The First Two Years

Courses

• Most students complete their required coursework during the first two years. It should be completed no later than the end of the third year.
• Each student’s program of study must receive the approval of his or her advisor. The director of graduate studies, wing chair, or department chair may sign a study card when the advisor is absent.
• Students must maintain an overall grade average of B+.
• No grade of Incomplete can be used to fulfill any departmental requirement.
• Students may petition to have any course requirement waived on the basis of prior experience, with the exception of the following: for archaeology students, Anthropology 2070a and 2070b; for biological anthropology students, any of the four designated area courses (see below); for social anthropology students, Proseminar a and Proseminar b.
• Students may petition to have as many as eight graduate-level courses from another university accepted toward fulfillment of their PhD coursework requirements.

ARCHAEOLOGY
• Archaeology PhD students must choose areas of specialization in consultation with their advisors. See “Archaeology” within “Anthropology” under “Program of Study” on the GSAS website for a more detailed presentation of archaeology program objectives and field of student expectations.
• Archaeology PhD students must fulfill the following coursework requirements: Anthropology 2070a: Archaeological Method and Theory; Anthropology 2070b: Case Studies and Research Proposal Preparation; one half-course in human evolution (normally Science B-27); one half-course on Ethnography and Archaeology (e.g., Anthropology 1090) or an appropriate replacement course in social anthropology or in an area studies program; a course in the origins of agriculture (e.g., Anthropology 1040) or on the archaeology of hunting and gathering societies; four half-courses, two each in Old World and New World complex societies; seven half-courses in archaeology or other fields chosen in consultation with the advisor and advisory committee. Students are expected to obtain competence in quantitative methods or computer applications (e.g., GIS) as they relate to the practice of archaeology.
• Courses taken to fulfill the requirements must normally be passed with a grade of B- or better.
• The expectation is that the student will be able to complete the program in six years. Beyond the eighth year of registered graduate study, students are required to withdraw. Students can apply for readmission for the degree the term in which they submit their dissertation.

BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
• Normally, biological anthropology PhD students will take at least eight half-courses in biological anthropology and related areas during their first two years in residence. These will include one course in each of four primary areas: human paleontology, genetics, human biology, and primate behavioral ecology. Courses designated to fulfill each of these areas will be determined by the biological anthropology faculty in September. Students may petition to substitute another area for one of these four primary areas. In addition, students must normally demonstrate knowledge of social anthropology and archaeology equivalent to at least one half-course in each field. Each student’s program of study must receive the approval of his or her advisors.
• Students must acquire both theoretical grounding and technical skills. This means gaining experience with designing research projects, collecting data in the laboratory or field, and analyzing those data. To achieve this, students must take appropriate laboratory courses or undergo training in a field setting, as determined in consultation with the faculty. Competence in statistics is required of all candidates; any coursework necessary to achieve such competence is to be completed by the time of the qualifying examinations. Depending upon the nature of the research to be undertaken for the PhD, the faculty may prescribe further skills, such as fluency in a field language, advanced laboratory skills, or further quantitative skills.

SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY
• The course of study in social anthropology requires a minimum of sixteen half-courses (not including TIME), at least twelve of which must be in anthropology. The twelve required half-courses include the Proseminars, History and Theory of Social Anthropology (2650a and b); a half-course on the ethnography of one’s area of specialization are recommended but not required. A half-course in archaeology and/or a half-course in biological anthropology are recommended but not required. First-year students must attain at least a B+ in each half of the Proseminar.

Language Requirements

• Where appropriate, candidates whose native language is not English may petition theirwing to accept their native language or English as fulfillment of a language requirement.

ARCHAEOLOGY
• 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.

BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
• The language requirement for biological anthropology students is determined on a case-by-case basis. There is no general language requirement. Language training is required when appropriate to a student’s research.

SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY
• Social anthropology students must fulfill both the scholarly language and the field language requirement. All candidates are required to demonstrate competence in one scholarly language other than English. Candidates may petition to offer the major language of documentation in the area where they propose to do fieldwork provided that, in the opinion of the social anthropology wing, there is a sufficient body of social science material available in that language. The first formal language requirement must be met before the student goes into the field. The student’s primary advisor sets the standard required for each language; examiners may be department faculty or other qualified persons.
• Social anthropology PhD candidates are required to demonstrate competence in the language they will need to speak in the field. When it is impossible to learn a field language at Harvard, the candidate must make the arrangements necessary to do so elsewhere. The field language requirement is fulfilled when approved by the student’s advisor. In special circumstances candidates may fulfill this requirement by taking a course in anthropological linguistics, or language and culture.
• During the first year, students must submit a plan indicating how they plan to fulfill the language requirements. These plans will be reviewed by a faculty committee. In all cases, students are strongly encouraged to demonstrate competence in at least two languages other than their native language.

