Applicable only to students admitted during the 2024-2025 academic year.

Archaeology

Interdepartmental Program
College of Letters and Science

Graduate Degrees

The Archaeology Program offers the Master of Arts (M.A.) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degrees in Archaeology.

Admissions Requirements

Master’s Degree

Advising

During their first year, students should choose a chair for their M.A. research, who is determined by mutual agreement. Students should meet with their M.A. chairs on a regular basis. The Archaeology Program chair serves as a general graduate adviser and, along with the Student Affairs Officer, monitors degree progress. In addition to the M.A. adviser, the student should choose two additional core faculty members to form a three-person M.A. committee. The M.A. committee consists of a minimum of three UCLA faculty members who must hold one of the following academic ranks: professor (i.e., faculty who are members of the Academic Senate, including professor, associate professor, assistant professor), professor emeritus and acting professor. Acting assistant professors may serve as regular members, but not as chairs.

Areas of Study

Areas of study include analysis of archaeological materials; Andean South America; Bronze Age Mediterranean; Central Asia; China and East Asia; Egypt; classical Greece and Rome; India and South Asia; Mesoamerica; Near East; paleoenvironmental studies; Western North America; Western Pacific and Southeast Asia. Other areas of specialization are also available.

Foreign Language Requirement

The ability to read at least one modern foreign language, relevant to the student’s field of interest, is required for the M.A. There are three options available to satisfy the language requirement.  This requirement may be met by (1) completing three courses in an introductory sequence of the selected language at UCLA with a minimum grade of A- in each course; (2) taking an examination (in Spanish, Italian, French, or German; other languages, if deemed necessary by the committee, may be substituted) administered by the Archaeology Program; or (3) petitioning – a student who has completed a course of study in a foreign language at another accredited academic institution may petition to use this course of study to satisfy the language requirement. International students whose native language is not English may petition to use English to fulfill their M.A. level language requirement. The foreign language requirement must be completed by the end of the fourth quarter or the beginning of the fifth quarter in the program, unless the student fulfills the requirement earlier.

Course Requirements

The master’s program requires a minimum of 42 total units taken for a letter grade and distributed among at least nine courses (the three core courses listed below count toward this 42-unit total). Six of the nine courses must be taken in the form of 4 or 6 unit classes. At least two of these additional 4-6 unit courses (beyond the three core courses) must be graduate-level courses. The remaining four of the nine courses may be upper division undergraduate or graduate level courses (taken with the approval of the instructor of the course). Students should keep in mind that 500-series courses and other courses taken for Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory (S/U) grade cannot be applied to the 42-unit requirement.

Incoming students are required to complete a three-quarter core course sequence that consists of Archaeology M201A (4 units), Archaeology M201B (4 units), and Archaeology M201C (4 units).  Students must also take two M205 (or commensurate course[s] approved by the program chair), laboratory based courses such as Paleoethnobotany, Ceramic Analysis, Zooarchaeology, GIS, or Lithic Analysis, among others. One course must be well outside the student’s sphere of geographic interest, selected from a pool of eligible courses in consultation with the student’s faculty adviser and the Archaeology Program chair; this course may be upper-division or graduate level, and must be taken for a letter grade.

Teaching Experience

Not required. The program assists students in obtaining teaching experience through appointments as teaching assistants in a number of other departments.

Field Experience

No graduate degree is awarded until the student has worked in the field and has demonstrated the competency to direct field research in archaeology. Both theoretical and practical knowledge of methods and techniques used in field archaeology are necessary. This requirement may be met in several ways: ordinarily the student will take a regular UCLA field course such as Anthropology 115P, Archaeology 259, Ancient Near East 261, Classics C251E, or similar courses offered by other departments. Comparable courses offered by other institutions may also be accepted.

Except for the courses listed above, any given formula to fulfill the requirement must be cleared in advance with the program chair.

Capstone Plan

The capstone is a comprehensive examination that consists of three examinations, given at the completion of each section of Archaeology M201A, M201B, and M201C respectively, and a research paper. Comprehensive examinations are graded by three readers (the professor in charge of the course, program chair, and a third faculty member) as high pass, pass, or no pass. Each of the three examinations may be retaken once. The research paper, to be completed by the end of the sixth quarter of residence, is read by three faculty members and assists students and faculty in the determination of whether a student may continue for the Ph.D. degree.

Thesis Plan

None.

Time-to-Degree

There is a limit of six quarters for the completion of the M.A. degree.

DEGREE	NORMATIVE TIME TO ATC (Quarters)	NORMATIVE TTD	MAXIMUM TTD
M.A.	6	6	6

Doctoral Degree

Advising

Each student chooses a chair for his/her Ph.D. research, who is determined by mutual agreement. The student should meet with their Ph.D. chair on a regular basis.  The Ph.D. committee must be constituted before the end of the first year of doctoral work. The signatures of the members of the Ph.D. committee, indicating their willingness to serve, must be filed with the Archaeology Program. Admission to the doctoral program for students completing a UCLA M.A. in Archaeology is based on the recommendation by all three members of the M.A. committee; submission by the student of a plan of study, including projected course work, choice of foreign language, description of qualifying examination components, and dissertation topics; and the quality of work undertaken in the Archaeology Program (i.e., a high pass in the M.A. paper, satisfactory evaluation of the core examinations, and judgment of suitability for original research at the Ph.D. level).

Major Fields or Subdisciplines

Areas of study include analysis of archaeological materials; Andean South America; Bronze Age Mediterranean; Central Asia; China and East Asia; classical Greece and Rome; Egypt; India and South Asia; Mesoamerica; Near East;  paleoenvironmental studies; Western North America; Western Pacific and Southeast Asia. Other areas of specialization are also available.

Foreign Language Requirement

Reading competence for research purposes in two modern foreign languages (including one fulfilled at the M.A. level, either at UCLA or elsewhere), relevant to the student’s research interests, is required. Competence may be demonstrated in the ways outlined for the M.A. Degree Foreign Language Requirement. When proficiency in two foreign languages is not mandated by a student’s interest, a petition outlining the justification for waiving the second language requirement may be prepared. This petition shall include a proposed program of course work or research in a field not directly part of dissertation that is equivalent to the preparation for the foreign language exam.

Course Requirements

For the Ph.D., the student is required to have taken two laboratory courses (these may include the course[s] taken by the student at the M.A. stage). Students are also highly encouraged to take additional courses in archaeological theory to build upon the expertise gained in the core courses. Students entering the program with an M.A. from another institution must take the course requirements listed in the M.A. section above.

Teaching Experience

Not required. The program assists students in obtaining teaching experience through appointments as teaching assistants in a number of other departments.

Written and Oral Qualifying Examinations

Academic Senate regulations require all doctoral students to complete and pass university written and oral qualifying examinations prior to doctoral advancement to candidacy. Also, under Senate regulations, the University Oral Qualifying Examination is open only to the student and appointed members of the doctoral committee. In addition to university requirements, some graduate programs have other pre-candidacy examination requirements. What follows in this section is how students are required to fulfill all of these requirements for this doctoral program.

All committee nominations and reconstitutions adhere to the Minimum Standards for Doctoral Committee Constitution.

The expectation is that by the end of the sixth quarter of the doctoral program, after the foreign language requirement has been fulfilled, students take a written qualifying examination.

The timing of these examinations is set in consultation with the members of the doctoral committee. Students must be registered and enrolled to take the qualifying examinations. The committee for each examination, in consultation with the IDP Chair, determines the conditions for reexamination should students not pass either portion of the qualifying examinations.

Departmental members of the doctoral committee administer the written portion of the qualifying examination. The format of the examination are to be determined by the student’s departmental doctoral committee. The exams may be either open or closed book. Closed-book exams should last three hours; open book exams can be extended over as much as several days and done by the student at home.

For the written examinations, the student should prepare bibliographies in consultation with their committee of 30-40 appropriate references (journal articles, book chapters, and books) on each of three subject areas. Generally, these three subject areas are divided into topical specialization, analytical theory and method, and regional cultural history.

1. Topical Specialization: Detailed knowledge of a particular topic or research question. The dissertation will ordinarily develop out of the topical specialization. Such specialization must be problem oriented.
2. Analytical Theory, Method, and Technique: All candidates must demonstrate knowledge of the diversity of theoretical orientations, general methods, and techniques employed by archaeologists today. They must also exhibit detailed knowledge of the theory, methods and techniques that are involved in their own study area.
3. Regional Cultural History: Candidates must have a detailed knowledge of one or more areas of the world. These areas must be relevant to the student’s topical specialization (item a. above). The areas need not be continental in size but will be selected to be broader than the study of local sequences. Examples: The southwestern U.S., Andean South America, the Mediterranean, China, Mesoamerica.

The bibliography should be developed in conjunction with the members of the Ph.D. committee, with each committee member responsible for overseeing the bibliography and writing the question for at least one of the three subject areas. The faculty should plan to circulate the questions amongst themselves in advance to achieve a consensus about the breadth and content of the questions. The dates of the written examinations should be established at least one month in advance in consultation with the Ph.D. committee and Archaeology Program office. The Student Affairs Officer will facilitate the scheduling of the rooms and equipment, but it is the student’s responsibility to coordinate the timing of the examinations and ensure the timely receipt of questions in the Archaeology Program office.

If the written qualifying examinations are passed, students may then make arrangements to take the oral examination.

Oral Qualifying Examination – The Ph.D. oral examination, in the form of a three hour long oral defense of the Ph.D. proposal must be taken by the end of the sixth quarter of the doctoral program (ninth quarter if a student starts at the M.A. level). The Ph.D. oral proposal defense must take place within the same quarter as the written examinations. The date of the oral examination should be established at least one month in advance with the Archaeology Program office. Before the written examinations, the candidate will be required to submit to the doctoral committee a formal dissertation proposal of approximately 7500 words (excluding bibliography and figures) indicating the research problem, geographic area, method of study, and preparation for the dissertation. At the oral examination, the student will meet with all of the members of the committee simultaneously to discuss and be questioned on the validity and feasibility of the proposal. Related questions of a wider range may also be raised. Students may be examined in the fields previously covered by the written examinations if any of the answers were considered inadequate by the members of the committee.

Students that do not pass the written examinations cannot proceed to an oral defense until such time as the written examinations are passed. If the written examinations or any portion thereof is failed, students may make one further attempt if their committee deems it appropriate.

Advancement to Candidacy

Students are advanced to candidacy and awarded the Candidate in Philosophy (C.Phil.) degree upon successful completion of the written and oral qualifying examinations.

Doctoral Dissertation

Every doctoral degree program requires the completion of an approved dissertation that demonstrates the student’s ability to perform original, independent research and constitutes a distinct contribution to knowledge in the principal field of study.

Final Oral Examination (Defense of Dissertation)

Not required for all students in the program. The decision as to whether a defense is required is made by the doctoral committee.

