Requirements

Capstone Option (36 hours)

All students are required to take the Responsible Conduct of Research CITI test (available online at Citiprogram website), regardless of their subfield. Students must complete the test during their first semester of graduate coursework.

Upon completion, all non-course milestones must be reported to both the graduate director and the CAS Graduate Services Office using the forms here. 

I. Core Courses
The following courses are required:

• Anth 8000 Anthropological Theory and Praxis (3)
• Anth 8020 Professionalization Seminar (1) AND ProSeminar Lab (1)
• Anth 8040 Seminar in Anthropology (3) OR Anth 8050 Seminar in Applied Anthropology (3)
• One course at the 6000 or 8000 level in Biological Anthropology
• One course at the 6000 or 8000 level in Archaeology

II. Proficiency in a language other than English/ research skill
Pass a GSU-administered proficiency test, show proficiency (e.g. 1st language fluency, extensive coursework) OR take an approved course focused on a research skill (0-4)

III. Methods Course
Choose ONE of the following methods courses (as relevant to the student’s MA concentration):

A. Biological anthropology:

• Anth 6360 Methods and Theories in Biological Anthropology (4) OR Anth 6370 Forensic Anthropology (3)

B. Cultural anthropology: Anth 6670 Methods in Sociocultural Anthropology (3) OR Anth 8010 Qualitative Methods in Anthropology (3)

C. Archaeology: Anth 6590 Archaeological Methods (4)

D. Linguistic anthropology: Consult Dr. Black

IV. Electives
Capstone Option:

• A capstone project must be completed in the final semester
• Additional 6000/8000-level anthropology courses in area of specialization to achieve a total of 36 semester hours; Up to six hours of graduate courses may be taken outside the anthropology program
• Public presentation of capstone project

* Indicates courses graded on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis. Grades do not affect GPA.

Students who are working towards an MA in Anthropology may also elect to complete a concentration in Museum Anthropology. This concentration provides students with experiences in analyzing the representation, exhibition and curation of material culture.  Museums are integral to establishing authority over knowledge with respect to what is displayed and how it is exhibited.  Cultural patrimony, nationalism, identity and cultural meaning are not only represented, but also created in the materials shown to the general public.  Therefore, museums are contested places where knowledge is available for consumption, where peoples and objects are viewed, and where ideas about the world are formulated.

In adopting an anthropological approach to museums, this concentration is distinct from generalized museum studies; museum anthropologists examine curation, exhibition, and museum practice from a comparative and global perspective that interrogates museums as dynamic institutions embedded in particular social and cultural contexts.  Emphasis is on both the role of museums in producing anthropological knowledge and the use of anthropological theory to contextualize and critique museum practices in diverse settings.

Options for the concentration are four-field and include independent fieldwork in osteology, archaeology or bioarchaeology using museum or laboratory collections, an internship at a museum, analyses of visual, aural, and/or material culture at a museum, cultural resource management, NAGPRA compliance, and studies of identity, cultural patrimony, nationalism, and the production of knowledge at one or more museums.

Students complete the concentration by undertaking a focused course of study within their overall MA program.  In addition to completing the required courses listed above for the MA degree, Museum Anthropology students must devote 18 of their total course credits to the concentration.  Both thesis and Capstone students may elect the concentration. There is no special application process other than that for the MA program, but students should declare their intention to complete this program of study upon entry to the MA program.

Required courses (6)

• ANTH 6150: Museum Anthropology (3)
• ANTH 8070: Museum Experience (3)

Elective courses (12)
Choose courses from this list in consultation with your advisor for a total of 12 credit hours:

