anthropology

The State Council for Higher Education in Virgina has approved the new M.A. in Anthropology to begin in the fall of 2007.  The MAIS concentration in Anthropology has therefore, stopped admitting students and will ultimatley, be phased out.

Please contact the graduate coordinator, Dr. Linda Seligmann for additional information about the new M.A. program.

The MAIS concentration in Anthropology is designed for those preparing for advanced anthropological work in public, private, or academic settings. Students will learn how to use participant-observation fieldwork methods, as well as interdisciplinary, comparative, and holistic knowledge and research methods. Courses are offered in the analysis and understanding of nationalism and transnationalism; social movements, ethnicity, and identity; conflict and violence; migration, displacement, and refugees; political economy and globalization; health and culture, education and culture, and ecology and conservation. The MAIS is an interdisciplinary concentration; students will be able to take courses in other university units, including Sociology, Nursing and Health Science, Education, Public Policy, Government, Conflict Analysis and Resolution, Environmental Science and Policy, Cultural Studies, and English. The MAIS program is meant for people whose interests transcend traditional disciplinary boundaries. In addition to Sociocultural Anthropology, students in the program may decide to focus on a variety of interdisciplinary topics such as:

• Ecology, Conservation, and Culture
• Violence, Culture, and Conflict Resolution
• The Anthropology of Health
• Social Justice and Humanitarian Action

admission requirements

APPLICATIONS ARE CURRENTLY NOT BEING ACCEPTED FOR THE SPRING 2007 ADMISSIONS CYCLE. 

For full consideration for graduate admission, applicants must submit:

• A completed Application for Graduate Study
• A non-refundable application fee
• The Application for Virginia In-State Tuition Rates, if claiming entitlement to Virginia in-state tuition rates
• Two official copies of transcripts from each institution attended
• International applicants should see "Admission of International Students" in the GMU catalog.

In addition to fulfilling GMU admission requirements for graduate study, applicants must submit the following:

• Three letters of reference
• Goals Statement
• 1,000 word writing sample
• Resume

Apply Online At http://admissions.gmu.edu/apps

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degree requirements

Students complete 36 credits of core courses and specialized courses distributed as follows:

• 12 credits of core courses.
• 18-21 credits of electives.
• 1 credit of MAIS 797 proposal writing
• 2-5 credits of research project, MAIS 798, or 5 credits of thesis research, MAIS 799
• For a copy of the Anthropology Curriculum Contract go to:Download Concentration Contract (pdf)

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course information

Core (12 credits)*:

These courses, to be completed in the first year of the MAIS Anthropology Concentration, will be given every year, and are designed to establish a solid foundation for subsequent work at the Masters or PhD level.

Students must take the following:

• ANTH 535 Anthropology and the Human Condition: Seminar I (3 credits)
• ANTH 536 Anthropology and the Human Condition: Seminar II (3 credits) This seminar covers major theories, debates, and methods in sociocultural anthropology. Parts I and II must be taken in sequence.
• ANTH 635 Regional Ethnography (3 credits) This course offers students an in-depth understanding of particular regional cultures. Course content will not be confined to cultures limited to a particular territory, but also explore "cultures" defined by diaspora, migration, and other global forces and processes.
• ANTH 650 Ethnographic Research and Design (3 credits)

In addition to taking at least 18 credit hours of electives, students must select one of the following options:

Students not writing a thesis must take the following:

• MAIS 798 Research Project in Anthropology (2-5 credits)* Students who take 3 credits of MAIS 798 are required to take 21 credits of electives.

Students writing a thesis:

• MAIS 799: Thesis (5 additional credits)*
• *MAIS 797: Students entering after Summer 2004 are required to take 1 credit of MAIS 797 (Proposal writing), which fulfills one credit requirement for either MAIS 798 or MAIS 799.

Electives (18-21 hours):

These are worked out with the student's advisor. The Anthropology Program Director of Graduate Studies and/or Coordinator must approve the student's course of study. Must include 6-12 credits from other units. A total of 6 credits of Independent Reading and Research are permitted.

There are a number of additional electives, including those from other Departments or Institutes, which are listed below.

