cultural anthropology phd programs online

2024 Best Online PhD in Anthropology [Doctorate Guide]

Earning a PhD in Anthropology is a rewarding opportunity for any individual who has a deep interest in learning about and exploring different cultures and communities.

Anthropologists are often observant, using their research and data analysis skills to make discoveries about historical societies or solve problems related to areas like health or education.

Editorial Listing ShortCode:

Completing an advanced degree demonstrates tenacity and a strong commitment to education. It can also help you advance your professional qualifications and opportunities.

Universities Offering Online Doctorate in Anthropology Degree Program

Methodology: The following school list is in alphabetical order. To be included, a college or university must be regionally accredited and offer degree programs online, part-time, or in a hybrid format.

California Institute of Integral Studies

The California Institute of Integral Studies offers an online PhD in Anthropology program that aims to develop graduates who are activist-scholars ready to make a difference in the world. The program emphasizes global social movements and different theoretical perspectives. Students usually spend at least 3 years on coursework and must also complete a dissertation.

CIIS is accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission.

Pennsylvania State University

Pennsylvania State University offers a PhD in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in Social Studies Education. Courses are offered both on campus and online. The program is intended for students who have at least 2 years of experience with classroom teaching.

The Pennsylvania State University is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.

The New School

The New School offers a PhD in Anthropology. New students may begin every fall. Students must complete 30 credits of coursework beyond a 30 credit MA, for a total of 60 credits. They must also pass a qualifying exam and successfully defend a dissertation. The curriculum covers history, ethnography, foreign language study, and more.

The New School is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.

University of Arizona

The University of Arizona offers a Doctor of Philosophy in Human Services that can be earned online through its global campus. Courses are delivered in accelerated 6 or 9 week terms and taken just one course at a time. Students usually spend 3 years completing coursework and then spend a fourth year working on a dissertation.

The University of Arizona is accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission.

PhD in Anthropology Online Programs

As a whole, anthropology is the study of human culture and communities throughout history. The field of anthropology consists of four traditional subfields: social or cultural anthropology, archaeology, biological anthropology, and linguistic anthropology.

Anthropology doctoral programs are typically open to candidates from a wide range of undergraduate- and graduate-level disciplines. While you can certainly hold a bachelors or masters degree in anthropology to be eligible for a PhD program, many schools also accept students with a background in geography, sociology, history, biology, or education.

Doctorate-level coursework in anthropology will vary by concentration, but course topics will typically include:

• Research design
• History of anthropological theory
• Archaeological data analysis
• Language in culture
• Archaeological writing
• Human origins

In addition to the required courses for your specific subdiscipline, most doctoral programs include a dissertation requirement. This is an opportunity for you to conduct research into an area of your choosing. Many programs also ask that you defend your work in front of a panel as the culminating piece of your studies.

A PhD in Anthropology can not only prepare you for applied professions in the subject area but can also be a way to establish a career in academia. Many graduates with a doctorate in anthropology go on to become:

• Research associates
• Market research analysts
• Anthropologists
• Archaeologists
• Postsecondary teachers
• Museum workers
• Sociologists

Because it’s an interdisciplinary field of study, a doctoral degree in anthropology is applicable to a diverse array of industries and professional positions.

Common Anthropology Doctorate Concentrations

There are many available concentrations offered between anthropological doctorate programs. Selecting a concentration can allow you to align your anthropology doctorate degree with your interests and career goals.

PhD Programs in Archaeology

A concentration in archaeology will provide the opportunity to study the material relics left behind by past communities and societies.

Through the examination of these artifacts, you can learn about the cultures and rituals of past peoples. Most programs also allow you to choose a specific time period on which to focus your research.

PhD Programs in Biological Anthropology

The subfield of biological anthropology examines the ways in which human behavior is impacted and shaped by biology. You’ll study and make comparisons between present day humans and their ancestors.

Graduates from this area of anthropology often find careers in primatology or paleoanthropology, but they may also work in education or crime scene analysis.

PhD Programs in Cultural Anthropology

Cultural anthropology PhD programs focus on studying diverse cultural communities around the globe. Students may explore how issues related to government policy and environmental change can impact individuals and their communities.

Cultural anthropologists can find work in a number of professional positions. For instance, they may become social service leaders or researchers.

PhD Programs in Linguistic Anthropology

The study of human language is at the center of a program in linguistic anthropology. You can learn to gather, analyze, and interpret data related to the ways in which humans use language in their day-to-day lives.

Changes to language over time and the way it influences human behavior will also be explored.

Anthropology Careers & Salaries

Anthropology is an interdisciplinary field, so you will likely receive training and education in each of the four subfields. You will also study significant work in other disciplines, such as history.

Because of the interdisciplinary nature of a doctorate in anthropology, you may find yourself prepared for work in many industries. The professional opportunities that open up for you will also be influenced by the concentration you choose and the doctoral program you attend.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics , here are some anthropological career paths and their accompanying median salaries.

Earning a PhD in Anthropology can be applicable in many industries, including academia, social sciences, and research and development. A PhD does not guarantee a specific professional position or salary, though.

The jobs available for an anthropologist may vary depending on your geographical location, chosen area of study, and previous work experience.

Anthropology Doctorate Curriculum & Courses

Doctoral courses in anthropology will differ based on your chosen university and selected area of study. Here are some examples, though, of common courses:

• Research Design : In this course, you’ll learn how to develop an original research project, studying topics like data management, research design, and proposals.
• History of Anthropological Theory : This course examines the discipline of anthropology through the political, social, and historical trends that have influenced prominent theories.
• Archaeological Data Analysis : You’ll learn how to analyze archaeological data, exploring topics such as descriptive and inferential statistics, excavation of material remains, and presentation of findings.
• Language in Culture : An examination of the connection between language and culture, this course takes an in-depth look at different cultural and linguistic systems.
• Archaeological Writing : This course is intended to teach the research and writing skills necessary to share findings and knowledge in the field of archaeology.
• Human Origins : Also known as paleoanthropology, this course focuses on the history of human development from a biological standpoint, including topics like evolution, scientific method, and primates.
• Archaeology of Political Systems : This course explores political systems throughout history, focusing on the ways in which different trends and beliefs transformed or created these systems.
• Social Organization : In this course, you’ll have the opportunity to study the different social organizations within communities, such as families, ethnic groups, political parties, and states.
• History of Disease : This course explores the ways in which disease has impacted human communities throughout history.
• Ethnographic Research : You’ll read different ethnographic texts and cover topics that are important in describing the history and cultures of different peoples, such as research ethics, narrative ethnography, and art-based ethnographic methods.

In addition to these courses, most PhD programs include a dissertation requirement. This is an opportunity for you to put your research and analysis skills into use as you delve into an anthropological topic of your choosing.

Admissions Requirements

Most colleges and universities require a small application fee in addition to a range of materials that demonstrate your academic prowess and personal accomplishments. You may be asked to submit:

• GRE or GMAT scores (only if required)
• Statement of purpose
• Resume or CV
• Letters of recommendation
• College transcripts

Many doctoral programs are also smaller than their undergraduate- and masters-level counterparts. As a result, admission to some doctoral programs can be more competitive. You can use your application as a way to emphasize the areas of research you are excited about and to highlight the professional work that supports your academic goals.

Anthropology PhD Programs Accreditation

Just as with earning a master’s in anthropology online , if you are hoping to receive financial aid, stand out to employers after graduation, or obtain a valid degree, it is necessary to enroll in an online PhD in Anthropology program at a regionally accredited school .

Colleges and universities can elect to undergo the accreditation review process. A team of internal and external members then assess the educational programs and student services offered. Using predetermined guidelines, team members ensure that everything from facilities to curriculum meet the national standards for quality.

Verifying the accreditation status of each prospective school can ensure that you attend an institution that’s equipped to help you reach your goals.

Financial Aid and Scholarships

Finding the right financial aid program for your needs can help you attend the doctoral program of your choice. Completing the FAFSA allows you to see all the different federal financial aid opportunities you are eligible for. This aid generally comes in several forms, including grants, work-study programs, and student loans.

Eligibility for federal aid is determined by factors such as your level of financial need, citizenship status, and academic performance. In addition to federal aid, you can also apply for available scholarship opportunities. Each school offers their own unique scholarship programs to students who are currently enrolled.

Doctoral students may apply for fellowships or graduate assistantships as well. There are also scholarships offered by companies and organizations outside of specific colleges or universities.

What Can I Do with a PhD in Anthropology?

A PhD in Anthropology is often necessary for careers in research and academia. Equipped with data analysis skills, some graduates go on to become postsecondary teachers or researchers.

Other common career paths include sociologist, historian, and archaeologist. Some professionals in this field also work as social workers and epidemiologists. Regardless of the anthropology career that you choose to pursue, you may have the opportunity to contribute findings to the overall understanding of human culture and communities.

How Long Does a PhD in Anthropology Take Online?

A PhD generally takes 3 to 5 years to complete, depending on the number of credit hours required. How long it takes a student to complete their dissertation can also extend the timeline for degree completion by a significant amount.

Some doctorate programs do not have a dissertation requirement. If no dissertation is required, a doctoral program can generally be completed in 3 years with full-time study. External and personal factors, such as professional or familial obligations, can also impact the length of time it takes to complete a doctorate degree.

Do You Need a Masters to Get a PhD in Anthropology?

While most doctoral anthropology programs require applicants to hold a master’s degree, there are always exceptions.

Some colleges and universities choose to accept students that demonstrate outstanding work and vision in their undergraduate studies. Your previous degree can generally be in any number of fields since anthropology encompasses many disciplines. For instance, applicants may have a degree in anthropology, history, education, or environmental science.

Criteria for admission does vary between schools, so it’s beneficial to check the specific guidelines for your schools of interest prior to applying.

Is a Ph.D. in Anthropology Worth It?

Yes, a Ph.D. in Anthropology is worth it for many professionals. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, many careers in the field of anthropology are growing at a rate that’s on pace with the national average. For instance, anthropologists and archaeologists are experiencing employment growth at a rate of 7% over the next ten years.

A doctorate program in anthropology also provides ample flexibility, allowing you to select a subdiscipline of interest. This can help you remain engaged as you conduct the research for your dissertation, and it can help prepare you for specialized job opportunities in the future.

Getting Your PhD in Anthropology Online

A doctorate in anthropology degree program can help you develop your research, data analysis, and communication skills.

Not only can you become an expert in a topic of your choosing, but you can also strengthen your understanding of human diversity. This knowledge can help you be an effective leader and team member in any industry. You can start exploring accredited universities today to find the online anthropology PhD program that best aligns with your personal and professional goals.

Also, when choosing your anthropology degree online program, considering which subfields of anthropology interest you the most can help you narrow down your potential schools.

• Skip to Main
• Join Our Mailing Lists
• Archive and Image Gallery
• Statement on Anti-Racism
• Office Hours & Directory
• Administrative Resources
• Open Faculty Position
• Administration and Staff
• Graduate Students
• Current Students in the Major
• Adjunct Faculty
• Affiliated Faculty
• Global Faculty
• Retired and Emeritus Faculty
• Postdoctoral Scholars
• Visiting Scholars
• In Memoriam
• FAQs for Undergraduates
• CAS Minor in Archaeology
• Course Offerings
• Anthropology Abroad
• Undergraduate Awards and Honors
• UG Student Association
• Diversity, Support, and Outreach
• Resources and Careers
• Internships and Independent Studies
• NYU Anthro Grad Central
• MS in Human Skeletal Biology
• PhD Programs
• Program in Culture and Media
• Fellowship Directory
• Graduate Student Honors and Awards
• Documentaries and Theses
• Graduate Student Forms
• Graduate Program Handbooks
• FAQs for Prospective Grad Students
• Spring 2024
• Spring 2023
• Spring 2022
• Spring 2021
• Spring 2020
• Spring 2019
• Spring 2018

Cultural Anthropology at NYU

Cultural anthropologists in the department share a belief that study and research must be firmly grounded in rigorous training in general social and cultural theory, both in contemporary writings and in the classics of anthropology and sociology. The faculty also believes that basic ethnography remains the cornerstone on which all cultural anthropology rests and are concerned with the representation of anthropological knowledge in writing and film. There is a commitment to an understanding of complex societies that is informed by a comparative perspective and knowledge of smaller-scale settings. Recent field research by faculty and students has been conducted in East and West Africa, North and South America (including research among Native Americans), Australia, the Caribbean, China, Eastern and Western Europe, Melanesia, the Middle East, Polynesia, South Asia, and the former Soviet Union. Faculty interests converge around gender relations, emotion, religion and belief systems, expressive culture and performance, the anthropology of history, colonialism and post-colonial nationalism, the cultural context of legal and political institutions, transnational processes, and urban life. Much faculty research focuses on the mediation of identities though popular and public cultural forms - such as art, television, indigenous media, urban space, regional cultures, and ideologies of language use - in a variety of changing social contexts.

