Departmental Subdisciplines

Anthropology in the United States is traditionally divided into four subdisciplines: archaeology, biological, cultural and linguistic. Of these, the first three are major curricular options available to graduate students in anthropology at CU Boulder.  

Archaeology

The archaeology subdiscipline provides continuous geographic coverage of ancient societies from the Plains of North America through the Southwest and Mesoamerica to the Intermediate Area. The native societies range from egalitarian hunter-gatherers through middle range societies to city-states and empires. The faculty's theoretical and topical interests include human ecology, ethnoarchaeology, community archaeology, agency and social theory, lithic and ceramic analyses, remote sensing and geophysical applications in archaeology.

Archaeology links with biological anthropology in a number of ways. For instance, archaeologists encountering burials frequently turn to biological anthropologists for analyses of stature, health and other topics. Many archaeologists and biological anthropologists share a deep interest in human ecology, the ways people have adapted to their environments and have affected those environments.

Archaeology also relates to cultural anthropology in significant ways, since much archaeological theory is derived from cultural theory. Given the vast diachronic interests of archaeology, significant archaeological theory is also derived independently from ethnography. Ethnoarchaeology spans the two subdisciplines, as archaeologists study the material culture of functioning contemporary societies to learn how better to make inferences about past behavior. Both archaeology and cultural anthropology study ethnic and political groups in contact with each other, including topics of ethnohistory, migration, acculturation, trade and tribute, conquest, information sharing, elite emulation and the rise of multiethnic powers.

Biological Anthropology

Biological anthropology encompasses genetics (the study of gene structure, processes and patterns of inheritance), paleoanthropology (the study of human and primate evolution in the fossil record), osteology (the study of the skeleton), paleopathology (the study of evidence of disease and trauma in skeletal and fossil remains), primatology (the study of the behavior and ecology of nonhuman primates) and human biology (biocultural study of biological variation in living human populations).

The biological anthropology faculty at CU have interests and research strengths that cross sub-disciplinary boundaries and foster collaboration with faculty and graduate students in other disciplines and subdisciplines. We share an interest in human ecology, the broad integrative area of anthropology that focuses on the interactions of culture, biology and the environment. We also share an interest in the processes of globalization, which are rapidly changing many aspects of the modern world. As biological anthropologists, we are well positioned to analyze the impact of globalization on the interaction between biology and behavior, and to analyze human and primate adaptations to changing environments and declining biodiversity.

The department offers training in several different aspects of ecology: general ecology, early hominin paleoecology, nutritional, community and evolutionary ecology. Our research foci also include anthropogenic and climatic effects on primate behavior and biology; conservation biology; primate evolution; feeding biology of humans and non-human primates; biogeochemical techniques for studying the diets and habitats of modern and fossil fauna; life history; endocrinology; growth and development; and maternal and infant health.

We carry out research and offer training and research opportunities at a wide range of international sites, including: Beza Mahafaly, Madagascar; Lajuma Research Centre and the Mokopane Conservation Centre, South Africa; The Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site, South Africa; 12 museums in South Africa, Kenya and Ethiopia; Keneba, The Gambia; Ta Kou Nature Reserve, Kien Luong Karst area and Khau Ca Forest area, Vietnam. Our laboratories offer analytical capabilities and training in a broad range of methods, from measurement of human energy expenditure, to immunoassay and mid-infrared spectroscopy, to plant nutritional analysis. Our field sites offer training and research on primate health, community ecology, plant-animal interactions, forest ecology, nutritional ecology, conservation biology, dental ecology and paleoecology.

Please note that we do not train students specifically in forensics.

