Anthropology (MA)

The MA prepares graduates for academic and professional careers in diverse fields, including non-profit organizations, global NGOs, government, museums and cultural institutions, journalism, or further study and research at the doctoral level.

Entering students work with an individual faculty advisor. This advisor, together with the departmental student advisor, introduces them to the curriculum as a whole and helps them to balance their focus between substantive knowledge and research and writing practices.

• Curriculum Details

  A full account of degree requirements and procedures is contained in the Anthropology student handbook.

  To earn the MA in Anthropology, a student must complete a total of 30 credits, of which 12 credits must be listed or cross-listed in Anthropology. In addition to those 12 Anthropology credits, students must also take the two core courses of the MA program: 

  • GANT 6051 Critical Foundations (3 credits)
  • GANT 6065 Problems in Anthropology (3 credits)

  A student must also complete 12 credits of courses in other disciplines.

  A maximum of three credits taken at another university may be granted toward the credit requirement for the master's degree. Twenty-seven credits must be completed at The New School for Social Research.

  Graduate Minors

  Students can use elective courses toward completing one of the university’s graduate minors. These structured pathways of study immerse master's and doctoral students in disciplines outside their primary field and expose them to alternative modes of research and practice. Completed graduate minors are officially recorded on students' transcript.

  MA Capstone

  The capstone of the MA program is a portfolio designed to test students' familiarity with key ideas and issues in anthropology today and their ability to reflect on their development throughout the degree program. Portfolios are developed in consultation with faculty during the final year of the MA and through student workshops. The portfolio consists of two pieces of work developed in the second year and a commentary, submitted as a complete dossier in spring of the second year. The two pieces are developed in consultation with faculty; the commentary is produced independently.

• Graduate Minor: Anthropology and Design

  The Anthropology and Design graduate minor allows graduate students to explore the designed world through the conceptual frameworks and grounded methods of anthropology. Anthropologists and designers working in tandem can improve their own techniques of aesthetic and ethnographic analysis, expand their repertoire of multimodal methods, and think more critically and creatively about the mediated and designed forums in which they perform and share their research. 

  The minor offers students the opportunity to study design and technology through an established discipline that prioritizes reflective methodology (including critique of ethnographic method itself), ethical frameworks of analysis, and awareness of the political stakes of both research and creative practice. 

  See the curriculum and learn more on the Anthropology and Design graduate minor page.

• Subject Area: Science and Society

  Since early modernity, the sciences have developed their own moral economies at a distance from other social fields. More recently, however, the border between science and the rest of society is becoming more porous, and changes in scientific knowledge are affecting almost every facet of late-modern cultures, from diagnosis and treatment of diseases to preparation for climate change.

  The Science and Society subject area helps Anthropology MA students ethnographically and historically investigate how scientific research is informed by and informs social processes. Coursework and research opportunities introduce students to problems emerging at the intersection of science and society, offer methodological tools with which to address these problems, and draw students' attention to key issues that can serve as subjects of important research projects.

  Students are encouraged to complete four relevant courses and to avail themselves of New York City’s rich science resources. Available courses in the 2021-2022 academic year include:

  • GANT 6135: Epidemics and Pandemics (fall 2021)
  • GANT 6165: Becoming Social: Culture, Cognition, and Early Development (fall 2021)
  • GANT 6410: Science and Society (spring 2022)
  • GANT 6614: Technopolitics (spring 2022)

  Please refer to the course archive spreadsheet for a list of current and past courses in this subject area.

  Associate professor of anthropology Nicolas Langlitz is available to advise students on coursework, fieldwork, and other learning opportunities. Anthropology faculty are also available to help students conduct fieldwork on a science-related question. 

  This subject area is an informal path in the Anthropology program and does not appear on students' transcripts or diplomas.

• Continuation to a PhD

  Students in the Anthropology MA program can apply to enter the PhD program upon successful completion of the MA written examination and submission to the department of a brief written proposal indicating an area of future research. Entry into the PhD program is contingent on faculty evaluation of the applicant's MA exam and overall performance in the master's program, as well as an assessment of the fit of the proposed project within the department and of the applicant's preparedness for doctoral-level work in anthropology.

• Bachelor’s-Master’s Program

  The sequential Bachelor's-Master's (BAMA) program allows qualified New School undergraduate students to complete two degrees in as little as five years while saving up to 75 percent on tuition costs. Through the program, students delve deep into subjects they care about, gain expertise early on in their education, and improve their job prospects with a graduate degree.

  Every Master of Arts program at NSSR is paired with related New School bachelor’s programs, with established pathways and timelines for students to earn both undergraduate and graduate degrees.

  The following undergraduate programs are paired with the NSSR Anthropology MA program:

  • Anthropology (BA)
  • Global Studies (BA) through Lang or BPATS
  • Liberal Arts (BA or BS) through Lang or BPATS

  To learn more, visit the Bachelor’s-Master’s program page. Interested undergraduates should talk with their undergraduate advisors about specific BAMA requirements for their programs and application information and deadlines.