Sociocultural Anthropology Mission Statement

Sociocultural anthropology, which we understand to include linguistic anthropology, is concerned with the problem of difference and similarity within and between human populations. The discipline arose concomitantly with the expansion of European colonial empires, and its practices and theories have been questioned and reformulated along with processes of decolonization. Such issues have re-emerged as transnational processes have challenged the centrality of the nation-state to theorizations about culture and power. New challenges have emerged as public debates about multiculturalism, and the increasing use of the culture concept outside of the academy and among peoples studied by anthropology. These are not "business-as-usual" times in the academy, in anthropology, or in the world, if ever there were such times. Questions about cultural processes and theorizing about "human nature" escape the boundaries of anthropology as a discipline. The major paradigms framing cultural difference and human universals are profoundly contested; migrations, political collapses and social reorganizations transform the context in which the production of cultural meanings and theories of culture have been embedded and reproduced. For many of us, this is a moment in which it is necessary to take up the sort of broad challenges with which our disciplinary predecessors struggled -- to redefine the field of inquiry and research in relation to debates that have enormous significance in our own lives and those of the people we study. Like our colleagues elsewhere, we are working to place contemporary social anthropological practice in the cross-currents of a burgeoning interest in culture and cultural differences. This is part of the changing historical conditions of the analysis of cultural practice in anthropology, shaped by a shifting of boundaries between those who study and those who are the objects of study, as well as the reorganization of disciplines and their location in the world. Our collective enterprise is to help make an anthropology that grapples with the changing situations of contemporary life. The worlds in which we work, both inside the academic institution and outside, demand more than ever a rethinking of basic concepts and methods and formulation of research projects to engage a range of changing ethnographic objects. At NYU there has been extraordinary cooperation in engaging with these issues, reformulating anthropological traditions of study in order to conceive new problems and comprehend changing circumstances in the world outside the academy. However much anthropology might need to be transformed in the light of criticism, what holds us together is a firm grounding in the traditions and methods of the field focusing on two key disciplinary commitments. The first is the commitment to "fieldwork" -- a coeval presence with social actors -- as a way of challenging one's embeddedness in systems of theoretical knowledge. We recognize the need to retheorize this kind of practice, but continue to regard it as the foundation of anthropological knowledge. The second commitment is to the study of cultural processes and practices through which human action is individually and collectively mediated -- that is, to the study of people doing things, of action and practices, rather than the study of culture as an object. Our interest is in how actors (or agents) constitute themselves and organize social life with particular attention to material culture, performance, and expressive media. Some of us began our research careers with ethnography in small-scale societies, but we all recognize the difficulty of any anthropological project now that would disregard the way such social worlds are embedded in economic, political, and cultural processes of a larger order. The shared project of the sociocultural faculty concerns the problems of how to develop an anthropological approach to such complex sociocultural phenomena. There has clearly been a movement among students and faculty to pursue research at the level of what are commonly known as "complex societies," and especially an interest in the development of anthropological approaches to the study of ‘Western’ society (France, Spain, the U.S.), but we are deeply committed to the view that such study should be informed by a comparative perspective and the knowledge of small-scale societies developed within anthropology. The faculty believes that basic ethnography remains the cornerstone on which all cultural anthropology rests; that study and research must be firmly grounded in rigorous training in general social and cultural theory, both in contemporary writings and in the classics of anthropology and sociology; and that we need to examine what is at stake in representations of anthropological knowledge in writing and media. A distinctive emphasis has emerged in this department around the study of "cultural mediations": religion, ritual, language, art, poetry, indigenous and mass media, music, and cultural spectacles -- as they mediate social relations at many levels of social action. Faculty interests fall into three interrelated configurations. The first concerns the study of a range of signifying practices--language, emotion and personhood, art and material culture, media, museums, music and popular culture, religion and ritual, and history and "social memory." These interests intersect with a second configuration around urban space, nationalism, historical processes, cultural policy, language ideology, social movements, and transnational processes such as migration, the circulation and consumption of cultural capital, and tourism. Faculty and student research that has focused on the mediation of national, diasporic, and indigenous identities through popular and public cultural forms in a variety of changing social contexts has brought many of us to participate in both of these configurations. The development of the Program in Culture and Media -- with its rigorous training in theory, production, and ethnography of media -- has been a particularly vital component of this configuration, as a site for rethinking the relationships among different kinds of cultural production. A third configuration is now being developed by several faculty in Medical Anthropology and Science Studies. Ongoing research projects are examining the intersection of reproductive technologies and the medicalization of social practices; the construction of genetic knowledge in labs, clinics, and genetic support groups; the social construction of diagnoses of emotion-related disorders and their relationship to the production of psychotropic drugs; ways in which social formations come to grips with the revolution in genetics and the effects of the production and dissemination of new scientific knowledge; and the remaking of the public sphere -- from policy to social movements -- as new media, information technologies and neo-liberal economies transform these arenas. Crosscutting all of these configurations is a record of strength and continuing work in linguistic anthropology, feminist anthropology and gender and sexuality studies. Departmental emphases draw on the great benefits that come from being at a large, first-rate urban university. We have important cross-disciplinary formations in area studies (the Institute of French Studies, The Center for Caribbean and Latin American Studies, the Kevorkian Center and Middle East Studies, Africana Studies, Asian/Pacific American Studies, American Studies, and East Asian Studies) as well as in other areas including our collaborative arrangements with Cinema Studies and the Film School; Museum Studies; Linguistics; and the Institute for the History of the Production of Knowledge--giving students access to a broad range of expertise.

Special Resources and Facilities in Sociocultural Anthropology

The Annette B. Weiner Fellowship in Cultural Anthropology supports ethnographic fieldwork by graduate students in the Department of Anthropology. The fellowship carries on the inspiration and dedication that Annette Weiner gave to the field of anthropology, so that her vision will be carried forward to the next generation. Applications for the fellowship are invited each April. Doctoral students who anticipate doing socio-cultural or linguistic fieldwork in the upcoming year and who wish to be considered should normally submit a recent example of a fieldwork grant application. Post-Master's preliminary fieldwork applications will be considered, but on a lesser order of priority.

Jane E Anderson   Research/Interest: Property law (spec. intellectual property) and the cultural life of law; coloniality and colonial governance; critical indigenous studies; Indigenous rights and sovereignty; museum studies; repatriation and digital return; cultural property; heritage studies; international organizations; institutional policy; cultural protocols; applied anthropology; transformative practice and ethical frameworks for social change. Americas, South East Asia, Pacific.

Sean Brotherton   Research/Interest: Anthropology of medicine, science, technology, and the body; social theory; subjectivity and health; humanitarianism; post-coloniality/decoloniality; governmentality; theories of post-/socialism; psychoanalysis/psychological anthropology; Latin America and the Caribbean.

Aimee Cox    Research/Interest: Urban and rural United States, performance ethnography; dance studies; critical race theory; embodiment and spatiality; youth cultural production; longitudinal ethnography.

Ethiraj Gabriel Dattatreyan Research/Interest: media anthropology; visual ethnography; critical digital studies; popular culture; youth cultural production; masculinities; urban studies; Afro-Asian interactions; histories and practices of radical education.

Arlene Dávila Research/Interest: comparative race/ethnic studies, media studies; political economy, globalization; visual culture, urban studies; consumption; Latinos in the U.S., Latino/Latin American studies. 

Tejaswini Ganti   Research/Interest: Anthropology of Media, Media Industries, Production Cultures, Political Economy, Visual Anthropology/Visual Culture, Cultural Policy, Nationalism, Capitalism, Neoliberalism, Globalization, Postcolonial Theory, Indian Cinema, South Asia

Faye Ginsburg   Research/Interest: Social anthropology; ethnographic film; ethnography of media; indigenous media; social movements in the United States; Disability.

Bruce Grant   Research/Interest: Former Soviet Union, Siberia, the Caucasus; cultural history and politics; religion.

Aisha Khan   Research/Interest: Caribbean, Latin America, race and ethnicity, religion (particularly obeah, Islam, Afro-Atlantic religions), theory and method in diaspora studies, creolization

Fred R. Myers   Research/Interest: Indigenous people and politics, Aboriginal Australia; exchange theory and material culture; anthropology of art and contemporary artworlds; the production and circulation of culture; in identity and personhood; theories of value and practices of signification

Elayne Oliphant   Research/Interest: Christianity; secularism; critical approaches to the study of religion; visual anthropology; public space; France; Europe; contemporary art; museums; capitalism; xenophobia and privilege

Maryani Rasidjan Research/Interest: Reproductive health, race and racialization, indigeneity, community health workers, science and technology, West Papua, Indonesia.

Amy Zhang Research Interest: Environmental anthropology, waste, material culture, science and technology, urban studies, development, China. 

Angela Zito   Research/Interest: Cultural history/historical anthropology; critical theories of religion; religions of China; filaility in China; religion and media; history and anthropology of embodiment; gender; performance and subjectivity; documentary film.

Quick Links

What are you looking for, suggested searches.

• Academic Programs
• Community Health Clinics

Department of Anthropology & Social Change

Renowned for its focus on activist research, anarchist anthropology, and social justice.

In this Section

CIIS’ Anthropology and Social Change department is renowned for its focus on activist research, non-hierarchical communities, and social justice.

Our programs reflect an integration of social, political, economic, and environmental issues. Rather than analyzing them separately, these themes are approached as united. Our learning community is a convivial space where we consider social movement histories and create a shared understanding of how to consider these movements. Scholars and activists together engage in the learning process, inspired by an extensive and positive history of education amongst modern and cost-free schools and universities.

Queering Motherhood: Dr. Talia Molé on inquiry and finding community

Work That Matters with Talia Molé

“We are at a moment in time when we have the ability to reimagine our narratives.” Talia Molé (she/her), Ph.D., MFT Anthropology and Social Change Alumna. Dr. Molé shares her co-research on queering the model of the mother.

The Anthropology and Social Change department at CIIS offers degrees that emphasize activism and social justice through scholarship. With so many crises around the globe, systematic research of utopian alternatives are more necessary now than ever. We engage in the process of co-research to explore existing alternatives and possibilities for social change. This process dissolves traditional barriers between research and political activism, creating instead an opportunity for co-learning and mutual support. We believe in reciprocal learning and teaching with communities of praxis. We teach activist media and organizing skills according to decolonial, postcapitalist, and radical models, and our students graduate ready to bring about positive change in their communities.

Our Programs

Our programs reflect an integration of social, political, economic, and environmental themes and issues. Instead of analyzing them separately, we treat these themes as interconnected.

M.A. in Anthropology and Social Change - A community-centered, social justice-informed, two-year online master's degree for anthropology scholars.

Ph.D. in Anthroplogy and Social Change - A doctoral degree centered in counter-hegemonic and liberatory principles.

Faculty Research and Scholarship

Our faculty have a wide range of research interests that include urban social movements, agri-food studies, politics and filmmaking, post-structuralist philosophy, gender equality, forced migration and refugees, radical oral history, and psychoanalytic time.

Who Is Wellness For?

In her latest book Who Is Wellness For? Fariha Róisín explores the ways in which the progressive health industry has appropriated and commodified global healing traditions. Listen to this engaging conversation with professor Targol Mesbah that explores the commodification and appropriation of wellness through the lens of social justice and provides resources to help anyone participate in self-care regardless of race, identity, socioeconomic status, or able-bodiedness.

In Praise of Agnotology: The Politics of Knowledge in Democratic Modernity

In this talk at the Network Alternative Quest in Hamburg, professor and chair Andrej Grubacic explores the social and political significance of Agnotology, or the science of (politically and socially constructed) ignorance in the history of capitalist modernity.

On the Future of Disability Lineage

In this conversation autistic Mestiza, disability studies scholar-activist, and Anthropology and Social Change alumna, Sara M. Acevedo joins author of the recent book All Our Families, Jennifer Natalya Fink, to challenge us to reconnect disability within the family as a means of repair toward a more inclusive and flexible structure of care and community.

Our courses are taught in a synchronous format with live zoom lectures. This allows our department to maintain an in-person community feel while staying online.

Worker cooperatives in Oakland, social centers in Italy, autonomous systems of justice in Guerrero, community gardens in Detroit, occupied self-managed factories in Argentina, "good government" of the Zapatistas, buenvivir (good life) and plurinationalism in Bolivia, participatory democracy in Kerala, solidarity economics of Mondragon, participatory economics in Winnipeg, pedagogy of the block in African-American communities, alternative environmentalism in Afro-Colombian river regions, legal pluralism, autonomy of migration, marginalized medical practices in South Asia, solidarity unionism in New York City, communal agriculture in Malawi, shack dweller democracy in South Africa, Copwatch in LA, biodiversity in Brazil, restorative justice in Ohio, knowledge commons and globalization, independent media, and autonomous food systems in Japan, are some examples of prefigurative cultures. There are so many more, and one of the responsibilities of our students is to discover them.

Students will work with some of the most prominent activists in the San Francisco Bay Area, as well as with core faculty from the department and the University. In this process of encounter and co-learning, students and faculty are expected to share ideas, debates, and practices of radical politics and social movements, as well as practical skills in research, organizing, campaigning, policy analysis, legal and environmental work, and activist media.

We offer several forms of convivia, or convivial spaces of knowledge communication:

• Insight/Incite: Our participatory cinema monthly event, in collaboration with Sherman Street Cinema.
• Political Laboratory: Held once each semester as a weekend-long convivial encounter of local or international scholars working on a particular project, students, and selected participants from the local community. Together they think collectively about a particular idea, book, concept, or project.
• Autonomous Classroom: An experimental class created convivially by M.A. and Ph.D. students, a class where the world is turned upside down, students become teachers, teachers become students, and all graduate students autonomously design a class that they teach and self-manage over the course of one semester.
• Guerrilla Workshop: An improvised event-space where students, faculty, or students and faculty, present on their current work. This includes papers to be presented at various conferences, report backs from academic or activist events, and dialogues relevant to anthropology, social justice, and critical theory.
• Dialogues and Interrogations: Instead of interrogating people, in this public convivia, coordinated by Sasha Lilley, we interrogate ideas. This takes form in a bi-monthly conversation between activist journalists and prominent organizers and activist intellectuals.
• Nomadic Cafe: Where we have nomadic discussions on spaces, places, and non-spaces.

In the past number of years, the Anthropology and Social Change Department signed specific agreements defining collaboration between a number of outstanding programs.

• Rojava University, the main University in the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria (Kurdish). Rojava University was established in 2016 as part of a new experiment in higher education called "perwerde" in Kurdish meaning, teaching while learning and learning while teaching. This partnership greatly enhances the ongoing development of our own pedagogical approach. 
• School of Social Innovation,  St Paul University in Ottawa. The Élisabeth-Bruyère School of Social Innovation is the first school of social innovation in Canada. Its approach to social innovation is clear: its objective must be social transformation. Its pedagogical approach is founded on practical engagement, block-style teaching, and integration with the Mauril-Bélanger Social Innovation Workshop.
• Our program has signed a specific agreement defining a collaboration with the Graduate Department of Sociology , part of the  Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences  at the Autonomous University of Puebla (BUAP); it is one of the finest social movement, critical theory-based programs in Latin America. Students in our program who are fluent in Spanish will have the option to continue their doctoral studies in Puebla's flagship social science department. The Institute is a home to some of the most significant theorists and social scientists from Latin America, including Raquel Gutierrez Aguilar, John Holloway, and Sergio Tischler. The agreement includes fellowships, faculty and student exchange opportunities, and many other exciting collaborative projects. For more information about this study opportunity, please contact us at [email protected] for more information.

