MA in Anthropology
The 36-credit Master of Arts in Anthropology program provides a grounding in the foundational concepts of the discipline: biological anthropology, sociocultural anthropology, linguistic anthropology and archaeology. MA graduates learn to synthesize diverse data about human beings, an increasingly valued skill in a variety of professions and academic settings.
Students may earn their degree in general anthropology or in one of three concentrations: international development, museum training, or health, science, and society. Of the 14–18 students admitted to the program each year, about one-third choose to pursue a concentration.
*GRE scores are not required for application to the MA, MS and PhD programs and, if submitted with the application, will play no role in our departmental admissions decisions. The department of anthropology values building a thriving intellectual community that is diverse, equitable and inclusive. We do not consider GRE scores to be a valid predictor of intellectual promise — indeed we believe the GRE often promotes injustices that are contrary to our values.
Culminating Project
Master’s students complete a culminating project that can take the form of a thesis or a journal paper. Students in the Development and Museum Training concentrations are not required to complete a thesis, but students in those fields may substitute six credit hours of thesis work for coursework. Learn more about culminating projects in the Anthropology Graduate Student Guide (PDF).
"My master’s in anthropology from GW has been essential to my professional success."
Christina Samuels
MA ’13
Education Policy Manager, The New York Immigration Coalition
Course Requirements
Foreign language requirement
Students with fewer than four semesters of a major foreign language taken at the undergraduate level must demonstrate a reading knowledge of an approved language before beginning the third semester of graduate work.
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Core requirements | ||
| Proseminars | ||
| At least three proseminars selected from the following: | ||
| ANTH 6101 | Proseminar in Biological Anthropology | |
| ANTH 6102 | Proseminar in Sociocultural Anthropology | |
| ANTH 6103 | Proseminar in Archaeology | |
| ANTH 6104 | Proseminar in Linguistic Anthropology | |
| Students with significant background in a field, as determined by evaluation of a petition to the proseminar instructor, may waive one proseminar. Those who are permitted to waive a proseminar must take one course from group A and one from Group B. | ||
| Group A | ||
| ANTH 6101 | Proseminar in Biological Anthropology | |
| or ANTH 6103 | Proseminar in Archaeology | |
| Group B | ||
| ANTH 6102 | Proseminar in Sociocultural Anthropology | |
| or ANTH 6104 | Proseminar in Linguistic Anthropology | |
| Methods | ||
| One approved 3-credit methods course. | ||
| Thesis or other culminating project | ||
| 3 to 6 credits in courses leading to a thesis or other culminating project, depending on which concentration the student pursues. | ||
| Electives | ||
| 18 to 24 credits in elective courses, depending on the number of credits taken in core course requirements. Students may choose to pursue a concentration (below), in which case any credits remaining after core and concentration requirements have been met are taken in elective courses. | ||
| Optional concentrations | ||
| In addition to completing all core requirements for the degree, students may choose to pursue a concentration as part of their program of study. All requirements for the concentration must be fulfilled. | ||
| Museum training concentration (12 to 15 credits) 1 | ||
| 12 to 15 credits in courses selected from the following. 6 of these credits may be in an internship. | ||
| ANTH 6200 | Museum Anthropology | |
| ANTH 6201 | Methods in Museum Anthropology | |
| ANTH 6203 | Preventive Conservation Concepts | |
| ANTH 6204 | Preventive Conservation Techniques | |
| ANTH 6205 | Problems in Conservation | |
| ANTH 6230 | Internship in Museum Anthropology | |
| ANTH 6291 | Special Topics in Museum Anthropology | |
| ANTH 6508 | Ethics and Cultural Property | |
| International development (15 credits) | ||
| Required | ||
| ANTH 6301 | The Anthropology of Development | |
| Two courses from the following: | ||
| ANTH 6302 | Issues in Development | |
| ANTH 6330 | Internship in Development Anthropology | |
| ANTH 6391 | Anthropology and Contemporary Problems | |
| ANTH 6501 | Gender and Sexuality | |
| ANTH 6507 | Nationalism and Ethnicity | |
| One approved graduate-level course in quantitative analysis. | ||
| Health, science, and society (15 credits) | ||
| Students who choose to pursue the health, science, and society (HSS) concentration do so in one of two focus areas: Science and technology studies or medical anthropology. | ||
HSS concentration—Science and technology studies focus: | ||
| Required | ||
| ANTH 6504 | Social Study of Science and Technology | |
| Two courses selected from the following (see courses at bottom of concentration as well): | ||
| ANTH 3602 | Ethnographic Analysis of Speech 3 | |
| ANTH 3603 | Psycholinguistics 3 | |
| ANTH 3604 | Culture and Media 3 | |
| ANTH 3625 | Ethnographic and Historical Perspectives on Data Ethics 3 | |
| AMST 2610 | Science, Technology, and Politics in Modern America 3 | |
| AMST 2620 | Human Mind and Artificial Intelligence 3 | |
| AMST 2630 | Discovering the Mind (for graduate credit) | |
| AMST 6190 | Topics in American Studies | |
HSS concentration—medical anthropology focus: | ||
| Required | ||
| ANTH 6505 | Medical Anthropology | |
| 6 credits in research methods courses, which must include one course in qualitative methods and one required course in quantitative methods, selected from the following: | ||
| Qualitative methods course options: | ||
| ANTH 6331 | Research Methods in Development Anthropology | |
| ANTH 6531 | Methods in Sociocultural Anthropology | |
| SOC 6232 | Qualitative Methods | |
| Quantitative methods course options: | ||
| PUBH 6003 | Principles and Practices of Epidemiology | |
| 6 credits in sociocultural anthropology coursework selected from the following. Other ANTH courses may be approved by the concentration advisor, including courses at GW and those offered through the Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area. For courses not directly focused on health, students should direct their learning, as far as possible, toward health issues, for example, by selecting a health-related topic in a course that requires or allows a paper. 4 | ||
| ANTH 6301 | The Anthropology of Development | |
| ANTH 6302 | Issues in Development | |
| ANTH 6391 | Anthropology and Contemporary Problems | |
| ANTH 6501 | Gender and Sexuality | |
| ANTH 6504 | Social Study of Science and Technology | |
| ANTH 6505 | Medical Anthropology | |
| ANTH 6506 | Topics in Medical Anthropology (Culture and Psychiatry) | |
| ANTH 6591 | Topics in Sociocultural Anthropology | |
| ANTH 6707 | Issues in Middle East Anthropology | |
| IAFF 6138 | Special Topics in International Development Studies (Gender and Development or Indigenous People) | |
| The following courses may be taken for credit toward the HSS concentration—medical anthropology focus with the permission of the concentration advisor: | ||
| ANTH 3503 | Psychological Anthropology | |
| ANTH 6330 | Internship in Development Anthropology | |
1Students whose primary interest is in museum techniques, rather than anthropology, are advised to apply to the MA in museum studies program. (Note that an MA in teaching in the field of museum education is also available through the Graduate School of Education and Human Development.)
2The Elliott School of International Affairs offers a number of courses relevant to the study of anthropology through its international development studies program.
3Taken for graduate credit.
4Visit the Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area website for additional information.