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Graduate Programs Guidelines Training of graduate students in the department of anthropology focuses on providing students with a vocabulary and grammar to engage in anthropological reasoning within the general field of socio-cultural anthropology. While many of the canonical objects of anthropology have been seriously put into question under sustained theoretical and empirical work of the last two decades, we are faced with the challenge of reconfiguring theoretical questions within comparative and genealogical frames. The department emphasizes training in anthropological theory in relation to new developments in other disciplines within the social sciences, understanding of regions in terms of cross-cutting questions rather than geographical questions alone; and the capability to place a problem within a broad history of anthropology engaged through multiple national and regional traditions. While the department encourages a pedagogy of self-formation, it also provides many opportunities geared toward cohort building. Students learn as much in the setting of classrooms as they do in individual reading courses, seminar discussions, independent projects and writing workshops. They are urged to use the tradition of inter-disciplinary training opportunities at Johns Hopkins to device pathways of learning that allows them to draw from several sources while meeting the challenges of doing anthropology in a global context. Course Work Students are expected to take ten courses spread over the first two-three years, of which two courses in theory and method, one interdisciplinary course and at least two reading courses (not to exceed three reading courses) are required. A course in Research Methodology will be offered in the first semester of the second year and will constitute the second required course for students. A student must take at least one course in a sister discipline from the social sciences or humanities. Some of the courses offered within the department may qualify as interdisciplinary courses – for instance, those that explore the relation between history and anthropology or linguistics and anthropology. In other cases, students may take courses outside the department in the field of political science, history, literature, philosophy, or public health that address topics related to anthropological issues. In addition to the taught courses there will be a number of reading courses offered that will help students to engage in intensive work on specific topics or areas. A student is expected to take at least one reading course every year. The total number of reading courses taken for credit should not exceed three out of the total of ten courses. All assignments for a given course must be completed in that semester. In exceptional circumstances, incompletes may be absolved by the end of the next semester with the permission of the instructor. Each student will be assigned an advisor for the first two years of study. Students are expected to meet periodically with their respective advisors to discuss their academic plans. The performance of students will be reviewed each year by the entire faculty. Pre-Dissertation Fieldwork All students are required to undertake pre-dissertation fieldwork in the summer after completion of first year. This summer project is exploratory in nature and is intended to give students an opportunity to make initial contacts, explore the terrain and visit the areas in which he or she will eventually do the dissertation work. Sometimes student may take this opportunity to work in related site for gaining a comparative view of the field. Please note that IRB permission is required for all research involving human subjects and you must apply for clearance at least six weeks before approvals are needed. Students must provide the Internal Review Board with the name of an expert for the area in which the research will take place. Details of the procedures for application are available on the Homewood Institutional Review Board website. In those cases in which the student expects to write a dissertation based on archival sources or published literature, the summer may be use to work in libraries and archives. All students are required to write project grants to obtain funding for pre-dissertation fieldwork or library work. Applications may be made to Institute for Global Studies in Culture, Power and History (IGS), the Program for Latin American Studies (PLAS), the Program for the Study of Women, Gender and Sexuality (WGS) and the Center for Africana Studies (CAS) in addition to other outside sources. Please refer to the Funding Resources page for links to funding sources. While the department will provide limited resources to students, who are unable to secure funding, they must demonstrate that they made independent efforts to receive funding. Students are advised to plan for the resources they will require by exploring employment opportunities in the campus as research assistants to faculty in accordance with the policies of the university. For details they should consult the department administrator. The Department will organize a one day workshop in the fall semester when students will discuss the experience of fieldwork and the initial insights into the methodological and ethical questions they faced in the field and how they propose to address these. Students who receive funding from IGS, PLAS, WGS or CAS must fulfill the requirements of the funding programs. It is expected that the experience of fieldwork will provide the basis for on-going discussions in the Research Methodology course in the second year. Comprehensive Examination Students will typically take their comprehensive examinations in the spring semester of the third year after completion of course work. The major requirement for this is the preparation of two synthetic essays –the first on a conceptual issue and the second on a region. Students should begin to conduct bibliographic searches for these essays in the first year and hold consultations with all members of the faculty as they develop these essays. The final essays should be between 25 and 30 pages in length and should demonstrate the student’s mastery over the major debates in their chosen fields. Papers published in the Annual Review of Anthropology provide an example of the kind of essays the students are expected to write. Students are required also to defend their dissertation research proposals at the time of the comprehensive exam. Each student is responsible for establishing a three member committee of the faculty (one of whom should be requested to act as chair) who will examine the student on the essays and conduct a viva voce examination. In some cases, this committee could include one member of the faculty from outside the department of anthropology. The names of the committee members should be communicated to the Graduate Program Coordinator in the