Additionally, Anthropology and Social Change is now a member of the HAU Network of Ethnographic Theory (the HAU-N.E.T.). HAU is an international network of research centers and anthropology departments working together to support HAU's flagship journal and its innovative book series. For a list of current HAU-N.E.T. institutions, visit the  HAU Network website.

CIIS Internal Scholarships

CIIS Diversity Scholarships : $5,000, $10,000 and $12,500 annual levels. Awarded based on a combination of need and merit, to foster diversity in CIIS. Application deadline April-July.

CIIS Angeles Arrien Scholarship : $2,500 annually, with priority to Anthropology students. For preservation of Cultural Heritage, Multi-Cultural Bridging and Collaborative Efforts, Elder Support, and Youth Support. Application deadline May.

Activist Scholarships

Davis-Putter Scholarship Fund : Up to $15,000 annually. Application deadline April.  

Horowitz Foundation For Social Policy Awards : $10,000. Application deadline December.  

Diversity Scholarships

Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans : Up to $15,000 annually. For migrants and children of migrants. Application deadline October.

Ford Foundation : $28,000. Diversity scholarship supporting Ph.D. students in their final year of dissertation writing. Application deadline December.

Sigma Xi : $500-$5,000. For diversity in scientific research. Application deadlines March and October.

Travel and Language

Boren Fellowships : Up to $25,000. For immersive training in “critical languages” at any level of proficiency. Application deadline January.

Fulbright : Huge range of scholarships in different regions and at different levels. Amounts and deadlines vary.  

Marshall Scholarship : For fully funded study in the UK, recommended for our M.A. graduates looking to do doctoral work at London School of Economics or other British institution. Application deadline September.

Dissertation Funding

AAUW – American Fellowships for Women : $25,000. Fellowship supports women scholars who are pursuing full-time study to complete dissertations. Application opens August 1. Deadline is November. 

Charlotte W. Newcomb : Up to $31,000. For the final year of Ph.D. work in religion and ethics. Application deadline November.

Spencer Foundation : $27,000. For dissertation writing. Application deadline October.

Wenner-Gren : $25,000. Dissertation fieldwork grant. Application deadline May 1. 

Wenner-Gren : $25,000. Engaged research grant. Application deadline August 1.

HFG Emerging Scholars : $25,000. Dissertation writing (post fieldwork and research). Application deadline February 1.

Lewis and Clark Fund for Exploration and Field Research : Up to $5,000. Exploratory field studies for the collection of data. Application deadline November.

International

AAUW – International Fellowships for Women : $20,000 - 25,000. International fellowship for women pursuing full-time graduate or post-graduate study in the United States who are not U.S. citizens or permanent residents, and who intend to return to their home country to pursue a professional career. Application opens August 1. Deadline is November 15.

The  Angeles Arrien Scholarship Fund  was established in memory of Angeles Arrien, Ph.D., to celebrate her life work and commitment to peace. The scholarship is awarded to two CIIS students in the Anthropology and Social Change program whose graduate work is relevant to one of the four key areas of emphasis:

• Preservation of Cultural Heritage: Supports ceremonial space, creative arts, education, healing arts, language & oral tradition, and environment.
• Multi-Cultural Bridging and Collaborative Efforts: Supports projects between countries, generations, professions, and faiths.
• Elder Support: Honors elders as invaluable mentors and wisdom-keepers; supports dissemination of perennial wisdoms.
• Youth Support: Fosters the development of emerging leaders, educational opportunities, character development, and peace practices.

Angeles Arrien was a cultural anthropologist, award-winning author, educator, and consultant to many organizations and businesses. Among her many achievements, she co-founded the Anthropology program at CIIS. Throughout her lifetime she lectured and conducted workshops worldwide, bridging cultural anthropology, psychology, and comparative religions; she contributed many practices from perennial wisdom to medical, academic, and corporate environments. She was the founder and president of the Foundation for Cross-Cultural Education and Research. Her books were translated into thirteen languages and she received three honorary doctorate degrees in recognition of her work in the world. 

The Angeles Arrien Scholarship is open to all current M.A. and Ph.D. Anthropology and Social Change students in good academic standing, and also to students who have been admitted to either the M.A. or Ph.D. program in Anthropology and Social Change within the award year. All applicants must have demonstrated financial need. Applicants will submit an application stating how their research and professional interests support one of the four areas of emphasis. A faculty selection committee will make the final award decision. The annual awards will be between $2,500 and $5,000 each. International students and applicants are eligible to apply. Please email us at [email protected] for details and deadlines.

Our department's founding chair, Andrej Grubačić serves as editor for the Journal of World-Systems Research , a biannual peer-review academic journal with a 25-year history, which was also one of the early adopters of an online, open-access format.

Our department regularly hosts lectures, conferences, and workshops on a variety of social justice issues that bring together scholars, activists and artists, both local and international. A one-day political laboratory on Radical Pasts, Radical Futures combined the intellectual and political experience of social movement theorists and activists Selma James, Peter Linenbaugh, Andayie, George Katziaficas, Ruth Reitan, and Scott Crow.

Aymara feminist from Bolivia, Julieta Paredes, gave a workshop presentation of "feminismo communitario."  Against the Grain  producer Sasha Lilley interviewed Iain Boal on his book on communes in Northern California. Silvia Federici and Selma James gave lectures, and organized a political laboratory, around the issue of Reproductive Labor and the Commons. Anarchist anthropologist David Graeber gave a key-note lecture on the first 5000 years of debt. Arturo Escobar presented on anthropology and post-capitalism.

Our visiting activist scholars include John Holloway, Jason W. Moore, Silvia Rivera Cusicanqui, David Graeber, Silvia Federici, Arturo Escobar, Adrienne Pine, and Havin Guneser. We co-sponsor events such as American Indian Movement West conferences, Howard Zinn Bookfair, The Western Workers Labor Heritage Festival, World-Ecology Research Network Annual Conferences, Anarchist Studies Conferences, Revolutionary Organizing Against Racism Conference, and the Institute for Social Ecology summer school. The Anthropology and Social Change program now has its own book imprint,  Kairos , with the PM Press publishers.

To comply with federal Title IV regulations governing distance learning, CIIS is required to verify students’ locations prior to engaging in financial transactions. There are 12 states that do not qualify to attend CIIS through distance learning. Please confirm that your state of residence is on our approved list on our State Authorization page .

Our Upcoming Events

Demystifying the School of Consciousness and Transformation

A Free Online Event with Admissions Counselors

Anthropology and Social Change: Online Info Session

A Free Online Info Session with Andrej Grubacic and Sean MacCracken

Admissions Office Hour

Online with Naomi Carrillo. Focus Programs: Anthropology and Social Change (M.A. and Ph.D.), East-West Psychology (M.A. and Ph.D.), Asian Contemplative and Transcultural Studies (M.A.), and Interdisciplinary Arts and Writing (M.F.A.)

Our Department in Action

Assignment for Activism

Professor and Students Step Up for Sacred Lands Under Threat

David Graeber Memorial Lectures

Watch and listen to the recordings of past years' memorial lectures for David Graeber

Queering Motherhood with Talia Molé

Anthropology and Social Change Alumna Shares Work That Matters

• Skip to primary navigation
• Skip to main content

CollegeRank.net

Best College Rankings

30 Best PhD Programs Cultural Anthropology

Quick Highlights:

• Our #1 ranked school for a PhD in cultural anthropology is  University of Washington , followed by  Ohio State University .
• Ph.D. programs in cultural anthropology prepare students for diverse careers in academia , research, and applied fields.
• Specializations within these programs may include archaeology, sociocultural, and biological anthropology .
• Practical experiences, such as fieldwork and internships, complement the rigorous coursework .

The best Ph.D. in cultural anthropology can set you up for a lifelong career that has both excellent growth prospects and high earning potential, while also leaving you open to countless opportunities in a broad range of different fields. 

Cultural anthropology is a broad field of study that can lead to many different career paths. Let’s face it: the world is changing rapidly, and the anthropology field is also constantly expanding and looking for qualified experts. As a student who specializes in the development and movement of past and present human communities, you’ll be ready to take on leading roles in this dynamic industry.

Other popular roles include those based in the community, such as a career as a social worker. 

For graduate students whose specialization leans more greatly towards archaeology, you may find work curating and constructing exhibitions or directing the conservation of natural land or artifacts.

Alternatively, you could be designing educational programs. Other graduates find work in speech and language therapy, using their background in linguistic anthropology to understand and treat speech problems. 

Related (Campus):

• Best Bachelor’s in Public Administration Degrees
• Top Bachelor’s of Social Science
• Top Political Science Schools Bachelor’s
• Top Bachelor’s Degrees in Public Policy
• Best Colleges for Sociology Bachelor’s

Related (Online):

• Best Online Anthropology Programs Bachelor’s
• Top Online Bachelor’s of Social Science

What Are the Best PhD Cultural Anthropology Degrees?

At CollegeRank , we strive to do our best to guide you and your family toward a fruitful academic career. The pursuit of knowledge is a noble one, and we want to help you reach your goals. Please feel free to visit our dedicated methodology page for a step-by-step breakdown. For questions, comments, badge downloads, or data corrections, please feel free to reach out to us at [email protected].

University of Washington

Seattle, Washington

Average Net Price

Recently ranked at number 25 in a recent ranking of the world’s top academic universities, the University of Washington is home to over 50,000 students annually. With campuses based in Bothell, Tacoma, and Seattle, over 12,000 degrees at every level are conferred each year. 

At the University of Washington, you’ll be able to pursue a doctoral program in one of three concentrations, including:

• archaeology
• biological anthropology
• sociocultural anthropology

Each of these top anthropology graduate programs has its own set of requirements and admission criteria; for more information on each respective program, you can visit the above links to see the program page. 

As part of your graduate program, you also have the option of pairing additional courses or concentrations to enhance your experience and future employability. These include:

• a specialization in medical anthropology and global health
• a concentration in the area of statistics
• one of several graduate certificates in areas that include feminist studies, global health, or public scholarship. 

Resident tuition at the University of Washington costs $11,745 for state residents, while non-residents pay around $39,114. Housing and food costs vary from $4,458 to $17,316 depending on your living situation. This makes for a total annual cost of around $20,106 to $33,597 for residents and between $47,475 and $60,966 for non-residents.

Ohio State University

Columbus, Ohio

Established in 1870, Ohio State University welcomed its first graduating class in 1878. Today, the institution regularly ranks highly in numerous areas. Two of  these rankings are the top university among Ohio public institutions and the best choice for online undergraduate programs ( U.S. News & World Report ). 

The Ohio State University’s anthropology department includes 19 faculty who are actively contributing towards research projects in the fields of biological and cultural anthropology and archaeology. The graduate program heavily emphasizes thorough training to enforce theoretical concepts, in addition to training you in the use of modern methodologies that are designed to drive the discipline forward. 

As part of this cultural anthropology program, you will have the opportunity to work with these faculty members within established sites throughout the world. This could include working directly with communities across the globe and even primate communities. This could also include studying subject areas that include:

• Life history theory
• Human migration
• Political ecology

Tuition for graduate studies at Ohio State University is charged on a per-credit-hour basis. Each credit hour costs $755.50, with an additional $25.50 general fee per credit. These fees are for students who are also state residents; non-residents pay an additional surcharge of $1,622.56 per credit hour.

University of Arizona

Tucson, Arizona

Students at the University of Arizona are known as ‘Wildcats’ and benefit from an education that comes from a highly regarded institution. The U.S. News & World Report recently ranked the University of Arizona as one of the top 40 public universities in the nation. UArizona also takes the 11th position for providing the best online bachelor’s degrees. 

Graduate students choosing this program will earn a Ph.D. in anthropology and linguistics (ANLI), which requires a solid educational background in both subject areas. You will study language in a social context, utilizing the university’s longstanding resources at the Department of Linguistics and School of Anthropology. As part of your application, you’ll need to explain how your prior experience and future interests align with these departments. 

Studying at the main university campus in Tucson, you’ll be based at the College of Social & Behavioral Sciences. Your core courses will cover areas such as:

• Psycholinguistics

These areas will prepare you for careers in fields such as teaching and research. 

For graduate programs at the University of Arizona, the average tuition costs including fees are around $13,200 for state residents or $39,600 for non-residents. For an accurate estimation of the tuition and fees you’re likely to pay for your program, you can use the university’s tuition calculator on their website.

University at Buffalo

Buffalo, New York

Outside of the classroom at UB, students have a wealth of opportunities. There are more than 600 clubs and organizations to participate in, in addition to a Division I athletics program. The campus also regularly hosts concerts and guest speakers who are experts in their respective fields. 

The University at Buffalo’s Ph.D. in anthropology combines specialized instruction in both teaching and research, including numerous field projects designed to give you hands-on experience. The graduate program includes a total of 72 credit hours of coursework, and you will also regularly participate in material and technical laboratory work. 

Your first year of study will focus mostly on coursework, requiring you to complete six mandatory courses in addition to a minimum of one course in each subdiscipline chosen. At the end of your second year of study, you’ll have completed a further eight courses of your choosing, as well as completed a research paper that applies the research skills you’ve gained from the program. 

Full-time graduate students pursuing a PhD program who are also residents of the state will pay around $10,526 per semester in tuition and fees. For non-residents, this total rises to around $28,196 per semester. There are, of course, additional fees for medical insurance, meal plans, and housing, which you can find via the links on this page. 

University of Minnesota

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Founded in 1851, the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus—part of the University of Minnesota System—welcomes around 50,000 students annually. Currently, nearly half a million living alumni call the University of Minnesota home.

Sitting on the banks of the Mississippi River, it is one of only five institutions in the country to have dedicated schools for engineering, medical, law, veterinary, and agricultural programs within a single campus. 

This Ph.D. in anthropology has three core areas of focus:

• Archaeology
• Biological anthropology
• Sociocultural anthropology

For admission into the program, you do not need to have a master’s degree, making this a particularly strong choice for those coming from a non-traditional educational background (provided that you have completed a bachelor’s degree program). 

The program comprises 36 academic credits and 24 thesis credits in total. You may also apply to transfer up to 12 graduate credits from an institution at which you have studied previously. For a more detailed description of the key study areas and the courses you can expect to take, check out the university’s program page. 

