- Master of Arts in Applied Anthropology -

Graduate Coordinator: Dr. Evan Peacock Office: 105 Cobb Institute of Archaeology Address: BOX AR, Mississippi State University, MS 39762 Phone: (662) 325-1663 Email: peacock@anthro.msstate.edu Office of Graduate Studies at Mississippi State University

Application Deadlines*
Spring semester:
For consideration for assistantships: October 15
For completed applications: November 1

Fall semester:
For consideration for assistantships: April 1
For completed applications: April 15

*If the above dates fall on a weekend, the deadline is the next weekday.

Applicants for assistantships must have submitted complete applications, including GRE scores, letters of recommendation, and transcripts to the graduate school by the assistantship application deadline.

For assistantship application, click here.
(Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.)

For graduate school application, click here.

Applied Anthropology

Applied anthropologists use anthropological knowledge to solve practical problems for agencies, community groups, or other clients. They do fieldwork and employ other methods to gather data in specialties as diverse as cultural resource management, health care, historic preservation, economic development, museum design, forensics, and migrant settlement. Anthropologists' recovery and analyses of the data are aimed at providing solutions to particular problems faced by their clients. Applied anthropologists work both internationally and in the United States. There is a growing demand for anthropologists with practical experience and applied training to work in local, state, and federal government agencies and in private businesses and non-governmental organizations.

Program Description

Graduate study leading to a Master of Arts degree in Anthropology, with an applied focus, is offered by the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work. Degree requirements include a thesis, a one-semester or one-summer long internship (6 hours credit), an oral exam, and 24 hours of graduate course work. Students may elect to specialize either in applied archaeology, including bioarchaeology, or in applied cultural anthropology.

The program in applied archaeology focuses on cultural resources management, including preparation in archaeological method and theory, proposal writing, consulting practices, and ethics. Specialty areas include archaeological surface survey and excavation methods; artifact analysis; settlement pattern analysis; environmental archaeology; and osteoarchaeology. The areal emphasis is the Southeastern U. S., although principles and methods are adaptable to application anywhere.

The applied cultural anthropology specialization emphasizes medical anthropology; program evaluation; and communication in multicultural settings. Ethnographic and qualitative research methods, as practiced in applied settings, are emphasized. The program focuses on preparing students for placement in the public and private sectors as cultural resource specialists and program evaluators, especially in medical settings, as well as preparing them for further graduate study.

Click here to be directed to the Office of Graduate Studies at Mississippi State University for information about applying to graduate programs and online applications.

Degree Requirements

Students must complete 36 hours of graduate work as summarized below.

1. Foundation/core/general courses:

1. Leveling courses. Any student who does not have an undergraduate degree in Anthropology or who is deficient in core areas (cultural anthropology, biological anthropology, and anthropological archaeology) will be required to take one or more of the following:

• AN 1143 Introduction to Cultural Anthropology

• AN 1343 Introduction to Biological Anthropology

• AN 1543 Introduction to Archaeology




2. Core course. This course is required of all students who have not already taken it or an equivalent:

• AN 6123 Anthropological Theory




2. Courses required of all students in the MA program:

• AN 8203 Readings and Research in Applied Anthropology

• AN 8216 Internship in Applied Anthropology (6 Hours)

• AN 8000 Thesis (6 Hours)




Courses in Archaeology/Bioarchaeology emphasis:

1. Leveling Courses. These courses are required of students who have not taken them and who do not have equivalent archaeological field experience:

• AN 2510 (6 hrs) Archaeological Field Methods: Survey

• AN 3510 (6 hrs) Archaeological Field Methods: Excavation




2. Required Courses. Public Archaeology is required of students who have not already taken it or an equivalent. Readings in Archaeology: Theory is required of all masters students in the archaeology/bioarchaeology concentration.

• AN 6523 Public Archaeology

• AN 8533 Readings in Archaeology: Theory




3. 9-12 hours from the following list:

• AN 8303 Seminar in Bioarchaeology

• AN 8513 Southeastern Archaeology

• AN 8523 Environmental Archaeology

• AN 8553 Readings in Archaeology: Applications




4. Up to 6 hours from the following list:

• AN 6303 Human Variation and Origins

• AN 6313 Forensic Anthropology

• AN 7000 Directed Individual Study (6 hour limit; ordinarily, this will be an option only for students who have completed all appropriate 4000/6000-level courses as undergraduates)




5. 6-7 hours technical speciality:
   Students will choose two courses from one area or, with permission of their advisor, one from each of two areas. A list of possible courses is given below; it will be revised as appropriate to reflect courses added and deleted as programs make curriculum changes.

