Resources For:

Beyond the immediate limits of the graduate anthropology programs, Harvard also offers intellectual opportunities for graduate students that are difficult to match elsewhere — Widener Library, the Museum of Compar­ative Zoology, the Bauer Center for Genomics Research, the Concord Field Station, the Fogg Art Museum, the computing resources, and, above all, the distinguished departments in the other social sciences, natural sciences, and humanities. Members of the Department of Anthropology often coordinate their research with other faculties in the University and encourage their students to tailor programs to their individual interests, drawing on all assets of the University. Additional research opportunities at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston University, Brandeis, and other educational institutions in the Boston area are available to faculty and students of the department through a coordinated program of facility sharing.

Fieldwork or lab work, essential compo­nents of graduate training in the department, is available to students as participants on Harvard-sponsored projects or through indi­vidual projects. Another opportunity offered to graduate students, after their first or second year of study, is assisting faculty members in the preparation and teaching of undergrad­uate courses. Each year prominent scholars throughout the world are invited to participate in the department’s seminar series, designed to give faculty and graduate students occasions to discuss the concerns of current research and to debate directions for the future. 

Master of Arts (AM)

Usually, students applying only for a master’s degree will not be admitted. (An exception to this general rule will be made for applicants to the medical anthropology program.) Since one of the principal objectives of advanced training in anthropology is preparation for college teaching, for which the doctor’s degree is generally required, the master’s degree in anthropology is not taken as an end in itself. It may be awarded at some point during the student’s progress toward the doctorate if the student qualifies and so desires; or, in some cases, as a terminal degree for students unable or unwilling to continue toward the doctorate. As the statutes of the University state that at least one year of residence at the full tuition rate is required for each Harvard degree, those students who take a Harvard AM are reminded that when they continue for the PhD, they must complete an additional year of residence in the Harvard Graduate School at the full tuition rate. 

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Prerequisites for Admission

A bachelor’s degree, ordinarily with distinc­tion. Previous concentration in anthropology is not required. All applicants are required to take the aptitude tests of the Graduate Record Examinations. In addition to academic qualifi­cations, admission depends on the availability of faculty supervision in a student’s prospective research area.

Academic Residence

Minimum of two years of full-time study (up to 16 half-courses or equivalent). The department considers a period of five years in residence the norm for PhD candidates, after which they will receive lowest priority for access to departmental aid and facilities. For financial residence requirements, see the GSAS Guide to Admissions and Financial Aid. 

Financial Aid

Students admitted to the PhD program receive five years of funding. This guarantee by the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) includes tuition and fees, plus ten months of stipend support in the G-1 and G-2 years; two years of support from guaranteed teaching fellowships in the G-3 and G-4 years and a final year of support for dissertation comple­tion. Two-month summer research awards are available for the summers following the first through the fourth years. Awards are reviewed annually and are contingent upon students making satisfactory progress in their programs. Prospective graduate students are urged to apply for outside fellowships that offer tuition and stipend support during graduate school. These include the National Science Founda­tion Graduate Research Fellowships, Ford Foundation Diver­sity Fellowships, and the US Department of Education’s Jacob K. Javits Fellowships. Application deadlines for these fellowships are in the fall, well before Harvard’s admissions deadline. Eligible applicants are encouraged to investigate these funding opportunities early in the application season.

Anthropology students are eligible for Harvard grants, including summer or term-time research awards, traveling fellowships, and dissertation completion awards. Many students also receive support from such sources as the Social Science Research Council, the National Science Foundation, the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, Foreign Language and Area Studies fellowships, and scholarships offered by other departments or research centers in the University. 

Program of Study

Archaeology and Social Anthropology have their own programs of study and examination procedures. Students apply to one of these programs. A student may change his or her area of interest after admission to the program contingent upon the continued willingness and availability of a faculty member to super­vise the student’s research.

Admission

The application for admission may be obtained and submitted at the website.

