Graduate Program Overview
The Anthropology Department prepares MA and PhD students who want to gain a strong background in both theoretical and applied aspects of anthropology to pursue academic or professional careers.
Students choosing to pursue master's or doctoral studies in Anthropology may choose to specialize in archaeology, cultural anthropology or physical anthropology. In addition to the traditional subfields, the department offers opportunities to specialize in the following areas:
Critical Museum Studies
The MA in Critical Museum Studies is a 36-credit pre-professional interdisciplinary program sponsored by the Departments of Anthropology, Art/Visual Studies, and the Arts Management Program. Each has a history of active museum/curatorial practice and has museum collections themselves or direct access to museum collections in Buffalo and beyond. Students will gain a theoretically informed and politically engaged perspective on visuality. The program seeks to explore the institutional structure of the museum—whether dedicated to anthropology, art, or vis-à-vis its own internal workings—and how the museum is itself implicated in the meaning and functioning of images or objects.
Evolutionary, Ecology and Behavior (EEB)
Evolution, Ecology and Behavior (EEB) is an interdisciplinary group comprised of faculty and students interested in the ecological, behavioral and evolutionary processes that give rise to biological and behavioral diversity among plant and animal species. Members are drawn from anthropology, biology, geology, geography, psychology and anatomy. The group’s activities include core courses in evolution and ecology, research seminars, journal clubs and a distinguished speaker series.
The EEB graduate program awards PhD and MS degrees.
Medical Anthropology
The MA concentration in Medical Anthropology provides students a focused program using anthropological theory and methods to understand the environmental and sociocultural factors in disease, disability and human health issues.