Anthropology

The minimum course load is 12 units per quarter. However, this may be waived for good cause by petition, with the approval of the student's committee chair and the department chair. Students must be registered and enrolled at all times unless on an official leave of absence.

The M.A. degree requires 10 courses (40 units) taken for a letter grade, with a minimum 3.0 grade-point average. 24 of the required 40 units must be graduate level courses (200 series). Eight units of 596 taken for a letter grade may be applied toward the total M.A. course requirement, but only four of these eight units are applicable to the 24 unit minimum graduate-course requirement. Courses taken on an S/U basis, Anthropology 598, and 300- and 400-series courses may not be applied toward the fulfillment of the M.A. unit requirements.

The 10 required courses are distributed as follows:

Core Seminar in Other Subfield Requirement: For students in the Biological, Linguistic, and Sociocultural subfields who must fulfill the requirement to take one core course outside their subfield, any of the following core courses will be accepted:

Students must demonstrate basic knowledge in their core requirements (i.e., the courses specifically listed in the charts above) by exercising one or a combination of the following three options:

A grade of B or better is required in any core course (i.e., the courses specifically listed in the charts above) taken at UCLA. If students received a grade of B-, C+, or C, they may not repeat the core course, but must take the core course examination and pass or be subject to being recommended for academic disqualification. If a grade of C- or below is received, students may repeat the course, but must receive a grade of B or better the second time the course is taken, or be subject to being recommended for academic disqualification.

Methods Course Requirement: The purpose of the methods requirement is to ensure that students have adequate training in anthropological methods and analytical techniques. Students should discuss with their advisers what the most relevant methods course(s) will be for their program of study. Students may count toward the methods requirement any of the following courses within their subfield:

A minimum of one methods requirement course is required. A grade of B or better is required in any methods course taken for this requirement. In addition to the courses listed above, students may, in consultation with their advisers, select a methods course not listed above from within or outside of Anthropology to count for this requirement. To be considered eligible, the course must be devoted to either methodological or analytical training.

Interest Groups: While the following courses are not required for the M.A. degree, students are strongly recommended to enroll each quarter that they are in residence for the interest group that most closely aligns with their area of specialization. These are:

Teaching Experience

Not required.

Field Experience

Not required, but highly recommended.

Capstone Plan

Students in Archaeology subfield are required to complete a capstone project. They are not expected to complete a Thesis.

The capstone is a comprehensive examination that consists of three examinations, given at the completion of each section of Anthropology M201A, M201B, and M201C, respectively; and a research paper. Comprehensive examinations are graded by three readers (assembled by the archaeology faculty representative on the department’s Academic Coordinating Committee) as high pass, pass, or no pass. Each of the three examinations may be retaken once. The research paper, to be completed by the end of the sixth quarter of residence, is read by three faculty members and assists faculty in the determination of whether a student may continue for the Ph.D. degree during the Student Review Meeting. The paper is rated High Pass, Pass, or Fail by the three faculty members.

Thesis Plan

Every master's degree thesis plan requires the completion of an approved thesis that demonstrates the student's ability to perform original, independent research.

Students in Biological, Linguistic, and Sociocultural subfields are required to complete a thesis. They are not expected to complete a Capstone.

The master's thesis demonstrates a student’s ability to generate and assemble a body of data, analyze it, and indicate its relevance to established anthropological thought in lucid prose. Students must submit an original paper based on field, laboratory, or library research to all three committee members by the end of the fifth quarter of residence. The thesis committee assists students in formulating the research paper, monitoring its progress, and evaluating the paper when submitted. It is essential that students maintain close contact with all three members while preparing the M.A. thesis. Students should consult the Graduate Division publication, Policies and Procedures for Thesis and Dissertation Preparation and Filing, for instructions on the preparation and submission of the thesis.

Time-to-Degree

Candidates have one calendar year from the date of advancement to candidacy in which to complete all requirements for the degree.

Normal progress toward the degree is as follows:

For students in the Biological, Linguistic, and Sociocultural subfields

MAXIMUM TTD

Advising

Beyond basic requirements, each student's program of study is unique. Accordingly, academic advising for graduate students in the department is primarily conducted on an individual basis by a student's faculty adviser. The department's graduate adviser is primarily responsible for counseling students in regard to program requirements, policies, and university regulations. Upon admission, students will be assigned both a primary and a secondary first-year adviser.

Student progress is periodically reviewed at faculty meetings. Students entering the program with a master’s degree are expected to be evaluated no later than their sixth quarter (spring quarter of their second year). At the Student Review Meeting, which occurs once per academic quarter, the full faculty evaluates the student’s progress in the program: formation of three-member departmental advisory committee; completion of the Proseminar and core courses; and evaluation of the Master’s research paper or thesis. Possible outcomes of the Student Review for students entering with a Master’s degree are: a) continuation to the Ph.D. program requirements; b) one-quarter extension to complete remaining requirements; and c) recommendation for academic disqualification from the Ph.D. program. All students are notified in writing about the outcome of the faculty discussion concerning their continuation to the doctoral program or degree progress. Students continue to be reviewed periodically throughout their time in the PhD program. The purpose of these reviews is to assess academic progress and help to ensure timely completion of the PhD.

For students completing the M.A. degree en route to the Ph.D., please see Master’s Degree, Advising.

Major Fields or Subdisciplines

Archaeology; biological anthropology; linguistic anthropology; and sociocultural anthropology.