Archaeology

The principal objectives of the graduate program in archaeology are to provide 1) informed, critical examinations of core issues in archaeology, 2) comprehensive training in principal methods and theories of anthropo­logically oriented archaeology, and 3) direction and support for PhD candidates preparing for research and teaching positions in a wide variety of domains of archaeological practice. While students who wish to pursue PhD training in any area of expertise are invited to apply to the program, there are several domains of particular strength in terms of faculty interests, departmental facilities, and institutional resources. Principal strengths in archaeology at Harvard include: a) the archae­ology of complex societies, b) the archaeology of ethnicities and languages, c) archaeology, art and religion, d) the archaeology of human evolution, and e) environmental archaeology/ bioarchaeology. Students are strongly encour­aged to select one of these areas of specializa­tion in focusing their work, although the specific program of study pursued by each student will be developed in close consultation with his/her principal advisor and advisory committee.

In addition to a primary area of special­ization, all students are expected to acquire a basic understanding of the archaeology of complex societies in both the Old and New Worlds as well as general knowledge of those aspects of ethnography, ethnology, and biological anthropology that have particular relevance to his/her area(s) of interest in archaeology. The expectation is that the student will be able to complete the program in six years.

Each student will have a faculty advisor, whose research interests will be close to those of the student. For the first three or four semesters, the student’s progress will be over­seen by an Advisory Committee, normally consisting of the advisor(s), and two other archaeology faculty members. The student will meet with their advisory committee at least once during each of the first two years of residence, generally before or during the first week of classes in the fall term. The purpose of these meetings is to review proposed plans of study, completion of the language and other requirements, and overall progress in the program. The progress of each student will be assessed annually by the archaeology faculty, and this appraisal will be communicated to the candidate. An overall B average is expected of the student. Incomplete (INC) grades are expected to be made up on time (by the end of the term following the term in which the INC was taken). No grade of INC can fulfill any departmental requirement. A record with INC is likely to jeopardize a student’s chances of obtaining teaching fellowships and financial awards.

After the successful completion of the general exam and generally no later than the end of the fourth semester, an examining and dissertation committee will be chosen by the student and the major advisor(s) on the basis of the student’s domain(s) of specialization

Course Requirements

During the first two years of graduate study, the student will normally enroll in 16 half courses (four each term). Within this program of study, the following requirements must be fulfilled:

a) Anthropology 2250a and 2250b: Proseminar in Archaeology (2 half courses)

b) Anthropology 2070a, Archaeological Method and Theory: In addition, and as part of the 16 halfcourse requirement, the following seminar must be taken prior to the prospectus defense:

c) Anthropology 2070b, Case Studies and Research Proposal Preparation

d) Twelve half-courses in archaeology or other fields chosen in consultation with the advisor and advisory committee. In the latter category, serious consideration should be given to taking courses outside the Department of Anthropology in fields related to the student’s domain(s) of interest (e.g., Earth and Planetary Sciences, Biology, Near Eastern Studies, Classical Archaeology, History, Chemistry, Modern or Ancient Languages, etc.). In addition, research time (Time R) can be utilized with advisor and advisory committee approval as part of the 16 half-course requirement.

Courses taken to fulfill requirements (a-d) must be passed with a grade of B- or better. In addition, students may continue to take formal classes into their third or fourth year should these be relevant to fulfilling require­ments (e.g., languages, see below) or to their domain(s) of study. Students are expected to obtain competence in quantitative methods or computer applications (e.g., GIS) as they relate to the practice of archaeology. 

Languages

Proficiency in one modern, scholarly language other than English is required. In addition, the candidate must attain proficiency in a second scholarly language or in a field language or in a laboratory skill. The election of one among these options shall be made following consul­tation by the student with his/her advisor. Proficiency in language(s) and/or laboratory skill must be demonstrated before the special examination is taken.

