Ph.D. 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.

Assistantships

To remain eligible for an assistantship after the first academic year, and in each subsequent year, a student must perform the assigned duties satisfactorily as determined by the graduate program director and maintain a “good standing” status. The department’s criteria for “good standing” are:

1. Students must not have received a grade below a B in any anthropology course
2. Students may not have any incomplete grades older than one semester
3. Students must have a satisfactory GA performance evaluation
4. Students must be in good standing, as specified in the student’s annual evaluation letter

Graduate students who are not in good standing are not eligible for continued support as a graduate assistant beyond their initial 9-month appointment. Please note that assistantships are evaluated annually using two separate forms: one for students’ TA duties and another for academic progress.

Assistantships are subject to the Constitution and laws of the State of Florida and the United States, the regulations of the University and the Collective Bargaining Agreement between Florida State University and the United Faculty of Florida - Florida State University - Graduate Assistants United (UFF-FSU-GAU). All graduate assistants at FSU work under the Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiated by the UFF-FSU-GAU and the Florida State University Board of Trustees. UFF-FSU-GAU is the labor union certified as the exclusive bargaining agent for graduate assistants at FSU. To find out more information about the UFF-FSU-GAU, or to join their action newsletter, visit fsu.gau.org or email info@fsugau.org.

Outside Employment

The department recognizes that sometimes there are opportunities for outside employment that enhance a student’s professional portfolio. These may warrant exceptions to a general policy discouraging outside employment. In general, accepting a graduate assistantship in our department implies a dual commitment to your studies and to your employment here. The combination of scholarly and pedagogical/research activities will do much to prepare you for the profession. Because of the importance and intensity of your responsibilities for the department, graduate assistants are strongly discouraged from accepting outside employment. It is virtually impossible to honor satisfactorily your commitment to your professors, students, and peers if you have obligations to another employer, and the distraction of other work too often interferes with your progress as a graduate student. Moreover, there are other available resources for funding if necessary: student loans, university and departmental awards, fellowships, etc. Should you want to accept outside employment while under contract as an assistant in our department, you must first notify the graduate program director in writing with the details of that employment (funding source, number of hours, location, etc.) and get written approval that there is no conflict of interest.

Communications with FSU and the Department of Anthropology

FSU has instituted an email policy effective March 24, 2020. Florida State University provides electronic mail (email) services and accounts for employees, students, and others to support the university’s mission. The policy in its entirety may be found at policies.vpfa.fsu.edu. Some policy highlights are:

• Primary email addresses for employees end with @fsu.edu
• University-provided email addresses are to be used for all student and employee official university communications; external accounts, such as Gmail, should not be used for official university communications
• Employee access to email is disabled when an employee separates from FSU employment unless continued access is requested and approved by the employee’s department
• Supervisors may request filtered access to former employee emails

Be sure to check your FSU email – that is where all official university and department emails are sent. Keep up-to-date with FSU Anthropology via our Anthronet – Listserv for anthropology. Sign up here (you can use any email address for this). Like and follow the department across social media, you can find our accounts on linktr.ee/fsuanthropology.

Students must complete 36 hours of graded coursework (12 courses), and 24 dissertation hours for a total of 60 credit hours. The normal full-time course load for graduate students is 9 credit hours (3 courses) per semester. 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. Up to two of the courses may be language courses if appropriate to your research (see Language Skills below). Students may register for a Directed Individual Study (DIS) to address particular curricular needs but can enroll in no more than two over the course of the Ph.D. studies. Please see the departmental website for more information on how to establish a DIS. Except where specified (i.e., special topics methods courses, transfer credits) the required courses cannot be fulfilled by other classes (i.e., independent studies).

Part 1. 36 Credit Hours of Graduate Coursework

Required Courses (five 3-credit graduate-level courses)

Graduate Breadth Requirements (all required)

• ANG 5117 Core Seminar in Archaeology
• ANG 5493 Core Seminar in Cultural Anthropology
• ANG 5513 Core Seminar in Biological Anthropology

Graduate Level Theory (required)

• ANG 6930 Advanced Seminar in Anthropology (taught in alternating years as Advanced Theory in Biocultural Anthropology and Advanced Theory in Archaeology)

Graduate Level Methods (choose one)

• ANG 5074 Seminar in Geospatial Archaeology
• ANG 5125 Geoarchaeology
• ANG 5126 Zooarchaeology
• ANG 5127 Advanced Zooarchaeology
• ANG           Archaeometry (course number to be assigned)
• ANG           Archaeological Prospection (course number to be assigned)
• ANG 5801 Field Methods in Cultural Anthropology
• ANG 5580 Biocultural Adaptation and Paleodemography
• ANG 5581 Human Biology

Elective Courses (seven graded 3-credit graduate-level courses)

Electives can include no more than 6 credit hours of Directed Independent Studies in any department. There is no cap on graduate-level courses from outside of Anthropology that can be counted as electives. Any of the courses listed above under theory or methods can be taken for elective credit but cannot be double-counted.