Graduate tuition varies based on your college of education or program. For students pursuing this Ph.D. in anthropology, the general graduate rate applies. As a resident, your annual costs including tuition and fees, books and supplies, room and board, and other expenses will come to around $33,848. As a non-resident, this figure rises to around $54,588.

Texas State University

San Marcos, Texas

Texas State University (TXST) calls its students Bobcats. Texas State Bobcats  have access to over 400 student groups in the arts, academic areas, and social scenes. But that’s not all; students also participate in a Bobcat Build event, which is a student-led community service project taking place every year.

Texas State University offers the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) major in applied anthropology through the Department of Anthropology. It’s a graduate program that closely examines subjects areas such as:

• Intercultural communication
• Grant writing
• Project management
• Data collection

Thus, graduates have many opportunities available to them outside of research and teaching, including a career as a project manager, for example. 

Your program’s requirements will heavily revolve around research techniques and theory and professionalism. You’ll be well-versed in utilizing modern tools for researching topics in-depth, understanding historical and contemporary theory in anthropology, and applying key skills such as ethical decision making and leadership.

Upon acceptance into this program, you will also be designated a dissertation advisor for guided study. Tuition and fees at Texas State University vary from program to program, but the average cost of tuition for a graduate resident is around $357.36 per credit hour. For non-residents, tuition is around $765.36  per credit hour. Various other fees apply, which you can find detailed here.

University of Illinois

Champaign, Illinois

Founded in 1867, the University of Illinois welcomes almost 50,000 students annually from over 100 countries around the world. According to the university website, this institution has also seen 29 Pulitzer Prize winners among its alumni, in addition to being ranked in the top 15 public universities in the nation. 

This Ph.D. in anthropology requires a minimum of 96 hours’ worth of graduate credit to complete, of which 64 hours must be completed at the Urbana-Champaign campus. Additionally, students do not need to have completed a master’s degree to be eligible. 

As part of this program, you will however be expected to take a two-semester course called An Introduction to Illinois Anthropology. This course provides an essential foundation and introduction to the discipline. You will also be expected to show a high degree of proficiency in one foreign language or ordinary proficiency in two. 

Your tuition at the University of Illinois can vary for graduate studies depending on the program you’ve enrolled in. However, the Ph.D. in anthropology is charged at the base graduate rate. For residents of Illinois, the base tuition rate stands at around $15,150 annually, or $32,600 for non-residents and international students. 

University of Iowa

Iowa City, Iowa

The University of Iowa was founded in 1847, which makes it Iowa’s longest-standing institution of higher education. Located close to the Iowa River, more than 30,000 students enroll annually. It has also been named on national rankings, including having 12 graduate programs that rank within the top 10 in their field nationally. 

In addition to gaining a strong foundation and broad, in-depth knowledge of the field of anthropology, this doctoral program involves specialized training in one or more of the subject’s key concentrations. What’s more, if you studied anthropology or similar at the master’s degree level, the faculty will develop a custom program for you based on your previous experience and coursework. 

As part of this degree, you’ll develop an annual portfolio that demonstrates how your knowledge, competencies, and research skills are progressing throughout your studies. You’ll also write and defend a dissertation prospectus, plus two extensive exam essays as part of the assessment process. To successfully graduate from the program, you’ll also be expected to conduct your own anthropological research project. 

Graduate tuition is charged at around $12,065 annually for residents or $31,012 for non-residents. Housing and meals cost $14,744, and books and supplies $650, regardless of residency. This makes for a total annual cost of around $27,459 or $46,406 respectively, excluding personal and transportation expenses.

The University of Texas at San Antonio

San Antonio, Texas

With an annual attendance of around 32,000 students, The University of Texas at San Antonio is the largest university in the San Antonio metropolitan region. Four campuses are spread across the state, including:

• The Main Campus
• Downtown Campus
• Hemisfair Campus
• Park West Campus

Through this program, you’ll gain specialized training in applying theory and research into practice, solving the environmental crises facing our modern world. As a student of environmental anthropology, you’ll study topics such as:

• Power relations
• The impact of socio-physical environments on both humans and primates
• How humans build and organize their environments

This doctoral degree in anthropology is led by a highly experienced faculty. Additionally,  specializations are broad and numerous, and you can read more about their expertise on the program page. It’s worth noting that many Ph.D. students are offered some degree of financial aid, and in addition all incoming Ph.D. applicants are automatically considered for teaching assistantships.

Graduate tuition at The University of Texas at San Antonio costs around $9,362 for residents of Texas or $27,310 for non-residents. To get a more accurate picture of your tuition and fees, you can download a comprehensive spreadsheet of tuition rates from the university’s website here.

Indiana University Bloomington

Bloomington, Indiana

Indiana University Bloomington has one of the largest offerings of student recreation and engagement, with more than 750 student clubs and organizations for you to get involved with. For anthropology students, it’s also a great place to be; there are more than 380 study abroad programs available to choose from. 

This doctoral degree in anthropology offers a broad spectrum of study in all of the following anthropological subfields:

• Bioanthropology
• Linguistic anthropology
• Social-cultural anthropology

You will choose one of these areas of specialization, though you may also opt to take other courses or a minor within another field. 

Regardless of your specialization, you will be required to pass a qualifying examination as part of the foreign language requirement. During your studies, you will also be expected to participate in research and teaching activities to satisfy the requirements of the program. 

Locating up to date and comprehensive tuition and fees data for the University of Indiana Bloomington is difficult. However, they tend to be around average compared to the rest of the nation and below average compared to other universities within Indiana. You can use the tuition calculator on the university’s website for the most accurate picture of your tuition and fees.

Colorado State University

Fort Collins, Colorado

Colorado State University’s Department of Anthropology pledges to incorporate hands-on teaching and training into as many parts of the curriculum as possible. As such, there are three field schools linked to the department, which provide comprehensive instruction in three key areas:

• Cultural anthropology

This cultural anthropology PhD program is relatively new, having only been launched in 2018 at the Department of Anthropology. It was designed and taught by a faculty that specializes in three key fields of anthropology, in addition to both human and physical geography. 

The program curriculum will see students gaining knowledge that allows them to address important research questions. These questions apply to both anthropology and geography, apply modern geographic methods to fields of anthropology, and require critical analysis of the impact of place and space on the environment. 

Graduate tuition at Colorado State University is charged at $846.02 per credit hour for residents or $1,719.92 for non-residents. This useful comparative table on the university’s website gives you a full breakdown of tuition and associated fees for both residents and non-residents.

University of California, Irvine

Irvine, California

Since 1965, the University of California has been committed to enhancing lives through the provision of comprehensive academic programs and cutting-edge research. Today, students may choose from more than 150 majors and minors. The institution was recently named the number one university for “doing most for the American dream” by The New York Times . 

This PhD program focuses on both social and cultural anthropology, including a long-term period of independent fieldwork. More often than not, this fieldwork will take place outside of the United States. It may also require fluency in a foreign language, which is common for doctoral programs in anthropology. 

You’ll be supported by a strong faculty that will guide you in both theory and practice. Areas of expertise include legal, political, and economic anthropology and anthropology applied to medicine, science, and technology. However, the faculty are also open to innovative ideas and the ability to question existing or assumed theoretical methods.     

At the University of California Irvine, residents of the state will pay annual tuition of around $11,700 excluding fees. Non-residents pay a supplement of around $15,102.00, making for totals of $18,709 and $33,811 including all fees, respectively. A full breakdown of all expenses and fees is available from the university website.

University of Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Founded in 1787 under the name Pittsburgh Academy, the University of Pittsburgh is a research university and a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU). The AAU includes 63 universities within the United States that grant doctoral degrees. The University of Pittsburgh’s  writing program is one of the oldest and largest in the nation.  

This Ph.D. in anthropology requires around five years to complete and does not require a master’s degree for admission. With 72 credits of coursework, you will need to be fluent in at least one foreign language to be eligible for completion, in addition to completing written comprehensive examinations.

Upon admission into the program, you will be assigned a faculty advisor who will support you throughout your studies. This person will consult you on your choice of courses, in addition to providing guidance around your research activities and career aspirations. Your progress will be monitored throughout the program to best support you. 

The University of Pittsburgh has been ranked as the number one institution for value in all Pennsylvania universities and public colleges. To find detailed information about the graduate tuition rates and associated fees, you can use the tuition page on the university’s website, which breaks down expenses based on student type and residency.

Stony Brook University

Stony Brook, New York

Located in Stony Brook, N.Y., Stony Brook University offers 209 graduate programs, with 59 doctoral programs among these. Founded in 1957, the university has over 25,000 students and 2,500 faculty members. There are also 20 NCAA Division I athletic programs, and many faculty members have earned prestigious awards in varied areas. 

This doctoral program in anthropological sciences is an interdisciplinary program that draws on the expertise of mixed faculties and resources from multiple departments, including:

• Anatomical sciences
• Ecology and evolution

You’ll be trained for varied careers in both teaching and research. It is one of the top-ranked anthropology programs in the U.S. according to the National Research Council. 

This program has been running for over 35 years since its inception in 1982. Students enrolled in the program will have access to a broad selection of state-of-the-art resources and laboratories, in addition to being assigned a dedicated, full-time graduate coordinator. For a full breakdown of the program’s four-year curriculum, you should consult this page on the university’s program website. 

The average tuition and fees for graduate programs at Stony Brook University is around $6.971 for residents of New York or $12,866 for non-residents and international students. According to the university’s website, U.S. News & World Report has ranked the university among the top 40 public universities within the nation for return on investment.

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee is located just five minutes away from Lake Michigan and just fifteen minutes from a vibrant downtown area. The institution has been nationally  recognized for its undergraduate research, while providing students numerous real-world opportunities to participate in internships and other preparative activities. 

This anthropology PhD program has been structured to provide students with a broad foundation in all areas of the discipline, including:

• Sociocultural
• Archaeological anthropology

However, there’s still scope for specialization in a particular discipline. It’s suited to students who want to pursue an academic career in the subject area, or students who want to apply anthropological concepts to their practice in another career. 

The program encourages cross-discipline research projects, with many students and faculty collaborating with other departments at the university, plus a number of other institutions across the nation and globe. You’ll undertake a dissertation while also being required to pass a number of preliminary examinations. 

Graduates who are residents of Wisconsin will pay around $12,220 tuition annually for a total of $27,046 including other fees and expenses. Illinois residents pay slightly more at around $32,396 in total. For other students, including those from other countries, this rises to around $40,476 annually. 

University of Tennessee Knoxville

Knoxville, Tennessee

Founded in 1794, The University of Tennessee Knoxville was the first public university to be founded west of the Appalachian Divide. It has been deemed as a place of high research activity by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education and provides degree programs at every level of study. 

For admission into this graduate program, you’ll be required to hold an existing bachelor’s or master’s degree in anthropology; alternatively, a minor in anthropology will be sufficient provided that your degree is in a closely related field such as the sciences or social sciences, or geography. Your cumulative undergraduate or graduate GPA should also be above 3.3. 

As a student enrolled in this program, you will complete two semesters of full-time residence before you take your comprehensive doctoral examination. Minimum coursework requirements include the necessity to complete 48 credit hours if your previous college study was to an undergraduate level or 24 credit hours if you have a master’s degree. 

Graduate students at The University of Tennessee Knoxville can expect to pay around $13,380 as state residents or $31,798 as non-residents. For information on meal plans, housing, and other associated fees, you can check out the university’s one stop website here, or use the net price calculator.

University of Virginia

Charlottesville, Virginia

The University of Virginia dates back to 1819, having been founded by Thomas Jefferson. Today, it’s ranked as the second best value public university by Money Magazine (2020). It has also ranked within the top five national public universities according to U.S. News & World Report . 

This PhD program is designed to take your existing, foundation-level knowledge of anthropology and encourage you to develop your own personalized portfolio of research. By the end of the program, the intention is that you will contribute your own knowledge to the field through a combination of fieldwork, research activities, and writing. 

Your first year in the program will be almost entirely spent in understanding the necessary foundations in social theory. This foundation will be achieved through a number of elective courses that look at the history of the theory and contemporary discoveries. Year two involves collaborating closely with faculty members, and writing two essays to provide a critical analysis on the current state of the anthropology discipline. 

As a resident of Virginia, you’ll pay tuition of around $18,382 in your first three years of study, followed by around $5,728 in your fourth year. As a non-resident, these figures are $30,790 and $5,728 respectively. Additional fees include health insurance premiums and other expenses, which you can find more information on here. 

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Founded in the mid-1700s, the University of Pennsylvania enjoys low student-faculty ratios of just 6:1, thanks to its nearly 4,800-strong faculty. Student clubs and organizations number in the hundreds and provide a means to blow off steam between time spent in lectures.  

This graduate program in anthropology emphasizes the importance of independent research to a professional standard of competency in at least one subfield of anthropology. You’ll typically take around four units per term, with a requirement of at least twenty units—one unit per course—to complete the program. 

You’ll also be required to take the comprehensive examinations, a set of exams that you will undertake during the final week of May in your first year of study. Lasting for eight hours, these exams will test you on your first year courses and serve as a checkpoint for the second year of study. 

Many of the graduate school programs at Penn State are charged on a per credit hour basis, while others are charged at a flat rate. For an overview of the cost of attending the University of Pennsylvania, you can check out the university’s Graduate School of Education costs page here. 

Columbia University in the City of New York

New York City, New York

Located in New York City, Columbia University has close links with a huge array of resources that provide valuable experiences that can help boost your studies and employability after graduation. Founded in 1754, it is the longest standing institution of higher learning in New York State and the fifth oldest in the entire nation. 

Graduates of this anthropology PhD program commonly progress into teaching and research positions within universities. They also work within archaeological and museum positions. depending upon your career aspirations, you’ll have the choice of specializing in either archaeology or socio-cultural anthropology, while taking courses in other key subfields. 

Research facilities at this institution are extensive, including an archaeology laboratory. You’ll also benefit from the American Museum of Natural History, Museum of the American Indian, and numerous other well-known research hubs. These will both serve you in your completion of coursework and provide essential fieldwork experience. 

At Columbia University, the cost of graduate tuition is around is around $52,924. These categories include resident unit, extended residence, and matriculation and facilities. You can see a breakdown of these categories and what they mean here.

