Masters of Arts in Anthropology
Anthropology at UTSA emphasizes a four-field approach to Master's level training. Faculty expertise includes archaeology of the lowland Maya and Andean South America; archaeology of Texas and the Greater Southwest; primate behavioral and conservation ecology in Southeast Asia and Africa; cultural anthropology of Texas and the Plains; language, cognition and human ecology in North American maritime settings; ethnography and applied anthropology of Mexico and the United States; and medical anthropology of the US-Mexico border region.
Application Procedures and Program Contacts
General Application Information
The UTSA application form and catalog may be accessed on-line at http://www.utsa.edu/graduate/Admission/index.html or requested from:
The Graduate School
The University of Texas at San Antonio
One UTSA Circle
San Antonio , TX 78249-0603
Ph. 210-458-4335
To apply for admission to the M.A. program in Anthropology, you must complete The University of Texas at San Antonio Graduate Application for Admission. The application consists of an application form, official academic transcripts, an essay (statement of purpose), and 2 letters of recommendation (see below). GRE scores must also be submitted to the Graduate School. These scores will be considered only as one element in the evaluation of applicants. Applications will not be reviewed until complete.
Applicants can request degree-seeking or non-degree seeking status (special graduate students or non-degree-seeking graduate students). Please see below for explanation of terms.
Applicants for admission as degree-seeking students will be evaluated on the basis of undergraduate academic performance, the application essay, letters of recommendation, and GRE test scores. A degree-seeking applicant admitted to the program may receive unconditional, conditional, or probationary admission status.
Applicants for admission as non-degree-seeking students need not submit GRE scores. Non-degree-seeking students may be limited in the courses they are permitted to take. Admission as a non-degree-seeking student does not ensure subsequent admission as a degree-seeking student.
Admission Deadlines
FALL ADMISSION : Admission priority will be given to complete applications received by April 1. The final application deadline is July 1.
SPRING ADMISSION : Admission priority will be given to complete applications received by September 1. The final application deadline is November 1.
If you have any questions or would like to talk further with Anthropology faculty about the M.A. program, please contact the Anthropology Graduate Advisor of Record, Jill Fleuriet, Ph.D. (210-458-5721, jill.fleuriet@utsa.edu), or any of the Anthropology faculty in your particular area of interest.
Application Materials for the MA in Anthropology
1) Record of Undergraduate Academic Performance
Applicants should have successfully completed at least 18 hours of undergraduate anthropology coursework. In addition, this background should reflect facility in anthropology's four fields: archaeology, biological/physical anthropology, cultural anthropology, and linguistic anthropology.
2) Essay
Include a statement of purpose describing your reasons for entering UTSA's M.A. program in Anthropology. This document should be 500-750 words in length (approximately two-to-three double-spaced pages) and should answer the following questions as completely as possible:
• What particular facet of anthropology do you wish to pursue in your graduate education, including topical and regional specializations?
• How do these interests fit within a four-field approach in anthropology?
• How have your prior coursework and related experience prepared you for graduate work in anthropology?
• How do your interests mesh with our faculty and resources?
• Which of our faculty members (at least 2) would you be interested in working with? Please explain.
3) Two Letters of Recommendation
As part of your application, you will need two letters of recommendation. Recommendations should preferably be from Anthropology faculty with whom you have worked during your academic training. We realize that this is not always possible, especially if you were trained at a smaller institution or Anthropology was not your major. In such cases, recommendations from other social science faculty or faculty in related fields are appropriate. Recommending faculty should be given information about how to submit letters electronically.
4) GRE (Graduate Record of Examination) Scores
For information about the GRE, including test locations and dates, please see www.ets.org. At the University of Texas at San Antonio, GRE scores will be considered only as one element in the evaluation of applicants. Other elements of the application include undergraduate academic performance, the application essay, and letters of recommendation.
Facilities/Research
The Center for Archaeological Research (CAR) conducts archaeological projects and field schools in which graduate students, faculty and staff participate. CAR, located at UTSA, has a full array of excavation, mapping, computer and testing equipment. The Institute of Texan Cultures in downtown San Antonio is an educational center for the interpretation of Texas history and folk culture.
Graduate students have opportunities to participate in field research projects in the Andean and Maya regions; in various U.S. localities, including Texas, the Southwest, and coastal regions; and in Mexico, Thailand, and Tanzania. For information on student activities, consult the Lambda Alpha Anthropology Honor Society Homepage.
UTSA is also home to the editorship of American Anthropologist (Journal of the American Anthropological Association) and Culture & Agriculture, a journal of the Culture and Agriculture Section of the American Anthropological Association.
Graduate Student Support
Graduate students have the opportunity to work either as research assistants or reader/graders. Research assistants work with faculty members on their current research and/or teaching projects. Each assistantship is a quarter-time appointment (10 hours per week). Reader/graders assist faculty with their classroom responsibilities. Appointments vary, but typically reader-graders work between 5 and 10 hours a week. University and Departmental grants and scholarships are also available.
Degree Requirements
Degree Requirements. The minimum number of semester credit hours required for this degree is 33 (with thesis) or 36 (without thesis). In addition to the University's general requirements for graduate study and any coursework or other study required as a condition of admission, the Master of Arts degree in Anthropology requires the following:
A. 9 semester credit hours of required basic courses:
ANT 5023 History, Method, and Theory of Archaeology
ANT 5033 Paradigms of Americanist Anthropology
ANT 5073 Advanced Biological Anthropology
B. 3 semester credit hours from one of the following methods courses, depending on the student's area of interest:
ANT 6353 Field Research Methods in Cultural Anthropology
ANT 6623 Seminar in Analytical Methods in Archaeology
C. 15 semester credit hours of elective courses chosen in consultation with the student's advisor and subject to the following conditions:
1. Students will normally take a minimum of 9 semester credit hours of electives in regular, organized graduate anthropology courses (this excludes fieldwork, independent studies, and internships).
2. Students are expected to develop a primary regional expertise. Knowledge of this region will be evaluated as part of the comprehensive evaluation (see below). In addition, students must take at least one other course focusing on a second region. This course may be in a subdiscipline other than that of the student's main interest.
D. Although there is no program-wide language proficiency requirement, certain programs of study require students to demonstrate proficiency in a second language or in statistics. Students should consult their advisors regarding this matter.
E. A written comprehensive examination, tailored to the student's program and area of concentration, is required. The comprehensive examination will be taken no later than nine months after the completion of the required coursework. Satisfactory performance on the comprehensive examination is required for advancement to Option I or Option II.
F. Option I (with thesis). 6 semester credit hours of ANT 6983, Master's Thesis.
or
Option II (without thesis). 9 semester credit hours of additional, organized coursework. Students seeking this option must petition the Anthropology Graduate Program Committee. Normally, permission is granted only on presentation of evidence that the student has previously done scholarly work equivalent to that required in a Master's thesis. Such evidence would be a scholarly contribution of monograph length, reflecting in-depth research on a topic. A major published article or monograph may potentially meet these requirements.
Alumni
Graduates have developed careers in government agencies, museums, and cultural resource management organizations. Many have pursued doctoral programs at universities such as Emory University, Washington University- St. Louis, Harvard University, University of Arizona, University of Texas at Austin, University of California at Berkeley, University of New Mexico, and Southern Methodist University.
This page was last updated on 12/08/06 and contains information from the 2007-2009 Graduate Catalog.