Anthropology (ANTH)

JoAnn D’Alisera
Department Chair 
330 Old Main
479-575-2508
Email: dalisera@uark.edu

Mike Plavcan
Director of Graduate Studies
330 Old Main
479-575-2508
Email: mplavcan@uark.edu

Anthropology Department Website

Degrees Conferred:
M.A., Ph.D. (ANTHMA, ANTHPH)

Areas of Study: Archeology; biological/physical anthropology, and cultural anthropology. 

Primary Areas of Faculty Research: The biological anthropology faculty studies the present and past nature and evolution of humans and other primates. Faculty specializations are evolutionary theory, paleoanthropology, dental analysis, bioarcheology, comparative morphometrics. The cultural anthropology program focuses on such issues as gender, class, religion, and public culture as shaped by history and migration. Faculty area specialties include North America, Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa. Training is offered in popular memory, material culture, religion, performance studies, sociolinguistics, ethnobiology, medical anthropology, and popular culture. The archeology faculty is particularly strong in the U.S. Southeast, Great Plains, and the Middle East. Their research interests range from ethnohistory to lithic analysis, Quaternary environments, ground-based geophysical and satellite remote sensing, applications of geographical information systems technology, quantitative techniques, mortuary studies, historical archeology, and ecology. A major emphasis, in collaboration with the Arkansas Archeological Survey, is public archeology.

M.A. in Anthropology

Prerequisites to Degree Program: Applicants must be admitted to the Graduate School and meet the following requirements: 1) satisfactory undergraduate preparation in anthropology, 2) three letters from persons competent to judge applicant’s potential for graduate studies, 3) satisfactory GRE scores, and 4) a completed departmental application. Students who do not meet these requirements may be admitted conditionally. Students with course deficiencies may enroll concurrently in graduate courses.

Requirements for the Master of Arts Degree: (Minimum 30/36 hours, depending on option chosen.) A student may choose one of three options to satisfy the requirements for a Master of Arts degree in anthropology:

Anthropology M.A. with Thesis:(Minimum 30 hours.) A minimum of 24 semester hours of course work including distribution requirements specified by the department, six semester hours of thesis, and an oral examination conducted by the candidate’s faculty committee.

Anthropology M.A. with Internship: A minimum of 30 semester hours of course work including distribution requirements specified by the department, six hours of internship, evidence of research ability, and an oral exam conducted by the candidate’s faculty committee.

Anthropology M.A. without Thesis: Thirty-six semester hours including distribution requirements specified by the department and an oral examination conducted by the candidate’s faculty committee.

A list of courses that meet the general distribution requirement is available from the departmental chair. A minimum of 21 graduate hours in anthropology is required in all three options.

Students should also be aware of Graduate School requirements with regard to master's degrees.

Ph.D. in Anthropology

Requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree:(Minimum of 42 hours, including 18 hours of dissertation.)

Admission Requirements: Applicants are generally required to have a master’s degree in anthropology (or the equivalent) and demonstrate competence in the subfields of archeology, biological anthropology, and cultural anthropology. A student who begins doctoral study with an M.A. from another university must take the courses required for the M.A. here that were not taken elsewhere, but these deficiency courses may, with the consent of the student’s advisory committee, count toward the 24-hour course requirement. Applicants without a master’s degree in anthropology (or its equivalent) but with exceptionally strong qualifications may be admitted directly into the Ph.D. program at the discretion of the department faculty.

Advisory Committee: During the first semester of study, all students will be assigned an advisory committee that will determine their particular programs. Students will select a subfield of specialization (archeology, biological anthropology, or cultural anthropology).

Foreign Language Requirement:Students are required to demonstrate competence in a foreign language.

Course Requirements: Students in the doctoral program are required to complete 24 semester hours of course work for graduate credit beyond the M.A. degree. This work will include four seminar courses to include at least one class in archeology, biological anthropology, and cultural anthropology. To strengthen and support an area of expertise, a student may take up to six hours of graduate course work in other departments. Subject to the approval of the student’s adviser, these hours will count toward the 24-hour course requirement for the degree.

