Anthropology

2016-17 General Catalog

361 Social Sciences 1 Building
(831) 459- 3320
http://anthro.ucsc.edu/

Faculty | Course Descriptions


Program Description

Anthropology studies people throughout the world and through time. Because it covers a wide range of topics biological evolution, material remains of the past, and the world that humans create through their ideas and practices in present-day societiesanthropology is an especially integrative discipline. The anthropology program at UCSC offers courses that reflect the diversity of the field.

  • Cultural anthropology explores the movements of people, objects, and ideas in diverse societies, including our own. Cultural anthropology courses examine such topics as race and ethnicity, medicine, science, gender, sexuality, the environment, religion, law, popular culture, and politics.

  • Archaeology uses the material evidence of human activities to understand past human lives. Archaeology at UCSC focuses on past people’s interactions with one another at the local level and within their wider social and ecological contexts. Faculty research areas include the pre-colonial and early post-colonial history of East Africa and the American Southwest.

  • Biological anthropology traces the human journey from its beginnings in Africa over five million years ago. Biological anthropology courses look at fossil evidence, evolutionary theory, human variation, and the behavior of primate relatives in order to analyze biological, social, and cultural changes over time.

UCSC students have the opportunity to do independent library and field research in cultural anthropology, archaeology, and biological anthropology. Laboratory courses in archaeology and biological anthropology offer practical experience in the analysis of biological and cultural materials. In cultural anthropology courses, students learn to carry out anthropological research through interviews, participant observation, surveys, the collection of oral histories, and the interpretation of archives.

Because anthropology is concerned with understanding human interaction, it is a useful major for anyone planning a career that involves working with people, especially those from diverse cultures. Some UCSC anthropology graduates are in social work, many are in teaching, and others pursue careers in law, city planning, politics, medicine, public health, cultural resource management, and journalism. Students intending to specialize in anthropology usually go on to graduate school because professional employment in the field almost always demands an advanced degree.

Most anthropology faculty have their offices in Social Sciences 1 Building. Social Sciences 1 also houses the Visual Culture Research Laboratory and laboratories for archaeology and biological anthropology where space is provided for laboratory and individual studies courses and for collections of mammalian skeletal material, casts of fossil hominids, ceramics, stone tools, and other archaeological artifacts.

The Anthropology Society, a campus club, is open to all students interested in anthropology. The Anthropology Colloquium showcases guest speakers and gives faculty and students an opportunity to discuss new approaches to anthropological questions. Students and faculty interested in archaeology also gather informally at the Archaeology/Biological Anthropology Lunch forum to share information on fieldwork and employment opportunities.

Program Learning Outcomes

A student who graduates with a B.A. in Anthropology has the following knowledge and skills:

Core Concepts in Anthropology

The student demonstrates understanding of the core concepts in three primary subfields of anthropology:  cultural anthropology, archaeology, and biological anthropology.

Knowledge of Cultural Differences

The student demonstrates knowledge of cultural variation and the diversity of perspectives, practices, and beliefs found within each culture and across cultures.

Integration of Subfields

The student integrates cultural, biological, and archaeological perspectives on human bodies, behavior, and institutions.

Written Communication

The student demonstrates the ability to write clearly and to formulate well-organized arguments that are grounded in supporting evidence while countering evidence that contradicts the student’s claims.

Oral Communication

The student is able to organize ideas and information and articulate them effectively.

Research and Analytical Skills

The student demonstrates knowledge of the basic steps involved in scholarly research, including locating and critically evaluating scholarly and other information sources relevant to the chosen topic. The student can recognize and demonstrate a basic understanding of research methods used in the various subfields of anthropology, including—but not limited to— participant observation, thick description, laboratory and field analysis, and interviewing.

Understanding of Long-Term Changes in Human Behavior and Conditions in Deep Time

The student has a grasp of long-term changes in the conditions that have shaped humans and the environments they inhabit.

Undergraduate Handbook

All undergraduate majors should obtain a copy of the Anthropology Department undergraduate handbook from the department web site. It outlines information on department procedures and requirements, program planning, independent study, faculty interests, and campus resources for anthropology majors.

