Admission to the
Program
Applicants to the Ph.D. degree program must complete the equivalent
of the master's degree and apply directly to the Department for
admission as a doctoral student. Three letters in support of the
application must be forwarded to the Director of Graduate Studies
in the Department of Anthropology. Students must also supply a
statement of goals for their programs and subsequent professional
careers. The department will offer an accelerated entry option
to students who have been admitted at the M.A. level and who are
judged by the faculty of the Department to be prepared to begin
research at the doctoral level. Such students must complete at
least one term in the M.A. degree program before being admitted
at Ph. D. level, and must then meet all retention and exit requirements
for the regular doctoral option. The students need not submit
the application materials required of regular applicants to the
Ph.D. degree program as outlined above.
Each student entering the doctoral program from a Master's
program other than the M.A. program at SIUC's Department of
Anthropology will be scheduled for a meeting with the Graduate
Studies Committee and the preliminary Chair of the doctoral
dissertation committee during the week before Fall semester
classes begin.
The purpose of this meeting is to allow the Graduate
Studies Committee, the preliminary dissertation Chair, and the
entering student to discuss areas of study at the Master's level
that satisfy the SIUC Department of Anthropology's requirement
that all graduate students demonstrate competence in the four
sub-disciplines. Entering students are encouraged to submit
master's level course syllabi and samples of graded papers or
exams to the Graduate Studies Committee and preliminary dissertation
Chair in evaluating the student's breadth of competence prior
to the meeting.
If the student's record at the Master's level is considered
to demonstrate omissions or weaknesses in any of the sub-disciplines,
the Graduate Studies Committee and preliminary Chair will agree
upon an appropriate list of Core Courses and/or other courses
that the student must complete during the first two years of
doctoral studies. The distribution requirements for the M.A.
at SIUC will serve as the general guideline for determining
these required courses.
Requirements for the Ph.D.
All Ph.D. students will form a faculty committee in consultation
with the Director of Graduate Studies. The committee must include
at least 5 members of the graduate faculty, at least 3 of whom
(including the chair) must be from within the Department, and
at least 1 from outside; the typical case will be 4 from within
and 1 additional.
The requirements for the Ph.D. degree include the following.
1. Additional course work in anthropology and other fields within the student's interests. Of the 24 hours of credit required by the graduate school to establish residency, 9 must be in 500-level anthropology courses other than 500A-E, 501, 585, and 597. The Ph.D. committee is expected to help formulate a study program that will usually involve at least one-two additional academic years of full-time course work beyond the M.A. degree.
2. Research tool requirements. These vary and will be determined between the student and the committee, subject to approval of the chair of the department. In all cases, a reading knowledge of at least one foreign language will be demonstrated and at least one other tool. Other possible tools could include, for example, computer science, statistics, a second foreign language, or a combination of these or others.
3. Administration by the committee of a special examination (containing written and oral portions) covering topical and geographical temporal specialties (the preliminary or candidacy exam). The student may not take the examination until 2 years of full-time graduate work have been completed, except by authorization from the Dean of the Graduate School. The student is encouraged to take this examination by the end of three years of full-time Ph.D. level work. In evaluating the examination, the committee may pass the student, fail the student but allow retaking of the examination at a later time, or fail the student and recommend dismissal from the program. If a student fails the examination and the committee allows reexamination, it must occur within one year of the first examination and only one retake is allowed.
4. Formal experience in teaching .
5. Completed and defended dissertation.
Ph.D. Candidacy
After completion of requirements 1-3 above, the student will design
dissertation research in consultation with the committee. The
student will undertake the research necessary to acquire the materials
for the dissertation. The Department will then recommend a student
to the Graduate School for candidacy. Candidates must register
for 24 hours of credit under ANTH 600. When a final draft of the
dissertation has been accepted by the Ph.D. committee, an oral
defense of the dissertation and all supporting work will be held
in accordance with Graduate School requirements. After a successful
dissertation defense and completion of final revisions of the
text, the student must submit two copies of the dissertation to
the Graduate School in accordance with its guidelines, and a properly
bound copy to the Department of Anthropology.