Harvard University

Cambridge, Massachusetts

The first graduate to receive their Ph.D. from Harvard’s graduate department did so in 1873, with the institution quickly becoming known as one of the best institutions in the world. Truly, Harvard University is much coveted by prospective students across the globe. But it’s not all about academia; students benefit from a vast range of clubs and organizations, in addition to close links to Massachusetts. 

Students enrolled in this PhD anthropology program will focus on two subfields of the discipline: archaeology and social anthropology. Both of these specializations come with their own curriculums and set of examinations, with the department of anthropology also offering an MA in medical anthropology to interested students. 

More specifically, you’ll choose to specialize in one of the following areas:

• Archaeology of complex societies
• Archaeology of ethnicities and languages
• Archaeology, art, and religion
• Archaeology of human evolution
• Environmental archaeology / archaeological science

More information on each specialization can be found on the program page. Graduate school students are charged tuition based on a tiered system, which reduces over time throughout the program. For the first two years of your program, you’ll pay around $52,456. For the third and fourth years, you’ll pay around $13,638. A full breakdown of other expenses can be found on this website.

University of California, San Francisco

San Francisco, California

UC San Francisco is a leading institution for health service programs, with five Nobel laureates who have made significant contributions toward our understanding of major health conditions. According to U.S. News & World Report , the university’s programs and hospitals are regularly ranked among the top in the nation. 

This program sees collaboration between UCSF and UC Berkeley, combining one of the top medical universities in the nation and a leading arts and sciences institution. This dynamic combination provides a varied curriculum to Ph.D. students. You’ll study new and emerging concepts in medical anthropology, with no other programs offering such a unique curriculum. 

The faculty is highly experienced and will vary depending on your study location. The UC San Francisco campus comprises eight members of faculty from the university’s Department of Anthropology, History, and Social Medicine, whereas the UC Berkeley campus has an eight-strong faculty from the respective campus’ Anthropology Department.

State residents pay around $11,442.00 in tuition, while non-residents pay an additional $15,102.00. Including the associated fees, this makes for a total of $18,975 and $34,077 respectively. A full breakdown of all program tuition and fees can be found here.

Cornell University

Ithaca, New York

Located in Ithaca, New York, Cornell University is a private institution whose mascot is the Big Red Bear. Almost 25,000 students make up the student body, supported by a faculty of nearly 1,700 professors. Founded in 1865, Cornell comprises 15 different colleges and schools, including four graduate and professional units. 

In addition to a fieldwork research proposal, this top anthropology graduate program in anthropology comprises an interdisciplinary curriculum that features just four courses. As a result, most students accepted into the program will either pair their studies with language-related courses or have a highly individualized program designed for them by the special committee. 

Some students who are admitted to this program will be lucky enough to receive financial aid covering the cost of five years of study on-campus. Priority admission is given to those whose primary reason for studying to the Ph.D. level is due to the lack of funding or career support available for students who have graduated with only a master’s degree. 

Doctoral degrees at Cornell University are charged at different rates of tuition depending on the subject area. You’ll pay between $10,400 to $14,750 per semester, or $20,800 to $29,500 per academic year. For more detailed and accurate estimates, follow the links at the top of the table on this page.

George Washington University

Washington, D.C.

The George Washington University Department of Anthropology was established in 1892 and is situated a short distance from the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. A number of other valuable resources are also around the corner, including the National Parks Service, making this the perfect location for budding anthropologists. 

This anthropology doctoral program combines rigorous coursework with fieldwork and independent study. Specifically, you will work within a small group with an assigned faculty mentor. You will explore ethnographic concepts and conduct your own research studies that integrate numerous subfields within the discipline, including:

• Gender studies
• Museum studies

For admission into this program, your GRE scores will not be required nor taken into account; the university is of the opinion that the GRE can promote injustice among candidates. However, for certain funding options, you may still need to submit your scores for consideration for financial aid. 

The graduate school tuition and fees at George Washington University average at around $1,885 per credit, though this can vary based upon your individual college and program. Tuition at the graduate level is charged per credit hour, and you can find a full breakdown of tuition for each college and school via this link.

The New School

Founded in 1919, The New School brings together scholars, designers, artists, and other professionals. This combination creates a leading faculty that is committed to challenging the norm and innovating solutions. Students may choose from over 130 programs at a university that has been ranked first for being the most international university in the nation. 

Comprising 60 credits in total, this Ph.D. in anthropology is open to students who have completed a master’s degree in the same field at The New School. Graduating students will be prepared for careers in teaching or for their own creative independent research projects. 

As part of the PhD program, students will be encouraged to work on their own specializations by taking part in mandatory doctorate seminars and guided tutorial assignments. Guidance will be provided by an assigned member of faculty who will act as a mentor throughout your studies. 

Your program will be based at The New School for Social Research, which charges tuition on a per-credit basis. Each credit costs $2,260 for both MA or MS and Ph.D. students. Additional fees will apply, and you can find more information on fees on the university’s tuition, fees, and billing page.

Brown University

Providence, Rhode Island

At Brown University, there are 34 varsity sports teams and a huge variety of clubs and organizations in which to get involved. In addition to over 400 student clubs, there are also 60 public service groups and 4,100 intramural sports participants on-campus, plus Greek and program houses. 

This Ph.D. program covers three key subfields of the discipline:

• Socio-cultural anthropology
• Anthropological archaeology

The curriculum consists almost entirely of seminars at the graduate level, with independent study courses making up the rest. This drives students towards tutorial-based and independent learning that encourages a rigorous and discovery-based academic process. 

You’ll take four core courses, which are:

• Principles of Cultural Anthropology
• History of Ethnological Theory
• Principles of Archaeology
• Linguistic Theory and Practice

The remainder of your studies will allow you to choose 12 additional electives, giving you a highly individualized course of study that’s aligned with your career aspirations and interests.

Tuition for graduate studies at Brown University ranges between $59,254 and $71,312, varying from program to program. Additional fees include a health services fee, health insurance, student activity and recreation fees, and an academic records fee. More information and costs are available on the university’s website.

American University

Located in Washington D.C., The American University saw 89% of recent graduates participate in an internship during their studies, while 92% of all graduates were either working, enrolled in graduate school, or both. Comprising eight different schools and colleges, the university offers students access to over 200 registered clubs and organizations. 

This highly rigorous program will prepare you for a career as an anthropologist, offering in-depth study of issues that include:

• Urban anthropology
• Language and culture

Assessment will take the form of written research work, and oral and visual presentations. You’ll also learn how to obtain funding from external agencies for the purpose of research. 

With this exposure to the end-to-end research process, you’ll be geared for a successful career in anthropology. However, you can also specialize to a greater degree in archaeology if it aligns with your career plans. You’ll have the opportunity to work on issues both at home and abroad, and you will be given multiple opportunities to develop your skills in public anthropology, too. 

Graduate students at American University are charged a flat rate for all tuition, based on the number of credit hours taken. Tuition currently costs approximately $1,866 per credit hour, with payment normally due in January for students beginning their program in the fall. For a breakdown of mandatory university fees, you can consult the university’s tuition and fee information page.

Brandeis University

Waltham, Massachusetts

Situated on a 235-acre campus, Brandeis University is just a stone’s throw away from Boston, located in leafy suburbs. Established as a nonsectarian institution, Brandeis was founded in 1948 and has a total enrollment of around 3,591 for undergraduate programs and 1,967 for graduate programs. 

With this doctoral degree program, you will gain the in-depth training required to become either an archaeologist or professional anthropologist. This program’s areas of emphasis include archaeological and ethnographic field placements and comparative studies, among others. You’ll be able to choose an area in which to specialize based on your interests and goals. 

This is a highly competitive program that provides detailed career planning support for students who are admitted. You’ll be mentored throughout your time at Brandeis, taking part in workshops, mock job interviews, and other activities to prepare you for life after graduation. You’ll also design and deliver your own seminars, take part in reading groups, and present your own research at the American Anthropological Association’s yearly meeting. 

Average graduate tuition and fees typically comes to around $55,104. Brandeis University provides detailed information on graduate expenses here, including applicable fees and other useful advice. The most accurate estimates of your cost of attendance can be obtained by using the cost of attendance calculator on the university’s website.

Southern Methodist University

Dallas, Texas

Southern Methodist University (SMU) has a total attendance of around 12,000 students, which means that you’ll benefit from having small class sizes with excellent support. The institution comprises seven schools and colleges, and is known for being a distinguished hub of research activity and teaching. 

When you enroll in this anthropology Ph.D. program, you’ll choose to specialize in either cultural anthropology or archaeology. While archaeology students focus on New World archaeology, anthropology students can further specialize in medical anthropology or subfields related to globalization, depending on interests or career aspirations. 

Students focusing on New World archaeology will be guided by faculty with an interest in areas including complex societies across the Americas and early human civilizations. Your studies will examine subfields that include contemporary theories in archaeology. You will also spend a large amount of time on field placements across the Americas. 

Tuition at this university is dependent on the college under which you are studying. The average cost of attendance for graduate students at Southern Methodist University is around $47,256.70. A more accurate estimate of your program costs may be found by checking the individual department and college fees highlighted on this page.

Emory University

Atlanta, Georgia

Situated within a picturesque neighborhood in Atlanta, Georgia, Emory University is a highly regarded and top-ranking private research institution. Nearly $700 million in research funding is generated by the institution annually. It’s also one of just 65 universities within the Association of American Universities (AAU). 

Emory University’s department of anthropology has been ranked within the top 10 departments in the nation by the National Research Council. Combining cultural and biological anthropological studies, students focus on the key areas of “cultivating dialogues and combinations of people, interests, and ideas that cross, connect, and transcend the field’s received sub-disciplines”. 

It’s worth checking out this infographic, which features some useful and insightful information on the program and the activities that previous students and alumni have been involved in during their studies and after graduation. 

Based on the assumption that you’re enrolled in a full-time program of study taking 9 or more credit hours, your tuition will cost $21,900 per semester. The tuition and fees page does not highlight any specific supplemental fees for non-resident students, though it’s worth confirming with the university whether this would be the case.

Frequently Asked Questions

You can apply cultural anthropology to any field of human culture, which includes economy, food customs, family, and socialism. Graduates of these degree programs continue their research with careers in the public or private sector. Most work in social science fields. Common careers include becoming university professors, researchers, or curators in museums.

In many cases, obtaining a master’s degree is not a strict prerequisite for pursuing a PhD in Anthropology. Some anthropology PhD programs accept students directly from a bachelor’s degree program. Admission requirements can vary between universities and programs, but most do not offer a master’s degree.

It takes, on average, between 6-7 years to get a PhD in Cultural Anthropology. This includes completing coursework, conducting fieldwork, and writing and defending a dissertation. The exact timeline varies by program, individual progress, and the nature of your research.

With a PhD in Cultural Anthropology, you can earn an average of $83,870/year working in federal government jobs. Engineering services pay cultural anthropologists $70,100/year on average. If you work as a professor at a college or university, you can expect to earn an average of $85,000/year.

Academic rigor and standards are high with any PhD program, and this rings true for cultural anthropology. The workload is heavy, and students must commit themselves to research. Here are some aspects that contribute to the challenging nature of getting a PhD in Cultural Anthropology: • Competitive Admission • Coursework and Exams • Interdisciplinary Nature • Limited Funding Opportunities • Research Intensity • Time Commitment • Writing a Dissertation

Employment for anthropologists is expected to grow 4% through 2032. This rate is about as fast as the average for all occupations, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. About 700 new jobs should result each year, on average, for the next 9-10 years.

Deciding if you should pursue a PhD in Anthropology depends on various factors, including your career goals, personal interests, and commitment to an extended period of academic study and research. If you want to teach at the college or university level, you’ll need a PhD. Most federal government jobs in the field also require PhDs.

The biggest employer of anthropologists outside academia is the federal government. These career paths include working in: • Cultural resource management • Defense and security sectors • International development • Legislative branch • Natural resource management Government jobs offers good pay. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that anthropologists working for the federal government make $83,870/year, on average.

Anthropology

Ph.d. program.

• Graduate Studies

The graduate program in Brown’s anthropology department encourages a diversity of doctoral research agendas in socio-cultural anthropology, anthropological archaeology, and linguistic anthropology.

Our program balances a rigorous curriculum of core classes with more specialized training in advanced courses. Our graduate seminars and independent study courses provide an engaging and rigorous tutorial approach to training. Graduate courses offered this academic year are listed on  Courses@Brown .

Brown’s graduate program is primarily PhD granting; students are not admitted to the department solely to seek a Master’s degree. Doctoral students complete requirements for a Master’s degree during their course of study, as well as additional requirements described below.

Degree Requirements

Generally awarded as part of the overall requirements for a Ph.D.

Four core courses

• ANTH2010: Principles of Cultural Anthropology
• ANTH 2020: Methods of Anthropological Research (or equivalent)
• ANTH 2501: Principles of Archaeology
• ANTH 2800: Linguistic Theory and Practice
• Four approved electives
• A Master’s Thesis
• 12 additional elective courses beyond the 8 required for the Master’s Degree (or the fulfillment of equivalent through coursework at another university) 
• Preliminary examinations in three topics
• One year of teaching experience, usually as a teaching assistant
• Approved research proposal for doctoral research
• Foreign language requirement (if required by the candidate’s doctoral committee)
• Dissertation, based on independent field research

More detailed information about the program, including a general outline of the timeline for completing the program, can be found in the  Anthropology Graduate Handbook . 

Specialized Ph.D. Tracks

They choose a topic within Anthropological Demography as one of their preliminary examination topics, participate in the activities of the Working Group in Anthropology and Population, and attend the regular colloquia of the Population Studies and Training Center (PSTC). PSTC also has a set of requirements trainees must meet. Special fellowships are available to students in this program.

More information @ PSTC

The program offers specialized courses, funds field-based research, provides fellowships, hosts visiting faculty, and promotes collaborative research initiatives with partner institutions in the global south. The program builds on a core group of faculty internationally renowned for their research and scholarship in the area of development and inequality. Program activities are open to all PhD students at Brown. All trainees and fellows are eligible for summer fieldwork research grants.