Admission into the Major

In order to qualify for the major, students must have received a "C" or better in at least one lower-division anthropology course (ANTH 1, 2, or 3) and have either received a "C" or better in a second lower-division anthropology course or be enrolled in a second lower-division anthropology course at the time of declaration.

Requirements of the Major

The Anthropology Department urges students to seek faculty advice early in planning for the major. Faculty hold regular office hours weekly and encourage students to come in to talk about their program or coursework. Peer advisers are also available.

The anthropology major incorporates the three anthropological subfields of anthropological archaeology, cultural anthropology, and biological anthropology, while providing undergraduates with a solid grounding in theory and methods. 

Students do not declare an emphasis or concentration within the anthropology major. All students therefore are general anthropology majors and complete the same requirements. However, students can choose to take additional courses in a specific area of anthropology while completing the upper-division anthropology electives required for the major, or by choosing to take courses above and beyond what is required for the major. 

To graduate with an anthropology major, students must successfully complete the following courses:

Three Lower-Division Courses

ANTH 1: Introduction to Biological Anthropology

ANTH 2: Introduction to Cultural Anthropology

ANTH 3: Introduction to Archaeology

Ten Upper-Division Courses

one course in archaeology

one course in biological, medical or environmental anthropology

one course in regional specialization

one course in sociocultural anthropology

one course in anthropological theory

four anthropology electives (any additional upper-division anthropology courses)

One senior comprehensive requirement, which can be satisfied in one of three ways:
  • Senior Seminar (usually courses numbered ANTH 194 or 196)

  • Graduate Seminar (200-level course), enrollment by petition only

  • Senior Thesis, plus one additional elective; enrollment by petition only

Students must also complete the Disciplinary Communication (DC) requirement.

Anthropological Theory Courses

Note:  Each course may only be used to satisfy a single major requirement.  Courses cannot be double-counted for requirements within the anthropology major.

100     History and Theory of Biological Anthropology

150     Communicating Anthropology

152     Survey of Cultural Anthropological Theory

170     History of Archaeological Theory

Sociocultural Anthropology Courses

Note: Each course may only be used to satisfy a single major requirement. Courses cannot be double-counted for requirements within the anthropology major. Not all of these courses are offered each year.

119     Indigenous Visual Culture

120     Culture in Film

121     Socialism

122     Postsocialism

123     Psychological Anthropology

124     Anthropology of Religion

126     Sexuality and Society in Cross-Cultural Perspective

127     Ethnographies of Capitalism

128     Contemporary American Evangelical Culture

129     Other Globalizations: Cultures and Histories of Interconnection

131     Women in Cross-Cultural Perspective

132     Photography and Anthropology

133     Narratives of the Popular

134     Medical Anthropology

135A   Cities

136     The Biology of Everyday Life

137     Consuming Culture

138     Political Anthropology

139     Language and Culture

140     Art, Artist, Artifact

141      Developing Countries

142     Anthropology of Law

143     Performance and Power

144     Anthropology of Poverty and Welfare

145X   Special Topics in Socio-Cultural Anthropology

146     Anthropology and the Environment

147      Anthropology and the Anthropocene

148     Gender and Global Development

151     Workshop in Ethnography

153      Medicine/Colonialism

154     Multimedia Ethnography

157     Modernity and Its Others

158     Feminist Ethnographies

159     Race and Anthropology

160     Reproduction and Population Politics

161     The Anthropology of Food 

162     Anthropology of Displaced Persons

163     Kinship

164     Anthropology of Dance

165     Anthropological Folklore

166     States, Bureaucracies, and Other Cosmological Propositions

Regional Specialization Courses

Note: Each course may only be used to satisfy a single major requirement. Courses cannot be double-counted for requirements within the anthropology major. Not all of these courses are offered each year.

