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Fall 2025 Graduate Catalog 
    
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Fall 2025 Graduate Catalog

Anthropology, MA
Department of Anthropology, College of Arts and Sciences
Degree Awarded: Master of Arts in Anthropology
 
Chairperson: Katheryn Twiss, Ward Melville Social and Behavioral Sciences Building, S-S-533,
Director of MA Program: Jeroen Smaers, Ward Melville Social and Behavioral Sciences Building,  S-525, (631) 632-1539 Anthropologyma@stonybrook.edu
Academic Programs Coordinator: Tara Powers, Ward Melville Social and Behavioral Sciences Building, S-503, (631) 632-7606
 

The Department of Anthropology, within the College of Arts and Sciences, offers a graduate program leading to the M.A. in Anthropology. The M.A. Program in Anthropology is designed for students aspiring to non-academic or academic careers, including those, for example, who wish to pursue anthropological training for careers in education or for those whose undergraduate training did not prepare them for doctoral level work in Anthropology. Students take professional training, and foundational and advanced anthropology coursework toward the M.A., with the option of a capstone project (with the approval and supervision of a faculty advisor). Admission and credit requirements are the same regardless of whether a student carries out a capstone project, but the course of study differs. Depending on the course of study, students may earn degree credits through one of the Study Abroad programs as well as potentially earn one of SBU’s Advanced Graduate Certificates, including the Advanced Graduate Certificate in Human Origins, offered jointly through Stony Brook University and the Turkana Basin Institute in the Kenya study abroad program.

This program (ANT) is independent from the Doctoral Program in Anthropological Sciences (DPA). MA students are not considered for teaching or graduate assistantships, or tuition scholarships. Full-time or part-time attendance is possible.

Admission Requirements

In addition to the admission requirements of the Graduate School, acceptance by the Department of Anthropology Admissions Committee is required.

Please also visit this page for additional information about how to apply for the Anthropology MA program.

Application Link

 

Degree Requirements

In addition to the degree requirements of the Graduate School, the Department of Anthropology requires:

  1. Completion of a minimum of 30 graduate credits;
  2. Maintaining a 3.0 grade point average;
  3. Minimum residence of one year;
  4. A course of study planned and carried out with the approval of the MA Graduate Program Director (GPD). Students who pursue the coursework-only pathway must pass a Comprehensive Examination in their last semester; students who pursue the capstone pathway complete at least 6 credits of ANT 599 .

Required Coursework

At least 3 credits of professional training in ethics and skills:

Two of the following foundation courses:

Electives Coursework

At least 5 (or 3 if choosing the capstone pathway) additional 500-level elective courses. One or two courses can be taken from another program with GPD permission. Courses cannot be the same as those counted toward the Foundation Coursework requirement. Up to three (i.e., 0-3) credits from 600-level courses may be counted toward the electives.

Notes:

1 These courses also comprise the Advanced Graduate Certificate in Human Origins offered through Stony Brook University and the Turkana Basin Institute during the Spring or Fall Semesters

2 These courses are only offered through the Spring or Fall semester Human Origins Field School.

Total: 30 Credits