Cultural Anthropology

Cultural anthropologists study the cultural patterns and social institutions that shape how people think and behave in human communities across the globe, including their own society. While their findings are frequently comparative or cross-cultural in scope, cultural anthropologists undertake ethnographic studies through intensive participant-observation in particular cultures, subcultures, communities and regions. The insights of cultural anthropology are derived from ethnographic methods, including long-term fieldwork, interviews, participant-observation and other qualitative research techniques. Among the topical interests of the cultural faculty are gender and sexuality, human ecology, environmental anthropology, medical anthropology, science and technology studies, nationalism and ethnic identity, capitalism and markets, tourism,and history and memory. Areas of regional expertise in the department include Latin America, Native America, Atlantic Canada, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Tibet, East Africa, the Caribbean, Polynesia and Western Europe, as well as their respective diasporas around the world. To learn more about the expertise and current research of the cultural anthropology faculty, please visit the department website, where you will find up-to-date and detailed profiles of each faculty member.

Requirements

Prerequisites

To be considered for admission to one of the anthropology PhD programs, applicants should have a minimum undergraduate grade point average of 3.00 (4.00 = A) and/or a MA in anthropology or a closely related topic. Graduate Record Examination scores for verbal and quantitative aptitude tests are required. Letters of recommendation and evidence of previous anthropologically oriented experience and work are carefully considered.

Admission Requirements

Inquiries about application procedures, processes and administration should be directed to the main departmental office. Students who hope to work with specific faculty members can contact them with questions about advising or research expertise. Applications must be completed and submitted no later than December 1 for international students and January 15 for all other applicants.

Students with no previous graduate work may apply for entrance into the terminal MA program in archaeology or cultural anthropology. Students with no previous graduate work may also apply directly into the PhD program in archaeology, biological anthropology or cultural anthropology. Students who have or will have completed an MA degree in anthropology or an MA or MS in a closely related discipline by the time of their admission may be eligible for transfer credits on a case by case basis.  

Course Requirements

Coursework beyond the MA must include a minimum of 12 credit hours and 30 dissertation credit hours.

Archaeology Subdiscipline

The PhD track is for students wishing to earn a PhD who enter the program with a BA, BS, or non-anthropology MA or PhD degrees. The degree requires at least 42 credits of coursework with up to 21 transferable from previous graduate work along with 30 credits of dissertation research. Students entering with a BA, BS, or non-anthropology MA or PhD degrees are required to take ANTH 7840 by their third semester, which will include the completion of a publishable paper and an oral defense of that paper by their PhD committee. Students entering with an MA are exempt from ANTH 7840. Students entering with an MA in Anthropology from CU Boulder can transfer up to 30 credits including any of the required courses listed below.

Foreign Language Requirement

Students who will require language training for the successful completion of their dissertation research are expected to identify and begin study of that language, preferably in their first year.

Required Courses and Credits
Core Courses
Two graduate-level anthropology courses not in the student’s sub-discipline (any non-split-level graduate seminar, including ANTH 7200 Bridging Seminar)6
ANTH 5000Quantitative Methods in Anthropology3
Additional Coursework
ANTH 5345Archaeological Theory3
ANTH 5400Research Methods in Archaeology 23
ANTH 5455Epistemology in Archaeology3
ANTH 5460Archaeology and Contemporary Society3
One 5000-level archaeology course that requires analysis of archaeological materials using laboratory methods. Examples include:3
Ceramics in Archaeology
Lithic Analysis and Replication
Collections Research Practicum: Archaeology
At least three 7000-level seminars in archaeology. Examples include:9
Seminar: Archaeology
Seminar: Archaeology of Selected Areas
ANTH 7840Independent Research (publishable paper)3
Other courses determined with advisor (5000 level or above)6
ANTH 8990Doctoral Dissertation30
Total Credit Hours72

Any transfer credit or other proposed substitutions for required coursework should be addressed by petition to the Graduate Committee.

Recommended Coursework

The faculty strongly recommends students take one or more additional classes beyond the required minimum, particularly classes in regional culture histories, general anthropology and relevant topics in other departments (such as geology and geography). Other classes can include any relevant to a student's program of study, including archaeological area and topical classes, ethnographic theory and area classes, and classes in related departments (such as geology, geography, biology, etc.). Elective classes should be chosen in consultation with each student's advisor.

Biological Anthropology Subdiscipline

Students entering the PhD program with an MA from another institution must complete one 5000-level graduate class in Biological Anthropology (see Core Requirements in MA section for suggestions) within the first two years. They must also take Quantitative Methods in Anthropology (ANTH 5000) within the first four semesters if they do not have equivalent training on their record.