Fieldwork

Although no specified period of fieldwork or field training is required, it is expected that each student’s program of study will include adequate experience in field methods through the student’s participation in archaeological field projects. This fieldwork is frequently related to gathering data for the dissertation.

Advisory Meeting

In addition to primary advisor(s), students will also have an advisory committee, consisting of three archaeology faculty members including the primary advisor(s), for the first three to four semesters of the student’s academic career. The student shall meet with their advisory committee at least once during each of the first two years of residence, generally before or during the first week of classes in the fall term. The purpose of these meetings is to review proposed plans of study, completion of the language and other requirements, and overall progress in the program. The Advi­sory Committee normally will comprise the student’s advisor(s)and two additional faculty members.

General Examination

Near the end of the third term of graduate study there will be general examinations. These examinations will consist of written and oral components pertaining to important issues in world archaeology. The purpose of the general examinations is to assess the prog­ress of a student and determine his/her general knowledge of current archaeological issues. Students deemed weak in specific areas or topics will be required to retake the examina­tion and/or to take designated courses.

Dissertation Prospectus and Special Exam

A dissertation topic is developed in consulta­tions among the student, the principal advisor, and other appropriate scholars. The disserta­tion prospectus consists of a proposal that describes the research on which the disserta­tion will be based. It should include a state­ment of the problem(s) and topic(s) to be addressed and should relate how the student intends to address them. The prospectus normally should be no longer than 20 double-spaced typewritten pages of text and include relevant visual and bibliographic materials as well as details on possible funding sources. With the approval of the student’s advisor, the prospectus may be in the form of a proposal to the National Science Foundation for a disser­tation improvement grant.  

The student is required to have devel­oped and submitted the prospectus to each member of the examining committee at least two weeks before this examination. The examining committee shall consist of the student’s advisor(s) and at least two other faculty members, one of whom must be an archaeology program member, although any additional faculty member who wishes may participate in the examination. Any applica­tion to a funding source outside of Harvard University for either field or other research funding for dissertation preparation must be approved by the student’s advisor(s).

Following the special examination, a final dissertation prospectus must be prepared if the examining committee deems the preliminary dissertation prospectus inadequate. The final version of the prospectus should be circulated for comment and approval to the special examination committee or to the dissertation committee at least two weeks before being placed on file with the department’s graduate program administrator.  

The Examining and Dissertation Committee and the Dissertation Defense

The examining and dissertation committee will be composed of at least three members, two of whom must be archaeology program faculty members. The chair of the committee must be a member of the archaeology wing faculty. Normally the special examination committee and the dissertation committee will be composed of the same individuals, although it may be appropriate that substitutions or additions be made. A complete draft of the dissertation must be received by all members of the dissertation committee at least three months before the approved dissertation is due at the Registrar’s office and must be approved by that committee at least two months before the Registrar’s due date. A draft of the disserta­tion must be made available to other members of the Department at least two weeks before the public defense. The text of the dissertation, exclusive of charts, figures, and appendices, ordinarily may not exceed 250 typewritten pages.

The dissertation defense ordinarily consists of 1) an assessment of the thesis by the dissertation committee at least two months before the dissertation is due at the Registrar’s office; 2) an oral presentation for a general audience, including other faculty members approximately one month before the Registrar’s due date, and 3) a private defense of the thesis with the dissertation committee and other interested faculty members. After successful completion of the defense and after the incorporation of any required revisions, signatures of the committee members must be obtained on the dissertation acceptance certificate, which is submitted with the bound dissertation to the Registrar’s office. The final manuscript of the dissertation must conform to the requirements described in The Form of the PhD Dissertation, available from the Registrar’s Office and online.

A complete draft of the dissertation is expected to be submitted by the end of the sixth year of graduate study, and the disser­tation must be approved by the end of the eighth year of graduate study or the student will be required to withdraw. 

Social Anthropology

Advisors

On admission to the program in social anthro­pology, each student is assigned an advisor. The student should seek out this advisor at least once a term to discuss his or her progress and to work out a plan of study. The student also should keep the advisor informed about progress while in the field.  