130A    Peoples and Cultures of Africa

130B    Brazil

130C   Politics and Culture in China

130E    Culture and Politics of Island Southeast Asia

130F    African Diasporas in the Americas

130G   Asian Americans in Ethnography and Film

130H   Ethnography of Russia and Eastern Europe

130I    Cultures of India

130J    Politics and Statemaking in Latin America

130L    Ethnographies of Latin America

130M   Inside Mexico

130N    Native Peoples of North America

130T    Anthropological Approaches to Islam

130U    Central America

130V    Ethnography of Russia

130W   Ethnography of Eastern Europe

130X    Special Topics in Ethnography

175A    African Archaeology

175B    African Archaeology: Development

175C    African Diaspora Archaeology

176A    North American Archeology

176B    Meso-American Archaeology

176C    Archaeology and the American Southwest

176D    Colonial Encounters in the Americas

176E    Archaeology of the Pacific Northwest

176F    California Archaeology

Archaeology Courses

Note:  Each course may only be used to satisfy a single major requirement. Courses cannot be double-counted for requirements within the anthropology major. Not all of these courses are offered each year.

171     Materials and Methods in Historical Archaeology

172     Archaeological Research Design

173     Origins of Farming

174     Origins of Complex Societies

175A    African Archaeology

175B    African Archaeology: Development

175C    African Diaspora Archaeology

176A    North American Archeology

176B    Meso-American Archaeology

176C    Archaeology and the American Southwest

176D    Colonial Encounters in the Americas

176E    Archaeology of the Pacific Northwest

176F    California Archaeology

177      European Conquest of the Americas

178      Historical Archaeology: A Global Perspective

180      Ceramic Analysis in Archaeology

182A    Lithic Technology

184      Zooarchaeology

185      Osteology of Mammals, Birds, and Fish

187      Cultural Heritage in Colonial Contexts

189      Archaeology Field Course

Biological/Medical/Environmental Anthropology Courses
Note: Each course may only be used to satisfy a single major requirement. Courses cannot be double-counted for requirements within the anthropology major.  Not all of these courses are offered each year.

100     History and Theory of Biological Anthropology

101     Human Evolution

104     Human Variation and Adaptation

105     Human Paleopathology

111     Human Ecology

134     Medical Anthropology

146     Anthropology and the Environment

147     Anthropology and the Anthropocene

Anthropology At-Large Courses
Note: Not all of these courses are offered each year.

Anthropology At-Large courses may be used as electives for completing upper-division course requirements.  These courses do not count as anthropological theory, sociocultural anthropology, regional specialization, or biological anthropology and archaeology courses.

110A   Public Life and Contemporary Issues

110B    From Indiana Jones to Stonehenge: Archaeology as Pop Culture

110E    Anthropology of Global Environmental Change

110F    Biocultural Approaches to Food

110G   Barrio Popular Culture

110H   Acoustic Culture

110K   Culture though Food

110O   Postcolonial Britain and France

110P    India and Indian Diaspora Through Film

110R    Discourses in American Religions and Their Role in Public Life

110T    Motherhood in American Culture

110W  Land and Waterscapes Entropology

Laboratory Methods Courses

Note: Not all of these courses are offered each year

These courses are designed for students interested in pursuing graduate research or careers that require specialized training in laboratory methods and may be used as electives for completing upper-division course requirements. These courses do not count toward the anthropological theory, sociocultural anthropology, regional specialization, biological/medical/environmental anthropology, or archaeology core requirements.

102A    Human Skeletal Biology

103     Forensic Anthropology

103B    Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology

107      Methods and Research in Molecular Anthropology

Exit Requirement

Students can fulfill the senior comprehensive requirement in anthropology either by passing an advanced senior seminar (194-series course, 190ABC, or 196AB), by writing an acceptable independent senior thesis, or by passing an approved graduate-level topical seminar in anthropology.

Senior seminars are small, writing-intensive classes focusing on advanced topics in anthropology. The prerequisite for admission to a senior seminar is successful completion of courses 1, 2, and 3; senior seminars are restricted to senior anthropology majors.

Students considering an independent thesis must arrange for the sponsorship and support of a faculty member before beginning research. An independent senior thesis (not written within a senior seminar) should be based on original research and reflect the student’s understanding of fundamental theories and issues in anthropology. The thesis should be comparable in content, style, and length (generally 25–30 pages) to a professional journal article in its subfield.

Students who intend to satisfy the exit requirement by taking a graduate seminar must first get permission from the department. Not all graduate seminars are appropriate for fulfilling this requirement. Students who take a graduate-level course to fulfill the theory requirement may not use this course to satisfy the exit requirement.

