Master's Student Handbook

Dear Graduate Students:

On behalf of the Anthropology faculty and staff we would like to extend our warmest welcome to the department. We are pleased that you have chosen to pursue your graduate education at FSU and we look forward to working with you during your time here. Each of us is dedicated to helping you attain your educational and career goals.

Our graduate program offers rigorous theoretical and methodological training in anthropology that will provide a solid foundation for a career in anthropology or further graduate education at the doctoral level. Our graduate courses provide a strong grasp on core research in the subfields of archaeology, biology anthropology, and cultural anthropology while also exploring new and emergent fields of expertise in these subfields. I encourage you to take advantage of our unique opportunities to develop original research projects and to gain experience in fieldwork and lab-based analysis.

Your acceptance into our graduate program demonstrates that you have the academic rigor, aptitude, and committed work ethic to succeed at the graduate level. Graduate education rewards individual initiative and intellectual curiosity about the broad field of anthropology as well as your specific areas of research interest. It is our expectation that you will successfully complete the requirements for our degree program in a timely manner and that you will represent our department with professionalism, conforming to university honor code standards, the ethical code of our professional organizations (American Anthropological Association and the Register of Professional Archaeology among others) and the code of conduct and standards of research performance in your subfield.

This handbook contains important departmental information as well as policies of FSU's Graduate School. Particularly important are the departmental requirements for the degree you are earning. Please familiarize yourself with these requirements and use the checklists we have provided to make certain you will meet them. If you have specific questions regarding academic matters, please direct them to your faculty advisor. As Graduate Program Director, please contact me if there is anything I can help you with.

Again, welcome to Florida State University! This is an exciting time to be part of the growth and expansion of the Anthropology Department. We encourage you to meet frequently with the faculty members to learn from their expertise and experience as well as get to know your fellow graduate students. We will be a community of colleagues and a network of support for you throughout your time in our graduate program.

All best wishes,

K. Ann Horsburgh
Associate Professor
Graduate Program Director

Anthropology is a dynamic and interdisciplinary field that combines archaeology, biological anthropology, cultural anthropology and more. Our department trains students at both the undergraduate and graduate levels to explore the complexities of human societies, past and present, by employing a variety of research methods and theoretical perspectives. For more than 75 years, the anthropology department has helped students develop critical thinking, research, and communication skills that are essential in a rapidly changing world.

Faculty members represent a wide range of expertise and are at the forefront of anthropological research both nationally and internationally. Faculty conduct research in Brazil, India, Kenya, Mesoamerica, Micronesia, Polynesia, South Africa and the U.S. Coursework and research experiences are available in prehistoric and historic archaeology, geoarchaeology, zooarchaeology, environmental archaeology, climate change and cultural heritage, sociocultural anthropology, folklore, economic anthropology, osteology, skeletal biology, forensic anthropology and molecular anthropology. Working together, we are committed to producing innovative scholarship and preparing the next generation of anthropologists.

Students must complete 31 hours of graded coursework, to include 24 hours of graded graduate credit with a B- or better in each course (i.e. not to include courses taken S/U). Of these, 18 hours must be anthropology courses and all hours must be 5000-level courses. Special permission may be given by the GPD to credit 4000-level courses towards this requirement in cases where there is not a 5000-level equivalent. Students must take the required courses (detailed below). The elective courses should be chosen with the goals of acquiring a broad general knowledge of anthropology and of developing a particular area of expertise. In the first semester all students take the three required graduate courses, and on subsequent semesters courses should be chosen in consultation initially with graduate program director (GPD) and then, once identified, your advisor. Students may register for Directed Individual Study (DIS) and electives can include no more than 6 credit hours of DIS in any department. Please see the departmental website for more information on how to establish a DIS.

Part 1. Coursework

Required Courses

ANG 5117 – Core Seminar in Archaeology

ANG 5493 – Core Seminar in Cultural Anthropology

ANG 5513 – Core Seminar in Biological Anthropology

M.A./M.S. Requirements

Students are tracked to either an M.A. or M.S. based on their application to the program. For the M.A., completion of 6 semester hours of graduate credit in the humanities at the 5000 level. For the M.S., completion of 6 hours in a related science field is recommended but not required. It is recommended that students meet with the APS in their first semester to discuss how they will be meeting the M.A. or M.S. requirements.