Time-to-Degree

It is expected that students entering the Ph.D. program with a commensurate master’s degree will advance to doctoral candidacy within six quarters and will file the dissertation within 15 quarters. For students entering the program at the master’s level, it is expected that they will advance to doctoral candidacy within nine quarters of entering UCLA (inclusive of the six to advance to M.A. candidacy) and will file the dissertation within 18 quarters. The maximum time-to-degree (TTD) is four academic years (12 quarters) for the completion of the dissertation after advancement to doctoral candidacy, although the expectation is for the student to complete the dissertation as expeditiously as possible. The dissertation must be filed with the Division of Graduate Education. At the same time, an additional copy of the dissertation is to be filed with the Archaeology Program chair.

DEGREE	NORMATIVE TIME TO ATC (Quarters)	NORMATIVE TTD	MAXIMUM TTD
Ph.D. (entered UCLA w/commensurate M.A.)	6	15	18
Ph.D. (entered UCLA w/o M.A.)	9	18	21

Academic Disqualification and Appeal of Disqualification

University Policy

A student who fails to meet the above requirements may be recommended for academic disqualification from graduate study. A graduate student may be disqualified from continuing in the graduate program for a variety of reasons. The most common is failure to maintain the minimum cumulative grade point average (3.00) required by the Academic Senate to remain in good standing (some programs require a higher grade point average). Other examples include failure of examinations, lack of timely progress toward the degree and poor performance in core courses. Probationary students (those with cumulative grade point averages below 3.00) are subject to immediate dismissal upon the recommendation of their department. University guidelines governing academic disqualification of graduate students, including the appeal procedure, are outlined in Standards and Procedures for Graduate Study at UCLA.

Special Departmental or Program Policy

In addition to the reasons noted above, a student may be recommended for academic disqualification for two failures of the core examinations, failure to fulfill the foreign language requirement, an unsatisfactory master’s paper, two failures of the written qualifying examination, a level of incompetence on the oral qualifying examination that would lead to denial of a second examination, two failures of the oral qualifying examination in instances where a student is allowed to repeat it, or an unsatisfactory dissertation. A student may appeal a recommendation for academic disqualification through a request for a hearing before the Executive Committee.

Applicable only to students admitted during the 2025-2026 academic year.

Archaeology

Interdepartmental Program
College of Letters and Science

Graduate Degrees

The Archaeology Program offers the Master of Arts (M.A.) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degrees in Archaeology.

Admissions Requirements

Master’s Degree

Advising

During their first year, students should choose a chair for their M.A. research, who is determined by mutual agreement. Students should meet with their M.A. chairs on a regular basis. The Archaeology Program chair serves as a general graduate adviser and, along with the Student Affairs Officer, monitors degree progress. In addition to the M.A. adviser, the student should choose two additional core faculty members to form a three-person M.A. committee. The M.A. committee consists of a minimum of three UCLA faculty members who must hold one of the following academic ranks: professor (i.e., faculty who are members of the Academic Senate, including professor, associate professor, assistant professor), professor emeritus and acting professor. Acting assistant professors may serve as regular members, but not as chairs.

Areas of Study

Areas of study include analysis of archaeological materials; Andean South America; Bronze Age Mediterranean; Central Asia; China and East Asia; Egypt; classical Greece and Rome; India and South Asia; Mesoamerica; Near East; paleoenvironmental studies; Western North America; Western Pacific and Southeast Asia. Other areas of specialization are also available.

Foreign Language Requirement

The ability to read at least one modern foreign language, relevant to the student’s field of interest, is required for the M.A. There are three options available to satisfy the language requirement.  This requirement may be met by (1) completing three courses in an introductory sequence of the selected language at UCLA with a minimum grade of A- in each course; (2) taking an examination (in Spanish, Italian, French, or German; other languages, if deemed necessary by the committee, may be substituted) administered by the Archaeology Program; or (3) petitioning – a student who has completed a course of study in a foreign language at another accredited academic institution may petition to use this course of study to satisfy the language requirement. International students whose native language is not English may petition to use English to fulfill their M.A. level language requirement. The foreign language requirement must be completed by the end of the fourth quarter or the beginning of the fifth quarter in the program, unless the student fulfills the requirement earlier.

Course Requirements

The master’s program requires a minimum of 42 total units taken for a letter grade and distributed among at least nine courses (the three core courses listed below count toward this 42-unit total). Six of the nine courses must be taken in the form of 4 or 6 unit classes. At least two of these additional 4-6 unit courses (beyond the three core courses) must be graduate-level courses. The remaining four of the nine courses may be upper division undergraduate or graduate level courses (taken with the approval of the instructor of the course). Students should keep in mind that 500-series courses and other courses taken for Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory (S/U) grade cannot be applied to the 42-unit requirement.

Incoming students are required to complete a three-quarter core course sequence that consists of Archaeology M201A (4 units), Archaeology M201B (4 units), and Archaeology M201C (4 units).  Students must also take two M205 (or commensurate course[s] approved by the program chair), laboratory based courses such as Paleoethnobotany, Ceramic Analysis, Zooarchaeology, GIS, or Lithic Analysis, among others. One course must be well outside the student’s sphere of geographic interest, selected from a pool of eligible courses in consultation with the student’s faculty adviser and the Archaeology Program chair; this course may be upper-division or graduate level, and must be taken for a letter grade.

Teaching Experience

Not required. The program assists students in obtaining teaching experience through appointments as teaching assistants in a number of other departments.

Field Experience

No graduate degree is awarded until the student has worked in the field and has demonstrated the competency to direct field research in archaeology. Both theoretical and practical knowledge of methods and techniques used in field archaeology are necessary. This requirement may be met in several ways: ordinarily the student will take a regular UCLA field course such as Anthropology 115P, Archaeology 259, Ancient Near East 261, Classics C251E, or similar courses offered by other departments. Comparable courses offered by other institutions may also be accepted.

Except for the courses listed above, any given formula to fulfill the requirement must be cleared in advance with the program chair.

Capstone Plan

The capstone is a comprehensive examination that consists of three examinations, given at the completion of each section of Archaeology M201A, M201B, and M201C respectively, and a research paper. Comprehensive examinations are graded by three readers (the professor in charge of the course, program chair, and a third faculty member) as high pass, pass, or no pass. Each of the three examinations may be retaken once. The research paper, to be completed by the end of the sixth quarter of residence, is read by three faculty members and assists students and faculty in the determination of whether a student may continue for the Ph.D. degree.

Thesis Plan

None.

Time-to-Degree

There is a limit of six quarters for the completion of the M.A. degree.

DEGREE	NORMATIVE TIME TO ATC (Quarters)	NORMATIVE TTD	MAXIMUM TTD
M.A.	6	6	6

Doctoral Degree

Advising

Each student chooses a chair for his/her Ph.D. research, who is determined by mutual agreement. The student should meet with their Ph.D. chair on a regular basis.  The Ph.D. committee must be constituted before the end of the first year of doctoral work. The signatures of the members of the Ph.D. committee, indicating their willingness to serve, must be filed with the Archaeology Program. Admission to the doctoral program for students completing a UCLA M.A. in Archaeology is based on the recommendation by all three members of the M.A. committee; submission by the student of a plan of study, including projected course work, choice of foreign language, description of qualifying examination components, and dissertation topics; and the quality of work undertaken in the Archaeology Program (i.e., a high pass in the M.A. paper, satisfactory evaluation of the core examinations, and judgment of suitability for original research at the Ph.D. level).

Major Fields or Subdisciplines

Areas of study include analysis of archaeological materials; Andean South America; Bronze Age Mediterranean; Central Asia; China and East Asia; classical Greece and Rome; Egypt; India and South Asia; Mesoamerica; Near East;  paleoenvironmental studies; Western North America; Western Pacific and Southeast Asia. Other areas of specialization are also available.

Foreign Language Requirement

Reading competence for research purposes in two modern foreign languages (including one fulfilled at the M.A. level, either at UCLA or elsewhere), relevant to the student’s research interests, is required. Competence may be demonstrated in the ways outlined for the M.A. Degree Foreign Language Requirement. When proficiency in two foreign languages is not mandated by a student’s interest, a petition outlining the justification for waiving the second language requirement may be prepared. This petition shall include a proposed program of course work or research in a field not directly part of dissertation that is equivalent to the preparation for the foreign language exam.

Course Requirements

For the Ph.D., the student is required to have taken two laboratory courses (these may include the course[s] taken by the student at the M.A. stage). Students are also highly encouraged to take additional courses in archaeological theory to build upon the expertise gained in the core courses. Students entering the program with an M.A. from another institution must take the course requirements listed in the M.A. section above.

Teaching Experience

Not required. The program assists students in obtaining teaching experience through appointments as teaching assistants in a number of other departments.

Written and Oral Qualifying Examinations

Academic Senate regulations require all doctoral students to complete and pass university written and oral qualifying examinations prior to doctoral advancement to candidacy. Also, under Senate regulations, the University Oral Qualifying Examination is open only to the student and appointed members of the doctoral committee. In addition to university requirements, some graduate programs have other pre-candidacy examination requirements. What follows in this section is how students are required to fulfill all of these requirements for this doctoral program.

All committee nominations and reconstitutions adhere to the Minimum Standards for Doctoral Committee Constitution.

The expectation is that by the end of the sixth quarter of the doctoral program, after the foreign language requirement has been fulfilled, students take a written qualifying examination.

The timing of these examinations is set in consultation with the members of the doctoral committee. Students must be registered and enrolled to take the qualifying examinations. The committee for each examination, in consultation with the IDP Chair, determines the conditions for reexamination should students not pass either portion of the qualifying examinations.

Departmental members of the doctoral committee administer the written portion of the qualifying examination. The format of the examination are to be determined by the student’s departmental doctoral committee. The exams may be either open or closed book. Closed-book exams should last three hours; open book exams can be extended over as much as several days and done by the student at home.

For the written examinations, the student should prepare bibliographies in consultation with their committee of 30-40 appropriate references (journal articles, book chapters, and books) on each of three subject areas. Generally, these three subject areas are divided into topical specialization, analytical theory and method, and regional cultural history.

1. Topical Specialization: Detailed knowledge of a particular topic or research question. The dissertation will ordinarily develop out of the topical specialization. Such specialization must be problem oriented.
2. Analytical Theory, Method, and Technique: All candidates must demonstrate knowledge of the diversity of theoretical orientations, general methods, and techniques employed by archaeologists today. They must also exhibit detailed knowledge of the theory, methods and techniques that are involved in their own study area.
3. Regional Cultural History: Candidates must have a detailed knowledge of one or more areas of the world. These areas must be relevant to the student’s topical specialization (item a. above). The areas need not be continental in size but will be selected to be broader than the study of local sequences. Examples: The southwestern U.S., Andean South America, the Mediterranean, China, Mesoamerica.