All majors, including double majors, must prepare a program of study in consultation with a member of the Anthropology Department. A combined major in anthropology and Earth and planetary sciences, leading to a bachelor of arts (B.A.) degree, is also offered; for that program description, see Earth and Planetary Sciences. Students going on to graduate school should plan course schedules in close consultation with faculty advisers.

Many anthropology majors whose studies emphasize archaeology have benefited from concurrent study in the Cabrillo College Archaeological Technology Certificate Program. This vocational certification program is sponsored entirely by Cabrillo College, but credit for its summer field survey and excavation component may be transferred for credit at UCSC. Although courses in the Archaeological Technology Certificate Program do not count toward the UCSC anthropology major, students who have obtained the certificate in tandem with their bachelor’s degree in anthropology have expanded their employment and  advanced degree program opportunities. Students interested in exploring this possibility are encouraged to consult with UCSC archaeology faculty and to visit the program’s web site at http://www.cabrillo.edu/academics/anthropology/.

Senior Seminars
Note: Not all of these courses are offered each year.

194A   Anthropology of Dead Persons

194B   Chimpanzees: Biology, Behavior and Evolution

194C   Feminist Anthropology

194D   Tribes/Castes/Women

194E    Belief

194F    Memory

194G   Politics and Secularism

194H   Paleoanthropology

194I    Consumption and Consumerism

194K    Reading Ethnographies

194L    Archaeology of the African Diaspora

194M   Medical Anthropology

194N   Comparison of Cultures

194O   Masculinities

194P    Space, Place, and Culture

194Q   Race, Ethnicity, Nation

194R    Religion, Gender, Sexuality

194S    The Anthropology of Sound

194T    Poverty and Inequality

194U    Environmental Anthropology: Nature, Culture, Politics

194V    Picturing Cultures

194W   The Anthropology of Social Movements

194X    Women in Politics: A Third World Perspective

194Y    Archeology of Space and Landscape

194Z    Emerging Worlds

196C    Traveling Cultures

196D    Food and Medicine

196E    Pastoralists Past and Present

196F    The Anthropology of Things: Gift, Sign, Commodity, Tool

196G    Advanced Topics in Folkloristics

196H    Global History and the Longue Durée

196I     Hard Problems

196J     Imagining America

196K    Settler Colonialism

196L    Archaeology of the American Southwest

196M    Modernity and Its Others

196T    Archaeology of Technology

196U    Historical Anthropology

Two-credit courses do not count toward the 10 upper-division courses required for the major. Only one 5-credit individual studies course (197, 198, or 199) may be counted toward the 10 required upper-division courses. Course 107L does not count toward the 10 upper-division courses required for the major. Theory courses can only be counted toward the theory requirement or an upper-division elective.

Disciplinary Communication (DC) Requirement

Students of every major must satisfy that major's upper-division Disciplinary Communication (DC) requirement. Anthropology’s DC requirement aims especially at cultivating high-level skills in critical and ethnographic writing. To satisfy the DC requirement students must: a) complete an Anthropological Theory Course (chosen from ANTH 100, 150, 152, 170, 270) and; b) complete a Senior Seminar or complete an Independent Senior Thesis, following the guidelines of the senior exit requirement. Students who take 270 to fulfill the theory/DC requirement may not use the course to satisfy the senior exit requirement. Please refer to the Undergraduate Handbook for details. 

Transfer Students

If possible, transfer students should complete lower-division requirements for the major before coming to UCSC by taking classes equivalent to courses 1, 2, and 3. Department policy also allows students to petition up to 10 quarter credits (equivalent to two UCSC courses) of upper-division transfer credit toward the major requirements. Any courses completed at the community college level are not considered to be upper-division courses. Transfer students should bring an unofficial copy of all pertinent transcripts to the undergraduate adviser in the department office (361 Social Sciences 1 Building) as soon as possible after reaching campus so that prerequisites can be verified and course enrollment can proceed smoothly.

Peer Advisers

The Anthropology Department has instituted a peer adviser program as a supplement to academic advising offered by faculty members. The peer advisers are juniors and seniors who have been trained to help students with questions and general guidance through the anthropology major. Peer advisers hold regularly scheduled office hours in the department office.