Fieldwork

The FSU Anthropology faculty offers field schools, and graduate students are encouraged to enroll in them.

Transfer of Credit

Students with graduate training outside FSU may apply for their previous graduate work to be credited toward their progress in the Ph.D. program. To apply for transfer credit, you should provide as much documentation as you are able, including syllabi, bibliographies, assignments, tests, examples of written work. A course submitted for transfer credit will be judged by the GPD on how well the course complements our graduate curriculum and a student’s planned research topic. Courses completed more than five years before the date of application, or with a grade of B- or lower, will not be accepted. Please see the departmental website for more information on how to apply to transfer credits.

Graduation Check

A form outlining the current departmental requirements can be found on the departmental website. The student will meet with the Academic Program Specialist (APS), at least 4 months before the proposed defense date, to determine that all requirements have been met before applying for graduation.

Part 2. Thesis Hours

Thesis Requirement

A thesis is required for the Master of Arts or the Master of Science degree in anthropology. A student must register for a minimum of 6 hours of thesis credit and must be registered for at least two thesis hours during the term in which they graduate. The subject of the thesis must be in one of the four subfields of anthropology. The thesis must demonstrate independent investigation and knowledge of research and analytical methods of the chosen subfield. It is the responsibility of the advisor to work closely with the student in the selection of a topic and to supervise the preparation of the thesis. Students are required to write a prospectus (see section below). The advisor and the student will work together to schedule the defense with the other committee members. The student is responsible for communicating the thesis defense date, time, and location to the committee members and to the Graduate School.

All research must comply with federal, state, and local research regulations. These may include, but are not limited to: conflicts of interest, crowdfunding, use of drones, export controls, research data, research misconduct, responsible conduct of research, and human subjects committee. The current FSU policies on research compliance are available from the Office of Research Compliance Programs (ORCP).

Thesis Prospectus

By the end of the second semester, the student will submit a thesis prospectus to be approved and signed by their committee and placed on file in the department. This prospectus will contain a description of the proposed research and any other information and materials the student's committee deems appropriate. Please see the “Guidelines for Writing a Master's Thesis Prospectus” on the departmental website.

Completion of ANG 5971 Master’s Thesis (minimum of 6 semester hours; a maximum of 6 hours may be counted toward completion of credit hour requirements for the degree).

During the semester in which the thesis is completed, students must register for ANG 5976 Master’s Thesis Defense (0 hours).

Part 3. Evaluation Procedures

There are two major evaluation points on the path to graduation with a master’s degree from the FSU Department of Anthropology: (a) Prospectus and (b) Thesis Defense. The Prospectus outlines your proposed thesis research and it must be approved by your thesis committee by the end of your second semester in the program. The Thesis Defense should occur during your fourth semester in the program, and consists of an approximately 40-minute talk, based on the thesis, of the kind the would be expected for an academic job talk. Thesis defenses are public. Students are responsible for completing FSU’s Manuscript Clearance and scheduling a date/time for the defense. Defenses must be held during business hours on days that the university is open for business. There are no defenses during the summer break. Students defending in a spring semester must be report the date/time of the defense to the APS by 1 February. Fall semester defenses must be reported by 1 September.

The department’s faculty formally evaluates the progress of all graduate students each spring. The university requires graduate students to maintain a 3.0 GPA to remain in good standing. Any grade below a B- in a required course must be raised to an acceptable level by retaking the course.

In addition to low grades or poor performance in coursework, other factors that may contribute to a less-than-satisfactory evaluation include carrying more than 2 grades of incomplete, breaches of ethical judgement or professional responsibility, breaches of academic or scientific honesty, or a disregard for departmental policies and procedures. In the spring of each year, all graduate students will fill in the “Graduate Student Self Evaluation” (this form is available on the departmental website) which will be used in the annual discussion of graduate student performance at the end of the spring semester. All students will receive a letter in May of each year from the GPD concerning their annual progress towards their degree. A copy of that statement will be placed in the student’s departmental file. Please see Appendix A for Florida State University Academic Unit Guidance for Dismissal of a Graduate Student for Reasons Other than GPA, as provided by The Graduate School and the Office of Faculty Development and Advancement.