The bibliography should be developed in conjunction with the members of the Ph.D. committee, with each committee member responsible for overseeing the bibliography and writing the question for at least one of the three subject areas. The faculty should plan to circulate the questions amongst themselves in advance to achieve a consensus about the breadth and content of the questions. The dates of the written examinations should be established at least one month in advance in consultation with the Ph.D. committee and Archaeology Program office. The Student Affairs Officer will facilitate the scheduling of the rooms and equipment, but it is the student’s responsibility to coordinate the timing of the examinations and ensure the timely receipt of questions in the Archaeology Program office.

If the written qualifying examinations are passed, students may then make arrangements to take the oral examination.

Oral Qualifying Examination – The Ph.D. oral examination, in the form of a three hour long oral defense of the Ph.D. proposal must be taken by the end of the sixth quarter of the doctoral program (ninth quarter if a student starts at the M.A. level). The Ph.D. oral proposal defense must take place within the same quarter as the written examinations. The date of the oral examination should be established at least one month in advance with the Archaeology Program office. Before the written examinations, the candidate will be required to submit to the doctoral committee a formal dissertation proposal of approximately 7500 words (excluding bibliography and figures) indicating the research problem, geographic area, method of study, and preparation for the dissertation. At the oral examination, the student will meet with all of the members of the committee simultaneously to discuss and be questioned on the validity and feasibility of the proposal. Related questions of a wider range may also be raised. Students may be examined in the fields previously covered by the written examinations if any of the answers were considered inadequate by the members of the committee.

Students that do not pass the written examinations cannot proceed to an oral defense until such time as the written examinations are passed. If the written examinations or any portion thereof is failed, students may make one further attempt if their committee deems it appropriate.

Advancement to Candidacy

Students are advanced to candidacy and awarded the Candidate in Philosophy (C.Phil.) degree upon successful completion of the written and oral qualifying examinations.

Doctoral Dissertation

Every doctoral degree program requires the completion of an approved dissertation that demonstrates the student’s ability to perform original, independent research and constitutes a distinct contribution to knowledge in the principal field of study.

Final Oral Examination (Defense of Dissertation)

Not required for all students in the program. The decision as to whether a defense is required is made by the doctoral committee.

Time-to-Degree

It is expected that students entering the Ph.D. program with a commensurate master’s degree will advance to doctoral candidacy within six quarters and will file the dissertation within 15 quarters. For students entering the program at the master’s level, it is expected that they will advance to doctoral candidacy within nine quarters of entering UCLA (inclusive of the six to advance to M.A. candidacy) and will file the dissertation within 18 quarters. The maximum time-to-degree (TTD) is four academic years (12 quarters) for the completion of the dissertation after advancement to doctoral candidacy, although the expectation is for the student to complete the dissertation as expeditiously as possible. The dissertation must be filed with the Division of Graduate Education. At the same time, an additional copy of the dissertation is to be filed with the Archaeology Program chair.

DEGREE	NORMATIVE TIME TO ATC (Quarters)	NORMATIVE TTD	MAXIMUM TTD
Ph.D. (entered UCLA w/commensurate M.A.)	6	15	18
Ph.D. (entered UCLA w/o M.A.)	9	18	21

Academic Disqualification and Appeal of Disqualification

University Policy

A student who fails to meet the above requirements may be recommended for academic disqualification from graduate study. A graduate student may be disqualified from continuing in the graduate program for a variety of reasons. The most common is failure to maintain the minimum cumulative grade point average (3.00) required by the Academic Senate to remain in good standing (some programs require a higher grade point average). Other examples include failure of examinations, lack of timely progress toward the degree and poor performance in core courses. Probationary students (those with cumulative grade point averages below 3.00) are subject to immediate dismissal upon the recommendation of their department. University guidelines governing academic disqualification of graduate students, including the appeal procedure, are outlined in Standards and Procedures for Graduate Study at UCLA.

Special Departmental or Program Policy

In addition to the reasons noted above, a student may be recommended for academic disqualification for two failures of the core examinations, failure to fulfill the foreign language requirement, an unsatisfactory master’s paper, two failures of the written qualifying examination, a level of incompetence on the oral qualifying examination that would lead to denial of a second examination, two failures of the oral qualifying examination in instances where a student is allowed to repeat it, or an unsatisfactory dissertation. A student may appeal a recommendation for academic disqualification through a request for a hearing before the Executive Committee.

Applicable only to students admitted during the 2016-2017 academic year.

Anthropology

College of Letters and Science

Graduate Degrees

The Department of Anthropology offers the Master of Arts (M.A.) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degrees in Anthropology.

Admissions Requirements

Master’s Degree

Advising

Academic advising for graduate students in the department is primarily conducted on an individual basis by a student’s faculty adviser because, beyond basic requirements, each student’s program of study is unique. The department’s graduate adviser is primarily responsible for counseling students in regard to program requirements, policies, and university regulations.

Areas of Study

Archaeology; biological anthropology; linguistic anthropology; and sociocultural anthropology.

Foreign Language Requirement

None.

Course Requirements

The minimum course load is 12 units per quarter. However, this may be waived for good cause by petition, with the approval of the student’s committee chair and the department chair. Students must be registered and enrolled at all times unless on an official leave of absence.

The M.A. degree requires 10 courses (40 units) taken for a letter grade, with a minimum 3.0 grade-point average. The 10 required courses are distributed as follows:

(1) One course must be the graduate proseminar, Anthropology 200.
(2) One course must be the graduate core seminar (200-series) in the student’s field of specialization.
(3) Three courses must be graduate seminars (200-series).
(4) Four courses may be upper division (100-series) designated elective courses.
(5) Three courses may be outside the major with the approval of the three-member guidance committee.
(6) Two courses may be independent studies. Eight units of course 596 taken for a letter grade may be applied toward the total M.A. course requirement, but only four of these eight units are applicable to the minimum graduate-course requirement.

Courses taken on a S/U basis, Anthropology 598, and 300- and 400-series courses may not be applied toward the fulfillment of the M.A. unit requirements.

Core Course Requirements: The purpose of the core course requirements is to ensure that students are versed in the major fields in anthropology. Courses taken while in graduate status at UCLA may be applied toward the unit requirement of the M.A. degree. These fields and courses have been designed to meet the minimal needs of students specializing in other subfields of study:

(1) Archaeology: Anthropology 111, M201A
(2) Biological: Anthropology 222
(3) Linguistic: Anthropology M140, 204, M240, M242
(4) Sociocultural: Anthropology 130, 150, 203A, 203B, 203C

Students must demonstrate basic knowledge in all fields by exercising one or a combination of the following three options:

(1) Taking the core course with a passing grade of B or better.
(2) Petitioning that course work completed elsewhere, or at UCLA as an undergraduate, constitutes the equivalent of such courses.
(3) Passing the subfield’s core course examination given in the Spring Quarter.

A grade of B or better is required in any core course taken at UCLA. If students received a grade of B-, C+, or C, they may not repeat the core course, but must take the core course examination and pass or be subject to dismissal. If a grade of C- or below is received, students may repeat the course, but must receive a grade of B or better the second time the course is taken, or be subject to dismissal.

Teaching Experience

Not required.

Field Experience

Not required but highly desirable.

Capstone Plan

None.

Thesis Plan

Every master’s degree thesis plan requires the completion of an approved thesis that demonstrates the student’s ability to perform original, independent research.

The purpose of the master’s thesis is for a student to demonstrate the ability to generate and assemble a body of data, to analyze it, and to indicate its relevance to established anthropological thought as well as to write lucid prose. Students must submit an original paper based on field, laboratory, or library research to all three committee members by the end of the fifth quarter of residence. The thesis committee assists students in formulating the research paper, monitoring its progress, and evaluating the paper when submitted. It is essential that students maintain close contact with all three members while preparing the M.A. thesis. Students should consult the Graduate Division publication, Policies and Procedures for Thesis and Dissertation Preparation and Filing, for instructions on the preparation and submission of the thesis.

Time-to-degree

Normal progress toward the degree is as follows:

Core course requirements (if needed) – expected time of completion: end of third quarter.

M.A. thesis committee – expected time of nomination: beginning of fourth quarter.

M.A. thesis – expected time of completion: end of fifth quarter.

40 units of course work – expected time of completion: end of sixth quarter.

DEGREE	NORMATIVE TIME TO ATC (Quarters)	NORMATIVE TTD	MAXIMUM TTD
M.A.	6	6	9

Doctoral Degree

Advising

Academic advising for graduate students in the department is primarily conducted on an individual basis by a student’s faculty adviser because, beyond basic requirements, each student’s program of study is unique. The department’s graduate adviser is primarily responsible for counseling students in regard to program requirements, policies, and university regulations.

Major Fields or Subdisciplines

Archaeology; biological anthropology; linguistic anthropology; and sociocultural anthropology.

Foreign Language Requirement

The department does not require foreign language proficiency for all students in the Ph.D. program in anthropology. It is the responsibility of the student’s three-member departmental doctoral committee to determine whether foreign language proficiency is required for their particular program of study.

If the foreign language proficiency is to be waived, students prepare a request for a Ph.D. language requirement waiver, which consists of a letter justifying the request, addressed to the committee and filed with the graduate adviser. If the student’s committee agrees and waives the requirement, the committee then presents a discussion of their endorsement of the waiver request to the faculty, typically during student review. If alternate research skills that are deemed necessary for the program of study for the student’s dissertation have been identified and satisfied, these are noted by the committee. However, no specific other courses or skills are obligatory.

If foreign language proficiency is required, proficiency will be determined by the three-member departmental doctoral committee and may include but is not limited to:

(1) Completion of an appropriate level of language instruction, or
(2) Demonstration of previously acquired language skills through documentation or an examination or
(3) Submission of an annotated bibliography, in English, of selected publications (in the selected language) that are related to the student’s dissertation topic.

The bibliography may be supplemented by a related analytical examination question or further translation examination.

For students required to demonstrate foreign language proficiency, all monitoring of the requirement takes place within the department.

Course Requirements

The minimum course load is 12 units per quarter. However, this may be waived for good cause by petition with the approval of the student’s committee chair and the department chair. Students must be registered and enrolled at all times unless on an official leave of absence.

Students who are entering the graduate program with an M.A. degree, whether or not in anthropology, are required to demonstrate basic knowledge of the discipline before being permitted to begin the requirements for the doctorate. It is expected that students accomplish this during the first year of academic residence through (in accordance with the procedures and regulations stated in the M.A. degree section) the following:

(1) Nominating a three-member departmental advisory committee.
(2) Completing the core course requirement.
(3) Taking the graduate core seminar only in the student’s field of specialization. This is required of all students even though they may already have a master’s degree in anthropology.
(4) Taking the graduate proseminar, Anthropology 200. This is required of all entering students.
(5) Submitting to the student’s departmental advisory committee, for evaluation, a prior master’s paper or a research paper that was written while in graduate status.

