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About the Graduate Program
The
Master's Program in anthropology at Kent State University was
established in 1970 and is based on a holistic approach to anthropology. Students receive training in three fields of anthropology:
 cultural
anthropology, archaeology, and biological anthropology.
Training in cultural anthropology emphasizes the study of culture,
specifically kinship, religion, and symbolic meaning in a variety
of ecological and economic settings. Students interested
in archaeology receive training in both theory and field methods.
The focus of archaeological research in the department traditionally has been on the Americas. Students in biological anthropology receive
training in evolutionary theory, structural and functional primate
anatomy, including human anatomy and primate behavior and ecology.
The
M.A. program is strongly research-oriented and encourages
students to develop their own projects or participate
in existing projects by their second semester.
The aim of the program is to provide students with the
best possible training to either continue study in a
Ph.D. program or obtain employment after completing
the M.A. program. Over 80% of the graduates from our M.A.
program either go on for the Ph.D. or find employment
in an area directly related to their training.
Image: Graduate students in the osteology
lab.
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Program
Requirements
The
minimum requirements for the M.A. are 30 hours of coursework and
6 hours of thesis. The core sequence of work includes
courses in each of the three subdisciplines represented by the
faculty in the department. Students also are encouraged
to take one or two semesters of advanced quantitative methods.
A variety of graduate seminars are offered regularly in the department
and students are encouraged to take appropriate courses in related
disciplines, e.g. biology, geology, and geography. In most
cases, students complete degree requirements by submitting original
research work as a formal document, the Master's thesis.
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GIS of the mounds built in Ross Co., Ohio ca. 1000 BC-AD 500. MA thesis research of James Branch & published in Seeman & Branch 2006. Key: green=1000 BC-500 BC; blue=500 BC-AD; red=AD1-AD 500. Image: M. Seeman |
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Image: Field
excavation at a Late Whittlesey Tradition site in northern Ohio. Bottom left: KSU Anthro grad student Ben Heinlen. Image: B. Heinlen |
Research
Opportunities
Students
are encouraged to develop research questions that will serve as
the basis for the Master's thesis in their second semester. The
department has an exceptional cast collection of fossil hominoids
as well as casting, photography, X-ray, computer, anatomy, and
archaeology labs and collections. A number of out-of-department
options for research are also available to students including
museum collections, faculty administered field sites in South
America, Asia, and North America, and molecular biology labs. |
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