Academic Calendar

Anthropology, M.A.

Degree Requirements

Students must complete a minimum number of 12 credit hours of coursework at the 7000 level, including at least 9 credit hours of Anthropology courses. In addition a mandatory pass/fail ANTH 7000 Professional Development in Anthropology Course must be taken. Students must submit an acceptable thesis and pass a thesis oral examination.

Expected Time to Graduate: 2 years

Progression Chart

Plan of Study Grid
Year 1Hours
GRAD 7300 Research Integrity Tutorial 0
GRAD 7500 Academic Integrity Tutorial 0
ANTH 7000 Professional Development in Anthropology 0
Select 9 credit hours of Anthrolopology courses at the 7000-level or above 9
Select 3 credit hours of elective courses designated at the 7000-level or above 3
 Hours12
Year 2
GRAD 7020 Master's Re-registration 0
GRAD 7000 Master's Thesis 1 0
 Hours0
 Total Hours12
1

The M.A. thesis proposal must be approved by the advisor and committee.

Certain programs of study within anthropology may require courses outside the Department of Anthropology. For additional details on all program requirements, consult the program's supplementary regulations.

Registration Information

Students should familiarize themselves with the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies ‘GRAD’ courses applicable to their program. If you have questions about which GRAD course(s) to register in, please consult your home department/unit.

All students in the graduate program must meet with their advisor to determine their course load. Courses must be listed on the departmental approval form (available from the Anthropology general office) and written approval granted from both the Advisor and the department head or designate. Registration revisions are to be dealt with and approved in like manner.

Regulations

Students must meet the requirements as outlined in both Supplementary Regulation and BFAR documents as approved by Senate.

Supplementary Regulations

Individual units may require specific requirements above and beyond those of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, and students should consult unit supplementary regulations for these specific regulations. 

Bona Fide Academic Requirements (BFAR)

Bona Fide Academic Requirements (BFAR) represent the core academic requirements a graduate student must acquire in order to gain, and demonstrate acquisition of, essential knowledge and skills.

All students must successfully complete:

  • GRAD 7300 prior to applying to any ethics boards which are appropriate to the student’s research or within the student’s first year, whichever comes first; and
  • GRAD 7500 within the first term of registration;

unless these courses have been completed previously, as per Mandatory Academic Integrity Course and Mandatory Research Integrity Online Course.

Students must also meet additional BFAR requirements that may be specified for their program.

General Regulations

All students must:

  • maintain a minimum degree grade point average of 3.0 with no grade below C+,
  • meet the minimum and not exceed the maximum course requirements, and
  • meet the minimum and not exceed the maximum time requirements (in terms of time in program and lapse or expiration of credit of courses).