Standards of Performance — Professional, Personal, and Academic

The department is responsible for ensuring that students meet standards of behavior that are congruent with expectations of the anthropological profession, as outlined in the American Anthropological Association’s Principles of Professional Responsibility, the Society for American Archaeology’s Principles of Archaeological Ethics, the Register of Professional Archaeologists’ Codes of Ethics & Professional Standards. Students are also expected to comply with the FSU Academic Honor Policy, and the FSU Student Code of Conduct.

Academic Performance Standards

A student is expected to:

1. Maintain required grades for their academic program.
2. Correct any deficiencies related to academic probation within one semester.
3. Meet the generally accepted standards of professional conduct, ethics, personal integrity, and emotional stability required for practice. This includes, but is not limited to, the following: appropriate and respectful behavior with peers, faculty, staff, and professionals outside the university.
4. Consistently demonstrate effective interpersonal skills.
5. Consistently demonstrate respect and responsibility in matters of punctuality and presentation of self.
6. Fully meet the academic, personal, and professional standards set by FSU’s Academic Honor Policy and Student Code of Conduct, the American Anthropological Association, the Society for American Archaeology, and the Register of Professional Archaeologists.
7. Consistently demonstrate abilities at an expected level in the areas of verbal and written communication skills.

Research Compliance and Integrity

All research must comply with federal, state, and local research regulations. These may include, but are not limited to: conflicts of interest, crowdfunding, use of drones, export controls, research data, research misconduct, responsible conduct of research, and human subjects committee. The current FSU policies on research compliance are available from the Office of Research Compliance Programs (ORCP).

Faculty Advisor

A student’s faculty advisor (also referred to as ‘major professor’ or ‘primary advisor’ or ‘advisor’) plays a crucial role in their progression through the program. The student-advisor relationship is reached by mutual agreement and can be changed at any time by either person. No student enters the program with an advisor nor is any faculty obliged to agree to supervising a student. Students should begin working to identify an advisor as soon as they begin the program and ideally by the end of the first semester. Advisors, among their many roles, will review/sign your annual self-evaluation due on April 1. The thesis committee must be assembled by the end of the second semester.

Thesis Committee

A thesis committee is necessary to approval the research prospectus and to schedule the thesis defense. The thesis committee consists of three members: an advisor who must be a tenured/tenure-earning member of department, two other faculty members who have graduate faculty status at FSU.

No faculty member is obliged to serve on your thesis sommittee, nor are you obliged to have any specific faculty member on your committee. Students who have not assembled a thesis committee, with a member designated as advisor, by the end of the second semester may be removed from the program. Students who wish to alter the membership of their thesis committee are free to do so. It should be done in consultation with the GPD. If a member of a student’s committee is no longer able to serve (through resignation from the committee, resignation from the university, death, etc), the student has three months to reconstitute their committee or they may be removed from the program. Failure to do so may result in removal from the program.

Students must fill out the Supervisory Committee Form and obtain signatures from the advisor and all committee members. Any revisions to the committee must be approved and formalized using this same form and the same procedures.

Graduate Program Director (GPD)

The graduate program director serves as the primary liaison between the graduate students and the faculty. The faculty member in this role advises graduate students on course selection and programmatic milestones. They are also available for general advice about managing graduate school requirements, and career trajectories after you complete the program. With the APS, they manage the paperwork necessary to keep students in compliance with program requirements.

Academic Program Specialist (APS)

The academic program specialist assists graduate students with their academic planning and paperwork. The staff member is available to assist students through advising appointments. They are also available for any questions students may have regarding department, college, and university procedures.

The grievance procedures are intended to ensure that all graduate students have clear instructions available to them on how to bring complaints to the attention of the Department of Anthropology, and to ensure that student concerns are addressed in a prompt and fair manner. In general, students who feel that academic regulations and procedures have not been properly followed can begin by bringing their complain to the instructor. If they are dissatisfied with the resolution, the next step is to discuss their concerns with the GPD. If the GDP is unavailable, is the source of the student’s concern, or has a conflict of interest, then the student should meet with the chair or the undergraduate program director.