Only when these requisites have been met are students permitted to begin the requirements for the Ph.D. degree.

Students who received their M.A. degree from this department are expected to enroll in three seminars, each with a different faculty member, between receipt of the master’s degree and taking the doctoral qualifying examinations. The department does not require any specific courses or number of courses for award of the Ph.D.

Teaching Experience

Not required.

Written and Oral Qualifying Examinations

Academic Senate regulations require all doctoral students to complete and pass university written and oral qualifying examinations prior to doctoral advancement to candidacy. Also, under Senate regulations, the University Oral Qualifying Examination is open only to the student and appointed members of the doctoral committee. In addition to university requirements, some graduate programs have other pre-candidacy examination requirements. What follows in this section is how students are required to fulfill all of these requirements for this doctoral program.

All committee nominations and reconstitutions adhere to the new Minimum Standards for Doctoral Committee Constitution.

The qualifying examinations for the Ph.D. degree consist of a written and an oral examination. The timing of these examinations is set in consultation with the members of the doctoral committee; they are to be taken within a 10-week period of time. Students must be registered and enrolled to take the qualifying examinations. The committee for each examination determines the conditions for reexamination should students not pass either portion of the qualifying examinations.

The three-member departmental doctoral committee administers the written portion of the qualifying examination. The fields and format of the examination are to be determined by the student’s departmental doctoral committee. There must be a minimum of two weeks between completion of the written examination and the scheduled date for the oral portion of the qualifying examination.

The University Oral Qualifying Examination is the oral portion of the doctoral qualifying examinations and is primarily a defense of the dissertation proposal. This examination is administered by the four-member doctoral committee.

Advancement to Candidacy

Students are advanced to candidacy upon successful completion of the written and oral qualifying examinations.

Doctoral Dissertation

Every doctoral degree program requires the completion of an approved dissertation that demonstrates the student’s ability to perform original, independent research and constitutes a distinct contribution to knowledge in the principal field of study.

Final Oral Examination (Defense of Dissertation)

Not required for students in the program. The decision as to whether a defense is required is made by the doctoral committee.

Time-to-Degree

Full-time students admitted without deficiencies normally progress after receiving the M.A. degree as follows:

Selection of third member of departmental doctoral committee – expected time of completion: during second quarter.

Completion of departmentally-monitored foreign language requirement (unless exempted) – expected time of completion: end of third quarter.

Nomination of four-person doctoral committee – expected time of completion: end of third quarter.

Written and oral qualifying examinations (usually taken in same quarter) – expected time of completion: end of sixth quarter.

Advancement to candidacy – expected time of completion: end of sixth quarter.

Final oral examinations (dissertation defense) – expected time of completion: 18th quarter.

Pre-M.A. to Ph.D. degree – expected time of completion: 24th quarter.

Post-M.A. to Ph.D. degree – expected time of completion: a maximum of 18 quarters.

Normative time-to-degree: 24 quarters (8 years)

DEGREE	NORMATIVE TIME TO ATC (Quarters)	NORMATIVE TTD	MAXIMUM TTD
Ph.D.	12	24	27

Termination of Graduate Study and Appeal of Termination

University policy

A student who fails to meet the above requirements may be recommended for termination of graduate study. A graduate student may be disqualified from continuing in the graduate program for a variety of reasons. The most common is failure to maintain the minimum cumulative grade point average (3.00) required by the Academic Senate to remain in good standing (some programs require a higher grade point average). Other examples include failure of examinations, lack of timely progress toward the degree and poor performance in core courses. Probationary students (those with cumulative grade point averages below 3.00) are subject to immediate dismissal upon the recommendation of their department. University guidelines governing termination of graduate students, including the appeal procedure, are outlined in Standards and Procedures for Graduate Study at UCLA.

Special departmental or program policy

A recommendation for termination is made by the chair of the department after a vote of the faculty at the student review each term. Before the recommendation is sent to the Graduate Division, a student is notified in writing and given two weeks to respond in writing to the chair. An appeal is reviewed by the department’s Executive Committee which makes the final departmental recommendation to the Graduate Division.

Applicable only to students admitted during the 2017-2018 academic year.

Anthropology

College of Letters and Science

Graduate Degrees

The Department of Anthropology offers the Master of Arts (M.A.) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degrees in Anthropology.

Admissions Requirements

Master’s Degree

Advising

Academic advising for graduate students in the department is primarily conducted on an individual basis by a student’s faculty adviser because, beyond basic requirements, each student’s program of study is unique. The department’s graduate adviser is primarily responsible for counseling students in regard to program requirements, policies, and university regulations.

Areas of Study

Archaeology; biological anthropology; linguistic anthropology; and sociocultural anthropology.

Foreign Language Requirement

None.

Course Requirements

The minimum course load is 12 units per quarter. However, this may be waived for good cause by petition, with the approval of the student’s committee chair and the department chair. Students must be registered and enrolled at all times unless on an official leave of absence.

The M.A. degree requires 10 courses (40 units) taken for a letter grade, with a minimum 3.0 grade-point average. The 10 required courses are distributed as follows:

(1) One course must be the graduate proseminar, Anthropology 200.
(2) One course must be the graduate core seminar (200-series) in the student’s field of specialization.
(3) Three courses must be graduate seminars (200-series).
(4) Four courses may be upper division (100-series) designated elective courses.
(5) Three courses may be outside the major with the approval of the three-member guidance committee.
(6) Two courses may be independent studies. Eight units of course 596 taken for a letter grade may be applied toward the total M.A. course requirement, but only four of these eight units are applicable to the minimum graduate-course requirement.

Courses taken on a S/U basis, Anthropology 598, and 300- and 400-series courses may not be applied toward the fulfillment of the M.A. unit requirements.

Core Course Requirements: The purpose of the core course requirements is to ensure that students are versed in the major fields in anthropology. Courses taken while in graduate status at UCLA may be applied toward the unit requirement of the M.A. degree. These fields and courses have been designed to meet the minimal needs of students specializing in other subfields of study:

(1) Archaeology: Anthropology 111, M201A
(2) Biological: Anthropology 222
(3) Linguistic: Anthropology M140, 204, M240, M242
(4) Sociocultural: Anthropology 130, 150, 203A, 203B, 203C

Students must demonstrate basic knowledge in all fields by exercising one or a combination of the following three options:

(1) Taking the core course with a passing grade of B or better.
(2) Petitioning that course work completed elsewhere, or at UCLA as an undergraduate, constitutes the equivalent of such courses.
(3) Passing the subfield’s core course examination given in the Spring Quarter.

A grade of B or better is required in any core course taken at UCLA. If students received a grade of B-, C+, or C, they may not repeat the core course, but must take the core course examination and pass or be subject to dismissal. If a grade of C- or below is received, students may repeat the course, but must receive a grade of B or better the second time the course is taken, or be subject to dismissal.

Teaching Experience

Not required.

Field Experience

Not required but highly desirable.

Capstone Plan

None.

Thesis Plan

Every master’s degree thesis plan requires the completion of an approved thesis that demonstrates the student’s ability to perform original, independent research.

The purpose of the master’s thesis is for a student to demonstrate the ability to generate and assemble a body of data, to analyze it, and to indicate its relevance to established anthropological thought as well as to write lucid prose. Students must submit an original paper based on field, laboratory, or library research to all three committee members by the end of the fifth quarter of residence. The thesis committee assists students in formulating the research paper, monitoring its progress, and evaluating the paper when submitted. It is essential that students maintain close contact with all three members while preparing the M.A. thesis. Students should consult the Graduate Division publication, Policies and Procedures for Thesis and Dissertation Preparation and Filing, for instructions on the preparation and submission of the thesis.

Time-to-degree

Normal progress toward the degree is as follows:

Core course requirements (if needed) – expected time of completion: end of third quarter.

M.A. thesis committee – expected time of nomination: beginning of fourth quarter.

M.A. thesis – expected time of completion: end of fifth quarter.

40 units of course work – expected time of completion: end of sixth quarter.

DEGREE	NORMATIVE TIME TO ATC (Quarters)	NORMATIVE TTD	MAXIMUM TTD
M.A.	6	6	9

Doctoral Degree

Advising

Academic advising for graduate students in the department is primarily conducted on an individual basis by a student’s faculty adviser because, beyond basic requirements, each student’s program of study is unique. The department’s graduate adviser is primarily responsible for counseling students in regard to program requirements, policies, and university regulations.

Major Fields or Subdisciplines

Archaeology; biological anthropology; linguistic anthropology; and sociocultural anthropology.

Foreign Language Requirement

The department does not require foreign language proficiency for all students in the Ph.D. program in anthropology. It is the responsibility of the student’s three-member departmental doctoral committee to determine whether foreign language proficiency is required for their particular program of study.

If the foreign language proficiency is to be waived, students prepare a request for a Ph.D. language requirement waiver, which consists of a letter justifying the request, addressed to the committee and filed with the graduate adviser. If the student’s committee agrees and waives the requirement, the committee then presents a discussion of their endorsement of the waiver request to the faculty, typically during student review. If alternate research skills that are deemed necessary for the program of study for the student’s dissertation have been identified and satisfied, these are noted by the committee. However, no specific other courses or skills are obligatory.

If foreign language proficiency is required, proficiency will be determined by the three-member departmental doctoral committee and may include but is not limited to:

(1) Completion of an appropriate level of language instruction, or
(2) Demonstration of previously acquired language skills through documentation or an examination or
(3) Submission of an annotated bibliography, in English, of selected publications (in the selected language) that are related to the student’s dissertation topic.

The bibliography may be supplemented by a related analytical examination question or further translation examination.

For students required to demonstrate foreign language proficiency, all monitoring of the requirement takes place within the department.

Course Requirements

The minimum course load is 12 units per quarter. However, this may be waived for good cause by petition with the approval of the student’s committee chair and the department chair. Students must be registered and enrolled at all times unless on an official leave of absence.

Students who are entering the graduate program with an M.A. degree, whether or not in anthropology, are required to demonstrate basic knowledge of the discipline before being permitted to begin the requirements for the doctorate. It is expected that students accomplish this during the first year of academic residence through (in accordance with the procedures and regulations stated in the M.A. degree section) the following:

(1) Nominating a three-member departmental advisory committee.
(2) Completing the core course requirement.
(3) Taking the graduate core seminar only in the student’s field of specialization. This is required of all students even though they may already have a master’s degree in anthropology.
(4) Taking the graduate proseminar, Anthropology 200. This is required of all entering students.
(5) Submitting to the student’s departmental advisory committee, for evaluation, a prior master’s paper or a research paper that was written while in graduate status.

Only when these requisites have been met are students permitted to begin the requirements for the Ph.D. degree.

Students who received their M.A. degree from this department are expected to enroll in three seminars, each with a different faculty member, between receipt of the master’s degree and taking the doctoral qualifying examinations. The department does not require any specific courses or number of courses for award of the Ph.D.