Part 2. 24 Credits of Dissertation Hours

Dissertation Hours

A minimum of 24 dissertation hours is required for completion of the doctoral degree. Students can enroll in dissertation hours after successfully passing comprehensive exams (referred to below as “preliminary examination”) and comply with the following College of Arts and Sciences requirements:    

“Doctoral students must complete their degree requirements within five calendar years from the time the preliminary examination is passed. No student may register for dissertation hours prior to the point of the term in which the preliminary exam was passed. Dissertation hours may be added retroactively during the term in which the preliminary exam is passed, provided that an Admission to Candidacy Form has been filed with the Registrar during the same semester. Retroactive changes are only permitted if the preliminary exam is passed by the end of the seventh week of the semester. See the "Academic Calendar" in the Registration Guide for semester-specific deadlines. A minimum of twenty-four dissertation hours is required for completion of the doctoral degree. Students admitted to doctoral candidacy must register for a minimum of two dissertation hours each term in which any work is being done on the dissertation, even after the minimum of twenty-four dissertation hours has been met. Students who are off campus must also register for at least two semester hours of dissertation each term in which they receive faculty supervision or make use of university resources." (Source: registrar.fsu.edu)

List of Recommended Classes in Other Departments

This is not an exhaustive list and any of these courses could be used by a student in any subdiscipline could be taken for an elective.

Examples of classes that may be of interest to Cultural students:

• SYA 5305 Introduction to Quantitative Research Methods
• SYA 5315 Introduction to Qualitative Research Methods
• WST 5616 Contemporary Gendercide
• SOW 5105+ Human Behavior and the Social Environment
• PHC 5001 Public Health Epidemiology
• PHC 5300 Environmental Health
• PHC 5003 Chronic Disease Epidemiology
• SYO 5416 Stress and Mental Health
• SYO 6407 Race, Ethnicity, and Health
• GEO 5451 Medical Geography
• GEO 5453 Global Health

Examples of classes that may be of interest to Archaeology students:

• ARH 5799 Cultural Heritage Theory and Practice
• GEO 5378 Landscape Ecology
• GEO 5406 Black Geographies
• GEO 5425 Cultural Geography
• GIS 5111 Spatial Modeling in Geographic Information Science
• LIN 5035 Historical/Comparative Linguistics
• HIS 5077 Oral History
• CLA 5799 Seminar in Classical Archaeology

Examples of classes that may be of interest to students:

• PCB 5682 Macroevolution
• BSC 5458. Bioinformatics
• PHC 5001 Public Health Epidemiology
• PHC 5300 Environmental Health
• PHC 5003 Chronic Disease Epidemiology
• SYO 5416 Stress and Mental Health
• SYO 6407 Race, Ethnicity, and Health
• GEO 5451 Medical Geography
• GEO 5453 Global Health
• HUN 6780 Nutrigenomics and Epigenetics
• PET 6388 Exercise and Disease

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 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. The necessary form is available on the departmental webpage.

Language Skills         

There is no mandated language requirement for graduate students. Some students will not need to demonstrate proficiency in a language other than English. Others will need to develop foreign language skills sufficiently advanced to, for example, successfully conduct ethnographic fieldwork. As such, language requirements will be set by the dissertation advisor in consultation with the student and the Dissertation Committee.

Part 3. Applying for Research Funding

All eligible graduate students in the Department of Anthropology will be required to apply for the U.S. National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) during the next application window, typically in October of their first year. If a graduate student is successful in obtaining this or any other similar funding, it will take the place of an equivalent portion of that student’s current funding from FSU.

Part 4. Evaluation Procedures

There are two major evaluation points on the path to graduation with a Ph.D. from the FSU Department of Anthropology: (a) Qualifying Exams and (b) Dissertation Defense. The qualifying exams assess whether you are capable of completing dissertation research, and the dissertation defense whether you have completed dissertation research. 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, inadequate performance at assigned TA or RA duties, 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.

(a) Qualifying Exams

These examinations determine whether you are qualified to undertake your proposed PhD dissertation research. That is, they are specific to you and your work, and allow your qualifying exams committee to determine whether you have sufficient command of the theoretical, methodological and topical components of your proposed research to successfully complete the work.

The qualifying exams occur in two stages. All stages of the qualifying exam must be completed before the end of the sixth semester in the program, but qualifying exams cannot begin until all coursework is completed. The first stage is the submission of a dissertation research proposal. By default, the proposal is modeled on the NSF Dissertation Improvement Grant, but the choice of another funding structure may be used with the consent of the entire dissertation committee and the GPD. Once the proposal has been approved by the dissertation committee, and at least two weeks before the scheduled proposal defense, a copy of the proposal will be deposited in the Department Office and made available for public perusal, and the time and place of the defense will be advertised.