• Up to two graduate level courses outside of the unit pertaining to the interests of the student (6)
• ANTH 6080: Consumption and Material Culture (3)
• ANTH 6112: Modernity and Identity (4)
• ANTH 6170: Mesoamerican Archaeology (3)
• ANTH 6180: Archaeology of the Southeastern United States (4)
• ANTH 6190: Archaeological Practice and the Public (3)
• ANTH 6300: Human Evolution (3)
• ANTH 6360: Methods and Theories in Biological Anthropology (3)
• ANTH 6370: Forensic Anthropology (3)
• ANTH 6470: Visual Culture (4)
• ANTH 6520: Anthropology of Public Culture (4)
• ANTH 6530: The Archaeology of Ancient Cities (3)
• ANTH 6590: Archaeological Methods (4)
• ANTH 6750: Film Culture, Morality and Modernity (3)
• ANTH 6740: Cultures of Display: Archaeology, Museums and Nationalism (3)
• ANTH 6760: Archaeology of the Olympics (proposed course)
• ANTH 6980: The Anthropology of Europe (3)

The Department of Anthropology offers a Graduate Certificate in Ethnography. Students must apply to the certificate program during either Fall or Spring semester. Current anthropology MA students, graduate students in other departments, and other interested individuals holding at least a bachelor’s degree may apply to the certificate program.

This program provides specialized knowledge and skills training in ethnographic research, focusing on research design, data collection and analysis, communication of results for diverse audiences, and policy analysis and writing. Ethnography is a field-based research methodology for the study of social and cultural patterns and practices. Ethnographers utilize participant-observation, direct observation and interaction, focus group interviews, and other qualitative and quantitative data collection techniques to uncover detailed patterns of human behavior in their cultural context. Ethnographic data are also relevant and useful in assessing community needs, addressing concerns of personnel, and enhancing cross-cultural communication.

Ethnographic data analysis is especially productive in clarifying complex issues, informing policy, and designing data-driven innovative and effective solutions to organizational problems. As such, this signature methodology of cultural anthropology has broad application in a variety of academic disciplines, creative industries, professional fields, and employment settings. Ethnographic interviewing is a core skill that attorneys, therapists, social workers, administrators, and journalists adopt to understand and to serve an increasingly diverse population of colleagues, clients, interlocutors, and stakeholders.

Ethnography encompasses basic and applied research, informs project planning and implementation, and illuminates assessment and impact analysis in areas that range from public health, education, and the arts to product design, user experience and marketing. The Certificate in Ethnography is ideal for MA and Ph.D. students in such fields as sociology, community psychology, education, nursing, linguistics, communication, business, and area studies who pursue qualitative research. For students who wish to pursue careers in academia, private business or the public sector, the Certificate offers applied and marketable skills in culture- and people-focused knowledge production and communication.

Required courses (9)

• ANTH 6670: “Methods in Sociocultural Anthropology” (3)
• ANTH 8010: “Qualitative Methods in Anthropology” (3)

And choose one of the following

• ANTH 6480: “Ethnography into the 21^st Century” (3) OR ANTH 8000: “Anthropological Theory and Praxis” (3)

Elective courses (6)
Choose from the following courses for a total of six credit hours

Anthropology Courses

• ANTH 6040 “Race, Class, and Gender in Global Perspective”
• ANTH 6080 “Consumption and Material Culture”
• ANTH 6111 “Anthropology of Self and Emotion”
• ANTH 6112 “Modernity and Identity”
• ANTH 6114 “Language and Social Justice”
• ANTH 6190 “Archaeological Practice and the Public”
• ANTH 6200 “Urban Anthropology”
• ANTH 6340 “Applied Anthropology”
• ANTH 6460 “Health and Culture”
• ANTH 6470 “Visual Culture”
• ANTH 6480 “Ethnography into the 21^st Century”
• ANTH 6500 “Work and Culture”
• ANTH 6550 “Field School in Anthropology”
• ANTH 6560 “Advanced Field School in Anthropology”
• ANTH 8000 “Anthropological Theory and Praxis”

Educational Policy Studies—Research, Measurement, and Statistics

• EPRS 8500 “Qualitative Research in Education 1”
• EPRS 8510 “Qualitative Research in Education 2”
• EPRS 8520 “Advanced Qual Research ”
• EPRS 8700 “Visual Research Methods”

Geosciences

• GEOS 6515 “Qualitative Methods in Geography”

Sociology

• SOCI 8342 “Qualitative Methods”

Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

• WGSS 8004