Teaching Experience

Not required.

Written and Oral Qualifying Examinations

Academic Senate regulations require all doctoral students to complete and pass university written and oral qualifying examinations prior to doctoral advancement to candidacy. Also, under Senate regulations, the University Oral Qualifying Examination is open only to the student and appointed members of the doctoral committee. In addition to university requirements, some graduate programs have other pre-candidacy examination requirements. What follows in this section is how students are required to fulfill all of these requirements for this doctoral program.

All committee nominations and reconstitutions adhere to the Minimum Standards for Doctoral Committee Constitution.

The qualifying examinations for the Ph.D. degree consist of a written and an oral examination. The timing of these examinations is set in consultation with the members of the doctoral committee; they are to be taken within a 10-week period of time. Students must be registered and enrolled to take the qualifying examinations. The committee for each examination determines the conditions for reexamination should students not pass either portion of the qualifying examinations.

The three-member departmental doctoral committee administers the written portion of the qualifying examination. The fields and format of the examination are to be determined by the student’s departmental doctoral committee. There must be a minimum of two weeks between completion of the written examination and the scheduled date for the oral portion of the qualifying examination.

The University Oral Qualifying Examination is the oral portion of the doctoral qualifying examinations and is primarily a defense of the dissertation proposal. This examination is administered by the four-member doctoral committee.

Advancement to Candidacy

Students are advanced to candidacy upon successful completion of the written and oral qualifying examinations.

Doctoral Dissertation

Every doctoral degree program requires the completion of an approved dissertation that demonstrates the student’s ability to perform original, independent research and constitutes a distinct contribution to knowledge in the principal field of study.

Final Oral Examination (Defense of Dissertation)

Not required for students in the program. The decision as to whether a defense is required is made by the doctoral committee.

Time-to-Degree

Full-time students admitted without deficiencies normally progress after receiving the M.A. degree as follows:

Selection of third member of departmental doctoral committee – expected time of completion: during second quarter.

Completion of departmentally-monitored foreign language requirement (unless exempted) – expected time of completion: end of third quarter.

Nomination of four-person doctoral committee – expected time of completion: end of third quarter.

Written and oral qualifying examinations (usually taken in same quarter) – expected time of completion: end of sixth quarter.

Advancement to candidacy – expected time of completion: end of sixth quarter.

Final oral examinations (dissertation defense) – expected time of completion: 18th quarter.

Pre-M.A. to Ph.D. degree – expected time of completion: 24th quarter.

Post-M.A. to Ph.D. degree – expected time of completion: a maximum of 18 quarters.

Normative time-to-degree: 24 quarters (8 years)

DEGREE	NORMATIVE TIME TO ATC (Quarters)	NORMATIVE TTD	MAXIMUM TTD
Ph.D.	12	24	27

Termination of Graduate Study and Appeal of Termination

University policy

A student who fails to meet the above requirements may be recommended for termination of graduate study. A graduate student may be disqualified from continuing in the graduate program for a variety of reasons. The most common is failure to maintain the minimum cumulative grade point average (3.00) required by the Academic Senate to remain in good standing (some programs require a higher grade point average). Other examples include failure of examinations, lack of timely progress toward the degree and poor performance in core courses. Probationary students (those with cumulative grade point averages below 3.00) are subject to immediate dismissal upon the recommendation of their department. University guidelines governing termination of graduate students, including the appeal procedure, are outlined in Standards and Procedures for Graduate Study at UCLA.

Special departmental or program policy

A recommendation for termination is made by the chair of the department after a vote of the faculty at the student review each term. Before the recommendation is sent to the Graduate Division, a student is notified in writing and given two weeks to respond in writing to the chair. An appeal is reviewed by the department’s Executive Committee which makes the final departmental recommendation to the Graduate Division.

Applicable only to students admitted during the 2018-2019 academic year.

Anthropology

College of Letters and Science

Graduate Degrees

The Department of Anthropology offers the Master of Arts (M.A.) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degrees in Anthropology. The M.A. is considered to be a step on the path to the PhD; initial admission to the graduate program is thus offered only to students intending to pursue the PhD.

Admissions Requirements

Master’s Degree

Advising

Academic advising for graduate students in the department is primarily conducted on an individual basis by a student’s faculty adviser. The department’s graduate adviser is primarily responsible for counseling students in regard to program requirements, policies, and university regulations. Upon admission, students will be assigned both a primary and a secondary first-year advisor.

Areas of Study

Archaeology; biological anthropology; linguistic anthropology; and sociocultural anthropology.

Foreign Language Requirement

None.

Course Requirements

The minimum course load is 12 units per quarter. However, this may be waived for good cause by petition, with the approval of the student’s committee chair and the department chair. Students must be registered and enrolled at all times unless on an official leave of absence.

The M.A. degree requires 10 courses (40 units) taken for a letter grade, with a minimum 3.0 grade-point average. The 10 required courses are distributed as follows:

(1) One course must be the graduate proseminar, Anthropology 200.
(2) One to three courses must be the graduate core seminar (200-series) in the student’s field of specialization (number of courses varies by subfield).
(3) One course must be a graduate core seminar in a subfield other than the student’s field of specialization.
(4) One course must be chosen from the designated list of approved “Methods” courses.
(5) The remaining courses may be either subfield-specific requirements (see below), graduate seminars, upper division (100-series) designated elective courses, independent studies (Anthropology 596) or courses from outside the department with the approval of the student’s committee.
(6) Eight units of course 596 taken for a letter grade may be applied toward the total M.A. course requirement, but only four of these eight units are applicable to the minimum graduate-course requirement.

Courses taken on a S/U basis, Anthropology 598, and 300- and 400-series courses may not be applied toward the fulfillment of the M.A. unit requirements.

Core Course Requirements: The purpose of the core course requirements is to ensure that students are well-versed in their subfield of anthropology. Courses taken while in graduate status at UCLA may be applied toward the unit requirement of the M.A. degree.

(1) Archaeology: Anthropology M201A, M201B, M201C
(2) Biological: Anthropology 202A, 202B, 202C
(3) Linguistic: Anthropology 204A, 204B
(4) Sociocultural: Anthropology 203A, 203B, 203C

For students fulfilling the requirement to take one course outside their subfield, any of the above core courses (except M201C) may be used. In addition, the following courses will be accepted toward meeting this requirement:

(1) Archaeology: Anthropology 111
(2) Linguistic: Anthropology 253, 252A
(3) Sociocultural: Anthropology 130, 150

Students must demonstrate basic knowledge in their core requirements by exercising one or a combination of the following three options:

(1) Taking the core course with a passing grade of B or better.
(2) Petitioning that course work completed elsewhere, or at UCLA as an undergraduate, constitutes the equivalent of such courses.
(3) Passing the subfield’s core course examination given in the Spring Quarter.

A grade of B or better is required in any core course taken at UCLA. If students received a grade of B-, C+, or C, they may not repeat the core course, but must take the core course examination and pass or be subject to dismissal. If a grade of C- or below is received, students may repeat the course, but must receive a grade of B or better the second time the course is taken, or be subject to dismissal.

Methods Requirement: The purpose of the methods requirement is to ensure that students have adequate training in anthropological methods and analytical techniques. Students should discuss with their advisors what the most relevant methods course(s) will be for their program of study. Students may count toward the methods requirement any of the following courses within their subfield.  Students may, in consultation with their advisors, select a methods course not listed below.

(1) Archaeology: Anthropology 210, CM210Q, 211, M212S
(2) Biological: Anthropology 223 (4 units), 284B, PSYCH 250A,B,C
(3) Linguistic: Anthropology 252B
(4) Sociocultural: Anthropology 239, 252B, 282, M284A, 284B, 288

A minimum of one methods requirement course is required. A grade of B or better is required in any methods course taken for this requirement. In addition to the courses listed above, students may petition to have a course from within or outside of Anthropology count for this requirement. To be considered eligible, the main focus of the course must be devoted to either methodological or analytical training.

Other Requirements: Some subfields have additional course requirements to be part of the 40 units required for the MA. These are:

(1) Archaeology: One core course from both the Sociocultural and Biological core sequences (202B or C and 203A).
(2) Linguistic: One course from the Linguistics Department (selected in consultation with the faculty advisor)
(3) Sociocultural: Proposal writing (Anthropology 283)

Interest Groups: While it is not required, students are strongly recommended to enroll each quarter that they are in residence for the interest group that most closely aligns with their area of specialization. These are:

(1) Biological: Behavior Evolution and Culture (BEC)
(2) Linguistic: Discourse Lab
(3) Sociocultural: Culture, Power and Social Change (CPSC) or Medicine, Mind and Culture (MMAC)

Teaching Experience

Not required.

Field Experience

Not required, but highly desirable.

Capstone Plan

Students in Archaeology are required to complete a capstone project. They are not expected to complete a Thesis.

The capstone is a comprehensive examination that consists of three examinations, given at the completion of each section of Anthropology M201A, M201B, and M201C, respectively, and a research paper. Comprehensive examinations are graded by three readers (assembled by the archaeology faculty representative on the department’s Academic Coordinating Committee) as high pass, pass, or no pass. Each of the three examinations may be retaken once. The research paper, to be completed by the end of the sixth quarter of residence, is read by three faculty members and assists students and faculty in the determination of whether a student may continue for the Ph.D. degree.

Thesis Plan

Students in Biological, Linguistic, and Sociocultural are required to complete a thesis. They are not expected to complete a Capstone.

Every master’s degree thesis plan requires the completion of an approved thesis that demonstrates the student’s ability to perform original, independent research.

The purpose of the master’s thesis is for a student to demonstrate the ability to generate and assemble a body of data, to analyze it, and to indicate its relevance to established anthropological thought as well as to write lucid prose. Students must submit an original paper based on field, laboratory, or library research to all three committee members by the end of the fifth quarter of residence. The thesis committee assists students in formulating the research paper, monitoring its progress, and evaluating the paper when submitted. It is essential that students maintain close contact with all three members while preparing the M.A. thesis. Students should consult the Graduate Division publication, Policies and Procedures for Thesis and Dissertation Preparation and Filing, for instructions on the preparation and submission of the thesis.

Time-to-degree

Normal progress toward the degree is as follows:

Core course requirements (if needed) – expected time of completion: end of third quarter.

M.A. thesis committee – expected time of nomination: beginning of fourth quarter.

M.A. thesis – expected time of completion: end of fifth quarter.

40 units of course work – expected time of completion: end of sixth quarter.

DEGREE	NORMATIVE TIME TO ATC (Quarters)	NORMATIVE TTD	MAXIMUM TTD
M.A.	6	6	9

Doctoral Degree

Advising

Beyond basic requirements, each student’s program of study is unique. Accordingly, academic advising for graduate students in the department is primarily conducted on an individual basis by a student’s faculty adviser. The department’s graduate adviser is primarily responsible for counseling students in regard to program requirements, policies, and university regulations.

