ACADEMIC PROGRAMS

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Graduate: Anthropology

  • Program Overview

    Anthropology Department

    The Department of Anthropology, within the College of Arts and Sciences, offers a graduate program leading to the M.A. in Anthropology. The M.A. Program in Anthropology is designed for students aspiring to non-academic or academic careers, including those, for example, who wish to pursue anthropological training for careers in education or for those whose undergraduate training did not prepare them for doctoral level work in Anthropology. Students take professional training, and foundational and advanced anthropology coursework toward the M.A., with the option of a capstone project (with the approval and supervision of a faculty advisor). Admission and credit requirements are the same regardless of whether a student carries out a capstone project, but the course of study differs. Depending on the course of study, students may earn degree credits through one of the Study Abroad programs as well as potentially earn one of SBU’s Advanced Graduate Certificates, including the Advanced Graduate Certificate in Human Origins, offered jointly through Stony Brook University and the Turkana Basin Institute in the Kenya study abroad program.

    This program (ANT) is independent from the Doctoral Program in Anthropological Sciences (DPA). MA students are not considered for teaching or graduate assistantships, or tuition scholarships. Full-time or part-time attendance is possible.

    Anthropology Department

    Chairperson
    Andreas Koenig, Ward Melville Social and Behavioral Sciences Building, S-517, (631) 632-1513

    Director of M.A. Program
    James Rossie, Ward Melville Social and Behavioral Sciences Building, S-541, (631) 632-7620 Anthropologyma@stonybrook.edu

    Academic Programs Coordinator
    Tara Powers, Ward Melville Social and Behavioral Sciences Building, S-503, (631) 632-7606

    Degree Awarded
    M.A. in Anthropology 

    Web Site 
    http://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/anthropology/graduate/masters-program.php

    Application
    https://graduateadmissions.stonybrook.edu/apply/ 

  • Admissions
     

    Admission Requirements of Anthropology Department

    In addition to the admission requirements of the Graduate School, acceptance by the Department of Anthropology Admissions Committee is required.

    Please also visit this page* for additional information about how to apply for the Anthropology M.A. program.

    *https://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/anthropology/graduate/masters-program-admissions.php

     

  • Degree Requirements
     

    Degree Requirements for the M.A. in Anthropology

    In addition to the degree requirements of the Graduate School, the Department of Anthropology requires:

    1. Completion of a minimum of 30 graduate credits;
    2. Maintaining a 3.0 grade point average;
    3. Minimum residence of one year;
    4. A course of study planned and carried out with the approval of the M.A. Graduate Program Director (GPD). Students who pursue the coursework-only pathway must pass a Comprehensive Examination in their last semester; students who pursue the capstone pathway complete at least 6 credits of ANT 599.

      Required Coursework

    1. ANT 525
    2. At least 3 credits of professional training in ethics and skills:
      1. One ethics course such as ANT 593 or another GPD approved responsible conduct of research course from a different department (e.g., GRD 500)
      2. Two courses in professional skills areas, such as ANT 591, ANT 592, ANT 600, or courses from other departments with GPD approval
    3. Two of the following foundation courses: ANT 515, ANT 564, ANT 565, ANT 567
    4. ANT 599 (at least 6 credits)
      1. Required only for students who pursue the capstone pathway

    Electives Coursework

    1. At least 5 (or 3 if choosing the capstone pathway) additional 500-level elective courses. One or two courses can be taken from another program with GPD permission. Courses cannot be the same as those counted toward the Foundation Coursework requirement. Up to three (i.e., 0-3) credits from 600-level courses may be counted toward the electives.

    ANT 5041,2, ANT 5051,2, ANT 5061,2, ANT 5071,2, ANT 5082, ANT 5102, ANT 5112, ANT 513, ANT 514, ANT 515, ANT 516, ANT 518, ANT 519, ANT 5272, ANT 535, ANT 536, ANT 555, ANT 557, ANT 559, ANT 560, ANT 564, ANT 565, ANT 582, ANT 567, ANT 573, ANT 577, ANT 610, ANT 620, ANT 630, ANT 650, GEO 5041,2

     

    1 These courses also comprise the Advanced Graduate Certificate in Human Origins offered through Stony Brook University and the Turkana Basin Institute during the Spring or Fall Semesters

    2 These courses are only offered through the Spring or Fall semester Human Origins Field School.

    Total: 30 credits

    NOTE: The course descriptions for this program (ANT) can be found in the corresponding program PDF or at COURSE SEARCH.

     

  • Facilities

    Facilities of Anthropology Department

    Extensive laboratory space as well as desk space is available for graduate students. The archaeology and biological anthropology labs housed in the Department of Anthropology provide facilities for the analysis of artifact collections, especially stone tools, faunal and botanical remains, application of remote sensing and Geographic Information Systems (GIS), analysis of primate and human remains, advanced electron microscopy (EM), and primate endocrinology. Housed in the department are archaeological collections from Africa and the Near East. A fully equipped preparation lab provides opportunities for state-of-the-art mineralized tissue research. Laboratories also contain scanning and digitizing equipment and analysis software for 3D datasets (e.g., micro-computed tomography [uCT]). The laboratory for endocrine analyses contains a gamma counter and a plate reader necessary for most immunoassays.