More information @ Watson

Medical anthropology is a subfield of anthropology that seeks to understand human experiences of health, illness, and suffering. Medical anthropologists study topics such as global health, local health systems, indigenous medicine, violence and trauma, disability and the body, gender and sexuality, biotechnology, bioethics, and social suffering. Brown’s PhD program offers an array of opportunities for students seeking specialized training in medical anthropology. Brown’s anthropology faculty are actively engaged in researching a wide variety of topics within the subfield of medical anthropology, including HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases, mental illness, reproductive health, gender and sexuality, violence and trauma, biotechnology, language and medicine, anthropology of drugs, and bio-archaeology.

For more information, contact  Professor Daniel J. Smith or  Professor Katherine A. Mason.

Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology

General info.

• Faculty working with students: 15
• Students: 18
• Students receiving Financial Aid: 100% for 5 years
• Part time study available: No
• Application terms: Fall
• Application deadline: December 5

Rebecca Stein Director of Graduate Studies Department of Cultural Anthropology Duke University Box 90091 Durham, NC 27708-0091

Email: [email protected]

Phone: (919) 684-4663 (Director of Graduate Studies Assistant: Jason Woerner)

Website:  http://culturalanthropology.duke.edu/

Program Description

The graduate program in Cultural Anthropology aims to provide students with a thorough grounding in both current theory and methods of research. Issues that concern the faculty include transnational and national processes; political economy and history; identity and ethnicity; popular culture, the media and advertising; culture and the individual; religion; public health; aesthetics; class, gender, and race relations; and environment and ecology. The program as a whole takes a comparative perspective that encourages field research in diverse societies, including the contemporary United States, Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa and the African Diaspora, South Asia, East Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. Interdisciplinary work in other departments and programs is encouraged. 

• Cultural Anthropology: PhD Admissions and Enrollment Statistics
• Cultural Anthropology: PhD Completion Rate Statistics
• Cultural Anthropology: PhD Time to Degree Statistics
• Cultural Anthropology: PhD Career Outcomes Statistics

Application Information

Application Terms Available:  Fall

Application Deadline:  December 5

Graduate School Application Requirements See the Application Instructions page for important details about each Graduate School requirement.

• Transcripts: Unofficial transcripts required with application submission; official transcripts required upon admission
• Letters of Recommendation: 3 Required
• Statement of Purpose: Required (see department guidance below)
• Résumé: Required
• GRE Scores: GRE General (Optional)
• English Language Exam: TOEFL, IELTS, or Duolingo English Test required* for applicants whose first language is not English *test waiver may apply for some applicants
• GPA: Undergraduate GPA calculated on 4.0 scale required  

Department-Specific Application Requirements (submitted through online application)

Statement of Purpose Guidelines The statement of purpose is an especially important part of the application because it gives applicants a chance to describe their research interests. There is no single way to write a good statement of purpose. However, you can download some sample statements of purpose (below) from a few successful applicants.

At the beginning of the statement of purpose, applicants must also list three keywords best describing their research interests and geographical area of study (for example: Mass Media, Indigenous Rights, Latin America). 

Download Sample Statements of Purpose  (doc - 70 KB)

Writing Sample Applicants must upload a roughly 10-20 page sample of relatively recent written work via the online application portal.

We strongly encourage you to review additional department-specific application guidance from the program to which you are applying: Departmental Application Guidance

List of Graduate School Programs and Degrees

Secondary Menu

We are now accepting applicants for our doctorate program for Fall 2024.  Applications are due December 5th, 2023. Cultural Anthropology today is marked by attention to world's dynamism. No longer just the study of remote societies, the discipline explores how people produce, inhabit, and make sense of the interconnected worlds they inhabit. The department is committed to the study of the politics of culture, power, and history as well as complex questions of theory, method, and interpretation. 

Recent dissertation projects include work on: everyday survival among Fukushima nuclear victims; women marathon runners in Ethiopia; coastal erosion in West Africa; Black male youth and sports in North Carolina; Palestinian astronomy projects; youth and post-humanitarianism in northern Uganda; Pan-African politics in Venezuela; repurposing food waste in Brussels; Christian evangelism in post-Tahir Egypt; sounding the city in Gulu, Uganda; war, traumatic injury and Chinese medical practitioners in South Sudan; Tunisian male youth engagements with ISIS.

Graduate Degrees

Our Ph.D. program prepares you to meld grounded field research with theoretical sophistication in doing anthropology sensitive to the challenges and complexities of making sense of human experience. You will receive a strong training in theory as well as in contemporary research methods and proposal writing.

We also offer an M.A. "on the way" option.

Program Features & Benefits

• Focuses on a Student's Portfolio rather than written or oral exams
• Encourages interdisciplinary outlook engagement with other departments across campus
• Promotes close contact between faculty and graduate students
• Emphasizes student-designed Plan of Study that enables you to develop particular interests, acquire general competence through exposure to classic paradigms and current trends within the field, and meet departmental and university requirements
• Does not require a Master's thesis or an Anthropology undergraduate degree
• Provides opportunity to apply to receive a Master's degree after successful completion of third year Portfolio Workshop

For Prospective Students

For those interested in our program, learn more about our degree, our university, and our community. We'll explain the application process, financial support, and provide answers to more commonly asked questions.

• For Current Students

We've compiled several resources to assist you while working toward your doctorate – from Duke websites and links, to details regarding on-going requirements, grant information, and summer field research.

• What is Cultural Anthropology?
• Educational Objectives
• Assessment Plan
• Anthropology & Activism
• Majors & Minor
• Building Your Focus
• Career Options
• CA Graduation with Distinction: Eligibility and Courses
• For Double Majors
• For Interdepartmental Majors
• Senior Thesis: Frequently Asked Questions
• Typical Course of Study
• How to Apply
• Program Key Features
• Financial Support
• Visiting Our Department
• Living in Durham
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Recent Graduates
• Plan of Study
• Field Specializations Workshop
• Language Requirements
• Funding & Grants
• Teaching Service Requirement
• Department Colloquia
• Conference Travel
• Summer Field Research
• Dissertation
• Receipt of the MA "on the way"
• Primary Faculty
• Affiliated Faculty
• Visiting Faculty
• Professors Emeriti
• Graduate Students
• Diane Nelson
• Selected Faculty Books
• Assisting Duke Students
• Native American Studies Initiative

Ph.D. in Anthropology

Earn Your PhD in Anthropology

Our Ph.D. program in anthropology is designed to provide a broad background in the field with a primary emphasis on sociocultural anthropology, biological anthropology, or archaeology. The degree prepares students for careers in academia, consulting, or other applied professions in the discipline. 

The major foci of research and instruction in sociocultural anthropology include religion, law and politics, ethnicity, gender, history and anthropology, problems of social change and economic development, culture and the environment, cognition and culture, and medical/psychological anthropology. The study of the Islamic world, East and Southeast Asia, and Africa are the greatest strengths among our sociocultural faculty and students. 

In biological anthropology, our faculty and students primarily study living and fossil human and non-human primates, including their evolutionary morphology, behavior, genomics, and sensory adaptations. For more information on ongoing research in biological anthropology, visit our laboratories page . 

Finally, the major foci in archaeology include human-environment interactions, urbanism, households, and material culture viewed in deep historical perspective. Faculty and students are primarily interested in Mesoamerica, North America, and the Mediterranean. To learn more about research and fieldwork in archaeology, click here .

PhD Learning Outcomes

• Demonstrate mastery of the fundamentals of the traditional four subfields of American anthropology (social/cultural anthropology, archaeology, biological anthropology, and linguistic anthropology) sufficiently to make them effective and competent teachers of introductory undergraduate courses in general anthropology, social/cultural anthropology, and/or biological anthropology.
• Demonstrate the ability to conceive, plan, propose, carry out, and write up a major piece of anthropological research, related to current theoretical discourse in their chosen subfield and constituting a significant contribution to the discipline.
• Be able to make compelling and interesting presentations of their ideas and findings to audiences of professional anthropologists in several forms—oral, written, and graphic.
• Carry out all these tasks in a manner consonant with the highest prevailing standards of ethical and professional conduct in research and teaching.

Each year, Boston University’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GRS) offers incoming Ph.D. students Dean’s Fellowships, which include full tuition, a living stipend, and health insurance for five years; along with a new summer stipend beginning in 2021.

For more information on financial aid for doctoral students, visit the GRS page on fellowship aid .

Anthropology, PhD

• Program description
• At a glance
• Degree requirements
• Admission requirements
• Tuition information
• Application deadlines
• Career opportunities
• Contact information

Anthropologist, Archaeologist, Archaeology, Bioarchaeology, Biological Anthropology, Civilizations, Curator, Evolution, Interdisciplinary, Linguistics, Primates, cultures, museum, osteology, zooarchaeology

Are you interested in exploring the origins and implications of human uniqueness and contemporary human behavior? In this interdisciplinary program, you will engage in intensive, collaborative training that fosters critical research on key questions in anthropology and across the social sciences.

The School of Human Evolution and Social Change is an excellent choice for students interested in pursuing a PhD in the classic fields of anthropology:

• archaeology
• bioarchaeology
• evolutionary anthropology
• sociocultural anthropology

It is also an ideal environment for students who want to combine these approaches and other disciplines to explore specific issues or research questions within a transdisciplinary context. The flexible graduate curricula are designed to encourage students to design innovative plans of study in order to pursue their interests while receiving broad training in key areas. The anthropology faculty actively engage with faculty in other disciplines, including:

• applied mathematics
• environmental economics
• epidemiology
• formal modeling
• sustainability
• technology and society
• urban planning

The training students receive in this program prepares them to become expert scholars who are able to contribute not only to their chosen field but also to finding solutions to humankind's greatest challenges. This program provides training in data analysis and research design within the context of human evolution, archaeology and the wider field of anthropology. Through anthropological coursework, students learn how to ask important questions about the human species and employ statistics to analyze and extract meaning from data. Students will learn to appreciate humanity's place in nature and the long history of human societal change.

• College/school: The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
• Location: Tempe
• STEM-OPT extension eligible: No

84 credit hours, a written comprehensive exam, a prospectus and a dissertation

Students entering with a master's degree in a related field may be granted up to 30 credit hours toward the 84 credit hours required for the doctorate. This leaves 30 credit hours of coursework, 12 credit hours of research and 12 credit hours of dissertation (54 credit hours total) to be earned post-admission.

Students entering without a master's degree must earn an additional 30 hours of graduate credit, produce a research portfolio which is formally evaluated by a faculty committee, and present that research in a public forum before continuing on in the later stage of the doctorate.

All students must maintain a GPA of 3.20 (scale is 4.00 = "A") in their courses and complete degree requirements per the program's satisfactory progress policy.

Applicants must fulfill the requirements of both the Graduate College and The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Applicants are eligible to apply to the program if they have earned a bachelor's or master's degree from a regionally accredited institution.

Applicants must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.00 (scale is 4.00 = "A") in the last 60 hours of their first bachelor's degree program, or they must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.00 (scale is 4.00 = "A") in an applicable master's degree program.

All applicants must submit:

• graduate admission application and application fee
• official transcripts
• personal statement outlining educational and professional goals
• current curriculum vitae or resume
• three letters of recommendation
• proof of English proficiency

Additional Application Information An applicant whose native language is not English must provide proof of English proficiency regardless of their current residency.

Undergraduate coursework in anthropology is not a prerequisite for admission but is generally advisable. Students may be admitted without such a background and may be required to acquire knowledge of general anthropology in a manner to be specified at the time of admission.

Applicants also may submit with their application materials an optional scholarly writing sample not to exceed 30 double-spaced pages.

The demand in the job market for people with an anthropology background is stimulated by a growing need for researchers and analysts with keen thinking skills who can manage, evaluate and interpret large amounts of data. As the many spheres of human interaction expand globally, people trained in anthropology are increasingly sought-after for their broad, holistic knowledge and perspectives, which are the hallmarks of anthropology. Some career opportunities include:

• acting as legal advocates in international cases
• analyzing and proposing policies
• conducting postgraduate academic research
• consulting for private and public organizations
• curating cultural resources
• directing nonprofit organizations
• directing programs in the private or public sector
• managing culture or heritage resources in private or public sectors
• modeling infectious diseases
• planning communities

School of Human Evolution & Social Change | SHESC 233 [email protected] 480-965-6215 Admission deadlines

• University of Pennsylvania
• School of Arts and Sciences
• Penn Calendar

Search form

Department of anthropology.

PhD Program

The emphasis in the Graduate Program is on training candidates for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.  This degree certifies that, in addition to having a sound knowledge of anthropology as a whole, the holder has been trained to do independent research at a professional level of competence in at least one of the major subfields of Anthropology (Anthropological Archeology, Biological [Physical] Anthropology, Cultural Anthropology, Linguistic Anthropology).

Joint PhD Program

Applicants should apply to only one program within GSAS (Graduate School of Arts and Sciences). If you are interested in another department within GSAS, you may include this in your personal statement. Upon review, our faculty will decide if the candidate is a good fit for our department or if another program is more suited to their academic interests.

Applicants may, however, apply to more than one school simultaneously (i.e.: Penn Medical School, Penn Graduate School of Education, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences). In the case of a dual degree, Anthropology will be the secondary department and funding will come from the primary department. For more information about the MD/PhD program click here .

Course Requirements

The PhD degree requires a minimum of twenty (18) course units (one unit per course); a normal full-time program consists of three to four units per term.  Of these units, at least twelve (12) must be taken at this University. Up to eight (8) course units may be transferred from another institution.  Students should request credit transfer from the Graduate Group Chair after the first year of residence. 

All PhD students must complete successfully a core program of four courses in the first year.  The first-year courses cover the four subfields of anthropology and are mandated by the Graduate Group (GG).  These courses include ANTH 6000, 6010, 6020, and 6030. Failure to complete the first year core courses with a final grade (i.e., no Incompletes) by the end of the second semester disqualifies a student from continuing in the program.  The Graduate Group will determine the action to be taken. 

Comprehensive Examinations (PhD Preliminary Exams)

The Comprehensive Examinations (Comps) are taken during the last week of May of the student's first year, following completion of the first-year core courses.  Held over eight hours on two consecutive mornings, the Comps will cover the field of anthropology as presented in the first year core program and focus upon an integration of the material discussed therein.  In addition to formal course work, further opportunities for preparation for the Comps include departmental colloquia and lectures, the basic anthropological references in the Van Pelt Library and the University Museum Library, and ethnographic and archaeological collections of the University Museum. 