Candidacy Examinations:A student must complete Graduate School residence requirements and departmental course requirements before taking the written candidacy examinations. Students will notify their committees of their intention to take the examination, and their advisory committee will construct the examination questions. The exams will be taken on campus over a period of three days. The areas that will be examined are discussed in the department’s Graduate Student Handbook.

The student’s advisory committee, in consultation with other faculty as needed, will evaluate the written answers. The student’s advisory committee chair will meet with the student and provide relevant feedback, including any weaknesses in the written examination that might need to be addressed in the oral examination.

The committee chair will then schedule an oral exam with the student’s advisory committee. After the oral exam, the advisory committee will meet and make one of the following recommendations:

1. The student has demonstrated the knowledge, skills, and abilities to proceed with his/her dissertation. The student is then admitted to candidacy.
2. Remedial work is necessary. Remedial work may include taking portions of the qualifying exam again, writing another paper, taking an additional course or independent study, or other options as appropriate. Upon successful completion of this remedial work, the student will be admitted to candidacy.
3. The student is not admitted to candidacy.

The committee recommendations will be communicated in writing to the student and to the department chair, and the Graduate School will be notified in writing by the department chair when students have passed their candidacy examinations.

Proposal Defense:Upon admission to candidacy, students will select a dissertation committee with a major professor as chair to direct the research and writing. Under direction of the major professor, candidates will develop programs of reading in the general areas and research techniques pertinent to preparing their dissertations. To demonstrate competence in this preparation, the dissertation committee will conduct an oral proposal defense. This proposal defense must be taken no later than the end of the fall or spring semester after completing the written qualifying examinations.

Dissertation and Dissertation Defense: Students will demonstrate a capacity for independent research by writing an original dissertation on a topic within their subfield of specialization. Within the time limits specified by the Graduate School, students must submit a dissertation acceptable to their dissertation committee. Students’ final examinations will be oral and primarily a defense of their dissertations.

Teaching Requirement: Although the Doctor of Philosophy degree is primarily a research degree, communication skills are critical to professional development. Therefore, each doctoral candidate will be required to engage in teaching activities before completion of the program.

Faculty members located off-campus are available for research and individual guidance in any of these options. They may also chair and serve on student committees.

Students should also be aware of Graduate School requirements with regard to doctoral degrees.

Environmental Dynamics: Anthropology participates in the interdisciplinary Ph.D. program in Environmental Dynamics.

Common Market: Through an agreement with the Academic Common Market, residents of certain Southern states may qualify for graduate enrollment in this degree program as in-state students for fee purposes.

Graduate Faculty

D'Alisera, JoAnn, Ph.D., A.M. (University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign), B.A. (State University of New York at New Paltz), Associate Professor, 1999, 2005.
Delezene, Lucas, Ph.D., M.A. (Arizona State University), B.S. (Emory University), Associate Professor, 2011, 2020.
Erickson, Kirstin C., Ph.D., M.A. (University of Wisconsin-Madison), B.A. (St. Olaf College), Associate Professor, 2001, 2008.
Kowalski, Jessica Anne, Ph.D. (University of Alabama), Research Assistant Professor, 2019.
Koziol, Kathryn, Ph.D. (University of Arkansas), Teaching Associate Professor, 2019, 2022.
Paul, Kathleen, Ph.D., M.A. (Arizona State University), B.A. (New York University), Assistant Professor, 2019.
Plavcan, Joseph M., Ph.D., B.A. (Duke University), Professor, 2001, 2010.
Stoner, Wesley, Ph.D., M.A. (University of Kentucky), B.A. (Pennsylvania State University), Associate Professor, 2014, 2020.
Terhune, Claire E., Ph.D., M.A. (Arizona State University), B.A., B.S. (College of Charleston), Associate Professor, 2013, 2020.
Ungar, Peter S., Ph.D., M.A. (State University of New York at Stony Brook), B.A. (State University of New York, Binghampton), Distinguished Professor, 1995, 2009.
Villaseñor, Amelia, Ph.D. (George Washington University), B.A. (Arizona State University), Assistant Professor, 2019.
Vining, Benjamin R., Ph.D., M.A. (Boston University), B.A. Colgate University, Associate Professor, 2016, 2022.