Incompletes
• Incompletes are granted at the discretion of course instructors.
• Students normally may not request Incompletes of instructors who are taking leave during the following academic term.
• Students who are non-resident (traveling scholars or on leave) are subject to the same deadlines as resident students (i.e., Incompletes must be completed during the term following that in which it was taken); otherwise students must petition the GSAS associate dean for student affairs for more time to complete the work.
• Students normally may not take more than one Incomplete in a term. Incompletes in the social anthropology Proseminar or any other course taken in the first year are unacceptable.
• A prolonged record of Incompletes may jeopardize a student’s chances of obtaining teaching fellowships and financial awards in the department.

Master of Arts (AM)

• One terminal AM degree is offered in medical anthropology. (Preference for this program is given to students and practitioners in the health professions.) Students may apply for a non-terminal AM degree en route to the PhD degree.
• Normally, anthropology PhD students may take the non-terminal AM degree in their second year after they have passed the general examinations and fulfilled coursework requirements, except for elective courses. Archaeology and biological anthropology PhD students may apply for the AM after passing eight halfcourses. Social anthropology PhD students must pass the twelve required courses before applying for the AM.
• The terminal AM in medical anthropology requires eight half-courses, including one term of the Proseminar (205), an ethnography course, and three courses in medical anthropology. Only one course may be included that is outside of social
anthropology.
• A thesis is not required for the non-terminal AM degree. A thesis is required for the AM in medical anthropology. It must be read and accepted by two department members.
• All courses offered for the AM must have been passed with a minimum grade of B-. The overall grade average should be at least B+.
• Language requirements need not have been fulfilled.
• A minimum of one year in residence is required.
• For those who do not attain the PhD, a terminal AM degree may be awarded when appropriate.

Teaching

• Graduate students are expected to teach during their careers at Harvard.
• Normally, graduate students do not teach until after they have passed general examinations.
• First-time teaching fellows must participate in the Bok Center teaching orientations.
• As a rule, only graduate students who have completed field work may apply to teach junior tutorials in social anthropology.
• Students in their third and fourth years have priority for teaching fellowship awards.

 

Advising

• Upon admission, students are assigned a faculty advisor or advisors based upon compatibility of research interests (biological anthropology students will be assigned two members of the faculty to act as initial advisors). The advisor(s) typically serve on the student’s dissertation committee.
• The progress of each student will be assessed annually by faculty and this appraisal will be communicated to the student.
• Students may contact the graduate program administrator to address any questions and/or issues related to the advising process.

ARCHAEOLOGY
• 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 five semesters of the student’s academic career.
• The student shall meet with the advisor(s) on a regular basis, minimally at the beginning of each term of residence before submission of the study card. The student shall also 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.

BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
• In the week before fall term begins, first-year students will meet with their assigned faculty advisors in biological anthropology to plan a program of study that takes into account their previous training and current academic interests.

SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY
• First-year students are expected to schedule a meeting with their advisors at least once a term to discuss their progress and to develop a program of study. Students should see the DGS in the absence of faculty on leave; in such instances the DGS serves as the student’s acting advisor.
• A new advisor may be appointed by the chair of the social anthropology wing on the initiative of either the student or the advisor at any time in the course of study. Subsequently, each wing appoints dissertation committees in consultation with graduate students and their advisors. Dissertation committees consist of at least three members. Archaeology and social anthropology dissertation committees must include at least two members of the respective wing. Biological anthropology dissertation committees must include at least one member of the wing and an outside reader, who may be on the Harvard University faculty or from another university. Students in all wings may include readers on their committees who are from other departments or universities, subject to wing approval.

See specific wing sections below for additional information regarding the dissertation committee.

General Examinations

 

ARCHAEOLOGY
• Near the end of the third term of graduate study there will be general examinations. These will comprise 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.

BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
• In conjunction with the four required courses, at least three of which are in the areas of human paleontology, genetics, human biology, and primate behavioral ecology, qualifying examinations will be administered. The respective course instructors will notify students when they pass each qualifying examination, subject to confirmation by the wing.
• In addition, students must submit a draft of a research proposal and take an oral examination.The oral examination is based on the research proposal which students develop in consultation with their advisors. The proposal should be written in the form of a Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Award proposal to the National Science Foundation (NSF). It should be circulated to all wing faculty at least a week before the examination is to occur. Students are expected to fulfill this requirement by the end of their second year in residence. The proposal may serve as a preliminary dissertation prospectus but is not required to do so.
• If the examinations are passed conditionally, or if despite failure, the student is encouraged to continue in the PhD program, the biological anthropology faculty will determine a program the student must complete within a specified period of time in order to become a candidate in the department. This program may involve further coursework, papers, and/or special examinations in specific areas of weakness, or the candidate may be required to retake the examinations. Failure to pass the qualifying examinations can be grounds for dismissal from the graduate program.

SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY
• Social anthropology PhD candidates are required to take a written examination toward the end of their third term of study. A satisfactory performance on this examination is required of all candidates before they may continue their PhD work. A reading list intended as a basic guide for this general examination is available from the social anthropology graduate program assistant.

The Dissertation

The Dissertation Prospectus

• Approval of a dissertation prospectus, including any revisions, is expected by the end of the sixth term in residence; failure to gain approval by the end of the seventh term may be grounds for dismissal from the program.

ARCHAEOLOGY
• Archaeology Special Examination. After the general examinations, and normally near the end of the sixth term, the student will take an oral examination relating to the dissertation prospectus. 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. Normally, no candidate may submit an application to a funding source outside of Harvard University for either field or other research funding for dissertation preparation until this examination has been passed.
• Archaeology Dissertation Prospectus. A dissertation topic is developed in consultations among the student, the principal advisor, and other appropriate scholars. The dissertation prospectus comprises a proposal for carrying out 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 how the student intends to address them. It normally should be no longer than twenty 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. 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.

BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
• After completion of the qualifying examinations the candidate, in consultation with the advisors, will select a dissertation topic. The faculty will then designate a dissertation prospectus committee of at least three members, normally at least two of whom shall be members of the Department of Anthropology.
• The candidate will submit to this committee a prospectus that embodies the general planning of the work and shows what contribution it will make to the field. The prospectus should give a concise statement of the problems being studied or hypotheses tested and a description of the manner in which the field or laboratory investigation will be carried out. The prospectus should conform to the format and length of an NSF Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Award application. Ideally, the prospectus will also be a grant application. The readers will be determined by the faculty. The candidate will meet with the dissertation prospectus committee to discuss the prospectus and consider any necessary revisions, including the possibility that an alternate prospectus would be required.

SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY
• 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; 4) demonstrate familiarity with the appropriate research methods. It should not exceed twenty to thirty pages (bibliography not included). A final draft of the prospectus should be distributed to all committee members a minimum of two weeks before the prospectus defense. The prospectus will not be formally accepted until and unless all Human Subjects procedures have been formally initiated. The dissertation prospectus shall be presented no later than the end of the third year.

The Dissertation and Defense

• All anthropology PhD candidates must pass a public PhD dissertation defense.
• A complete draft of the dissertation must be received by all members of the dissertation committee at least one month before the dissertation defense, which must be passed at least one month before the dissertation is due at the Registrar’s office. The candidate may have to advance this due date for readers outside the Boston area.
• PhD dissertation manuscripts must conform to the requirements outlined in The Form of the PhD Dissertation.
• Failure to meet wing deadlines for completion may constitute grounds for dismissal from the program. Students may apply for readmission to the graduate program through the Graduate School. Readmitted students may be required to retake the special examination in archaeology or the general examination in biological or social anthropology.

ARCHAEOLOGY
• The 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 examination of the candidate by the dissertation committee at least two months before the dissertation is due at the Registrar’s office and 2) an oral presentation for a general audience, including other faculty members one month before that due date. Only after successful completion of the defense and only 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.
• 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 (see above).

BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
• An approved dissertation is normally expected by the end of the twelfth term after entry into the graduate program. The dissertation committee will be composed of at least three readers. At least one reader will be a member of the biological anthropology faculty, and at least one reader will normally be outside that faculty. A complete 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; the candidate may well have to advance this due date for readers outside the Boston area. The text of the dissertation, exclusive of charts, figures, and appendices, may not exceed 250 typewritten pages.
• The dissertation defense consists of an oral presentation for a general audience followed by an oral examination attended by the dissertation committee and other interested faculty. Only after successful completion of this examination and the incorporation of any revisions required by the dissertation committee may a candidate’s dissertation be approved for submission to the registrar.
• A complete draft of the dissertation must be submitted within five years after passing the qualifying examinations, and the dissertation approved within six years of passing those examinations.

SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY
• The PhD dissertation should normally fall between 300 and 400 pages in length. Given that most reputable academic publishers will not consider unrevised dissertations for publication, students are encouraged to anticipate revision by aiming to stay at or below this optimal length. Any student expecting to defend a dissertation of more than 450 pages should petition for the prior agreement of the wing, which will base its decision on the student’s research committee’s evaluation and other relevant information.
• The dissertation committee will review the dissertation and decide when it is ready for defense. The PhD will be awarded when candidates pass the defense.
• The public defense lasts approximately two hours. It begins with a short (fifteen to twenty minute) presentation by the candidate. Committee members then question the candidate. A more general discussion with other social wing faculty, graduate students, and other attendees follows.
• Normally, a complete draft of the dissertation must be submitted within five years after entering the program (exclusive of the time required to complete fieldwork). Students entering their seventh year (exclusive of the time required to complete fieldwork) must submit a letter to the wing requesting an extension of this time limit.