Honors

The Anthropology Department awards honors in the major and highest honors in the major based on a ranked departmental GPA that is calculated using all upper-division courses taken in the major with the exception that only one independent-study course can be used in this calculation. For students who have taken multiple independent-study courses in the department, the independent-study course that has the highest grade is used for the calculation. Approximately 15 percent of the graduating class is considered for honors based on their cumulative (GPA) through the quarter before graduation. The criteria for awarding highest honors in the major are overall superlative performance in the major and general breadth of excellence across the subfields of anthropology. Receiving honors on the senior exit requirement is also considered as a factor in awarding highest honors, but is not always determinative. When applicable, narrative evaluations can be taken into consideration for highest honors.

Minor Requirements

The UCSC minor in anthropology has a total of 10 courses required: three lower-division and seven upper-division courses. There is no theory course or senior comprehensive requirement for the minor in anthropology.

Three Lower-Division Courses

  • ANTH 1: Introduction to Biological Anthropology

  • ANTH 2: Introduction to Cultural Anthropology

  • ANTH 3: Introduction to Archaeology

Seven Upper-Division Courses

  • one course in archaeology

  • One course in biological, medical, or environmental anthropology
  • one course in regional specialization

  • one course in sociocultural anthropology

  • three anthropology electives (any additional upper-division anthropology courses, no independent study courses)

Independent study courses cannot be used toward completion of the minor.

For more information regarding department policies, please consult the undergraduate adviser at the Anthropology Department office, 361 Social Sciences 1 Building. A handbook on the anthropology program is available on the anthropology web site http://anthro.ucsc.edu/.

Anthropology/Earth Sciences Combined Major Requirements

The Anthropology Department also collaborates with the Earth and Planetary Sciences Department to offer a combined major, which leads to a B.A. in anthropology/Earth sciences.

The anthropology/Earth sciences combined major is designed for students with strong interests in Earth sciences and in the laboratory-based subfields of anthropology. This includes anthropology students who are interested in archaeology or paleoanthropology and desire more intensive training in the natural sciences, and Earth sciences students who are interested in paleobiology or archaeology. The combined major allows students to receive a strong grounding in both disciplines without pursuing a double major or major/minor in the two departments. This program will permit anthropology/Earth sciences majors to enter graduate programs in Earth sciences, archaeology or paleoanthropology with extraordinarily well-developed geological knowledge and skills. Anthropology-based students in the combined major are encouraged to augment the science-rich required curriculum with upper-division courses in cultural anthropology. 

Eleven Lower-Division Courses

Anthropology 1 – Introduction to Biological Anthropology

Anthropology 2 – Introduction to Cultural Anthropology

Anthropology 3 – Introduction to Archaeology

Earth Sciences 5/5L or Earth Sciences 10/10L or Earth Sciences 20/20L

Mathematics 11A or 19A

Mathematics 11B or 19B

Five lower-division cognate science courses from the following: Chemistry 1A, Chemistry 1B/M, Chemistry 1C/N, Physics 6A/L, Physics 6B/M, Biology 20A, Biology 20B, Biology 20C 

Eight Upper-Division Courses

Earth Sciences 110A/L – Evolution of the Earth

Any three Earth Sciences upper-division electives (must be 5-credit courses)

Any four Anthropology upper-division electives from the biological anthropology or archaeology concentrations (must be 5-credit courses)

One Senior Comprehensive Requirement (choose one of the following)

Anthropology 194 – Any Senior Seminar in biological anthropology or archaeology (by petition) 

Earth Sciences 188A-B - Summer Field Internship 

Senor Thesis (by petition only)

Any approved Earth science field program (by petition only)

Students must coordinate with both the Earth and Planetary Sciences Department and the Anthropology Department to complete the combined major.

Faculty Adviser in Anthropology:  Judith Habicht-Mauche, judith@ucsc.edu

Faculty Adviser in Earth Sciences:  Patrick Chuang, pchuang@ucsc.edu

Anthropology Undergraduate Adviser: anthugradadv@ucsc.edu

Earth Sciences Undergraduate Advising: epsadvising@ucsc.edu

Archaeology Courses

Note: Not all of these courses are offered each year.

