MA in Anthropology

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. These 12 credits must include the following courses:

  • 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.

• Subject Area: Anthropology and Design

  Anthropology MA students have additional opportunities to explore the designed world through the conceptual frameworks and grounded methods of anthropology. By engaging with designers, Anthropology students can not only enhance their own techniques of aesthetic analysis, but also think more critically and creatively about the mediated and designed forums in which they share their research. This exploration can also aid in future doctoral study or in professional work in ethnographic research, design analysis, curatorial fields, or writing.

  Students are required to take Anthropology & Design: Objects, Sites, Systems as a prerequisite for further related coursework in the Anthropology department and across the university, where they can also access the extensive resources and offerings of Parsons School of Design and programs in Media Studies and in Creative Publishing and Critical Journalism. Those interested in self-directed fieldwork, internships, or independent study are strongly encouraged to take Design Fieldwork Lab. 

  Anthropology professor Shannon Mattern is available to advise students on coursework, self-directed fieldwork and independent study, and other social science and design learning opportunities, including exposure to and connection with the unparalleled design resources and opportunities in New York.

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

• 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 student 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 scientific resources. Course availability varies by semester; please see below for the most recent information.

  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.

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

  This subject area is an informal path within 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.