Graduate

For information on graduate programs, contact the Director of Graduate Studies, Dr. Claire Terhune at anthgrad@uark.edu. Deadline for application is December 1, 2024 for the Fall 2025 semester.

Our graduate studies program is designed to provide advanced students with a strong background in Anthropology along with state-of-the-art research and analytic skills in preparation for professional careers in academic, government, and private or public sector institutions and agencies. Graduate students specialize in archeology, biological/physical anthropology, or cultural anthropology. We offer both M.A. and Ph.D. programs in these fields. Students may tailor programs to accommodate special research interests.

Entering graduate students need not have earned an undergraduate degree in Anthropology, though a baccalaureate in a related field is recommended and at least one course in each of the three subfields (archeology, biological/physical anthropology, and cultural anthropology) is required. Students entering without the required courses may take them as deficiency courses here, though credit hours for deficiency courses do not count toward the graduate degree.

All entering graduate students must be accepted as an advisee by one of our tenured track/tenured faculty. Applicants are encouraged to communicate their study interests to one or more of our faculty during the application process, and to specify in their application letter the faculty advisors with whom they wish to work. Students develop study programs under the supervision of their faculty advisor and an advisory committee consisting of at least two additional faculty members. Students are encouraged to complete M.A. degree requirements in two years and Ph.D. degree requirements in four to six years (after earning the M.A. degree).

The M.A. program requires 30 graduate credit hours (24 hours of coursework and 6 hours of thesis) for the thesis option or 36 graduate credit hours of cousework for internship and non-thesis options. The Ph.D. program requires 24 graduate credit hours of coursework beyond the M.A. degree. The M.A. and Ph.D. programs both include specific core course requirements that are detailed in the Department of Anthropology Graduate Program Handbook. The Ph.D. program also requires written and oral candidacy examinations, a dissertation proposal presentation, and a public dissertation defense. Students entering our Ph.D. program with an M.A. degree from another university must have completed coursework equivalent to our M.A. program core courses; with the consent of their advisory committee, those courses may be taken here as part of a recommended program of study. 

Requirements for admission to the Graduate School include a 3.0 GPA on the most recently completed 60.0 credit hours.