Coursework

The course of study in social anthropology requires a minimum of 16 half-courses (not including TIME), at least 12 of which must be in anthropology.

Required Courses:

First Year

a) Proseminar (two half-courses) ANTH 2650a and 2650b

All candidates are required to take the Prosem­inar in Social Anthropology, which is a full-year course designed especially for first-year graduate students and intended to introduce them to the history and theory of the field. 

Any Year

b) Area-Specific Ethnography (one half-course)

All candidates are required to take one area specific half-course devoted to the ethnog­raphy of the region in which they plan to do research. See Area Studies Research, below.

c) Related Courses (two half-courses)

The department recommends PhD candidates to take at least one half-course in Archaeology. These courses should be selected in consulta­tion with the student’s advisor. A student who has already done extensive work in these fields may petition to be excused from this require­ment, as may a student whose advisor deems other courses more appropriate to his or her research interests. 

Area Studies Requirement

All candidates must demonstrate knowledge of the literature relating to their proposed area of ethnographic research. Students should consult with their advisors to plan a course of study to meet this requirement, which will be tested at the time of the dissertation prospectus examination.

General Examination

All PhD candidates will be required to take a written examination towards the end of their third term. Satisfactory performance on this examination is required of all candidates before they may continue their PhD work. 

Language

As a rule, students should demonstrate competence in two languages other than their first language.

Dissertation Prospectus and Conference

All candidates must, in consultation with their advisors, select a dissertation topic and describe their proposed doctoral research in a prospectus. The prospectus should 1) give a concise statement of the problem of the disser­tation or of the hypotheses it proposes to test, 2) be situated in a scholarly understanding of the area, 3) provide a clear research design, and 4) demonstrate familiarity with the appro­priate research methods. The dissertation prospectus should be presented no later than the end of the third year. 

Dissertation and Defense

A dissertation committee, approved by the social anthropology faculty, will review the dissertation and decide when it is ready for defense. The doctorate will be awarded when the candidate passes a defense. The final copy of the dissertation should be in committee members’ hands one month before the sched­uled defense. The final manuscript of the dissertation must conform to the requirements described in The Form of the PhD Dissertation. 

Satisfactory Progress to Degree

A candidate’s program will be reviewed annu­ally by all members of the social anthropology faculty. An overall B+ average is expected. First-year students must attain at least a B+ in each of the first-year required courses. All course requirements must be fulfilled and the general exam passed before the dissertation prospectus can be submitted. Candidates may not proceed to their dissertation research until the dissertation prospectus has been approved. Normally, a complete draft of the disserta­tion must be submitted within five years after entering the program (exclusive of the time required to complete the dissertation field­work). Students entering their seventh year (exclusive of the time required to complete the dissertation fieldwork) must submit a letter to the wing requesting an extension of this time limit.

All students must be able to demonstrate that they are making satisfactory progress toward the completion of their degree. Failure to meet these deadlines normally will be grounds for dropping the student from candi­dacy. If dropped, a student can be reinstated only by formal readmission to the Graduate School and to the department; the student may also be required to retake the General Examination.

Special Programs

The social anthropology wing of the AnthroThe social anthropology wing of the Anthropology Department will accept appli­cations for the master’s degree in medical anthropology only from persons who have a demonstrable commitment to work in medi­cine and who want supplementary training in anthropology. Persons in this AM program are expected to provide their own funds. The requirements for the special AM program in Medical Anthropology for PhD candidates in the History of Science include: eight courses, seven of which must be in Social Anthro­pology, including at least fall semester of the Proseminar. Candidates may also apply for the joint PhD in Social Anthropology and Middle Eastern Studies. In addition, double degrees may be taken in the Department (PhD) and, respectively, in the Medical School (MD) and the Law School (JD). In addition, students in the African and African American Studies PhD program may choose Social Anthro­pology as a primary field of study. 

