StudyQA — PhD: Anthropology — University of California

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Description Contents Requirements Funding

The Ph.D. program is designed to provide each student with a basic knowledge of anthropology and specialized knowledge within the subdiscipline of the student's choice. Because some important theoretical concepts of Anthropology depend on findings in more than one of the subdisciplines, students are expected to acquire a basic understanding of three of the four subdisciplines. Entering students are assigned temporary advisors, with whom they can review their previous training and general plans for graduate work. During their first quarter students should also become acquainted with other members of the faculty with whom they share common interests. The Ph.D. degree is awarded to scholars who (a) have completed all coursework with a grade of B or better (including a methodology course); (b) demonstrated at least a reading knowledge of a language other than English; (c) presented a publishable paper at a professional meeting; (d) passed written and oral examinations on their areas of specialization; (e) submitted an acceptable dissertation research proposal; and (f) carried out original research and prepared, presented, and defended its results in the form of an acceptable Ph.D. dissertation. Each scholar selects three topics or areas of specialization that intersect with the dissertation topic; these form the basis for the written and oral examinations. The dissertation research proposal sets out the research problem, theoretical approach, forms of data collection and analysis, and the expected outcomes of the investigation. The faculty expects scholars to be advanced to candidacy--i.e. to have completed all requirements except the research and dissertation--by the end of their third year in residence.

First Year

Advising: students will be given an interim advisor upon entering the program. Students must then select a faculty advisor by the end of the 2nd quarter. In consultation with their advisors, students will prepare schedules for completing requirements and appropriate coursework that will allow them to develop proficiency in their subfield of specialization as well as fulfill the breadth requirements in two of the three other subfields.

Language and Methodological Skills Requirement Plan: students must submit the plan they intend to follow to complete their language and methodological skills requirements by the end of the 2nd quarter.

200 sequence and M.A. Exam: students will complete the year long 200 theory seminar by the end of the 3rd quarter and take the M.A. exam during exams week. The exam will be based on the material covered in the 200 sequence.

Second Year

Preliminary Research Statement and Designation of Dissertation Committee: students must complete a preliminary research statement (formerly called the "Specialty Statement") outlining intended area, theory, and method, and must also constitute their dissertation committee, by the end of the 5th quarter. Students must meet with their dissertation committee at this time and develop reading lists which will be the basis of the Written Qualifying Comprehensive Exam.

Advanced Coursework in Subfield and Area(s) of Specialization: students, building upon the 200 sequence and other graduate courses taken in the first year, should significantly advance their knowledge in their subfield of specialization (i.e. Archaeology, Sociocultural Anthropology, Biological Anthropology, Linguistic Anthropology) by taking several graduate level courses in their subfield by the end of the 6th quarter.

Breadth Requirements: students should have fulfilled some, possibly all, of the 4 courses required for breadth (2 courses in two of the subfields outside the student's subfield of specialization) by the end of the 6th quarter.

Third Year

Research Proposal: students, in consultation with their advisor and dissertation committee, should generate an acceptable research proposal by the end of the 7th quarter. It is strongly recommended that this proposal be completed well before the end of the quarter so that it can be submitted to appropriate granting agencies for dissertation field research (many such agencies have fall deadlines). The Research Proposal should be carried out in concert with the Written Qualifying Comprehensive Exam.

Written Qualifying Comprehensive Exam: the faculty advisor, in consultation with the dissertation committee and the student, will generate the exam question (formerly called the "Specialty Exam") which will be directed to three areas of expertise; generally, but not always, one of these will be related to a geographic area and two will be related to topical areas or different bodies of theory. Students will have two weeks to answer the question. Because the Written Exam should be developed in conjunction with the Research Proposal, it is strongly recommended that the Written Exam be taken at the beginning of the 7th quarter. The reason for this is that the written exam material should be incorporated into the Research Proposal before the granting agencies' deadlines. In any case, the exam must be taken by the end of the 7th quarter.

Oral Presentation: Students, drawing on their Research Proposal and Written Qualifying Comprehensive Exam, must make an oral presentation to the department, at the James Young Colloquium, and/or at a national or international meeting, by the end of the 9th quarter.

Language Requirement: students must fulfill the language requirement by the end of the 9th quarter.

Methodological Skills Requirement: students must satisfy the methodological skills requirement by the end of the 9th quarter.