departmental office by the end of the second year. While the examination will be conducted by the committee, the essays have to be read and approved by all members of the faculty. Students must circulate their essays at least four weeks before the date of examination to all faculty members and incorporate or otherwise address suggestions of the faculty in making revisions. The final essays must be submitted to the examination committee two weeks before the scheduled exam. Students will be awarded the M.A. degree on passing the comprehensive examination. It is expected that most students will receive ABD (All But Dissertation) status upon successful completion of the comprehensive examination and may proceed to their dissertation research. The department may decide in exceptional circumstances that the student cannot be permitted to proceed to dissertation research or there may be personal circumstances in which a student may wish to discontinue after receipt of the M.A. degree. Dissertation Research The chairperson of the comprehensive exam committee is usually the major advisor to the graduate student thereafter and usually serves as the chair of their dissertation committee. The first step in the dissertation research is the writing of a proposal. Since the department does not have separate funds for supporting fieldwork, all students are encouraged to apply for fieldwork grants to funding organizations such as the Wenner–Gren Foundation, SSRC and NSF. A proposal writing course is available to students in the fall semester of their third year to work on research funding proposals (IRB approvals required). In the course of the comprehensive exam, students should present their dissertation research proposals and obtain approval for the work from the committee. During the period of their fieldwork, students usually apply for non-resident status. They are responsible for conforming to the University’s non-residency requirements. This status cannot be assumed, and must be requested each year for students. Details may be obtained from the departmental office. There are a number of national fellowships to support the final year of writing of the PhD dissertation. Students are strongly encouraged to apply for these fellowships. During the writing up phase, the department encourages a writing workshop in which drafts of chapters may be presented. Graduate students will be responsible for running this but may invite any member of the faculty to attend. Every student is required to present one seminar based on his or her thesis before the dissertation defense is scheduled. Defense of Completed Dissertation This takes the form of a Graduate Board Examination, required by the University for the Ph.D. This oral exam covers the contents of the dissertation; examiners consist of two faculty members within the department and three from related outside departments. The committee chair is responsible for communicating to the Academic Program Coordinator the possible examiners for this committee. Each student may opt to have the exam closed to all but the examiners or open to other department faculty and graduate students. The university sets aside special times each fall and spring for the defense of dissertations. Students are strongly urged to conform to these times, since it is often difficult to get outside examiners for non-regular times. Meeting the specified times means having the dissertation draft ready to distribute about six weeks beforehand and the final distributed at least two weeks before the date of the exam. The faculty requests that students anticipate these deadlines generously, so that advisers have adequate time to provide feedback on a completed final draft and to propose changes, if necessary, before copying for distribution. Upon successful completion of the dissertation defense, the student should submit the one final copy of the dissertation to the department and one to the library binding office. The requirements for degree are not complete until the dissertation is turned into the library binding office. Other requirements All students are required to study one foreign language. This could be a field language or a language that a student would find useful for research literature. In the case of students whose mother tongue is not English, the foreign language would have to be different from their mother tongue. Students should be able to demonstrate a reading knowledge of at least one foreign language relevant to his/her field of study before completing the comprehensive exam. Students must be certified as having achieved at least an intermediate proficiency in their chosen foreign language before they proceed to conduct fieldwork. The language teaching center and language departments on campus are a resource for the students to complete this requirement. Students can seek outside funding for training as well and a limited amount of money is available from the department for language training outside the university. All students are required to provide teaching assistance or research assistance in the first and second year of their course work. Generally, a student will be asked to provide teaching assistance for one course per semester. There are other possibilities for gaining teaching experience after the student has completed ABD status. These include the Dean’s Fellowship and the WGS Prize Teaching Fellowship. The department holds a regular research colloquium. Attendance is required while the student is resident in the university. Participation in the seminars is an essential component of the training of students. Students are encouraged to present their work from time to time in the departmental colloquium. Homewood Institutional Review Board All research involving “human subjects,” whatever the source of funding, must be reviewed by this Board. In most cases, anthropological research is classified “exempt from review,” but getting this classification still requires submission of required application to the Board. Students are responsible for meeting the Board’s deadlines for submission of materials in the semester before doing summer fieldwork and in the semester before doing PhD fieldwork. You must allow at least six weeks prior to your departure for approval. Also, the HIRB website contains downloadable forms and information which you can access here: http://web.jhu.edu/Homewood-IRB/index.html Afterward The Department of Anthropology is a place where current issues in anthropology and important events are discussed in an environment of open exchange. It is an exciting place to be in and graduate students are a part of the venture to make anthropology a vibrant part of academic life in the university and beyond. Helpful Links For further information, please contact our Graduate Student Coordinator: Please note that the deadline for applications for the 2008-2009 academic year is January 10, 2008. |
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