Anthropology MA

The MA degree program includes 30 credit hours of Anthropology coursework, completion of first-year student requirements and a master’s project paper. 

A minimum 24 credit hours must be taken in residence at the University at Buffalo.

Graduate students must abide by the rules as they existed in the year of their admission. Since the rules are subject to change, students may want to check the Graduate Student Handbooks of earlier years. See the Department’s Graduate Coordinator in 380 Academic Center to obtain a copy of previous handbooks.

Students may be admitted into an MA-only track or directly to the PhD program, depending upon interests and qualifications. If you intend to get a PhD in Anthropology we encourage you to apply directly to the PhD program.

Students who have been admitted to the MA program may subsequently wish to enter the doctoral program.  Students who apply for the PhD must have retained at least a 3.2 GPA in their graduate coursework and fulfilled all MA requirements. 

The Anthropology M.A., Medical Anthropology concentration consists of 30 credit hours, most of these taken in formal courses, a research project and a research paper or thesis based on that project.

Students take courses in a required core (2 courses), a Medical Anthropology core (3 courses), and electives offered within the Department of Anthropology. With the approval of the student's adviser appropriate courses offered in the UB School of Public Health and Health professions, the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, or the School of Nursing may be substituted. Only six credits from non-anthropology courses may be counted toward the MA degree.

The Medical Anthropology track does not require a qualifying exam, but each student will undertake an approved research project developed in consultation with the adviser. A research paper or thesis based on that research is required. The research paper or thesis must be approved by the adviser and one other member of the Department of Anthropology. Both faculty members must be members of the Graduate Faculty.

Students in the Medical Anthropology concentration may apply to the PhD program in Anthropology and will be subject to the same admissions criteria and procedures as other PhD program applicants.