If the issue is not resolved to the student’s satisfaction at the departmental level, then the issue should be escalated to the COAS associate dean, followed by dean of the Graduate School, and then the provost. General procedures can be found at fda.fsu.edu.

Students are welcome to have informational and exploratory conversations with the GPD, the department chair or the undergraduate program director to discuss their concerns to help them decide on their preferred course of action.

If the program of study must be interrupted, the student may apply for a Leave of Absence for a maximum of two semesters during their graduate program. The advisor and GPD must both endorse the application for leave. A student on leave is not required to pay fees but is also not permitted to place any demands on university faculty or use any university facilities. The necessary form can be found at gradschool.fsu.edu.

Florida State University, distinguished as a pre-eminent university in the state of Florida, is identified by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education as engaged in very high research activity, the highest status accorded to a doctoral-granting university. The wide-ranging scholarship of FSU faculty and graduate students is nationally and internationally recognized for its contributions to science, business, government, culture, and society. FSU faculty members are also recognized for their exceptional level of instruction. 

The university is dedicated to excellence in teaching, research, creative endeavors, and service. The university strives to instill the strength, skill, and character essential for lifelong learning, personal responsibility, and sustained achievement within a community that fosters free inquiry and diverse viewpoints.

Florida State offers leading undergraduate, graduate and professional programs. Many units have programs that consistently rank among the nation’s top twenty-five public universities, including those in physics, chemistry, statistics, ecology and evolutionary biology, meteorology, political science, psychology, sociology, criminology, information, creative writing, public policy, business and law.

FSU and Graduate School policies and information can be found in the FSU Graduate School Student Handbook and the FSU Graduate Bulletin.

College of Arts and Sciences Graduate Degree Requirements

The oldest college at the University, the College of Arts and Sciences, has provided generations of undergraduate student instruction in the liberal arts disciplines that are essential for intellectual development and personal growth. Graduate degree programs in the College of Arts and Sciences grew organically from these strong undergraduate roots, and the contributions of the college to graduate education have been integral to the evolution of the University. The first recorded master's degree at the Florida State College for Women was awarded by the College of Arts and Sciences in 1908, and the first doctorate at Florida State University was awarded in chemistry in 1952.

The College of Arts and Sciences comprises over 30 departments, institutes, centers, and interdisciplinary programs. In addition to awarding bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees and heavily supporting the CoreFSU Curriculum Program, the College of Arts and Sciences offers an extensive array of foundation courses for pre-professional and professional programs. The College of Arts and Sciences offers the Master of Arts (M.A.), the Master of Fine Arts (MFA), the Master of Science (M.S.), Professional Science Masters (PSM), and the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degrees.

Faculty within the college have earned national and international recognition for research, teaching, and distinguished service to the profession. Among the faculty are members of the National Academy of Sciences, Nobel Laureates, a Pulitzer Prize winner, and recipients of numerous other national and international honors.

Departments in the College of Arts and Sciences work with various programs, schools, and colleges to offer cooperative and interdisciplinary degree programs at the graduate level. Well-funded research opportunities for graduate students are extensive among the science departments. Graduate students within Arts and Sciences have received marks of distinction that include local, national, and international scholarships and fellowships.

College of Arts and Sciences information and policies can be found in the College of Arts and Sciences Graduate Bulletin.

University and College of Arts and Sciences Requirements for Master's Degree

Students pursuing a thesis-type master’s degree must complete the following university and college requirements. Please see the additional departmental requirements.

Total hours: Minimum 31, of which at least 18 must be taken on a letter-graded basis.

Time limit: Master’s students must complete all requirements for the degree within 7 years of beginning coursework. (A student starting in Fall 2021 would have until the end of Summer 2028 to complete the master’s degree.)

G.P.A.: A graduate student must have a minimum 3.0 cumulative graduate grade-point average (GPA) to be eligible for the degree.

Thesis hours/ final term registration: Student must successfully complete a minimum of 6 hours of thesis credit and must be enrolled in a minimum of 2 hours of thesis credit during each term in which they are working on their thesis. This includes the term in which they graduate (even if they have already completed the minimum of 6 hours).

Thesis defense: Students writing a thesis must register for Thesis Defense and have a grade of “P” posted. Students should only register for defense once. If defense is not completed the term of registration, the grade will remain “I” (Incomplete) until successfully defended.