Core course faculty will evaluate the Comps and the student's first-year academic record within two weeks after the exams are completed.  Faculty approval of both is necessary for the students to able to continue to work toward PhD Candidacy and/or the MA Degree in the department. 

Foreign Language Exam

Students pursuing the PhD (and MA)  degree in Anthropology are required to demonstrate a reading knowledge of one foreign language used in written source material or scientific literature relevant to the student's professional career.  Language examinations may be taken in French, German, Spanish, or Russian (or other languages with permission of the Graduate Group).  Dates for language examinations will be arranged by the Department.  Students are strongly urged to take the language examination at the first opportunity but, in any case, are encouraged to complete the requirement by the end of their second year.  The language exam must be completed before the student is able to take the Oral Examination.   Students whose first language is not English are exempt from the requirement.

At the time of matriculation, students shall work together with the GG Chair to determine an appropriate advisor, if they have not already done so.  An advisor will work with a student on a regular basis in order to determine the shape of the student's program from semester to semester.  As the student gains familiarity with other faculty within the GG, he/she may invite those professors to serve on his/her Oral Examination and Dissertation Committees.  It is expected that the core members of the committees will be determined by the time the student is defending his/her field statements and dissertation proposal (in most cases, by the end of the third year) during the Oral Exam (see below).  When special expertise is required, additional committee members may be appointed from outside the GG or the university.  The Advisor is responsible for initiating regular meetings with the student for the purpose of guidance.  These meetings occur at least once per semester, at least until the student has passed the Oral Examination. 

Oral Examination (PhD Candidacy Exam)

When course work, the language exam and the Comps have been completed, the student is eligible to stand for the Oral Examination (Oral Exam).  At least one year must have lapsed since the completion of the Comps before the Oral Exam can be taken.  At least one semester in advance, after consulting with her/his Committee, the student should reserve a date for and petition the GG Chair to take the Oral Exam.   

The Oral Exam will concentrate mainly on the student’s specialized fields of interest, theoretically and geographically, and on his/her program of proposed research.  The student, in conjunction with his/her advisor, and the GG Chair, will determine the appropriate fields of examination (see examples of approved fields in the Graduate Handbook) and produce Oral Exam statements summarizing research on those topics.  In addition, the student must generate a PhD dissertation proposal.  This proposal should demonstrate the student’s ability to plan and execute independent research in accordance with professional standards. 

Two weeks prior to the Oral Exam, the student is required to submit the PhD dissertation proposal and three Oral Exam statements on areas of concentration for distribution to the Graduate Coordinator (“tabling”).  The proposal and statements should be reviewed and approved by the Oral Exam Committee before being tabled.  While the Oral Exam is open to all members of the GG, a quorum of five GG members, including the student’s advisor, the GG Chair and other Oral Exam Committee members, must be present in order for the Oral Exam to proceed.

Within one month following successful completion of the Oral Exam, the PhD candidate, in consultation with the Oral Exam Committee, must produce a final version of the proposal for approval by the Graduate Group and submission to the Graduate Division.

PhD Dissertation

The PhD dissertation proposal should demonstrate the candidate's ability to plan and execute independent research in accordance with professional standards and to present its results in a manner that is coherent and readily intelligible to fellow professionals.  The dissertation is based on the candidate's own field investigation and is written under the direction of a Dissertation Committee appointed by the GG Chair.  The Dissertation Committee will consist of a student’s Advisor and 2-4 other faculty members who are usually appointed at the time the student passes his/her oral examination.  At least two members of the Dissertation Committee must be active members of the GG.

After the Dissertation Advisor and Committee reads and approves a complete, “defendable” or “close to completion” (but not necessarily the final) version of the dissertation, the PhD Candidate will schedule the Dissertation Defense.  The version of the dissertation for the Dissertation Defense should include all chapters, including the introduction and conclusions, and a complete literature cited section that have been read and approved.

At least two weeks in advance of the Dissertation Defense, the PhD Candidate must make a physical and a digital version of the dissertation available to the Graduate Group (“tabling”).  The digital version is sent with an announcement of the Dissertation Defense to the entire Graduate Group.  At the public defense, the PhD Candidate will present his/her research and respond to questions from the Dissertation Committee members and others in attendance.  The Dissertation Committee, in concert with the Graduate Chair, will determine if the PhD Candidate has passed the defense.

Upon passing the Dissertation Defense, the newly minted PhD must submit a final copy (consisting of two copies for the University and one copy for the Department) to the GG for final acceptance, according to Graduate Division guidelines.

Program Planning

Each student's program of study and research is an individual one and the timing will vary from person to person.  The total years to degree has traditionally ranged from 5 (for students transferring in) to 9 (with allowance for MA degree and/or additional time in the field).  The general schedule provided below may be used as a template for planning purposes.  While this schedule reflects the five-year funding package, it is expected that students will apply for external research funds to support dissertation research during their third and fourth years, which will extend their Ben Franklin funding by a year.

• Core courses
• Basic courses in area of specialization
• Comprehensive Examination (spring) 

Second Year

• Specialized courses, seminars, tutorials
• Grant writing course
• Teaching Assistant
• Completion of Language Exam (fall or spring)
• Completion of course requirements
• Apply for dissertation research grants
• Oral Examination & submission of Dissertation Proposal

Fourth Year

• Dissertation Research (preferrably supported by external research funding in Fourth Year or Fifth Year) 
• Dissertation Research, Writing, and Submission (with outside research funding Fourth Year or Fifth Year)

Sixth Year (if necessary)

• Dissertation Writing and Submission

Students must complete all course requirements, the foreign language requirement, the Comps, and the Oral Exam within a period of five consecutive years.  The granting of a leave of absence or research leave does not extend this limit.

Graduate Program

The Anthropology graduate program provides students with excellent training in theory and methods, enabling them to pursue an advanced graduate degree in many subfields of Anthropology, including archaeology, ecology, environmental anthropology, evolution, linguistic, medical anthropology, political economy, science and technology, and sociocultural anthropology.

The doctoral program prepares students to conduct independent research and analysis in Anthropology.  Through completion of advanced course work and rigorous skills training, the doctoral program prepares students to make original contributions to the knowledge of anthropology and to interpret and present the results of such research.  Eligible PhD students from other disciplines at Stanford University may also pursue a PhD Minor in Anthropology. See PhD Program Flyer for more information.

The department offers a Coterminal MA degree in Anthropology for current Stanford undergraduates seeking to obtain a MA degree while completing their BA degree in the same or different department. The department also offers a Terminal MA degree in Anthropology for Stanford graduate students, either in anthropology or in other disciplines, who have fulfilled the MA degree requirements for the MA 'on the way to the PhD'.

Over 1,500  doctoral dissertations  have been completed in the department since 1895.  Anthropology alumni pursue successful careers in teaching, research, or non-academic careers in the United States and worldwide.

Beyond the Classroom

In close collaboration with Stanford  faculty members  and  department leadership , our graduate students organize number of event series that contribute to the department's intellectual life and community.  The Graduate Student Organization (GSO) representatives act as a liaison between the department leadership and the graduate student body, actively participating in department issues, and providing a supportive community for the first-year PhD student cohort as well as other for other PhD and M. graduate students. Graduate students also engage with unique research, curricular, and professionalization activities. 

Fields of Study

Our graduate s tudents may choose from the following Department tracks: 1) Archaeology; 2) Culture and Society.  Students work closely with faculty members who are engaged in research informed by a wide array of theoretical perspectives from political to spiritual. Subfields in Archeology include: cities, gender and sexuality, and materiality. Students interested in Culture and Society can focus on a wide range of issues such as: linguistic anthropology, culture and mind, medical anthropology, and global political economy.   Explore each Research Area and its faculty .

The Anthropology Department offers 5 years of financial support to PhD students.  No funding is offered for student enrolled in the co-terminal and terminal MA programs.

Join dozens of  Stanford School of Humanities and Sciences students  who gain valuable leadership skills in a multidisciplinary, multicultural community as  Knight-Hennessy Scholars  (KHS). As a scholar, students join a distinguished cohort, participate in up to three years of leadership programming, and receive full funding for up to three years of Doctoral studies at Stanford. The KHS application deadline is October 11, 2023. Learn more about  KHS admission .

How to Apply

Please review admissions for policies and requirements for each degree program by visiting the specific degree program page listed above. Please also consider reviewing the Stanford School of Humanities & Sciences'  Guide on Getting into Grad School  to explore which graduate program may best suit your interest, what graduate committees look for, and the benefits and challenges for pursuing a graduate degree.

Program Contacts

Angela Garcia

Lochlann Jain

• Editing Instructions
• AAA Homepage

Degree Programs

    View Instructions

• Institutions that are not current AnthroGuide listers may have limited information displayed.
• Add partial information for a search, e.g. "Cal" instead of "California State University" for best results.
• Do not search for acronyms or abbreviations (i.e. "CSU, Fullerton" is found most easily by entering "Fullerton" in the Institution Name field).
• Museum/Curatorial Studies 0
• Forensic Anthropology 0
• Medical Anthropology 0
• Ethnomusicology 0
• Archaeology 0
• Applied Anthropology 0
• Anthropology 0
• Linguistic Anthropology 0
• Associates 0
• Bachelors Degree 0
• Masters Degree 0
• Doctoral Degree 0
• Museum Studies 0
• Visual Anthropology 0
• Research Methods 0
• Forensics 0
• University 0
• Community College 0
• Grad Program 0
• Historically Black Colleges & Universities 0
• Tribal Colleges 0
• Minor-Only 0
• 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42

• Bachelors Degree
• Masters Degree

• Doctoral Degree

• Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Western Illinois University

• Etzanoa Field School

• Cultural Studies

PhD in Cultural Studies

A PhD in Cultural Studies, a dynamic, growing field of inquiry, equips you with the cultural expertise and critical research methods needed to transcend disciplinary boundaries as you examine ideological dimensions of culture and power struggles among competing systems of representation.

Cultural Studies situates culture as a site of power struggles between competing systems of representations and the ways of life that they support. Our scholars use critical theory to examine cultural practices and activist politics in a variety of intellectual and practical settings. As a student in one of the oldest Cultural Studies programs nationwide, you will study with faculty-scholars active in American and hemispheric literary studies, African American and Black Diaspora studies, feminist and queer studies, and many other fields. Your study includes training in field- and text-based research, ethnography, textual analysis of film and media, archival studies, and oral history, spanning the humanities and allowing you to tailor your academic experience. The PhD program offers ideal circumstances for collaborating with colleagues in other CGU departments and schools as well as with the other member colleges in the Claremont University Consortium.

Program Highlights

• CGU is only 35 miles from Los Angeles, one of the most multicultural and diverse cities in the world with a wide array of internship and field opportunities.
• You can pursue a PhD in Cultural Studies in conjunction with another degree program at CGU, such as an MA in Religion. You earn a diploma for each degree and “double count” some units from one program to the other to decrease your required total units.
• You can pursue elective coursework in other CGU departments and schools and across the colleges of the Claremont University Consortium.

Program At-a-glance

required units

degree awarded

Spring, Fall

program start

4-7 years | full time*

estimated completion time

Areas of Concentration

American studies.

The American Studies concentration takes a multidisciplinary approach to the study of United States culture, society, civilization, and identity through the curricular lenses of history, literature, critical theory, and more.

Early Modern Studies

The Early Modern Studies concentration undertakes interdisciplinary examination of history, culture, politics, and society within the transitional and transformative period that stretched between Medieval and modern societies, marked especially by the advent of print, Christian confessional war, and the rise of the modern state.

Hemispheric & Transnational Studies

A comparative analysis of culture in the Americas, the concentration in Hemispheric & Transnational Studies explores how scholarship on the Atlantic, borderlands, and diaspora have reshaped U.S. American Studies, Caribbean Studies, and Latin American Studies, emphasizing the topics of empire, race, religion, and revolution.

Media Studies

Situated at the bustling intersection of cultural studies, new media, critical theory, and popular culture, the burgeoning field of Media Studies examines the creative and critical practices of media consumers, producers, artists, and scholars, focusing on questions of representation, power, technology, politics, and economy.

Museum Studies

The Museum Studies concentration investigates the history and political role of museums in society, the interpretation and display of a wide variety of cultural productions, and topics of special concern to museums as cultural organizations, using a multidisciplinary, practice-based approach to understand the historical development of this evolving field.

Gigi Audoma

Director of Recruitment for the School of Arts & Humanities

Where You Can Find Our Alumni

California State University, Long Beach

Associate Professor, School of Art, Programs of Art History, Museum Studies, and Curatorial Studies

Associate Professor, Department of Chicano and Latino Studies

California State University, Los Angeles

Professor of Theater Arts

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo

Associate Professor, Department of Ethnic Studies

Cal Poly Pomona

Associate Professor, Department of Ethnic and Women’s Studies

Pitzer College

Assistant Vice President of Community Engagement, Assistant Professor in Urban Studies

Professor, Department of Media Studies

Visual and Performing Arts Education Program at UCLA

Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago

Curator, Public Programs

Fullerton College

Professor, Department of Anthropology

Mellon/American Council of Learned Societies

Public Fellows Postdoctoral Fellowship

Saddleback College

Chair, Department of Journalism and New Media

Lucia Cantero

Assistant Professor of Cultural Studies

Research Interests

Consumer culture, social media, algorithms and data science, infrastructures and urban public space

Deshonay Dozier

Black studies, urban geography, policing and carceral studies, abolition studies, cultural studies, indigenous studies, racial capitalism.

Joshua Goode

Professor of Cultural Studies and History Chair, Cultural Studies Department

Modern Spain, 19th- and 20th-century Europe, Genocide and racial thought, Museums and commemoration, Memory

David Luis-Brown

Associate Professor of Cultural Studies and English

Hemispheric Americas studies, Latino/a/x studies, Black diaspora studies, American literature and culture

Darrell Moore

Visiting Associate Professor of Cultural Studies Philosophy Teachout Coordinator

Aesthetics, Africana Intellectual Thought, Critical Theory, Continental Philosophy

Associate Professor of Cultural Studies

Cultural studies, Media studies, Feminist and queer theory, Asian American studies

Extended Faculty

Elizabeth affuso.