171     Materials and Methods in Historical Archaeology

172     Archaeological Research Design

173     Origins of Farming

174     Origins of Complex Societies

175A    African Archaeology

175B    African Archaeology: Development

175C    African Diaspora Archaeology

176A    North American Archeology

176B    Meso-American Archaeology

176C    Archaeology and the American Southwest

176D    Colonial Encounters in the Americas

176E    Archaeology of the Pacific Northwest

176F    California Archaeology

177     European Conquest of the Americas

178     Historical Archaeology: A Global Perspective

180     Ceramic Analysis in Archaeology

182A    Lithic Technology

184      Zooarchaeology

185      Osteology of Mammals, Birds, and Fish

187      Cultural Heritage in Colonial Contexts

189      Archaeology Field Course

Biological Anthropology Courses

Note: Not all of these courses are offered each year.

100     History and Theory of Biological Anthropology

101     Human Evolution

102A    Human Skeletal Biology

103     Forensic Anthropology

103B    Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology

104     Human Variation and Adaptation

105     Human Paleopathology

107      Methods and Research in Molecular Anthropology

111     Human Ecology

Graduate Program

The anthropology doctoral program at UCSC consists of two tracks: cultural anthropology and anthropological archaeology. The majority of students are admitted to the cultural anthropology program. Smaller numbers of students are admitted to the anthropological archaeology program. Admission to the biological anthropology program described below has been suspended indefinitely.

Although applicants are accepted only for the doctor of philosophy (Ph.D.) program, students may obtain a master of arts (M.A.) degree after fulfilling specific requirements during the first two years.

The theme of emerging worlds—culture and power after progress—unites the research interests of many faculty in the cultural anthropology graduate program at UCSC. In recent years, anthropology’s central concept of culture has been subjected to extraordinary ethnographic and theoretical pressures. Across the social sciences, scholars are responding to emergent scientific and social dilemmas by turning to the concept of culture and the ethnographic method. Such disciplinary turns grow from a challenging new set of social configurations, which affect both scholarly and lay understandings of the present, past, and future: the demise of certainties about progress and modernization and the need to understand newly emergent worlds. Nineteenth- and 20th-century ideas of progress and programs of modernization both created the concept of culture and relegated it to a nostalgic role as backward-looking sentiment. Anthropologists studied “vanishing worlds.” In the past 30 years, however, such certainties have been challenged. Grand theories of human behavior that depended on the idea of a universal man have begun to fray around the edges. Heterogeneity and disjuncture have caught the attention of a wide range of social scientists, calling out for ethnographic investigation. In this context, scholarly discussions have turned toward culture, the world-making networks, geographies, innovations, meanings, and assemblages that are carrying us into the future.

Our concentration on “emerging worlds” and on the construction of anthropological knowledge is especially well suited for drawing together diverse scholars and specialists in challenging and enriching conversations. Rather than reproduce the boundaries among the traditional subfields of anthropology, we explore how recombination of these approaches can elucidate specific anthropological problems.

The Ph.D. program in anthropological archaeology focuses on the archaeology of late pre-colonial societies in East and West Africa, Latin America, and western North America, especially the Southwest, California, and Pacific Northwest. The program also features an emerging concentration on the archaeology of colonial encounters among peoples of Europe, Africa, the Caribbean, and the Americas. It is distinctive in insisting that theories of power, production and exchange, human ecology, gender, ethnicity, and technological practice be explored through rigorous laboratory and field research methods.

Anthropology Ph.D. Requirements

Both the department and the university define the major requirements for each stage of study. The first year of the program is geared toward giving students a theoretical foundation so that they may begin to formulate ideas for a research project. All graduate students are expected to be in residence (on campus) during their first year in the program. At the end of the first year, students will submit a portfolio of substantive work to their Preliminary Committee.

Residency Requirement

The minimum residency requirement for a Ph.D. degree at UCSC is six quarters. To receive a degree from UCSC, students must be registered at the Santa Cruz campus for at least three of the six quarters. A minimum of one quarter in residence is required between Advancement to Candidacy and the awarding of the degree.

Good Academic Standing and Probation

A duly registered graduate student is considered to be in good standing so long as the student's department determines that he or she is making satisfactory progress toward a terminal degree. The department and the graduate dean review the academic progress of each continuing graduate student annually.