Language Requirements: There is no University-wide foreign language requirement for the master's degree. Each department, school, or college (for units where there are no departments) sets its own language requirements based on the degree awarded.

Important Dates

• Early August – Fall class registration cutoff before late fees
• September 1 – Deadline for scheduling thesis defense for Fall semester
• Early December – Spring class registration cutoff before late fees
• February 1 – Deadline for scheduling thesis defense for Spring semester
• April 1 – Annual Self-Evaluation due

Milestones

Year 1

Coursework:

• Fall – Three core classes (9 credits)
• Spring – Three electives (9 credits)

Academic Progress Tasks:

• Orientation/Meet faculty
• Submit transfer for graduate credit request if coming with previous grad credits
• Establish an advisor and committee
• Determine general area of thesis research
• Submit first annual review
• Submit prospectus before end of spring semester

Year 2

Coursework:

• Fall – Electives/Thesis Hours (9 credits)
• Spring – Electives/Thesis Hours (9 credits)

Academic Progress Tasks:

• Complete thesis
• Meet deadlines outlined in FSU Manuscript Clearance Portal
• Schedule thesis defense
• Defend thesis

Faculty

Choeeta Chakrabarti (Ph.D., University of Florida 2018) Assistant Professor. Cultural anthropology, nationalist movements, alt-right, ethnography, mixed methods, personal network analysis, medical anthropology; cchakrabarti@fsu.edu

Anna Cohen (Ph.D., University of Washington 2016) Assistant Professor. Archaeology, remote sensing, political change; Mesoamerica, anna.cohen@fsu.edu

H.J. François Dengah (Ph.D., University of Alabama 2013) Associate Professor. Cultural anthropology, cognitive theory and methods, cultural consensus; Brazil, the US. francois.dengah@fsu.edu

Dean Falk (Ph.D., Michigan 1976) Hale G. Smith Distinguished Research Professor. Paleoanthropology, primate behavior, evolution of the brain and cognition, origins of language and music; Africa, Europe, Indonesia; dfalk@fsu.edu

K. Ann Horsburgh (Ph.D., Stanford University 2008) Associate Professor. Biological anthropology, molecular anthropology, biocultural models of health and disease, stress, lived experience of disease; South Africa, Kenya, the US, Polynesia; horsburgh@fsu.edu

Rochelle A. Marrinan (Ph.D., University of Florida 1975; RPA) Associate Professor. Prehistoric/historic archaeology, method and theory in archaeology, zooarchaeology, archaeology of Spanish mission period; SE US, Caribbean; rmarrinan@fsu.edu

Mark McCoy (Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley 2006) Professor. Department Chair. Archaeology, political economy, geospatial techniques; the islands of the Pacific, including Hawai’i, Aotearoa New Zealand, and Rapa Nui; mark.mccoy@fsu.edu

Jayur Madhusudan Mehta (Ph.D., Tulane 2015; RPA) Associate Professor. Environmental archaeology, development of complex societies, climate change and cultural heritage, ethnohistory, indigenous religious and ritual practices, education and outreach; SE US, Mexico; jmehta@fsu.edu

Oswaldo M. Medina-Ramírez (Ph.D., University of Florida 2024) Assistant Professor. Cultural anthropology, environmental anthropology, participatory decision-making, water governance, Ecuador, Costa Rica, U.S.A., Honduras, and Bolivia.

Tanya M. Peres (Ph.D., University of Florida 2001; RPA) Professor. Zooarchaeology, foodways, archaeological field methods, prehistoric and historic archaeology, archaeology and digital media, public outreach; SE US, Mesoamerica, Central America; tanya.peres@fsu.edu

Elizabeth Peters (Ph.D., University of Florida 1982) Associate Professor. Biological anthropology, behavioral evolution, human infancy, primates, language origins; epeters@fsu.edu

Eric Shattuck (Ph.D., Indiana University 2015) Assistant Professor. Biological anthropology, sickness behavior, indigenous health and language; eshattuck@fsu.edu

Specialized Faculty

Bürge Abiral (Ph.D., Johns Hopkins 2023). Teaching Faculty I. Cultural anthropology, environmental anthropology, economic anthropology, ethics, food, consumption; Turkey.

