Department of Anthropology, 395 Hubert H. Humphrey Center, 301 19th Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55455 (612-625-3400; fax: 612-625-3095)

The Department of Anthropology offers graduate education in sociocultural anthropology, linguistic anthropology, anthropological archaeology, and biological anthropology. With the exception of the master's in cultural heritage management, the program admits students only for the Ph.D., although some students do earn a master's degree as part of their Ph.D. program. Major areas of faculty research and graduate student training in sociocultural anthropology include colonial and post-colonial studies, cultures of capitalism, cultural studies of science, economic anthropology, ethnographies of the state, gender/sexuality, globalization, medical anthropology, personality and culture, and urban anthropology, among other specialties. Regional specializations include Europe, Latin America, the Pacific, the Middle East, North America, Russia, and South Asia. The program in linguistic anthropology offers training and research opportunities in language, culture, and power; theory in sociolinguistics and the semantics of interaction; paralinguistic and nonlinguistic semiotics; and the anthropology of language styles. Regional specializations include the Middle East and the urban United States. The program in biological anthropology offers training and research opportunities in two main areas: paleoanthropology and behavioral biology. The paleoanthropology specialty combines biological anthropologists and Paleolithic archaeologists in the reconstruction of hominin evolution and behavior through the application of evolutionary theory to the analysis of skeletal morphology, faunal remains, site taphonomy, and lithic technology. The behavioral biology specialty combines the department's biological anthropologists as well as primatologists in the Jane Goodall Institute's Center for Primate Studies in the study of non-human primates, human foragers, evolutionary ecology, and evolutionary theory. Regional specializations include Africa, Southwest Asia, Central Asia, and Europe. The program in anthropological archaeology offers training and research opportunities in the use of sociocultural theories and interpretive strategies in the reconstruction of historic and prehistoric pasts, the application of faunal and lithic analysis to questions in paleoecology and evolutionary theory, and cultural heritage management through the M.A. program in cultural heritage management. Regional specializations include Europe, Southwest Asia, Central Asia, and North America.

Other requirements to be completed before admission:

Graduate students who enter the Ph.D. program with an M.A. degree in anthropology or a closely related field from another institution will generally enter the program at the second-year level. Should second-year requirements (e.g., the research paper, preparation for the bibliography) prove overly challenging for the graduate student, in most cases the student will be required to continue their second year activities into their third year. In addition, they may be asked to take courses in areas of perceived weakness.

Three letters of recommendation and scores from the General test of the GRE should be sent to the director of graduate studies. Admission is for fall semester only; the deadline for all materials is December 1.

During the first year, students are required to take at least one graduate-level (8xxx) seminar in the Ph.D. program each semester. Students should consult the Graduate Student Handbook for special requirements for sociocultural anthropology, linguistic anthropology, archaeology, and biological anthropology. Language requirements depend upon student's special area of research.