Spectatorship, Fandom, Branding, Technology, Architecture, Moving image media art, Reality television

Aimee Bahng

Pomona College

Gender and women’s studies

Myriam Chancy

Scripps College

African diaspora with specialization in its literature

Jih-Fei Cheng

Feminist and queer of color approaches to media representations of public health issues

Ciara Ennis

The appropriation of Wunderkammer tactics in contemporary curatorial practice

Paul Faulstich

Cultural ecology, Ecological design, Ecology of expressive culture, Aboriginal Australias

Jennifer Friedlander

Cultural studies, Contemporary art controversies, Film theory, Psychoanalytic theory

Martha Gonzalez

Chicanx-Latinx studies

Jesse Lerner

Media studies

Susan Phillips

Community, gangs, and environment

Erin Runions

The intersections of biblical interpretation and political philosophies, with their multiple impacts on political subjectivity, gender, sexuality, U.S. national sovereignty, and biopolitics

David Seitz

Harvey Mudd College

Cultural geography

Additional Program Requirements

Course Requirements 72 units

• Three 300-level Cultural Studies foundation courses
• One Research Methods course
• One Transdisciplinary course
• Thirteen elective courses

Up to 24 units transfer credit from previous graduate work in relevant fields may be substituted for the elective coursework.

Research Tools Requirement

• Two research tools

PhD Completion

• PhD qualifying exams
• Dissertation

Application Guidelines

CGU operates on a priority deadline cycle. Applicants are strongly encouraged to submit complete applications by the priority dates in order to assure maximum consideration for both admission and fellowships.

Spring 2025 Priority Deadline – November 1, 2024 Final Deadline (International) – November 15, 2024 Final Deadline (Domestic) – December 1, 2024 Classes begin – January 21, 2025

Fall 2025 Priority Deadline – February 1, 2025 Final Deadline (International) – July 5, 2025 Final Deadline (Domestic) – August 1, 2025 Classes begin – August 25, 2025

Application Checklist

The Claremont Graduate University online application is hosted online by Slate Technolutions via a secure web server. You will create a username and password so that you can return to continue your application over several sessions and check your status after submission. After you submit your application, it is made available for review by our faculty and staff.

Begin your application

The application fee is non-refundable.

Applicants must submit a sealed, official transcript from every undergraduate and graduate institution that has granted the applicant a degree. Electronic transcripts sent to [email protected] are also accepted. For undergraduate coursework, applicants are required to submit proof of a completed bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited college or university. Unofficial copies of transcripts are accepted for review purposes, but official copies will be required upon admission.

Applicants currently earning a degree that will be completed prior to attending CGU are required to submit a transcript showing work in progress for evaluation purposes. Once the degree has been granted, a final official transcript documenting the degree conferred must be submitted to CGU.

International applicants are advised to review the International Transcript Guidelines for additional information on submitting international transcripts.

Applicants must submit an up-to-date copy of their resume.

A valid score on one of the following examinations TOEFL, IELTS, Pearson PTE, Duolingo English Test is required of all non-native English-speaking applicants. The examination is not required for the following applicants:

• Citizens or permanent residents of countries where English is the sole official language of instruction, e.g., Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Canada (except Quebec), England, Ghana, Ireland, Jamaica, Kenya, New Zealand, Nigeria, Scotland, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad, Tobago, Uganda, and Wales (see the CGU Bulletin for a complete list of accepted countries).
• Applicants who hold an undergraduate or advanced degree, or will have earned such a degree prior to enrolling at CGU, from an institution in the US or in countries where English is the sole official language of instruction (see above).
• Applicants who have successfully completed an academic English pre-master’s or intensive graduate bridge program from a nationally recognized, regionally accredited four-year college or university in the United States in the last two years, with submitted evidence of successful completion, and subject to curriculum approval.
• CGU allows for an English proficiency waiver if the applicant has received, or will receive prior to enrollment at CGU, an undergraduate or advanced degree from an institution where English is one of the primary languages of instruction for the majority of courses in the student’s program. To receive the waiver, documentation must be provided by the applicant to show that English is the language of instruction at their university/college.

CGU’s school code for the TOEFL exam is 4053 .

International applicants are encouraged to visit our International Applicants page for more information, including score requirements.

When filling out the online application, please enter references acquainted with your potential for success who will submit a written recommendation on your behalf. In most academic departments, references from faculty members who can speak to your academic ability are preferred; applicants with substantial work experience may request professional references. Please do not enter family members as references.

You will be required to input information for your recommenders (whether they are submitting online or not) in the “Recommendations” section of the online application. Please follow the directions in this section carefully before clicking on “Recommendation Provider List” to input the names and contact information for each recommender. You will have an opportunity to indicate if the reference writer will be submitting online. These reference writers will receive an email from CGU with instructions on submitting an online recommendation.

Recommenders who are indicated as offline will not receive an email from CGU with instructions to submit. These reference writers can submit via traditional mail and should use the supplemental New Student Recommendation Form. Recommenders can also email their letter of recommendation to the Office of Admissions at [email protected] .

Download the Recommendation Form

Please submit a 2-3 page statement of purpose that details your academic and/or professional achievements, your specific areas of research interest within your desired field of study, why you are a strong candidate for graduate studies at CGU, and your career goals.

All applicants are required to submit a writing sample of previous work in addition to the statement of purpose. You may submit samples of any length you feel indicate your writing ability, but please note that we will be unable to return any items submitted as part of your application (please, no books). Most applicants submit one or two scholarly papers or excerpts of around 10-15 pages. Writing samples should not exceed 30 pages.

Tuition and Fees

Estimated tuition (california residents, non-residents, international).

*Based on 2024-2025 tuition rates.

STUDENT FEES (PER SEMESTER)

For estimates of room & board, books, etc., please download CGU’s  Cost of Attendance 2024-2025 .

Review General Costs

View Concentration

Hemispheric & Transnational Studies

These concentrations are available for students pursuing the following degree programs:

Master’s Degrees

• Applied Gender Studies
• Islamic Studies

Doctoral Degrees

Are you ready to apply?

Request More Info

Contact us for more information, while waiting for our answer, take a look at our faq, maybe you'll find some answers to your questions.

Graduate Study

• Interdisciplinary Studies
• PHD Program Guide
• Student Life
• Admissions Process
• Financial Support
• Graduate Student Forms

The Department of Anthropology at the University of Chicago offers doctoral programs in sociocultural and linguistic anthropology and in archaeology.

The program in sociocultural and linguistic anthropology offers opportunities to pursue a wide range of ethnographic and theoretical interests. While the Department does not emphasize a particular theoretical perspective, it is well known for its attention to classic problems in social theory along with an engagement with the latest developments in theories of history, culture, politics, economics, transnational processes, space and place, subjectivity, experience, and materiality. 

Shared topical interests among its members include culture and colonialism; postcoloniality and globalization; gender and sexuality; historical anthropology; history and social structure; politics and law; political economy; religion; ritual; science and technology; semiotics and symbolism; medicine and health; and subjectivity and affect. Africa, the Caribbean, East Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Oceania, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the United States of America are among the geographic areas of faculty research.  

Coursework and study with faculty in other departments enable the student to pursue interdisciplinary interests, language training, and other regional studies.

The archaeology program enables students to articulate archaeology, history, and sociocultural anthropology, with emphasis on the integration of social and cultural theory in the practice of archaeology.

Current faculty specialize in the archaeology of Latin America (the later prehistory and colonial periods of the Andes and Mexico), Europe and the Mediterranean (the “Celtic” Iron Age and Greco-Roman colonial expansion), the Southeastern U.S. (urban history, colonialism, landscapes), East and Southeast Asia (from the Neolithic to the early colonial periods), and West Africa (history, landscape, complexity and political economy), as well as ethnoarchaeology in East Africa and experimental archaeology in South America.

Research interests include: urbanism; state formation; colonialism; industrialization; art and symbolism; spatial analysis; politics; ritual and religion; human-environment interactions; agricultural systems; material culture; economic anthropology; political economy; the archaeology of the contemporary; and the socio-historical context and the history and politics of archaeology. Faculty members have ongoing field research projects in Bolivia, Mexico, China, Cambodia, France, Senegal, and the United States (New Orleans). The program in anthropological archaeology also has strong ties to many other archaeologists on campus through the  UChicago Archaeology Nexus (UCAN) .

Teaching in physical anthropology, mainly directed towards evolutionary anthropology and primatology, is offered by Russell Tuttle.

In addition to linguistic anthropology as a sub-field within the Department of Anthropology, there is also a joint Ph.D. program available to students who are admitted to both the Department of Anthropology and the Department of Linguistics . Administratively, the student is admitted to, and remains registered in, the primary, or “home” department, and subsequently seeks admission to the second department in joint residence status. Students approved to pursue the joint degree program must complete the requirements of both departments, including the distinct introductory and advanced courses stipulated by each, the departmental qualifying examination in appropriate special fields, and the language requirements, including additional foreign languages for the Linguistics Ph.D. The student’s dissertation advisory committee consists of three or more members of the faculty; at least one must be a member of the Department of Anthropology but not of the Department of Linguistics, and at least one in Linguistics but not in Anthropology. After approval by the advisory committee, the student’s dissertation proposal must be defended at a hearing open to the faculty of both departments. Generally, an Anthropology student may apply to Linguistics for the joint degree program at the end of the second year or later, after having successfully completed the first-year program in Anthropology and the core (first-year) coursework and examinations in Linguistics. However, students should declare interest in the Joint Degree Program on the initial graduate application to the Department, and should discuss this interest personally with linguistic anthropology faculty soon after arrival on campus.

Although Anthropology has no other formal joint degree programs, students admitted to Anthropology may subsequently petition the University to create a joint program with another department. For instance, there is considerable precedent for pursuing a joint Ph.D. in Anthropology and History . To create this joint program, Anthropology students spend their first year taking the required first year courses in the Anthropology Department; in the second year, they take a two-quarter history seminar and write an anthropologically-informed Master’s paper in coordination with that seminar which will be acceptable to both Departments. The Master’s degree is awarded by one of the two departments and is accepted for equivalence by the other. The Anthropology student then applies for admission to History at the end of the second year or later, having already demonstrated a proficiency in both disciplines. Applicants to Anthropology who are interested in a joint degree program with History should declare interest at the time of the initial application.

Also by petition, it has been possible for students to create other joint Ph.D. programs. In recent years, individual programs combining Anthropology and Art History , South Asian Languages and Civilizations , East Asian Languages and Civilizations , Slavic Languages and Literatures , Conceptual and Historical Studies of Science , and Cinema and Media Studies have been created. An M.D./Ph.D. program is coordinated through the MeSH program in the medical school. A J.D./Ph.D. with the University of Chicago Law School or another law school is also possible, and we have facilitated joint degrees with the School of Social Services Administration at the University of Chicago.

Such individually-created joint degree programs begin in the second year of graduate studies or later. In all cases, students complete the separate program requirements for each degree, with no additional residence requirement, and write one Ph.D. dissertation that separately meets the dissertation requirements of each department. The specifics of each joint degree program, such as any requirements that may be jointly met, any overlapping examination areas, and the composition of the dissertation committee, are agreed upon by both departments at the time of the petition.

Students interested in pursuing an ad-hoc Joint Ph.D. should consult with the Dean of Students Office to understand the application process.

This Website Uses Cookies.

This website uses cookies to improve user experience. By using our website you consent to all cookies in accordance with our Cookie Policy.

To see current course offerings in Anthropology, go to the Yale Course Search .

This page contains a list of courses commonly offered in the Yale University Department of Anthropology, together with instructors and subfield designations. It does not include courses unlikely to be taught again (for instance, courses offered by visiting faculty). For complete and up-to-date course listings and additional information about any given course–including descriptions, cross-listings with other departments, and how a course might fulfill Yale College distribution requirements–please consult  Yale Course Search . For additional queries, consult with the Director of Undergraduate Studies, Director of Graduate Studies, or Department Regitrar’s Office.

000 numbers designate courses that are part of the Yale College First-Year Seminar Program.

100 numbers designate introductory courses, most often in lecture format with discussion sections, appropriate for all undergraduate students.

200 numbers designate introductory/intermediate courses in a variety of formats (lecture/discusison, small lecture, and others), in most cases appropriate to all undergraduate students without prerequisites. 

300 and 400 numbers designate intermediate/advanced courses, most often in seminar or laboratory format, which often require permission of the instructor to enroll. Because pre-requisites vary widely, students are advised to consult Yale Course Search or Canvas for additional information on enrolling in these classes. Many 300- and 400- level courses also carry Graduate School numbers.

500- to 800- numbers designate courses primarily intended for graduate students. Note that many of the 300- and 400-level classes listed above also carry Graduate School numbers, and that these classes are not duplicated below.

900 numbers designate special reading courses in various subfields

• Khimki Tourism
• Khimki Hotels
• Khimki Bed and Breakfast
• Khimki Vacation Rentals
• Flights to Khimki
• Khimki Restaurants
• Things to Do in Khimki
• Khimki Travel Forum
• Khimki Photos
• All Khimki Hotels
• Khimki Hotel Deals
• Khimki Hostels
• Khimki Campgrounds
• Khimki Business Hotels
• Khimki Green Hotels
• Khimki Family Hotels
• Khimki Spa Resorts
• Khimki Luxury Hotels
• Khimki Beach Hotels
• 5-stars Hotels in Khimki
• 4-stars Hotels in Khimki
• 3-stars Hotels in Khimki
• Radisson Hotels in Khimki
• Pet Friendly Hotels in Khimki
• Khimki Hotels with Pools
• Khimki Hotels with Free Parking
• Khimki Hotels with Allergy-free rooms
• Khimki Hotels with Sauna
• Khimki Hotels with Breakfast Buffet
• Khimki Hotels with Heated Pool
• Khimki Hotels with Rooftop Bar
• Khimki Hotels with Banquet hall
• Khimki Cheap Hotels
• Khimki Pet Friendly Beach Hotels
• Khimki Cheap Pet Friendly Hotels
• Khimki Accessible Hotels
• Things to Do
• Restaurants
• Vacation Rentals
• Travel Stories
• Rental Cars
• Add a Place
• Travel Forum
• Travelers' Choice
• Help Center

Photos of Khimki - Featured Images

• Europe    
• Russia    
• Central Russia    
• Moscow Oblast    
• Khimki    
• Khimki Pictures

Hotels travelers are raving about...