If the Anthropology Department deems a student's work unsatisfactory, he or she may be placed on probation. A student whose academic progress has been found unsatisfactory in two successive annual reviews will be subject to dismissal from the University.

Recommended probation for a student states:

  1. Reason why (failed X class, etc.)

  2. Steps that must be taken to restore satisfactory academic standing

  3. The timeline for completion of the required work

The letter to the student will state that the failure to meet any one of the requirements may result in dismissal. No action for dismissal is taken until and unless the department recommends dismissal.

A student who has completed 12 or more quarters of full-time work in the same graduate program without advancing to candidacy for the Ph.D. is not considered to be making satisfactory progress. In such cases, the student will be recommended for dismissal or placed on probation until advancement is achieved. A student advanced to candidacy for more than nine quarters who has yet to complete his or her Ph.D. is not considered to be making satisfactory academic progress. Consult the Graduate Student Handbook for more information about academic progress, probation, dismissal, and the appeal process.

Cultural Track Requirements

Students are expected to pass a first-year review and have advanced to Ph.D. candidacy by the end of their third year. In order to advance to candidacy in cultural anthropology, students must complete:

Core Courses

Must be completed in Fall/Winter of first year in program.*

200A    Cultural Core Course

200B    Cultural Core Course

* ANTH 252, Survey of Cultural Anthropology, is recommended if student comes from a non-anthropological background.

Ethnographic Writing Requirement

This requirement may be completed by passing Ethnographic Practice, (ANTH 208A) or, upon approval from the department, through an independent research project in which the student engages in research based on participant observation or other ethnographic methodology and in which the student adequately translates that research experience into a written text.

Three Additional Graduate Seminars

Grant Writing (ANTH 228), Colloquia (ANTH 292), Independent Study (ANTH 297/299), and tutorials do not count toward this requirement. Tutorials that are taught in conjunction with undergraduate courses do not count toward this requirement.

214      Culture and Power

219      Religion, State, Secularities

220      Cartography of Culture

224      Anthropology of Secularism

225      The Anthropology Of Things: Sign, Gift, Commodity, Tool

229      Constructing Regions

230      Bodies/Images/Screens

231      Intimacy and Affective Labor

232      Body/Knowledge/Practice

234      Feminist Anthropology

235      Language and Culture

236      On Insults

238      Advanced Topics in Cultural Anthropology

241      Social Justice

243      Cultures of Capitalism

247      Critical Perspectives On Nutrition

248      Shadowy Dealings: Anthropology Of Finance, Money, And Law

249      Ecological Discourses

253      Advanced Cultural Anthropological Theory

254      Medicine and Culture

255      Regulating Religion/Sex

258      Experimental Cultures

259      Race in Theory and Ethnography

260      Anthropology of Freedom

261      Replication, Mimesis, and Fakery

262      Documenting Cultures

267A   Science and Justice: Experiments in Collaboration

267B    Science and Justice Research Seminar

268A    Rethinking Capitalism

268B    Rethinking Capitalism

269      Global History and the Longue Durée

Complete Language Requirement

Pass the Qualifying Examination

Archaeology Track Requirements

Students are expected to pass a first-year review and have advanced to Ph.D. candidacy by the end of their third year. In order to advance to candidacy in archaeology, students must complete:

Two Core Theory Courses

Must be completed during first year in the program.

270A    Archaeology Graduate Core Course: History Of Archaeological Theory

270B   Archaeology Graduate Core Course: Current Directions in Archaeological Theory

Two Research Methods/Laboratory Courses

Student may substitute courses in another department with adviser approval.

202A    Skeletal Biology

280     Ceramic Analysis

280L   Ceramic Analysis Laboratory

285     Osteology of Mammals, Birds, Fish

Two Courses on the Archaeology of a Geographical, Temporal, or Topical Area:

Student may substitute courses in another department with advisor approval.

275A   Seminar on Early African Archaeology

275B    Tutorial in Archaeology of African American Complex Societies

276A   Advanced Topics in North American Archaeology

276B    Mesoamerican Archaeology

287      Advanced Topics in Archaeology

273      Advanced Topics in Origins of Farming

274      Advanced Topics in Archaeology of Complex Societies

Two Additional Graduate Seminars

Students may substitute a graduate seminar in cultural or biological anthropology or in another department with adviser approval. Tutorials that are taught in conjunction with undergraduate courses do not count toward this requirement.