Major Fields or Subdisciplines

Archaeology; biological anthropology; linguistic anthropology; and sociocultural anthropology.

Foreign Language Requirement

The department requires proficiency in a second language for all students in the Ph.D. program in anthropology. It is the responsibility of the student’s three-member departmental doctoral committee to determine what language(s) are required for their particular program of study.

If the requirement for second language proficiency is to be waived, students must prepare a request for a Ph.D. language requirement waiver, which consists of a letter justifying the request, addressed to the committee and filed with the graduate adviser. The committee must then draft a letter of approval, to be placed in the student’s file. If alternate research skills that are deemed necessary for the program of study for the student’s dissertation have been identified and satisfied, these are noted by the committee. However, no specific other courses or skills are obligatory.

If foreign language proficiency is required, proficiency will be determined by the three-member departmental doctoral committee and may include but is not limited to:

(1) Completion of an appropriate level of language instruction, or
(2) Demonstration of previously acquired language skills through documentation or an examination or
(3) Submission of an annotated bibliography, in English, of selected publications (in the selected language) that are related to the student’s dissertation topic.

The bibliography may be supplemented by a related analytical examination question or further translation examination.

For students required to demonstrate foreign language proficiency, all monitoring of the requirement takes place within the department. The committee chair is responsible for consulting with other committee members about the language requirement and plans for proficiency testing, and notifying them of the results of those tests, or otherwise providing them with copies of the documentation of proficiency.

Course Requirements

The minimum course load is 12 units per quarter. However, this may be waived for good cause by petition with the approval of the student’s committee chair and the department chair. Students must be registered and enrolled at all times unless on an official leave of absence.

Students who are entering the graduate program with an M.A. degree, whether or not in anthropology, are required to demonstrate basic knowledge of the discipline before being permitted to begin the requirements for the doctorate. It is expected that students accomplish this during the first year of academic residence through (in accordance with the procedures and regulations stated in the M.A. degree section) the following:

(1) Nominating a three-member departmental advisory committee.
(2) Completing the core course requirements for their subfield.
(3) Taking the graduate core seminar only in the student’s field of specialization. This is required of all students regardless of whether or not they already have a master’s degree in anthropology.
(4) Taking the graduate proseminar, Anthropology 200. This is required of all entering students.
(5) Submitting to the student’s departmental advisory committee, for evaluation, a prior master’s paper or a research paper that was written while in graduate status in their former M.A. program.

Only when these requisites have been met are students permitted to begin the requirements for the Ph.D. degree.

Students who received their M.A. degree from this department are expected to enroll in three seminars, each with a different faculty member, between receipt of the master’s degree and taking the doctoral qualifying examinations. The department does not require any specific courses or number of courses for award of the Ph.D.

Teaching Experience

Not required.

Written and Oral Qualifying Examinations

Academic Senate regulations require all doctoral students to complete and pass university written and oral qualifying examinations prior to doctoral advancement to candidacy. Also, under Senate regulations, the University Oral Qualifying Examination is open only to the student and appointed members of the doctoral committee. In addition to university requirements, some graduate programs have other pre-candidacy examination requirements. What follows in this section is how students are required to fulfill all of these requirements for this doctoral program.

All committee nominations and reconstitutions adhere to the Minimum Standards for Doctoral Committee Constitution.

The qualifying examinations for the Ph.D. degree consist of a written and an oral examination. The timing of these examinations is set in consultation with the members of the doctoral committee; they are to be taken within a 10-week period of time. Students must be registered and enrolled to take the qualifying examinations. The committee for each examination determines the conditions for reexamination should students not pass either portion of the qualifying examinations.

The three-member departmental doctoral committee administers the written portion of the qualifying examination. The fields and format of the examination are to be determined by the student’s departmental doctoral committee. There must be a minimum of two weeks between completion of the written examination and the scheduled date for the oral portion of the qualifying examination.

The University Oral Qualifying Examination is the oral portion of the doctoral qualifying examinations and is primarily a defense of the dissertation proposal. This examination is administered by the four-member doctoral committee.

Advancement to Candidacy

Students are advanced to candidacy upon successful completion of the written and oral qualifying examinations.

Doctoral Dissertation

Every doctoral degree program requires the completion of an approved dissertation that demonstrates the student’s ability to perform original, independent research and constitutes a distinct contribution to knowledge in the principal field of study.

Final Oral Examination (Defense of Dissertation)

The department does not require a final oral defense of the dissertation. However, individual doctoral committees can institute this requirement if they deem it important to do so; this decision is made by the doctoral committee.

Time-to-Degree

Full-time students admitted without deficiencies normally progress after receiving the M.A. degree as follows:

Selection of three internal members of the doctoral committee – expected time of completion: during second quarter.

Completion of departmentally-monitored foreign language requirement (unless exempted) – expected time of completion: end of third quarter.

Nomination of four-person doctoral committee – expected time of completion: end of third quarter.

Written and oral qualifying examinations (usually taken in same quarter) – expected time of completion: end of sixth quarter.

Advancement to candidacy – expected time of completion: end of sixth quarter.

Final oral examinations (dissertation defense) – expected time of completion: 18th quarter.

Pre-M.A. to Ph.D. degree – expected time of completion: 24th quarter.

Post-M.A. to Ph.D. degree – expected time of completion: a maximum of 18 quarters.

Normative time-to-degree: 24 quarters (8 years)

DEGREE	NORMATIVE TIME TO ATC (Quarters)	NORMATIVE TTD	MAXIMUM TTD
Ph.D.	12	24	27

Termination of Graduate Study and Appeal of Termination

University policy

A student who fails to meet the above requirements may be recommended for termination of graduate study. A graduate student may be disqualified from continuing in the graduate program for a variety of reasons. The most common is failure to maintain the minimum cumulative grade point average (3.00) required by the Academic Senate to remain in good standing (some programs require a higher grade point average). Other examples include failure of examinations, lack of timely progress toward the degree and poor performance in core courses. Probationary students (those with cumulative grade point averages below 3.00) are subject to immediate dismissal upon the recommendation of their department. University guidelines governing termination of graduate students, including the appeal procedure, are outlined in Standards and Procedures for Graduate Study at UCLA.

Special departmental or program policy

Each term, a faculty meeting is held to review the progress of graduate students. If, at such a meeting, the faculty vote for the termination of graduate study, a recommendation for termination is made by the chair of the department. Before the recommendation is sent to the Graduate Division, the student is notified in writing and given two weeks to respond in writing to the chair. An appeal is reviewed by the department’s Executive Committee, which makes the final departmental recommendation to the Graduate Division.

Applicable only to students admitted during the 2019-2020 academic year.

Anthropology

College of Letters and Science

Graduate Degrees

The Department of Anthropology offers the Master of Arts (M.A.) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degrees in Anthropology. The M.A. is considered to be a step on the path to the PhD; initial admission to the graduate program is thus offered only to students intending to pursue the PhD.

Admissions Requirements

Master’s Degree

Advising

Academic advising for graduate students in the department is primarily conducted on an individual basis by a student’s faculty adviser. The department’s graduate adviser is primarily responsible for counseling students in regard to program requirements, policies, and university regulations. Upon admission, students will be assigned both a primary and a secondary first-year adviser.

Student progress is periodically reviewed at faculty meetings. Students entering the program without a master’s degree are expected to be evaluated no later than their sixth quarter (spring quarter of their second year). At the Student Review Meeting, which occurs once per academic quarter, the full faculty evaluates the student’s progress in the M.A. program: formation and endorsement of the master’s capstone/thesis committee; completion of core courses; advancement to master’s candidacy; and the result, or progress towards completion of, the capstone research paper or thesis. Possible outcomes of the Student Review for students completing the M.A. en route to the Ph.D. are: a) award the M.A. degree and continuation to the Ph.D. program; b) a one-quarter extension to complete degree requirements; c) award the M.A. degree without continuation to the Ph.D. program (recommendation for academic disqualification from the Ph.D. program); and d) recommend the student for academic disqualification from the Ph.D. program without award of the M.A. degree. All students are notified in writing the outcome of the faculty discussion concerning the award of the M.A. degree, continuation to the doctoral program, or degree progress.

For students entering with a Master’s degree, please see Doctoral Degree, Advising.

Areas of Study

Archaeology; biological anthropology; linguistic anthropology; and sociocultural anthropology.

Foreign Language Requirement

None.

Course Requirements

The minimum course load is 12 units per quarter. However, this may be waived for good cause by petition, with the approval of the student’s committee chair and the department chair. Students must be registered and enrolled at all times unless on an official leave of absence.

The M.A. degree requires 10 courses (40 units) taken for a letter grade, with a minimum 3.0 grade-point average. 24 of the required 40 units must be graduate level courses (200 series). Eight units of 596 taken for a letter grade may be applied toward the total M.A. course requirement, but only four of these eight units are applicable to the 24 unit minimum graduate-course requirement. Courses taken on an S/U basis, Anthropology 598, and 300- and 400-series courses may not be applied toward the fulfillment of the M.A. unit requirements.

The 10 required courses are distributed as follows:

Archaeology Subfield Required Courses
Anthropology 200, Proseminar	4
Anthropology M201A, Archaeology core course	4
Anthropology M201B, Archaeology core course	4
Anthropology M201C, Archaeology core course	4
Anthropology 202B or C, Biological core course	4
Anthropology 203A, Sociocultural core course	4
1 Methods course (see description below)	4
3 elective courses from within or outside Anthropology (may be 100 or 200 series, or 8 units maximum of 596)	12
TOTAL REQUIRED UNITS	40 Units

Biological Subfield Required Courses
Anthropology 200, Proseminar	4
Anthropology 202A, Biological core course	4
Anthropology 202B, Biological core course	4
Anthropology 202C, Biological core course	4
1 Methods course (see description below)	4
1 core seminar in other subfield (see list of courses below)	4
4 elective courses from within or outside Anthropology (may be 100 or 200 series, or 8 units maximum of 596)	16
TOTAL REQUIRED UNITS	40 Units

Sociocultural Subfield Required Courses
Anthropology 200, Proseminar	4
Anthropology 203A, Sociocultural core course	4
Anthropology 203B, Sociocultural core course	4
Anthropology 203C, Sociocultural core course	4
Anthropology 283, Proposal writing	4
1 Methods course (see description below)	4
1 core seminar in other subfield (see list of courses below)	4
3 elective courses from within or outside Anthropology (may be 100 or 200 series, or 8 units maximum of 596)	12
TOTAL REQUIRED UNITS	40 Units

Core Seminar in Other Subfield Requirement: For students in the Biological, Linguistic, and Sociocultural subfields who must fulfill the requirement to take one core course outside their subfield, any of the following core courses will be accepted:

• Archaeology subfield: Anthropology 111, M201A, M201B
• Biological subfield: Anthropology 202B, 202C
• Linguistic subfield: Anthropology 204A, 204B, 252A 253
• Sociocultural subfield: Anthropology 130, 140, 203A, 203B, 203C

Students must demonstrate basic knowledge in their core requirements (i.e., the courses specifically listed in the charts above) by exercising one or a combination of the following three options:

1. Taking the core courses with a passing grade of B or better.
2. Petitioning that course work completed elsewhere, or at UCLA as an undergraduate, constitutes the equivalent of such courses.
3. Passing the subfield’s core course examination given in the Spring Quarter.