Prerequisites for Admission

The requirements and standards are the same as those for the PhD as specified in this publi­cation.

Academic Residence

The minimum program consists of one academic year of full-time study (eight half-courses or equivalent) plus one summer. Where other professional or pre-professional commitments make it desirable to spread this year of course work over a two-year period, that will be permitted. Some students will want to take an extended program of full-time study over a two-year period, and in suitable cases that will also be allowed, but no AM candidate will be permitted to remain in resi­dence for more than a two-year period. An overall B+ average is expected of the student.

Program of Study

A minimum of eight half-courses or equiva­lent, five of them in the Department of Anthropology, is required. These must include the first term of the Proseminar, an ethnog­raphy course, and three courses in medical anthropology. Only one course may be included that is outside of social anthropology. Required courses above this minimum are determined individually. Each student will submit a dissertation which must be read and accepted by two department members.

Recent PhD Dissertation Titles

Archaeology

“The End of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic in the Middle Euphrates Valley: The Lithic Assem­blages of Mezraa Teleilat, Southeastern Turkey”

“The Environmental Origins of Plants and Herbivores in the Southern Levant: an Isotopic Approach”

“Evolution of Foddering Practices in the Southern Levantine Pre-Pottery Neolithic”

“Forager Variability and Transitions to Food Production in Secondary Settings: Kanysore and Pastoral Neolithic Economies in East Africa”

“The Development of Productive Subsistence Economies in the Nile Valley: Zooarchaeolog­ical Analysis at El-Mahasna and South Abydos, Upper Egypt”

“Before the Eagle’s Nest: The Formative Period Archaeology of Cuauhtinchan Viejo, Puebla, Mexico”

“The power of place: political landscape and identity in Classic Maya inscriptions, imagery, and architecture”

“Before the Revolution: A Comprehensive Zooarchaeological Approach to Terminal Pleis­tocene Forager Adaptations in the Western Taurus Mountains, Turkey”

“Blood, Flesh and Bones: Kinship and Violence in the Social Economy of the Late Shang (ca. 1250-1050 B.C.)”

“The Social Lives of Figurines: Recontextual­izing the Third Millennium BC Terracotta Figurines from Harappa (Pakistan)”

“Ancient Maya Territories, Adaptive Regions, and Alliances: Contextualizing the San Barto­lo-Xultun Intersite Survey”

“Epigraphic Approaches to the Indus Script”

“The Evolution of Sheep and Goat Pastoralism and Social Complexity in Central Anatolia” “The Adoption of Pastoralism in Northeast Asia, Monumental Transformation in the Egiin Gol Valley”

“From Harappa to Hastinapura: A Study of the Most Ancient South Asian City from the Point of View of the Ancient Indian Literature and the Archaeology of the Harappan and Gangetic Civilizations”

“Deciphering Classic Maya Political Hier­archy: Epigraphic, Archaeological, and Ethno­historic Perspectives on the Courtly Elite”

“Diet, Health, and Lifestyle in Neolithic North China”

“Cultural Transformation and Regional Inter­action on the Coast of Southeast China during the Neolithic Period”

“Micromorphological Observations from the Archaeological Sediments of ‘Ubeidiya (Israel), Dmanisi (Georgia) and Gran Dolina-TD 10 (Spain) for the Reconstruction of Hominid Occupation Contexts” 

Social Anthropology

“Eating their god: The contingencies of nationalism and survival in Shatila Camp”

“A Country of Hearsay and Rumor: Kings, Strongmen, and Rumor in the Urban Nepali Political Imaginary”

“The Professionalization of the Iraqi Medical Doctor in Britain: Medicine, Citizenship, Sovereignty and Empire”

“Stigma: Social Suffering for Social Exclusion and Social Insecurity From Mental illness to HIV/AIDS in China”

“The Politics of Inclusion: Law, History and Indigenous Rights in Malaysia”