225    The Anthropology Of Things: Sign, Gift, Commodity, Tool

279    Feminisim and Gender in Archaeology

282    Household Archaeology

One Course in Grant Writing or Research Design

228    Grant Writing (Cultural Anthropology)

272    Advanced Archaeological Research Design

One General Course in Quantitative Methods in the Social, Environmental, or Biological Sciences

This course is usually completed in another department. Students should consult with an adviser about the appropriate course. Possible options include Psychology 2, Applied Mathematics and Statistics 7, or a course in spatial statistics.

Two Laboratory Apprenticeships

298    Advanced Lab Apprenticeship

Complete Language Requirement

Pass the Qualifying Examination

Required for All Anthropology Ph.D. Students

Language Requirement

The foreign language requirement must be fulfilled before taking the qualifying examination. A qualifying examination cannot be scheduled until the requirement has been met.

It is the responsibility of each graduate student to work with the Preliminary Committee to identify the language competencies necessary for fieldwork and scholarship and to initiate study toward meeting these needs. To meet the language requirement, competence in one language must be formally demonstrated. Each student's adviser will recommend how this requirement should be met, as well as what additional skills should be sought. Generally accepted ways of meeting the language requirement include:

  • Passing a standardized test at a predetermined level

  • Taking and passing a translation examination administered by an appropriate member of the UCSC faculty or an outside assessor approved by the adviser

  • Taking and passing a series of language courses at a specified advanced level at UCSC or elsewhere, again, to be determined in consultation with the adviser

In some cases, the language in which a relevant scholarly literature exists will be the logical language of examination. In other cases, the language in which fieldwork will be conducted will be the most logical language for examination.

In the case of non-native English speakers who plan to undertake research in their own native language, English can meet the foreign language requirement. In the case of English native speakers who plan to do research in their native language, the requirement should be met by another language relevant to the field research or scholarly resources.

Qualifying Examination

The qualifying examination consists of two parts: a written file and a three-hour oral examination with the Qualifying Examination (QE) Committee during which the student presents and discusses the file.

For cultural track students, the file includes:

  1. A theoretically focused dissertation research prospectus (approximately 18-25 pages, double-spaced, actual length to be determined by QE committee).

  2. Two field statements on two anthropological topics selected and developed in consultation with the QE committee. Field statements typically review fields of literature that have (a) an area/regional focus and (b) a thematic/theoretical focus (approximately 10-15 pages, double-spaced, each; actual length to be determined by QE committee).

For archaeology track students , the file includes:

  1. A theoretically-focused dissertation research prospectus (approximately 18-25 pages, double-spaced, actual length to be determined by the QE Committee).

  2. Three field statements reviewing literature on (a) a geographic cultural area, (b) a set of research methods, and (c) a theoretical tradition or theme.

Dissertation

Ph.D. candidates must prepare and submit a dissertation that is based on original research and meets the requirements of their dissertation reading committee.

Designated Emphasis

Committee Composition

One member of the student’s qualifying examination committee must be a faculty member of the anthropology department. In addition, one member of the anthropology department must serve on the student’s doctoral thesis committee.

Course Requirements

The student must take four graduate courses in anthropology, one of which must be a graduate seminar. An independent study with a faculty member of the Anthropology Department may count as only one of the four courses. Grant Writing (ANTH 228) may not be counted toward these requirements. Tutorials that are taught in conjunction with undergraduate courses do not count toward these requirements.

Writing Requirements

At the time of the qualifying examination, the student must submit to the Anthropology Department a full statement, up to five pages, summarizing the pre-qualifying examination work done in anthropology (courses, papers, research projects, independent studies) and characterizing how that work and the dissertation to follow draw from and contribute to anthropological and ethnographic inquiry. The dissertation research will normally include a fieldwork component.

In the quarter in which the student announces candidacy for graduation, the faculty member from the anthropology department serving on the student's doctoral thesis committee will evaluate the depth of engagement with anthropology displayed in the doctoral thesis and decide whether the thesis fulfills the requirement to contribute to anthropological and ethnographic inquiry


[Return to top.]

Revised: 09/01/16