All Breadth Requirements: students must fulfill all breadth requirements by the end of the 9th quarter.

Orals Qualifying Exam: students must constitute their orals exam committee and complete their orals qualifying exam by the end of the 9th quarter. The Orals Exam date and committee must be reported to Graduate Division no later than two weeks (and preferably one month) prior to the exam.

Advanced Coursework in Subfield of Specialization and Related Disciplines: students, building upon the graduate courses taken in the first two years, should continue to advance their knowledge in their subfield of specialization by taking several graduate level courses in their subfield and in related disciplines (e.g., Biology, Women's Studies, Botany and Plant Sciences, Sociology, History, Literature, Economics) by the end of the 9th quarter.

Advancement to Candidacy: by the end of the 9th quarter.

Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Years

Dissertation Field Research: students, usually under the auspices of a major funding source which has accepted the research proposal for funding (e.g, NSF, Fulbright, Wenner Gren, SSRC, IAF, etc.), should carry out one to two years of dissertation field research.

Completing the Dissertation: students, upon completing the field research, should spend one to one and a half years writing up their research results in the form of a dissertation which is acceptable to the members of their dissertation committee.

Oral Defense of Dissertation: students must provide a public oral defense of the dissertation to the Department of Anthropology.

Exit Interview: students, upon completion of the dissertation and oral defense, must have an exit interview with the Student Affairs Assistant. At this time students must give the department a copy of their dissertation, return department keys, pay any money owed to the department, and provide contact information.

Completion of Ph.D. Degree: students should complete the dissertation and obtain the Ph.D. degree no later than the end of the seventh year. The national average for the time to completion of the Ph.D. degree in Anthropology is approximately 7.5 years.

Requirements

The nonrefundable $100.00 application fee ($125.00 for M.B.A./M.P.Ac./M.Fin./Flex M.B.A. applicants only) must be paid by credit card (VISA, MasterCard, or Discover) prior to submission of your application.
Applicants are required to submit an official copy of transcripts and degree certificates (in original language accompanied by certified English translations) from each academic institution attended after secondary school. These records should be sent directly from the Registrars Office of the academic institutions you have attended to the academic department to which you are applying. If this service is not available, applicants may also request official copies and send them in the institutions' original sealed and certified institution envelopes. Official records are original documents issued by the institution which bear the actual signature of the registrar in ink and the original wet ink stamp/seal of the issuing institution. The institution envelope must also bear that institution's appropriate authenticity indicator (original wet ink stamp and/or signature, etc.) from the appropriate department at that institution to consider the provided certified transcripts and degree certificates provided by the institution as official. Notarized documents are not acceptable. Credential evaluations by WES (World Education Services) or similar credential evaluation services are also not acceptable.
Statement of Purpose/Personal History Statement
Graduate programs require three (3) letters of recommendation. Applicants will be able to enter their recommenders' information directly into their electronic application. Recommenders will be notified electronically and provided instructions on how to submit a letter online. All letters of recommendation must be received electronically so they are attached to the applicants file for review.
The GRE general test is required of all applicants with the exceptions noted below. Some programs also require applicants submit scores from the Subject Test of the GRE. Consult the program to which you are applying for its requirements. Although current scores are preferred, some graduate programs will accept scores from tests taken within the last five years.
All applicants whose first language is not English and who have not earned an advanced degree at an institution where English is the exclusive language of instruction must submit scores from the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). This exam is administered by the Educational Testing Service and offered in nearly every country abroad. This exam must be taken within two years of the time you intend to enroll at UCR. The minimum acceptable scores are: 550 for the written exam; 213 for the computer-based exam, and 80 for the internet-based exam (iBT). We strongly advise you to be aware of the deadline for the program to which you are applying. Dates and information for TOEFL may be obtained by contacting the Educational Testing Service (ETS) at the address below, by calling 1-877-863-3546, or by consulting the TOEFL Web site. Fellowship applicants should take the exam in time to meet the program deadline. Keep in mind that it may take up to two weeks for test scores to reach us from ETS.
Beginning with the Fall 2011 application cycle, UCR will accept scores from the Academic Modules of the International English Language Testing System IELTS) which is jointly managed by the British Council, IDP:IELTS Australia and the University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations. The exam must be taken within two years of the time you intend to enroll at UCR. The minimum acceptable scores are: overall band score of 7 with no individual section score less than 6. Please request an official Test Report Form (TRF) of your IELTS.