Foreign Language Requirement

The department requires proficiency in a second language for all students in the Ph.D. program in anthropology. It is the responsibility of the student's three-member departmental doctoral committee to determine what language(s) are required for their particular program of study.

If the requirement for second language proficiency is to be waived, students must prepare a request for a Ph.D. language requirement waiver, which consists of a letter justifying the request, addressed to the committee and filed with the graduate adviser. The committee must then draft a letter of approval, to be placed in the student’s file. If alternate research skills that are deemed necessary for the program of study for the student's dissertation have been identified and satisfied, these are noted by the committee. However, no specific other courses or skills are obligatory.

If foreign language proficiency is required, proficiency will be determined by the three-member departmental doctoral committee and may include but is not limited to:

The bibliography may be supplemented by a related analytical examination question or further translation examination.

For students required to demonstrate foreign language proficiency, all monitoring of the requirement takes place within the department. The committee chair is responsible for consulting with other committee members about the language requirement and plans for proficiency testing, and notifying them of the results of those tests, or otherwise providing them with copies of the documentation of proficiency.

Course Requirements

The minimum course load is 12 units per quarter. However, this may be waived for good cause by petition with the approval of the student's committee chair and the department chair. Students must be registered and enrolled at all times unless on an official leave of absence.

Students who are entering the graduate program without a Master’s degree must complete all of the M.A. degree requirements (see above) en route to the Ph.D. Following completion of the M.A. degree requirements and permission by the faculty to begin the Ph.D. requirements, students are expected to enroll in three seminars, each with a different faculty member, between receipt of the M.A. degree from the department and taking the doctoral qualifying examinations.

Students who are entering the graduate program with a Master’s degree, whether or not in anthropology, are required to demonstrate basic knowledge of the discipline before being permitted to begin the requirements for the doctorate. It is expected that students accomplish this during the first year of academic residence through the following:

Only when these requisites have been met are students permitted to begin the requirements for the Ph.D. degree. Completion of 40 units is not required.

A grade of B or better is required in any core course (courses specifically listed above) taken at UCLA. If students received a grade of B-, C+, or C, they may not repeat the core course, but must take the core course examination and pass or be subject to being recommended for academic disqualification. If a grade of C- or below is received, students may repeat the course, but must receive a grade of B or better the second time the course is taken, or be subject to being recommended for academic disqualification.

Teaching Experience

Not required.

Written and Oral Qualifying Examinations

Academic Senate regulations require all doctoral students to complete and pass university written and oral qualifying examinations prior to doctoral advancement to candidacy. Also, under Senate regulations, the University Oral Qualifying Examination is open only to the student and appointed members of the doctoral committee. In addition to university requirements, some graduate programs have other pre-candidacy examination requirements. What follows in this section is how students are required to fulfill all of these requirements for this doctoral program.

All committee nominations and reconstitutions adhere to the Minimum Standards for Doctoral Committee Constitution.

The qualifying examinations for the Ph.D. degree consist of a written and an oral examination. The timing of these examinations is set in consultation with the members of the doctoral committee. Students must be registered and enrolled to take the qualifying examinations. The committee for each examination determines the conditions for reexamination should students not pass either portion of the qualifying examinations.

The three-member departmental doctoral committee administers the written portion of the qualifying examination. The fields and format of the examination are to be determined by the student's departmental doctoral committee. There must be a minimum of two weeks between completion of the written examination and the scheduled date for the oral portion of the qualifying examination.

The University Oral Qualifying Examination is primarily a defense of the dissertation proposal. This examination is administered by the four-member doctoral committee.

Advancement to Candidacy

Students are advanced to candidacy upon successful completion of the written and oral qualifying examinations.

Doctoral Dissertation

Every doctoral degree program requires the completion of an approved dissertation that demonstrates the student's ability to perform original, independent research and constitutes a distinct contribution to knowledge in the principal field of study.

Final Oral Examination (Defense of Dissertation)

The department does not require a final oral defense of the dissertation. However, individual doctoral committees can institute this requirement if they deem it important to do so; this decision is made by the doctoral committee.

Time-to-Degree

Full-time students admitted without deficiencies normally progress as follows:

The following normative and maximum time-to-degree applies to students entering with or without a Master’s degree.

MAXIMUM TTD

Termination of Graduate Study and Appeal of Termination

University Policy

A student who fails to meet the above requirements may be recommended for termination of graduate study. A graduate student may be disqualified from continuing in the graduate program for a variety of reasons. The most common is failure to maintain the minimum cumulative grade point average (3.00) required by the Academic Senate to remain in good standing (some programs require a higher grade point average). Other examples include failure of examinations, lack of timely progress toward the degree and poor performance in core courses. Probationary students (those with cumulative grade point averages below 3.00) are subject to immediate dismissal upon the recommendation of their department. University guidelines governing termination of graduate students, including the appeal procedure, are outlined in Standards and Procedures for Graduate Study at UCLA.

Special Departmental or Program Policy

Each term, a faculty meeting is held to review the progress of graduate students. If, at such a meeting, the faculty vote for academic disqualification, a recommendation for academic disqualification is made by the chair of the department. Before the recommendation is sent to the Graduate Division, the student is notified in writing and given two weeks to respond in writing to the chair. An appeal is reviewed by the department's Executive Committee, which makes the final departmental recommendation to the Graduate Division.

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