The Department of Anthropology offers a Masters of Arts degree under the close direction of 13 Anthropology faculty with specializations in Archaeology (terrestrial and maritime), Cultural Anthropology, and Biological Anthropology.

The Program

There are two specializaions in the Anthropology Masters:

• General Anthropology
• Historical Archaeology

The Masters degree is the degree of choice for professionals in Anthropology, as it is the requirement for professional positions in government and private firms. The primary objectives of our Masters program are to prepare graduates to begin successful working careers and to enter doctoral programs.

We have between 40 and 50 graduate students each year and we are growing. Student-centered research is our specialty and we have continuous opportunities in the Anthropology Department and Archaeology Institute. 100% of our Masters graduates are employed in their field or are accepted into doctorate programs.

The deadline to apply is open. The faculty meets monthly to review completed applications. To be considered for financial support, it is best to have applications completed by February 1st. The Department makes its financial awards in February and March, and University support (such as work-study) is usually committed by March. We recommend that applicants check frequently on the completeness of their application package.

Degree Requirements

General: Students are obliged to fulfill all university and departmental requirements for the successful completion of an MA degree. All students are assigned a Graduate Advisor upon admission to the program, and all coursework must be approved in writing each semester by this advisor and filed with the Department Chair prior to registration for courses.

Transfer Credit: Students who have taken graduate hours in Anthropology at another university may count six semesters of that work toward their master's degree at UWF under certain circumstances: 1) credit must have been earned within five years of the date of admission 2) grade must be a B (3.0) or better 3) courses must be approved by the student's UWF advisor, the department graduate committee, and the department chair.

Continuation: Continuation in the graduate program requires that students maintain a 3.0 or higher GPA and achieve no less than a C in any course (a grade lower than a B- will not satisfy program requirements). All work towards the Masters degree including Thesis and Internship must be completed within five years of the first semester of enrollment in the program.

General Information: Each student plans their degree program with their faculty advisor or graduate committee chair. Students must take at least half of their course work at the 6000 level and they may take for graduate credit no more than 9 sh in upper division undergraduate and dual listed courses, directed studies and directed readings. The requirements for each program are listed below.

Thesis and Internship Options: Theses must be approved by the Thesis Committee and successfully defended by the candidate in an open defense. Internship Option candidates write a report approved by the Internship Committee and make a presentation to the Department.

Committee: A graduate committee is formed after the first year of coursework and the program option is selected. In the General Anthropology program, three committee members must be UWF faculty, one of which may be from outside the Anthropology Department. The chair of the committee, one of the three UWF faculty members aforementioned, must have a doctoral degree in Anthropology. An optional fourth member may be added from another university or college with permission of the Committee and Department Chair. In the Historical Archaeology Program, two members of each committee must be UWF faculty, of which one must be the Committee Chair and holder of a doctoral degree in Anthropology, and one a UWF faculty member with a doctoral degree in History.

Comprehensive Exam: A comprehensive exam will be offered for those students choosing the Internship option at the end of the Fall and Spring semesters. In the General Anthropology program, the exam will cover the three subfields of Anthropology (Archaeology, Biological and Cultural Anthropology) with special emphasis on the student's interest area. In the Historical Archaeology program it will cover the fields of History and Archaeology. The exam may be retaken one time only at the next exam offering. Graduate students choosing the Thesis option do not take comprehensive exams.