A grade of B or better is required in any core course (i.e., the courses specifically listed in the charts above) taken at UCLA. If students received a grade of B-, C+, or C, they may not repeat the core course, but must take the core course examination and pass or be subject to being recommended for academic disqualification. If a grade of C- or below is received, students may repeat the course, but must receive a grade of B or better the second time the course is taken, or be subject to being recommended for academic disqualification.

Methods Course Requirement: The purpose of the methods requirement is to ensure that students have adequate training in anthropological methods and analytical techniques. Students should discuss with their advisers what the most relevant methods course(s) will be for their program of study. Students may count toward the methods requirement any of the following courses within their subfield:

• Archaeology subfield: Anthropology 210, CM210Q, 211, M212S
• Biological subfield: Anthropology 223 (4 units), 284B, PSYCH 250A,B,C
• Linguistic subfield: Anthropology 252B
• Sociocultural subfield: Anthropology 239, 252B, 282, M284A, 284B, 288

A minimum of one methods requirement course is required. A grade of B or better is required in any methods course taken for this requirement. In addition to the courses listed above, students may, in consultation with their advisers, select a methods course not listed above from within or outside of Anthropology to count for this requirement. To be considered eligible, the course must be devoted to either methodological or analytical training.

Interest Groups: While the following courses are not required for the M.A. degree, students are strongly recommended to enroll each quarter that they are in residence for the interest group that most closely aligns with their area of specialization. These are:

• Biological: Anthropology 221: Behavior Evolution and Culture (BEC)
• Linguistic: Anthropology 254: Discourse Lab
• Sociocultural: Anthropology 241: Culture, Power and Social Change (CPSC) or Anthropology 234: Mind, Medicine, and Culture (MMAC)

Teaching Experience

Not required.

Field Experience

Not required, but highly recommended.

Capstone Plan

Students in Archaeology subfield are required to complete a capstone project. They are not expected to complete a Thesis.

The capstone is a comprehensive examination that consists of three examinations, given at the completion of each section of Anthropology M201A, M201B, and M201C, respectively; and a research paper. Comprehensive examinations are graded by three readers (assembled by the archaeology faculty representative on the department’s Academic Coordinating Committee) as high pass, pass, or no pass. Each of the three examinations may be retaken once. The research paper, to be completed by the end of the sixth quarter of residence, is read by three faculty members and assists faculty in the determination of whether a student may continue for the Ph.D. degree during the Student Review Meeting. The paper is rated High Pass, Pass, or Fail by the three faculty members.

Thesis Plan

Every master’s degree thesis plan requires the completion of an approved thesis that demonstrates the student’s ability to perform original, independent research.

Students in Biological, Linguistic, and Sociocultural subfields are required to complete a thesis. They are not expected to complete a Capstone.

The master’s thesis demonstrates a student’s ability to generate and assemble a body of data, analyze it, and indicate its relevance to established anthropological thought in lucid prose. Students must submit an original paper based on field, laboratory, or library research to all three committee members by the end of the fifth quarter of residence. The thesis committee assists students in formulating the research paper, monitoring its progress, and evaluating the paper when submitted. It is essential that students maintain close contact with all three members while preparing the M.A. thesis. Students should consult the Graduate Division publication, Policies and Procedures for Thesis and Dissertation Preparation and Filing, for instructions on the preparation and submission of the thesis.

Time-to-Degree

Candidates have one calendar year from the date of advancement to candidacy in which to complete all requirements for the degree.

Normal progress toward the degree is as follows:

DEGREE	NORMATIVE TIME TO ATC (Quarters)	NORMATIVE TTD	MAXIMUM TTD
M.A.	6	6	9

Doctoral Degree

Advising

Beyond basic requirements, each student’s program of study is unique. Accordingly, academic advising for graduate students in the department is primarily conducted on an individual basis by a student’s faculty adviser. The department’s graduate adviser is primarily responsible for counseling students in regard to program requirements, policies, and university regulations. Upon admission, students will be assigned both a primary and a secondary first-year adviser.

Student progress is periodically reviewed at faculty meetings. Students entering the program with a master’s degree are expected to be evaluated no later than their sixth quarter (spring quarter of their second year). At the Student Review Meeting, which occurs once per academic quarter, the full faculty evaluates the student’s progress in the program: formation of three-member departmental advisory committee; completion of the Proseminar and core courses; and evaluation of the Master’s research paper or thesis. Possible outcomes of the Student Review for students entering with a Master’s degree are: a) continuation to the Ph.D. program requirements; b) one-quarter extension to complete remaining requirements; and c) recommendation for academic disqualification from the Ph.D. program. All students are notified in writing about the outcome of the faculty discussion concerning their continuation to the doctoral program or degree progress. Students continue to be reviewed periodically throughout their time in the PhD program. The purpose of these reviews is to assess academic progress and help to ensure timely completion of the PhD.

For students completing the M.A. degree en route to the Ph.D., please see Master’s Degree, Advising.

Major Fields or Subdisciplines

Archaeology; biological anthropology; linguistic anthropology; and sociocultural anthropology.

Foreign Language Requirement

The department requires proficiency in a second language for all students in the Ph.D. program in anthropology. It is the responsibility of the student’s three-member departmental doctoral committee to determine what language(s) are required for their particular program of study.

If the requirement for second language proficiency is to be waived, students must prepare a request for a Ph.D. language requirement waiver, which consists of a letter justifying the request, addressed to the committee and filed with the graduate adviser. The committee must then draft a letter of approval, to be placed in the student’s file. If alternate research skills that are deemed necessary for the program of study for the student’s dissertation have been identified and satisfied, these are noted by the committee. However, no specific other courses or skills are obligatory.

If foreign language proficiency is required, proficiency will be determined by the three-member departmental doctoral committee and may include but is not limited to:

1. Completion of an appropriate level of language instruction; or
2. Demonstration of previously acquired language skills through documentation or an examination; or
3. Submission of an annotated bibliography, in English, of selected publications (in the selected language) that are related to the student’s dissertation topic.

The bibliography may be supplemented by a related analytical examination question or further translation examination.

For students required to demonstrate foreign language proficiency, all monitoring of the requirement takes place within the department. The committee chair is responsible for consulting with other committee members about the language requirement and plans for proficiency testing, and notifying them of the results of those tests, or otherwise providing them with copies of the documentation of proficiency.

Course Requirements

The minimum course load is 12 units per quarter. However, this may be waived for good cause by petition with the approval of the student’s committee chair and the department chair. Students must be registered and enrolled at all times unless on an official leave of absence.

Students who are entering the graduate program without a Master’s degree must complete all of the M.A. degree requirements (see above) en route to the Ph.D. Following completion of the M.A. degree requirements and permission by the faculty to begin the Ph.D. requirements, students are expected to enroll in three seminars, each with a different faculty member, between receipt of the M.A. degree from the department and taking the doctoral qualifying examinations.

Students who are entering the graduate program with a Master’s degree, whether or not in anthropology, are required to demonstrate basic knowledge of the discipline before being permitted to begin the requirements for the doctorate. It is expected that students accomplish this during the first year of academic residence through the following:

1. Nominating a three-member departmental advisory committee.
2. Completing the Proseminar (Anthropology 200).
3. Completing or demonstrating basic knowledge of the M.A. course requirements, including the methods course (see Master’s Degree, Course Requirements), by exercising one or a combination of the following three options:
   1. Taking the core course or methods course with a passing grade of B or better.
   2. Petitioning that course work completed elsewhere, or at UCLA as an undergraduate, constitutes the equivalent of such courses.
   3. Passing the subfield’s core course examination given in the Spring Quarter.
4. Submitting to the student’s departmental advisory committee, for evaluation, a master’s paper or a research paper that was written while in graduate status in their former Master’s program.

Only when these requisites have been met are students permitted to begin the requirements for the Ph.D. degree. Completion of 40 units is not required.

A grade of B or better is required in any core course (courses specifically listed above) taken at UCLA. If students received a grade of B-, C+, or C, they may not repeat the core course, but must take the core course examination and pass or be subject to being recommended for academic disqualification. If a grade of C- or below is received, students may repeat the course, but must receive a grade of B or better the second time the course is taken, or be subject to being recommended for academic disqualification.

Teaching Experience

Not required.

Written and Oral Qualifying Examinations

Academic Senate regulations require all doctoral students to complete and pass university written and oral qualifying examinations prior to doctoral advancement to candidacy. Also, under Senate regulations, the University Oral Qualifying Examination is open only to the student and appointed members of the doctoral committee. In addition to university requirements, some graduate programs have other pre-candidacy examination requirements. What follows in this section is how students are required to fulfill all of these requirements for this doctoral program.

All committee nominations and reconstitutions adhere to the Minimum Standards for Doctoral Committee Constitution.

The qualifying examinations for the Ph.D. degree consist of a written and an oral examination. The timing of these examinations is set in consultation with the members of the doctoral committee. Students must be registered and enrolled to take the qualifying examinations. The committee for each examination determines the conditions for reexamination should students not pass either portion of the qualifying examinations.

The three-member departmental doctoral committee administers the written portion of the qualifying examination. The fields and format of the examination are to be determined by the student’s departmental doctoral committee. There must be a minimum of two weeks between completion of the written examination and the scheduled date for the oral portion of the qualifying examination.

The University Oral Qualifying Examination is primarily a defense of the dissertation proposal. This examination is administered by the four-member doctoral committee.

Advancement to Candidacy

Students are advanced to candidacy upon successful completion of the written and oral qualifying examinations.

Doctoral Dissertation

Every doctoral degree program requires the completion of an approved dissertation that demonstrates the student’s ability to perform original, independent research and constitutes a distinct contribution to knowledge in the principal field of study.

Final Oral Examination (Defense of Dissertation)

The department does not require a final oral defense of the dissertation. However, individual doctoral committees can institute this requirement if they deem it important to do so; this decision is made by the doctoral committee.

