44.1.1 Program of Study

  1. The Ph.D. in Anthropology is offered in social and cultural anthropology and is open to any geographic/regional specialization.

  2. An applicant must normally hold a Master’s Degree with a specialization in social and cultural anthropology. In exceptional circumstances, a student who has spent three semesters in the M.A. program may be recommended for transfer into the Ph.D. stream.

  3. Residency: the Department requires a minimum residency of two years for Ph.D. students.

  4. A supervisory committee will be established for each student as per General Regulations, Ph.D. and Psy.D. Candidates.

  5. A student will normally be required to complete four courses during their first three semesters in the program: Anthropology 6300 and 6412, and two other courses, to be determined by the supervisory committee. The supervisory committee may also require the students to complete additional graduate courses.

  6. All students must demonstrate a reading knowledge of a second language to be determined in consultation with the supervisory committee. This language will normally be a language in which there is a substantial body of literature in Social and Cultural Anthropology. It could also be a field language pertinent to the student's project. The exam will be set and marked by an authority determined by the Head of the Department and the Dean of Graduate Studies as per General Regulations, Evaluation of Graduate Students, and will normally be completed before the Comprehensive Examination is undertaken.

  7. The Ph.D. Comprehensive Examination shall be administered in accordance with General Regulations, Ph.D. and Psy.D. Comprehensive Examinations. Comprehensive examination normally includes one exam on a particular field of anthropological theory; one on the student’s regional specialization; and one on the student’s topical specialization. Each will take the form of a written essay based on a reading list that will be compiled by the student in consultation with their Comprehensive Examination Committee. Preliminary reading lists must be submitted for approval in May of the student’s first year. These are followed by final reading lists in November of the student’s second year and final exam papers in February of the second year.

  8. The student must submit a written thesis proposal for presentation to the Department two months following completion of the student's comprehensive examination.

  9. As stated in General Regulations, Period of Study, the time limit for completion of the Degree is 7 years.

  10. Submission of dissertation and the oral defence of dissertation will follow General Regulations, Evaluation of Ph.D. and Psy.D. Theses.


44.1.2 Courses

A selection of the following graduate courses will be offered to meet the requirements of students, as far as the resources of the Department will allow.

  • 6010 Environmental Anthropology
  • 6071 Health and Illness: Cultural Contexts and Constructions
  • 6072 Marx and Social Inquiry
  • 6081 Anthropology of Gender
  • 6089 Anthropology of Underclass Life
  • 6100 Social Organization
  • 6110 Culture and Personality
  • 6140 The Community
  • 6210 Language and Culture
  • 6240 Atlantic Regional Studies
  • 6260 Anthropology of Development
  • 6280 Newfoundland Ethnography
  • 6281 Labrador Ethnography
  • 6282 Ethnography of a Single Region
  • 6300 Fieldwork and Interpretation of Culture
  • 6400 Current Themes in Cultural Anthropology
  • 6410 History of Anthropology
  • 6412 Anthropological Theory
  • 6413 Applied Anthropology
  • 6430 Audiovisual Anthropology
  • 6440 Master’s Research Paper (9 credit hours)
  • 6580 Selected Themes in Political Anthropology
  • 6580-6599 Special Areas in Anthropology (excluding 6580, 6583)
  • 6583 Economics and Societies
  • 6600 Contemporary Debates in Anthropology
  • 6890 Graduate Seminar

The information on this site has been extracted from the Official 2023-2024 University Calendar. While every reasonable effort has been made to duplicate the information contained in the official University Calendar, if there are differences, the official Memorial University of Newfoundland Calendar will be considered the final and accurate authority.

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Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
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