[Note: Courses marked by an asterisk have been planned in consultation with the Sociology program. Sociology faculty may in alternate years give the same course under a different designation. Students may receive credit for these courses under either a Sociology or an Anthropology number.]

• ANTH 630 Anthropology and Humanitarian Action
• ANTH 631 Refugees in the Contemporary World
• ANTH 632 International Migration in Comparative Perspective
• ANTH 640 Applied Anthropology*
• ANTH 655 Nationalism, Transnationalism, and States: Local and Global Perspectives*
• ANTH 670 Regional Studies in Archaeology
• ANTH 580 Evolution and Human Ecology
• ANTH 610 Social Organization
• ANTH 614 Ethnopsychology: Self, Subject, and Culture
• ANTH 615 Ritual and Power in Social Life
• ANTH 617 Political Economy
• ANTH 660 Social Science and Critical Theory*
• ANTH 677 Anthropology and History
• ANTH 680 Readings in Archaeology
• ANTH 682 Readings in Biological Anthropology
• ANTH 684 Readings in Cultural Anthropology
• ANTH 685 Language and Culture
• ANTH 690 Internship
• ANTH 687 Culture and Curing
• ANTH 699 Contemporary Issues in Sociocultural Anthropology*
• ANTH 710 Contemporary Issues in Archaeology and Biological Anthropology
• ANTH 721 Culture, Power, and Conflict*

Courses in other units which may be used toward the Anthropology Concentration:

Sociology:

• SOC 575 Women and the Law
• SOC 590 Gender, Race, and the Natural World
• SOC 614 Sociology of Culture
• SOC 19 Conflict and Conflict Management: Perspectives from Sociology
• SOC 634 Qualitative Research Methods
• SOC 635 Environment and Society
• SOC 640 Social Theory and Social Policy
• SOC 650 Issues in the Sociology of Health, Illness and Disability
• SOC 651 Health Care Systems
• SOC 692 Complex and Alternative Organizations

English:

• ENGL 591 Special Topics in Folklore

Environmental Science and Policy:

Numerous graduate-level courses in EVPP complement the MAIS Concentration in Anthropology emphasis on tropical conservation and ecology, including area-based courses, such as:

• EVPP 543 Tropical Ecosystems
• EVPP 607 Fundamentals of Ecology
• EVPP 622 Management of Wild Living Resources
• EVPP 627 Environmental Policy in Latin America
• EVPP 628 Environment and Development in Africa
• EVPP 648 Population Ecology
• EVPP 741 Environment and Society

Government:

• GOVT 540 International Politics
• GOVT 641 Seminar in Global Systems
• GOVT 731 Advanced Seminar in Comparative Politics
• GOVT 741 Advanced Seminar in International Politics
• GOVT 743 International Political Economy
• GOVT 745 Issues in International Security

Nursing and Health Science:

• NURS 583 Food and Culture: Biocultural Perspectives on Food and Nutrition
• NURS 530 Nutrition: A Global Perspective
• NURS 578 Cultural Competence in Health Care

School of Public Policy:

• PUBP 503 Culture, Organization, and Technology

Institute of Conflict Analysis and Resolution:

• CONF 501 Introduction to Conflict Analysis and Resolution
• CONF 729 Approaches to Violence
• CONF 720 Ethnic and Cultural Factors in Conflict Resolution
• CONF 724 Conflict and "-isms"
• CONF 727 Ethnographic Methods in the Study of Cross-Cultural Conflict
• CONF 732 Conflicts in Development
• CONF 735 Global Context of Conflict

Graduate School of Education:

• EDUC 893 Seminar in Educational Anthropology. The Dean has agreed that this doctoral-level course may be taken with the permissionof instructor for students in the MAIS Anthropology Concentration.

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contact information

 Dr. Linda Seligmann, 703-993-1334, lseligm2@gmu.edu

Department of Sociology and Anthropology
George Mason University, MS 3G5
4400 University Drive
Fairfax VA 22030
Fax: (703) 993 1446.

Anthropology office (located in Robinson Hall, 305B, GMU Fairfax Campus) at or 703.993.1440.

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