The Department of Anthropology offers graduate training at the PhD level in the area of biological anthropology. Biological anthropology students holding a bachelor's degree are eligible for direct admission to the PhD program. Students holding a master's degree (or other advanced degree such as MS or MD) are also eligible for the program. Student pathways differ depending on the degree they hold upon admission. Degree plans will be individualized according to students' prior training and professional activities. The goal of the program is to train students to pursue academic and allied careers with an emphasis on research.

The degree requires at least 42 hours of coursework, along with a minimum of 30 hours of dissertation research hours. Applicants holding an advanced degree may transfer up to 21 hours of previous coursework credits, to be determined on a case-by-case basis.

Foreign Language Requirement

Students who will require language training for the successful completion of their dissertation research are expected to identify and begin study of that language, preferably in their first year.

Required Courses and Credits
Students with a Bachelor's Degree
ANTH 5000Quantitative Methods in Anthropology3
3-4 designated 5000-level courses. Examples include:12
Nutrition and Anthropology
Methods in Biological Anthropology
Advanced Biological Anthropology
Evolution and the Human Life Cycle: A Primate Life History Perspective
Early Hominin Paleoecology
Primate Evolutionary Biology
Other electives at 5000 level or above, along with 7000-level seminar credits27
ANTH 8990Doctoral Dissertation30
Total Credit Hours72
Students with a Graduate Degree and 21 Hours of Approved Transfer Credit
ANTH 5000Quantitative Methods in Anthropology3
2-3 designated 5000-level courses. Examples include:9
Nutrition and Anthropology
Methods in Biological Anthropology
Advanced Biological Anthropology
Evolution and the Human Life Cycle: A Primate Life History Perspective
Early Hominin Paleoecology
Primate Evolutionary Biology
Other electives at 5000 level or above, along with 7000-level seminar credits9
ANTH 8990Doctoral Dissertation30
Approved Transfer Credit 121
Total Credit Hours72

Cultural Anthropology Subdiscipline

The PhD program in cultural anthropology is open to applicants with undergraduate degrees or graduate degrees. Applicants with an MA in anthropology or an MA or MS in a closely related field who are accepted into the PhD program are eligible for transferring up to 21 coursework credits, to be determined on a case­ by-case basis.

The PhD degree requires at least 42 credits of coursework along with 30 credits of dissertation research. Students entering the program without previous graduate work in anthropology or a closely related field are required to take an independent study with their advisors in their fourth semester, which will include the completion of an approximately 30-page paper that will be evaluated by their committee. After the successful completion of 30 credits of coursework and a passing evaluation of the fourth-semester paper, students can earn an MA degree as part of their progress in the PhD program.

Foreign Language Requirement

Students who will require language training for the successful completion of their dissertation research are expected to identify and begin study of that language, preferably in their first year.

Required Courses and Credits
Requirements
ANTH 5780Core Course-Cultural Anthropology3
ANTH 5785Advanced Seminar in Cultural Anthropology3
ANTH 7300Seminar: Research Methods in Cultural Anthropology3
ANTH 7840Independent Research3
Cross-disciplinary seminar3
One non-split level graduate anthropology seminar not in the student's subdiscipline, or a bridging seminar ANTH 7200
Five 7000-level seminars in Cultural Anthropology. Examples include:15
Seminar: Current Research Topics in Cultural Anthropology
Seminar: Contemporary Theory in Cultural Anthropology
Kinship: Being and Belonging
Human Ecology: Cultural Aspects
Seminar: Ethnography and Cultural Theory
Four or more graduate courses at 5000-level or above, to be selected in consultation with advisor, including ANTH 5840 guided study/directed readings 112
ANTH 8990Doctoral Dissertation30
Total Credit Hours72

Any transfer credit or other proposed substitutions for required coursework should be addressed by petition to the Graduate Committee. See "Requesting Exceptions" in Department Policies and Procedures section.