    Outside of the Anthropology Department, students may have access to the research facilities for comparative primate morphology, human anatomy, and human and primate evolution housed in the Department of Anatomical Sciences, which are at present unparalleled at any other institution. The collections include primate fossils, primate osteological material from Africa, Asia, and South America, and living nonhuman primates, including platyrrhine and cercopithecoid monkeys and lemurs. Students interested in experimental animal models for the study of functional morphology or morphogenesis have access to core facilities, including modern small animal facilities, uCT imaging, and confocal imaging systems.

    Field work opportunities may be available in primate behavioral ecology, paleontology, and archaeology. Primate behavior research is conducted in Ecuador, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Peru, Sri Lanka, and Tanzania. Paleontological field research is current in Argentina, Kenya. Madagascar, South Africa, and Zambia. The archaeology faculty have active field sites in Kenya, Ethiopia, Sudan, France, Madagascar, Maine, and Bolivia. The Turkana Basin Institute provides students with access to field opportunities for paleontology and archaeology in northern Kenya.

     

  • Faculty

    Faculty of Anthropology Department

    Professors

    Grine, Frederick E., Distinguished Professor, Ph.D., 1984, University of Witwatersrand, South Africa: Hominid evolution; functional morphology of the masticatory system; vertebrate paleontology; dental structure and comparative odontology.

    Hicks, David, Ph. D (London), 1971; D.Phil., 1972, Oxford University: oral literature; ritual and belief; mythology; kinship; politics; Southeast Asia; East Timor.

    Koenig, Andreas, Ph.D., 1992, Georg-August University of Göttingen, Germany: Primate behavioral ecology; social evolution; community ecology; Asia.

    Martin, Lawrence B., Director of TBI, Ph.D., 1983, University of London, Great Britain: Hominoid evolution; enamel thickness; enamel microstructure and development.

    Shea, John J., Ph.D., 1991, Harvard University: Old World Paleolithic archaeology; lithic analysis; Near East; Europe; Africa.

    Wright, Patricia C., Distinguished Service Professor, Ph.D., 1985, City University of New York: Primate behavior and ecology; rain forest conservation; Madagascar.

    Associate Professors

    Harmand, Sonia., Ph.D., 2005, Paris X, France: Early stone age archaeology; lithic technology; cognition; primate archaeology; Africa.

    Hildebrand, Elisabeth, Ph.D., 2003, Washington University in St. Louis: Archaeology; early farming; Africa; paleoethnobotany; ethnoarchaeology.

    Lu, Amy, Ph.D., 2009, Stony Brook University: Behavioral endocrinology; socioecology; sexual selection; growth and development; life history.

    Markham, Catherine, Ph.D., 2012, Princeton University: Behavioral ecology; maternal care; spatial ecology; wild primates.

    Rossie, James B., Ph.D., 2003, Yale University: Primate evolution; Miocene hominoids; cranial anatomy; East Africa.

    Russo, Gabrielle, Ph.D., 2013, University of Texas at Austin: Comparative and functional anatomy; axial skeleton; primate and human evolution; locomotion; ontogeny.

    Smaers, Jeroen B., Ph.D., 2009, Cambridge University: Brain evolution; phylogenetic comparative methodology; macroevolutionary morphology.

    Twiss, Katheryn C., Ph.D., 2003, University of California, Berkeley: Old World archaeology; zooarchaeology; transition to agriculture; food; southwest Asia.

    Research Professor

    Leakey Meave G., PhD., 1968, University of North Wales: Primate evolution; palaeoecology and evolution of African mammals.

    Research Associate Professor

    Borries, Carola, Ph.D., 1989, Georg-August University of Göttingen, Germany: Primate reproductive strategies; behavioral ecology; social structure; Asia.

    Assistant Professors

    Percival, Christopher J., Ph.D., 2013, Penn State University: Skull development and evolution; craniofacial disease; geometric morphometrics; computed tomography image analysis

    Mongle, Carrie S., Ph.D., 2019, Stony Brook University: Human Evolution; hominin phylogenetics; morphological variability; evolvability

    Lecturer

    Lewis, Jason E., Ph.D., 2011, Stanford University: Paleoanthropology; mammalian paleontology; paleoecology; paleolithic archaeology

  • Contact

    Anthropology Department

    Chairperson
    Andreas Koenig, Ward Melville Social and Behavioral Sciences Building, S-517, (631) 632-1513

    Director of M.A. Program
    James Rossie, Ward Melville Social and Behavioral Sciences Building, S-541, (631) 632-7620 Anthropologyma@stonybrook.edu

    Academic Programs Coordinator
    Tara Powers, Ward Melville Social and Behavioral Sciences Building, S-503, (631) 632-7606

    Degree Awarded
    M.A. in Anthropology 

    Web Site 
    http://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/anthropology/graduate/masters-program.php

    Application
    https://graduateadmissions.stonybrook.edu/apply/ 

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