD program by filling out a Petition for Admission to a Doctorate in Same Discipline (found on the Graduate Division website) and submitting the form to the departmental Academic Specialist. This form will be forwarded to Graduate Division based upon the approval of the graduate chair.

Before the graduate chair can formalize his recommendation, a meeting must be convened consisting of all anthropology faculty members with whom the student has taken graduatelevel courses. They will evaluate the MA thesis or three papers and review the quality of previous graduate work. The faculty will then make their recommendations to the graduate chair to admit or not to admit the student to the doctoral program.

Admission to the PhD program requires a two-thirds majority of favorable versus unfavorable recommendations from the Anthropology faculty members. The student will receive written notification from the Graduate Dean.

Requirements

PhD candidates must fulfill the requirements for an MA degree in anthropology as a prerequisite. Requirements for obtaining a PhD include submitting an acceptable program plan at a candidacy conference, passing a comprehensive examination, formulating an acceptable dissertation proposal, writing an acceptable dissertation, and successfully defending this dissertation.

A student entering the PhD program with an MA degree from another department of anthropology must pass the core course in his or her area of specialization with a grade of B (3.0 GPA) or better. This course may be challenged by examination in lieu of taking it for credit. All students are required to take graduate courses (other than reading courses) from at least four different members of the anthropology department.

After admission to the PhD program, the student will form a five-member PhD committee. More members may be added if deemed desirable and consistent with a candidate’s interest. At least one person must be a graduate faculty member of another department, but the majority of members must be from the Department of Anthropology. Substitutions may be made at any time if a member of the committee is unavailable.

All students entering the PhD program, including those obtaining an MA from the department, are strongly advised to hold a candidacy conference and gain written approval of their five-member committee for the projected program of study by the second semester.

Approximately one semester prior to the comprehensive examination, the student shall submit a detailed description of the areas to be covered, complete with bibliography. The candidate is expected to have read the items contained in the bibliography and be prepared to discuss them in some depth. It is the responsibility of each committee member to suggest additional readings for the bibliography and to suggest any other changes in the proposed agreement. After all committee members have been duly consulted, the student will prepare a final description to be signed by all concerned, including the student, and to be filed with the graduate chair.

The first component of the comprehensive exams is the written exam. The written exam will consist of three questions submitted by the student’s committee. The exam is takehome and open-book; therefore, students are permitted to use notes and other reference materials when answering the questions. Students will be given all three questions at once and have three weeks (21 days) to complete all three. Each answer should take the form of an essay between 5,000 and 6,000 words long (including in-text citations, but exclusive of a listing of the references cited). Formatting will be left up to the relevant subfield. The questions will not be distributed ahead of the exam. Before the written exam is administered, it is the committee chair’s responsibility to read all submitted questions for possible overlap and/or incongruity with the agreed-upon reading list. If the committee chair is not available to do this, the task must be assigned to another member of the student’s committee or to the graduate chair.

In addition to our current comprehensive exam procedure, we will allow students, in consultation with their advisors, to choose an alternative format. This alternative format will also consist of answering three questions, each administered on a different day. Students will have a maximum of eight hours per day to compose each answer. The exam may be spread over a period of five business days, allowing for a day’s break between each question. It will take place in an office at UH, proctored by Anthropology staff, on a sterile computer provided by the department, that does not have access to the internet. Additional electronic devices such as smartphones, tablets, or laptops will not be allowed in the exam room.

Each member of the committee will read all three essays and vote on whether each one is an acceptable answer to the question posed. Each committee member is entitled to one vote per question. A committee member may abstain from voting on an essay he or she does not feel competent to evaluate. The student shall be informed of the outcome of voting for each question.

The second component of the comprehensive exams is an oral exam, at which the student will be given the opportunity to clarify, amplify, explain, and/or defend answers to the written component. The student will receive copies of their written answers prior to the oral exam. The oral examination is expected to be held not less than one week and no more than two weeks after the written examination. All members of the committee must be present at the examination. Two hours are to be allotted for this exercise.

If a student fails the comprehensive examination, he or she may be allowed to repeat it. If this examination is failed a second time, the student will be dropped from the graduate program. The committee will provide each student with a written statement detailing the reasons for a negative decision.

After successfully completing the comprehensive examination, the student is required to submit a research proposal for review by the degree committee. A meeting of the committee will be scheduled within two weeks of submission of a final draft of the proposal; the committee will determine whether or not the student is adequately prepared for the fieldwork proposed. A candidate whose field research proposal is approved and who has completed all other requirements is eligible to receive a university ABD certificate.

Students have the option of completing their dissertation as a monograph or as a series of published articles. What option is chosen depends on the nature of research undertaken and the subfield of the student. Guidelines for these options are described in detail on the departmental website.

A student conducting dissertation research among people who do not speak the student’s native language will be required, before leaving for the field, to show evidence of oral competence in the most useful field language or training in linguistic field techniques.

Following the student’s submission of a final draft of the dissertation, an oral defense will be scheduled. It is the student’s responsibility to see that each member of the committee has a copy of the complete final draft of the dissertation at least four weeks before the scheduled date of the oral defense. All members must be present at the oral defense. Procedures for determining final acceptance of the dissertation and awarding the PhD degree are set forth by Graduate Division. A candidate must complete all the requirements within seven years after admission to the doctoral program. A student unable to meet this deadline may request an extension by written petition to the graduate chair describing reasons for the delay. If approved, the request will be sent to the graduate dean for a final decision.