Amy Kowal (Ph.D., FSU 2007; RPA) Teaching Faculty III. Archaeology, historical archaeology, ethnicity, community theory, osteology, museum studies in anthropology; Eastern US; study abroad. akowal@fsu.edu

Geoffrey Thomas (Ph.D., FSU 2011) Teaching Faculty III. Physical anthropology, skeletal biology, bioarchaeology, skeletal growth and development, hunter-gatherer lifeways; gpthomas@fsu.edu

Affiliated Faculty

Michael Carrasco (Ph.D., Univ of Texas at Austin) Associate Professor of Visual Cultures of the Americas and Cultural Heritage Studies in the Department of Art History. Origins of writing and indigenous aesthetics, theology, and epistemologies in Mesoamerica, cultural heritage, digital humanities, ecology, folk traditions and global art systems.

Andrea de Giorgi (Ph.D., Bryn Mawr) Professor, Department of Classics. Roman archaeology, visual culture, Turkey, Levant, Cosa.

Nancy de Grummond (Ph.D., Univ of North Carolina, Chapel Hill) M. Lynette Thompson Professor of Classics, Department of Classics. Etruscan, Hellenistic and Roman archaeology; Cetamura, Tuscany, public outreach, museum studies.

Elizabeth Murphy (Ph.D., Brown, 2014) Associate Professor, Department of Classics. Roman Archaeology. eamurphy@fsu.ed

Daniel Pullen (Ph.D., Indiana 1985) Professor Emeritus, Department of Classics. Prehistoric Aegean archaeology, Classical antiquity; Greece, Turkey; dpullen@fsu.edu

Emeritus Faculty

Mary Pohl (Ph.D., Harvard 1977) Professor Emeritus. Archaeology of early complex societies especially Olmec and Maya, ethnozoology, gender, origins in writing, ancient economics and politics; Mesoamerica; mpohl@fsu.edu

Department Administrative Staff

Business Manager
Lynn Echols

Academic Program Specialist
Kyle Christensen

Administrative Associate
Redgina Michel

The University reserves the right to dismiss graduate students and terminate their enrollment in an academic program based on a number of different criteria, beyond that of GPA alone. Oversight is provided by The Graduate School, Office of Faculty Development and Advancement, and Office of the Registrar. Additional details on the steps involved in the process are available for faculty and administrators from the Office of Faculty Development and Advancement and for graduate students at the Graduate School.

Dismissed students will not be permitted to register for further graduate study, including registering as non-degree students, in the degree program or college from which they had enrollment terminated.

Graduate students who have been dismissed from one degree program may seek admission to another degree program but will not be readmitted or allowed to add the dismissed degree program back as a second major or degree. This includes seeking admission into a different degree program that shared a joint pathway with the dismissed degree program.

Program terminations (dismissal for a reason other than GPA) are generally identified by the faculty with support from the Department Chair (or unit head) in the department/unit or single-unit college level and may occur for a number of different reasons.

As specified by university policy, Graduate policy, or within the unit’s Graduate Student handbook, reasons may include but are not limited to:

• Inability to conduct independent research in a fashion appropriate with the accepted norms of a discipline.
• Inability to function within a team environment to the extent that it negatively affects the learning, practice and/or research of fellow graduate students.
• Behavior that does not meet the professional standards of a discipline (typically clinical, social work or school settings, but also including Motion Picture Arts, internship work, etc.).
• Failure to meet artistic or creative performance standards.
• Failure to be approved for an Extension of Time (EOT).
• Failure to complete important degree milestone requirements within a reasonable period of time.
• Inability to pass the doctoral diagnostic exam, preliminary exam for admission to candidacy in, etc.
• Failure to complete the doctoral degree or make timely progress towards the research or writing of their treatise or dissertation.
• Failure to complete the master’s degree or make timely progress towards the research or writing of their thesis, or the production of their thesis-equivalent creative project.

In addition, please note that suspension or expulsion from the university may result if a student is found responsible in a formal Academic Honor Policy (AHP) hearing for an egregious AHP violation, or as an outcome from a Student Conduct Code charge for which a student is found responsible.