
GRADUATE PROGRAMS
The graduate program prepares students for a wide range of careers and provides a strong foundation for those who wish to pursue further studies, including doctoral work in anthropology.
Graduate Study
Graduate education in anthropology emphasizes research and teaching related to urban contexts, processes and populations. Students receive rigorous training in local, regional and global transformations, quantitative and qualitative research methods and theories of human nature, society and culture.
In addition to intellectual maturity, students gain practical skills, including proposal writing, project development, field research, ethnographic needs-assessments, community development and program evaluation. Graduate students are trained in theories, methods, topics and skills in archaeology, biological anthropology, cultural anthropology and its applied domains. They are encouraged to write a thesis based on independent empirical research, or in collaboration with faculty. Alternatively, students may complete a practicum, in a variety of contexts and human service organizations. All students receive a comprehensive education that prepares them to seek employment in the public and private sectors as professional anthropologists, or to pursue doctoral studies. For more information on student success stories and careers options, please visit our Career Resources page and our Alumni Spotlights page.
In this department we combine academic rigor with anthropological praxis: politically responsible and ethically sound applications of empirical knowledge in professional fields that include medicine, education, environment, forensics, cultural resource management and business. Recent research by faculty in Africa, Latin America, North America and Europe enhances graduate education by providing excellent examples for graduate students of basic and applied anthropological inquiry.
Master of Arts Anthropology
Georgia State offers one of the few master’s-only anthropology programs in the United States that includes all of the “four fields” of the discipline: archaeological, biological, cultural and linguistic anthropology.
In the heart of downtown Atlanta, the Anthropology Department maintains connections and partnerships with museums, businesses, non-profit organizations and government institutions, facilitating internships and career-skills training across these subfields.
Museum Anthropology Concentration
The Concentration in Museum Anthropology is an option for students enrolled in the M.A. in Anthropology program. The concentration prepares students with professional skills and theoretical tools suitable for a variety of career goals.
Emphasis is on the role of museums in disseminating and producing anthropological knowledge, using anthropological theory to contextualize and critique museums' practices in diverse settings and working with a collection or exhibits to gain new knowledge.
Graduate Certificate in Ethnography
The Certificate in Ethnography is ideal for M.A. and Ph.D. students in a range of fields, including anthropology, sociology, community psychology, education, nursing, linguistics, communication, business and area studies.
Ethnography encompasses basic and applied research and informs project planning and implementation. Ethnographic data are also relevant and useful in assessing community needs, addressing concerns of personnel and enhancing cross-cultural communication.
For students who plan to pursue careers in business, the public sector or academia, the certificate offers applied and marketable skills in culture- and people-focused knowledge production and communication.
Contact Us
The Department of Anthropology
Office Hours:
Monday - Friday
8:30 a.m. - 5:15 p.m.
Department Specialist
Aikaterini Grigoriadou
[email protected]
Department Chair
Dr. Jennifer Patico
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Dr. Faidra Papavasiliou
Director of Graduate Studies
Dr. Bethany Turner-Livermore