1. Soils/geomorphology:

• GG 6503 Geomorphology

• PSS 6323 Soil Classification

• PSS 6603 Soil Chemistry

• FO 6483 Forest Soils




2. GIS and Remote Sensing:

• FO 6452 + lab Remote Sensing Applications

• FO 6472 + lab GIS for Natural Resource Management

• GR 6303 Principles of GIS

• GR 6313 Advanced GIS

• GR 6333 Remote Sensing of the Physical Environment

• GR 8313 Advanced Cultural Geography

• PSS 6483 Introduction to Remote Sensing Technologies

• WF 6253 + lab Application of Spatial Technologies to Wildlife and Fisheries Management




3. Resource management/impact assessment/business:

• BL 6263 Environmental Law

• FO 6413 Natural Resources Policy

• HI 6913 The Administration of Archives and Manuscript Collections

• AN/SO 6173 Environment and Society




4. Biogeography/advanced ecology:

• ST 8114 Statistical Methods

• BIO 6113 Evolutionary Biology

• BIO 8113 Biogeography

• BIO 6533 Animal Behavior

• GG 6133 Principles of Paleoecology

• PSS 6633 Weed Biology and Ecology




Courses for Applied Cultural Anthropology emphasis:

1. 9 hours from the following list:

• AN 8103 Seminar in Applied Cultural Anthropology

• AN 8990 Special Topics in Anthropology




2. 15 hours from the following list:

• AN 6133 Medical Anthropology

• AN 6143 Ethnographic Methods

• AN 6163 Anthropology of International Development

• AN/SO 6173 Environment and Society

• AN 7000 Directed Individual Study (6 hour limit; ordinarily, this will be an option only for students who have completed all appropriate 4000/6000-level courses as undergraduates)




Internship:

AN 8216 Internship in Applied Anthropology
Each student is required to participate in a summer or one-semester internship program. The student will receive six hours of credit for an internship lasting for the 10-week summer term or the 15-week semester. This requirement may be waived in lieu of prior appropriate documented work experience. Internships will be coordinated through the student's committee chair, who will monitor internship progress.

• Archaeology/Bioarchaeology. Internships will be arranged with state and federal agencies that must take into account or manage archaeological resources. Students also may choose to serve as interns with cultural resources management firms or with local government units. Internships will be arranged with the prior understanding that each intern will work on a variety of projects and problems, gaining a wide-ranging knowledge of the unit's organization and responsibilities in relation to applied archaeology.

• Applied Cultural Anthropology. All students participating in the program will do an internship in the area of health, education, community development, or social services. These internships will take place in area businesses, schools, hospitals, non-profit organizations, and government agencies. An important component of these internships will be to allow anthropologists to learn to work in teams with other professionals (social workers, educators, doctors).




Thesis:

Each student will be required to write a thesis based on original research. Such research may be partly conducted during the course of the internship but the thesis must make a contribution to anthropological knowledge and may not be merely a descriptive or client-driven report. Students in applied cultural anthropology may not collect data during their internship without prior approval of their major advisor and the Institutional Review Board at Mississippi State University.




Transfer credits:

At least 15 hours of graduate course work plus six hours thesis credit and a six-hour internship (unless replaced by appropriate work experience) must be completed at MSU.




Graduate Curriculum*

AN 6123 Anthropological Theory

AN 6133 Medical Anthropology

AN 6143 Ethnographic Methods

AN 6163 Anthropology of International Development

AN 6173 Environment and Society

AN 6303 Human Variation and Origins

AN 6313 Forensic Anthropology

AN 6523 Public Archaeology

AN 7000 Directed Individual Study

AN 8103 Seminar in Applied Cultural Anthropology

AN 8203 Readings and Research in Applied Anthropology

AN 8216 Internship in Applied Anthropology (6 Hours)

AN 8303 Bioarchaeology

AN 8513 Southeastern Archaeology

AN 8523 Environmental Archaeology

AN 8533 Readings in Archaeology: Theory

AN 8553 Readings in Archaeology: Applications

AN 8990 Special Topics in Anthropology

AN 8000 Thesis (6 Hours)

*Each graduate course usually is offered once every two years.

For information about this page, contact Janet Rafferty
For information about Mississippi State University, contact msuinfo@ur.msstate.edu
Mississippi State University is an equal opportunity institution
Last modified Wednesday, 05-Sep-2001 13:32:58 CDT.