Ph.D. Degree | Anthropology | SIU

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Ph.D. Degree

Graduate Program - Ph.D. Degree in Anthropology

Admission to the Program

Applicants to the PhD degree program must complete the equivalent of the master's degree and apply directly to Anthropology for admission as a doctoral student. Anthropology may offer an accelerated entry option to students who have been admitted at the MA level and who are judged by the faculty of Anthropology to be prepared to begin research at the doctoral level, generally after at least two terms in the MA degree program, and students must then meet all retention and exit requirements for the regular doctoral option.

Each student entering the doctoral program from a Master's program other than the MA program at SIU Carbondale's Anthropology will be scheduled for a meeting with the Graduate Studies Committee and an initial assigned advisor during the week before Fall semester classes begin.

The purpose of this meeting is to allow the Graduate Studies Committee, the initial advisor, and the entering student to discuss areas of study at the Master's level that satisfy the SIU Carbondale 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 initial advisor to aid in evaluating the student's breadth of competence.

If the student's record at the Master's level is considered to demonstrate deficiencies in any of the sub-disciplines, the Graduate Studies Committee and initial advisor will agree upon an appropriate list of Core Courses and/or other courses that the student must complete prior to attaining doctoral candidacy. The distribution requirements for the MA at SIU Carbondale will serve as the general guideline for determining these required courses.

Requirements for the PhD

All PhD 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 Anthropology, and at least 1 from outside; the typical case will be 4 from within and 1 additional. The chair should be chosen by the end of the second term at the latest, and the entire committee by the end of the third term at the latest (ideally by the end of the second term).

The requirements for the PhD 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 student's PhD committee is expected to help formulate a study program that will usually involve at least 1.5-2 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 Anthropology. In all cases, a reading knowledge of at least one foreign language will be demonstrated and one other research tool. Other possible tools could include, for example, statistics, a second foreign language, GIS, visual/film techniques, or others.
  3. Administration by the committee of a special examination (containing written and oral portions) covering theoretical, methodological, and topical/geographic/ temporal specialties (the preliminary or candidacy exam). The student may not take the examination until 24 credit hours of full-time graduate work have been completed. The student is encouraged to take this examination no later than 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. Completion of proposal for dissertation research, collection of data, and writing and defense of dissertation.

PhD Candidacy

Students attain formal PhD candidacy ("all but dissertation") upon completion of requirements 1-3 above and approval by his/her committee of a proposal for dissertation research. Anthropology will then recommend a student to the Graduate School for candidacy for a period of five calendar years. The student will then undertake the research necessary to acquire materials for the dissertation.

Candidates must register for 24 hours of credit under ANTH 600. When a draft of the dissertation has been accepted by the PhD 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 the dissertation to the Graduate School electronically in accordance with its guidelines and a copy printed on acid-free paper to Anthropology.