Southern Illinois University Carbondale

Graduate Program in Anthropology

Send inquiries about the graduate program to Graduate Secretary, Anthropology Dept., 3525 Faner Hall, SIU, Carbondale IL 62901
Phone: 618-453-5037

Go to: Admission /Deadlines /Financial Aid /M.A. Degree Program /Ph.D. Degree Program /Graduate Courses /Graduate Student Research & Achievements Click here for Application Materials.

Click here for Departmental format guidelines for theses and dissertations (a Word document)

Introduction

The Department of Anthropology offers graduate programs leading to the Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy degrees. Provided the student has been admitted to the Graduate School and meets its requirements, acceptance and continuation in the graduate program are at the discretion of the Department of Anthropology.

The philosophy of the Department of Anthropology is to produce students with broad backgrounds in the major sub-fields of anthropology (Archaeology, Biological, Linguistics, and Socio-cultural) and expertise in particular specialty areas. Within this philosophy, and subject to the requirements discussed later, the department offers a flexible program which will serve students with diverse needs and goals.

Admission

The applicant to the anthropology program must send a completed application for admission to graduate study and certified copies of all transcripts directly to the Department, and must meet all Graduate School requirements for entry. Applicants whose native language is not English must achieve a TOEFL score of 600 or higher (paper version), 250 or higher (computer-based version), or 100 or higher (internet exam) as well as take the Test of Written English (TWE), and the TWE score must be a least 5.0 (on a scale of 1-to-6) in order to gain admittance in the program. The Graduate Record Exam (GRE) is required for all U.S. applicants. Preference will be given to applicants who achieve the sum of a score of 1100 or higher on Verbal plus either Quantitative or Analytical sections of the Exam. Although not required to take the GRE prior to admittance, all foreign students are strongly encouraged to take the Exam prior to entering the graduate program and are required to take the Exam before the end of their first year in the program.

In addition, the applicant must send a completed departmental application for admission, financial aid form, personal data sheet, a statement of academic and professionsl goals, and arrange for three letters of recommendation to be sent to the Director of Graduate Studies of the Department of Anthropology. All necessary forms will be provided to applicants by the Department. No special program or previous work is required. Applicants with academic degrees in fields other than anthropology are encouraged to apply.

Application Deadlines

Applicants who wish to be considered for admission to the graduate program in the Fall semester of the next academic year and who wish to be considered for university Graduate School fellowships and departmental graduate assistantships must have ALL application materials (including all official transcripts, letters of recommendation, GRE & TOEFL scores) on file as of January 15.

The absolute application deadline for Fall admission is March 1. Applications not completed prior to March 1 will be considered only in exceptional cases, as determined by the Director of Graduate Studies in consultation with other members of the Graduate Studies Committee.

Financial Aid

The Department and the Graduate School offer several opportunities for financial aid: most notably Graduate Assistantships, Graduate Fellowships, Dissertation Research Awards, Tuition Scholarships, and Work-Study. For additional information see the Graduate School web page on financial aid.

Graduate Assistantships: The Department annually receives an allocation of funds for Graduate Assistantships from the College of Liberal Arts. Faculty may receive grants or contracts enabling them to offer additional Assistantships through the Department. The Center for Archaeological Investigations also offers Assistantships, and cooperates with the Department in identifying eligible students. Departmental Assistantships are assigned first to fulfill faculty needs for teaching and administrative assistance and secondly to fulfill faculty needs for research assistance. International students seeking a Graduate Assistantship must satisfy the requirements for employment eligibility specified in the Immigration and Naturalization Service, Form I-9, available from the Departmental main office. International students seeking a Graduate Assistantship specifically to serve as a teaching assistant must also satisfy University requirements for English Language proficiency, as described in the University Bulletin. Graduate Assistantships are granted according to their availability and the student's academic performance. The Graduate Studies Committee oversees the allocation of Assistantships and gives highest priority to students with the highest quality graduate academic performance in the Department. The Committee gives second priority to students who have specific skills desired by a particular faculty member on a specific research project. The Committee may choose to consider other information, such as financial need, as well. In general, preference in funding is given to doctoral students over those in the MA program.

Graduate Assistantships provide employment from August 15 to December 31, for the Fall semester; from January 1 to May 15 for the Spring semester; and from either May 15 or June 15 to August 15 for the Summer semester. The amount of work-time required of an Assistant is 20 hours for every week during which the University is open, based on a 50% appointment. The staff member supervising each student will determine how this requirement is to be met by providing a schedule of work-hours for each semester of employment.

Graduate Fellowships including the prestigious Morris Fellowship, are awarded competitively each year, by the Graduate School of the University, as described in the University Bulletin. The Fellowship competitions are not open to all students. The Director of Graduate studies annually notifies all students of the criteria and deadlines for the different competitions; the Graduate Studies Committee then reviews all students' records and identifies those students eligible for further consideration. The potential nominees and the Graduate Studies Committee assemble complete application files, and the Committee ranks the students for final nomination in each competition.

Dissertation Research Awards also are granted competitively, as described in the University Bulletin, to support students expected to complete the dissertation within the one-year tenure of the award. The Department ordinarily can not consider requests for financial aid from students after they have completed tenure under a Dissertation Research Award. Notification and nomination procedures are the same as for the Fellowships described above.

Other sources of financial aid include Tuition Scholarships from the Graduate School, Student Work-Study awarded by the Office of Student Work and Financial Assistance, and Assistantships awarded by other programs on campus. It is the student's responsibility to explore these possibilities through the appropriate offices on campus. The Department does not administer any of these programs, but the student is asked to notify the Director of Graduate Studies whenever financial aid is received from such outside sources.