Courses

Anthropology

ANTH 7000  Professional Development in Anthropology  0 cr  
The course is designed for graduate students to develop the professional skills needed to pursue careers in anthropological research, teaching, and practice. The course prepares students for academic and applied careers through regular group meetings, participation in workshops, and departmental community outreach initiatives. This course is graded Pass/Fail.
ANTH 7040  Seminar in Ethnography of Power Systems  3 cr  
Comparative study of a particular theme or problem in political anthropology.
ANTH 7050  Seminar in the Anthropology of Religion  3 cr  
An intensive analysis of religion as a cultural subsystem, dealing comparatively with ideologies, rituals, and ceremonies and the various anthropological theories put forward to explain religious behaviour.
ANTH 7070  Seminar in the Anthropology of Illness  3 cr  
Selected topics in the study of cultural factors involved in health/illness, with emphasis upon a particular cultural system. The course content may vary. Students can earn multiple credits for this course only when the topic subtitle is different.
ANTH 7080  Museums, Memory, and Witnessing  3 cr  
Discussing key issues in museology such as collections and collecting, conservation, representation, repatriation, and restitution, this course will explore the museum as witness. Particularly examining how museums are entangled with violence, we will attend to memory as our approach for delving into both museums’ histories and their imagined futures. The course will bring scholarship, contemporary art, exhibitions, activism, and policy into creative and critical conversation on the state and idea of museums today. Not open to students who have completed ANTH 4080 or equivalent. Permission of Instructor.
ANTH 7100  Anthropology of Human Rights  3 cr  
This seminar examines diverse global conceptualizations and practice of human rights and social justice with particular attention to instances where human rights are emergent, and where they are contested or are subjects of conflict. May not be held with ANTH 7900 under the same topic subtitle.
Mutually Exclusive: ANTH 7900
ANTH 7102  Environmental Conflict, Rights and Justice  3 cr  
This course will focus on anthropological studies and perspectives related to environmental issues. Students will gain familiarity with current academic debates and new theoretical approaches to nature, environmental rights, and environmental justice issues. May not be held with ANTH 7900 under the same topic subtitle.
Mutually Exclusive: ANTH 7900
ANTH 7130  Cultural Ecology  3 cr  
An examination of the systematic nature of culture and its interrelationships with natural environmental factors.
ANTH 7140  Ethnographic Research Methods  3 cr  
Approaches and techniques in field research.
ANTH 7350  Prehistoric Human Ecology  3 cr  
Data and techniques involved in the reconstruction of past environments, with special emphasis on the influences of environment on prehistoric cultural development.
ANTH 7380  Archaeological Laboratory Techniques  3 cr  
Laboratory techniques for analysis and presentation of archaeological data.
ANTH 7400  Seminar in the Archaeology of a Selected Area  3 cr  
An intensive survey of the archaeology of a major region or culture area of the world. Content will vary according to the interests of the instructor. The course content may vary. Students can earn multiple credits for this course only when the topic subtitle is different.
ANTH 7410  Seminar in Selected Topics in Archaeology  3 cr  
The seminars will consist of an intensive examination of major methodological, analytical and interpretive issues in current archaeological research. Content will vary according to the interests of the instructor. The course content may vary. Students can earn multiple credits for this course only when the topic subtitle is different.
ANTH 7430  Archaeological Interpretive Methods  3 cr  
This course is an intensive seminar on major methodological issues in archaeological analysis and interpretation.
ANTH 7440  Archaeological Theory  3 cr  
Archaeological theory as seen from historical and contemporary perspectives.
ANTH 7450  Cultural Resource Management  3 cr  
An intensive examination of archaeological cultural resource management. Emphasis will be placed on current Canadian CRM issues and on practical applications of concepts and methods.
ANTH 7460  Advanced Faunal Analysis in Archaeology  3 cr  
The course will cover the major theoretical, methodological, and practical issues in the analysis of archaeological faunal remains. Topics are addressed through lectures, demonstrations, and laboratory exercises.
PR/CR: A minimum grade of C is required unless otherwise indicated.
Prerequisite: ANTH 3990 or written consent of instructor.
ANTH 7470  Scientific Methods and Applications in Archaeology and Biological Anthropology  3 cr  
In this course, a range of scientific methods that can be applied to answer questions in archaeology and biological anthropology will be considered. These include microscopy, 3-D and virtual technologies ancient DNA, and elemental analyses. Students will learn how many of the core techniques are transferable across fields and will learn the strengths and limitations of the methods. Not open to students who have completed ANTH 4470 or equivalent. Permission of Instructor.
ANTH 7630  History of Anthropological Theory  3 cr  
A broad overview of the history of anthropological theory and method from the 18th century to World War II. Focus on British and American developments in the context of the rise of industrialization and imperialism.
ANTH 7640  Contemporary Anthropological Theory  3 cr  
Investigation, comparison and evaluation of contemporary approaches to culture theory in the areas of symbolism, social organization and ecology.
ANTH 7650  Applied Anthropology  3 cr  
Investigation of major case studies, research methodologies, intervention strategies, and substantive areas of application in applied anthropology. Topical emphases such as economic development, health care delivery, resettlement schemes, will reflect the interests of the instructor.
ANTH 7720  Seminar in Human Adaptability  3 cr  
An intensive study of human population biology in diverse environments inhabited by human populations. Emphasis on selected examples of cultural adaptability as a specifically human mechanism for dissipating stress on the biological system.
ANTH 7790  Advanced Topics in Human Skeletal Biology  3 cr  
Analysis of metric and nonmetric morphological skeletal variation in human populations, with emphasis on the cultural and physical environment. Exemplary problems are drawn from the literature as well as from current research.
ANTH 7830  Social Organization  3 cr  
Selected theories of social organization in cross cultural perspective. Subject matter may include kinship, age grading, territorial groupings, social stratification or ethnicity.
ANTH 7900  Problems in Ethnological Research  3 cr  
Problems in ethnological research. The course content may vary. Students can earn multiple credits for this course only when the topic subtitle is different.
Mutually Exclusive: ANTH 7100, ANTH 7102
ANTH 7930  Special Problems in Human Biology  3 cr  
Special problems in Human Biology. The course content may vary. Students can earn multiple credits for this course only when the topic subtitle is different.
ANTH 7940  Graduate Reading and Research 1  3 cr  
Reading and research. The course content may vary. Students can earn multiple credits for this course only when the topic subtitle is different.
ANTH 7950  Graduate Reading and Research 2  3 cr  
Reading and research. The course content may vary. Students can earn multiple credits for this course only when the topic subtitle is different.