“Work No Words”: Voluntarism, Subjectivity, and Moral Economies among Khoja Ismaili Muslims””

“From Heritage to People’s House: Kyomachiya Revitalization Movements and Regional Identity in Kyoto”

“The Brotherhood of Freemason Sisters: Knowledge, Subjectivity, and Discretion in Italian Masonic Lodges”

“Border Chinese: Making Space and Forging Identity in Mexicali, Mexico”

“Development in the KyrgyzRepublic: Exchange, Communal Networks, and the Foreign Presence”

“Market and Monastery: Manangi Trade Diasporas in South Asia and Southeast Asia”

“States of Discontent: Patronage, Liberalism, and Indigenist Democracy in Central Bolivia” “Biotech Pilgrims and Medical Entrepreneurs: Cultural Encounters from Cyberspace to China”

“Subversive Genes: Re(con)stituting Identity, Family, and Human Rights in Argentina”

“On the Malecón: Revolutionary Desires in Late-Socialist Cuba”

“Buddhism Updated: Technology, Technique, and Moral Imagination in Urban Thailand”

“To Not Be Sorry: Citizenship, Moral Life and Biocapitalism in North Carolina Tobacco Country”

“The Pastoral Clinic: Addiction and Absolu­tion Along the Rio Grande”

“Life in Debt: Depression and Survival in Chile’s Market Democracy”

“Consumer Lament: An Ethnographic Study on Consumption, Needs, and Everyday Complaints in Postsocialist Bulgaria”

“The Cultural Encounters in a Chinese Sweatshop: The Transnational Movement of South Korean Enterprises and the Creation of Borderland Factory Regime”

“Journeys into Later Life: Gender and Self-Cultivation in Contemporary Japan”

“Managed Lives: Privatizing Public Health in Puerto Rico”

“Beyond Margins and Center: Reconfiguring Activist Film Production and Consumption in Post-authoritarian South Korea”

“Bastards of Utopia: An Ethnography of Radical Politics After Yugoslav Socialism”

“Restricting the Republic: France, The Veil, and Religious Freedom”

“Beyond Native Place Identity in China: Valu­ation, Agency, and Household Registration in a Beijing Restaurant”

“Cuban Museums and Afro-Cuban Heritage: Fragments and Transition in Daily Life”

“Too Poor to Own: Landlessness and the Poli­tics of Survival in Rural Nepal”

”Not Their Fathers’ Days’: Idioms of Time and Space in the Urban Arabian Gulf ”

“Global Science: The Convergence of Biotech­nology, Capitalism, and National Develop­ment in China”

“Return of Identity: Technology, Memory, and the Recognition of Srebrenica’s Missing”

“Convincing Women: Global Rights, Local Families, and the Moroccan Women’s Rights Movement”

“Fixing the Past: War, Violence, and Habi­tations of Memory in Post-Independence Bangladesh” “O Outro Lado: Candomblé, Psychiatry And Discourse In Bahia, Brazil”

“A Project of Memoreality: Transnational Development and Local Activism Among Rural Women in Nepal”

“Elegy for Luck: Suicide in a County of North China”

“The Stakes of Recognition: Contesting Amer­ican Indian Identity in Connecticut”

“Between Hearth and Celestial Court: Gender and the Politics of Shamanic Practices among the Buriats of Mongolia”

“Inconstant Homelands: Violence, Story­telling, and Community Politics among Kash­miri Hindu Migrants in New Delhi, India”

“Corridors of Peace: Adult commitments to doing good for children in post-apartheid South Africa”

“The People With Two Kings: Space, History, and Mobility in a Malaysian Thai Commu­nity”

“Uneasy Reunions: Chinese Women’s Experi­ences of Immigration and Citizenship in Hong Kong”

“The Return to Los Loros: the story of a new Guatemalan community of returned refugees”

Research Interests of Members of the Department of Anthropology