The second stage of the qualifying exams is a 30-minute presentation of the dissertation proposal. Students are responsible for scheduling a date/time for the defense. Proposal defenses are public and must be held during business hours on days that the university of open for business. Spring semester defenses must be scheduled with the Dissertation Committee and the date/time of the upcoming defense reported to the APS before Feb. 1. Fall semester defenses must be reported by Sept. 1. There will be no defenses scheduled during the summer break. All departmental students are encouraged to come to proposal defense. After the general audience has had the opportunity to ask questions, they will be dismissed, and the third stage of the examination begins. The candidate will be questioned privately by their dissertation committee. The candidate should anticipate questions pertaining to the relationship between their proposed theoretical frame and their methods, to the practicalities of their approach, to their planned methods of data analysis, and to the potential pitfalls and approaches to mitigating those pitfalls. 

There are three possible outcomes: 1) High Pass or Pass, and you become a Ph.D. Candidate, 2) Low Pass, and you receive an MA/MS degree (provided you have completed the necessary requirements) and will not be allowed to go on in the Ph.D. program, or 3) Fail, you will not be allowed to go on in the Ph.D. program. Students who become Ph.D. Candidates are welcome to use this title, or the abbreviation “ABD” (All But Dissertation) in professional context, such on a C.V., during the five-year clock to complete the Dissertation Defense. However, this is not a degree and use of these titles beyond this specific period is strictly not allowed. Students whose which to re-instate their PhD Candidate status will be subject to normal PhD application procedures, comprehensive and qualifying exams, and any coursework that your committee deems necessary.

(b) Dissertation Defense    

The completion of the qualifying exams starts a five-year clock to complete the Dissertation Defense. If the dissertation has not been defended by the expiry of the clock, the candidate will be removed from the program. Exceptions to this policy are made on a case-by-case basis, but are considered appropriate only under extreme circumstances. Students should not assume extensions are available.          

During the first two weeks of the semester in which a student expects to graduate, they must apply for graduation at the Office of the University Registrar. Students are responsible for completing FSU’s Manuscript Clearance Portal Website and scheduling a date/time for the defense. If a student previously filed for graduation but did not receive the degree at the expected time, the application procedure must be repeated. Committee members must receive a draft of the entire dissertation at least eight weeks in advance of the proposed dissertation defense date. You can expect to receive feedback from each committee member within three weeks of draft chapters (i.e., five weeks before the defense date). You have at that time three weeks to revise the text on the basis of their feedback, and resubmit it to the committee for their approval at least two weeks in advance of the defense date. Your advisor retains the prerogative to delay or postpone a defense due to problems with the dissertation or a failure to adhere to the schedule described here.

The dissertation defense consists of an approximately 40-minute talk, based on the dissertation, of the kind the would be expected for an academic job talk. Dissertation defenses are public and must be held during business hours on days that the university is open for business. Spring semester defenses must be scheduled with the Dissertation Committee and the date/time of the upcoming defense reported to the APS before Feb. 1. Fall semester defenses must be reported by Sept. 1. There will be no defenses scheduled during the summer break.

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 second semester. Advisors, among their many roles, will review/sign your annual self-evaluation due on April 1. The dissertation committee must be assembled by the end of the fourth semester.

Dissertation Committee

A dissertation committee is necessary to schedule qualifying exams and the dissertation defense. The dissertation committee consists of four members: an advisor who must be a tenured/tenure-earning member of department, two other faculty members from the Department of Anthropology who have FSU graduate faculty status, and an external member who will serve as representative-at-large of the graduate faculty.        

No faculty member is obliged to serve on your dissertation committee, nor are you obliged to have any specific faculty member on your committee. Students who have not assembled a dissertation committee, with a member designated as advisor, by the end of the fourth semester may be removed from the program. Students who wish to alter membership of their dissertation 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 faculty 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 academic program specialist, 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 and can provide them with a graduate check sheet and other helpful tools. 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 available to them clear instructions on how to bring complaints to the attention of the Department of Anthropology, and to ensure that student concerns are address 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 25 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 Degree Requirements

The oldest college at the University, the College of Arts and Sciences, has provided generations of undergraduate students 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 thirty 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 (MA), the Master of Fine Arts (MFA), the Master of Science (MS), Professional Science Masters (PSM), and the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) 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.

Important Dates

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

Milestones

Year 1

Coursework:

• Fall – Three core classes
• Spring – One theory class and two electives/methods

Academic Progress Tasks:

• Orientation/Meet faculty
• Submit transfer for graduate credit request if coming with previous grad credits
• Establish an advisor
• Determine general area of dissertation research
• Submit first annual review

Year 2

Coursework:

• Fall – Three elective/methods
• Spring – Three elective/methods

Academic Progress Tasks:

• Formalize Dissertation Committee:
  • Advisor
  • Department faculty
  • Department faculty
  • External member

Year 3

Coursework:

• Dissertation Hours

Academic Progress Tasks:

• Prepare full dissertation proposal/plan
• Schedule qualifying defense
• Pass qualifying defense before end of year.

Year 4-7

Coursework:

• Dissertation Hours

Academic Progress Tasks:

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

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.