Time-to-Degree

Full-time students admitted without deficiencies normally progress as follows:

DEGREE	NORMATIVE TIME TO ATC (Quarters)	NORMATIVE TTD	MAXIMUM TTD
Ph.D.	12	24	27

Termination of Graduate Study and Appeal of Termination

University Policy

A student who fails to meet the above requirements may be recommended for termination of graduate study. A graduate student may be disqualified from continuing in the graduate program for a variety of reasons. The most common is failure to maintain the minimum cumulative grade point average (3.00) required by the Academic Senate to remain in good standing (some programs require a higher grade point average). Other examples include failure of examinations, lack of timely progress toward the degree and poor performance in core courses. Probationary students (those with cumulative grade point averages below 3.00) are subject to immediate dismissal upon the recommendation of their department. University guidelines governing termination of graduate students, including the appeal procedure, are outlined in Standards and Procedures for Graduate Study at UCLA.

Special Departmental or Program Policy

Each term, a faculty meeting is held to review the progress of graduate students. If, at such a meeting, the faculty vote for academic disqualification, a recommendation for academic disqualification is made by the chair of the department. Before the recommendation is sent to the Graduate Division, the student is notified in writing and given two weeks to respond in writing to the chair. An appeal is reviewed by the department’s Executive Committee, which makes the final departmental recommendation to the Graduate Division.

Applicable only to students admitted during the 2020-2021 academic year.

Anthropology

College of Letters and Science

Graduate Degrees

The Department of Anthropology offers the Master of Arts (M.A.) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degrees in Anthropology. The M.A. is considered to be a step on the path to the PhD; initial admission to the graduate program is thus offered only to students intending to pursue the PhD.

Admissions Requirements

Master’s Degree

Advising

Academic advising for graduate students in the department is primarily conducted on an individual basis by a student’s faculty adviser. The department’s graduate adviser is primarily responsible for counseling students in regard to program requirements, policies, and university regulations. Upon admission, students will be assigned both a primary and a secondary first-year adviser.

Student progress is periodically reviewed at faculty meetings. Students entering the program without a master’s degree are expected to be evaluated no later than their sixth quarter (spring quarter of their second year). At the Student Review Meeting, which occurs once per academic quarter, the full faculty evaluates the student’s progress in the M.A. program: formation and endorsement of the master’s capstone/thesis committee; completion of core courses; advancement to master’s candidacy; and the result, or progress towards completion of, the capstone research paper or thesis. Possible outcomes of the Student Review for students completing the M.A. en route to the Ph.D. are: a) award the M.A. degree and continuation to the Ph.D. program; b) a one-quarter extension to complete degree requirements; c) award the M.A. degree without continuation to the Ph.D. program (recommendation for academic disqualification from the Ph.D. program); and d) recommend the student for academic disqualification from the Ph.D. program without award of the M.A. degree. All students are notified in writing the outcome of the faculty discussion concerning the award of the M.A. degree, continuation to the doctoral program, or degree progress.

For students entering with a Master’s degree, please see Doctoral Degree, Advising.

Areas of Study

Archaeology; biological anthropology; linguistic anthropology; and sociocultural anthropology.

Foreign Language Requirement

None.

Course Requirements

The minimum course load is 12 units per quarter. However, this may be waived for good cause by petition, with the approval of the student’s committee chair and the department chair. Students must be registered and enrolled at all times unless on an official leave of absence.

The M.A. degree requires 10 courses (40 units) taken for a letter grade, with a minimum 3.0 grade-point average. 24 of the required 40 units must be graduate level courses (200 series). Eight units of 596 taken for a letter grade may be applied toward the total M.A. course requirement, but only four of these eight units are applicable to the 24 unit minimum graduate-course requirement. Courses taken on an S/U basis, Anthropology 598, and 300- and 400-series courses may not be applied toward the fulfillment of the M.A. unit requirements.

The 10 required courses are distributed as follows:

Archaeology Subfield Required Courses
Anthropology 200, Proseminar	4
Anthropology M201A, Archaeology core course	4
Anthropology M201B, Archaeology core course	4
Anthropology M201C, Archaeology core course	4
Anthropology 202B or C, Biological core course	4
Anthropology 203A, Sociocultural core course	4
1 Methods course (see description below)	4
3 elective courses from within or outside Anthropology (may be 100 or 200 series, or 8 units maximum of 596)	12
TOTAL REQUIRED UNITS	40 Units

Biological Subfield Required Courses
Anthropology 200, Proseminar	4
Anthropology 202A, Biological core course	4
Anthropology 202B, Biological core course	4
Anthropology 202C, Biological core course	4
1 Methods course (see description below)	4
1 core seminar in other subfield (see list of courses below)	4
4 elective courses from within or outside Anthropology (may be 100 or 200 series, or 8 units maximum of 596)	16
TOTAL REQUIRED UNITS	40 Units
Students in the Biological Anthropology subfield are also required to enroll in Anthropology 221 – Behavior, Evolution, and Culture (BEC) each quarter that the student is in residence at UCLA, with the exception of a one-year/three-academic-quarters exemption, intended to be applied during the period that the student is conducting Ph.D. dissertation research or writing up that research; students must notify their Ph.D. dissertation committee when they wish to activate this one-year/three-academic-quarters exemption. Students who are physically conducting research outside of the Los Angeles area are exempted from the requirement to enroll in Anthropology 221 throughout their time away from Los Angeles. In addition, a student may submit a request to their primary and secondary advisers, Master’s thesis committee, or Ph.D. dissertation committee to temporarily waive the requirement to enroll in Anthropology 221 in order to allow the student to enroll in a class that is vital to the student’s degree progress, or engage in similar crucial activities, the duration of which is limited, and the scheduling of which is fixed and conflicts with Anthropology 221.  Anthropology 221 does not fulfill any of the 40 units required for the M.A.

Sociocultural Subfield Required Courses
Anthropology 200, Proseminar	4
Anthropology 203A, Sociocultural core course	4
Anthropology 203B, Sociocultural core course	4
Anthropology 203C, Sociocultural core course	4
Anthropology 283, Proposal writing	4
1 Methods course (see description below)	4
1 core seminar in other subfield (see list of courses below)	4
3 elective courses from within or outside Anthropology (may be 100 or 200 series, or 8 units maximum of 596)	12
TOTAL REQUIRED UNITS	40 Units
Students in the Sociocultural Anthropology program are expected to enroll in Anthropology 241: Culture, Power and Social Change (CPSC) each quarter that they are in residence at UCLA. Students in their first year of the graduate program are required to enroll each quarter. Only in exceptional circumstances will first year students be permitted to waive this requirement. Students in the Psychocultural-Medical Anthropology program are expected to enroll in Anthropology 234: Mind, Medicine, and Culture (MMAC) each quarter they are in residence, including in their first year. Students are also invited to attend the meetings of other interest groups outside their subfield as they wish. Neither Anthropology 241 nor Anthropology 234 fulfills any of the 40 units required for the M.A.

Core Seminar in Other Subfield Requirement: For students in the Biological, Linguistic, and Sociocultural subfields who must fulfill the requirement to take one core course outside their subfield, any of the following core courses will be accepted:

• Archaeology subfield: Anthropology 111, M201A, M201B
• Biological subfield: Anthropology 202B, 202C
• Linguistic subfield: Anthropology 204A, 204B, 252A 253
• Sociocultural subfield: Anthropology 130, 140, 203A, 203B, 203C

Students must demonstrate basic knowledge in their core requirements (i.e., the courses specifically listed in the charts above) by exercising one or a combination of the following three options:

1. Taking the core courses with a passing grade of B or better.
2. Petitioning that course work completed elsewhere, or at UCLA as an undergraduate, constitutes the equivalent of such courses.
3. Passing the subfield’s core course examination given in the Spring Quarter.

A grade of B or better is required in any core course (i.e., the courses specifically listed in the charts above) taken at UCLA. If students received a grade of B-, C+, or C, they may not repeat the core course, but must take the core course examination and pass or be subject to being recommended for academic disqualification. If a grade of C- or below is received, students may repeat the course, but must receive a grade of B or better the second time the course is taken, or be subject to being recommended for academic disqualification.

Methods Course Requirement: The purpose of the methods requirement is to ensure that students have adequate training in anthropological methods and analytical techniques. Students should discuss with their advisers what the most relevant methods course(s) will be for their program of study. Students may count toward the methods requirement any of the following courses within their subfield:

• Archaeology subfield: Anthropology 210, CM210Q, 211, CM217
• Biological subfield: Anthropology 223 (4 units), 284B, PSYCH 250A,B,C
• Linguistic subfield: Anthropology 252B
• Sociocultural subfield: Anthropology 239, 252B, 282, M284A, 284B, 288

A minimum of one methods requirement course is required. A grade of B or better is required in any methods course taken for this requirement. In addition to the courses listed above, students may, in consultation with their advisers, select a methods course not listed above from within or outside of Anthropology to count for this requirement. To be considered eligible, the course must be devoted to either methodological or analytical training.

Interest Groups: Unless specifically required as stated in the subfield required courses, above, students are strongly recommended to enroll each quarter that they are in residence for the interest group that most closely aligns with their area of specialization. These are:

• Biological: Anthropology 221: Behavior Evolution and Culture (BEC)
• Linguistic: Anthropology 254: Discourse Lab
• Sociocultural: Anthropology 241: Culture, Power and Social Change (CPSC) or Anthropology 234: Mind, Medicine, and Culture (MMAC)

Teaching Experience

Not required.

Field Experience

Not required, but highly recommended.

Capstone Plan

Students in the Archaeology subfield are required to complete a capstone project. They are not expected to complete a Thesis.

The capstone is a comprehensive examination that consists of three examinations, given at the completion of each section of Anthropology M201A, M201B, and M201C, respectively; and a research paper. Comprehensive examinations are graded by three readers (assembled by the archaeology faculty representative on the department’s Academic Coordinating Committee) as high pass, pass, or no pass. Each of the three examinations may be retaken once. The research paper, to be completed by the end of the sixth quarter of residence, is read by three faculty members and assists faculty in the determination of whether a student may continue for the Ph.D. degree during the Student Review Meeting. The paper is rated High Pass, Pass, or Fail by the three faculty members.

Thesis Plan

Every master’s degree thesis plan requires the completion of an approved thesis that demonstrates the student’s ability to perform original, independent research.

Students in the Biological, Linguistic, and Sociocultural subfields are required to complete a thesis. They are not expected to complete a Capstone.

The master’s thesis demonstrates a student’s ability to generate and assemble a body of data, analyze it, and indicate its relevance to established anthropological thought in lucid prose. Students must submit an original paper based on field, laboratory, or library research to all three committee members by the end of the fifth quarter of residence. The thesis committee assists students in formulating the research paper, monitoring its progress, and evaluating the paper when submitted. It is essential that students maintain close contact with all three members while preparing the M.A. thesis. Students should consult the Graduate Division publication, Policies and Procedures for Thesis and Dissertation Preparation and Filing, for instructions on the preparation and submission of the thesis.

Time-to-Degree

Candidates have one calendar year from the date of advancement to candidacy in which to complete all requirements for the degree.

Normal progress toward the degree is as follows:

DEGREE	NORMATIVE TIME TO ATC (Quarters)	NORMATIVE TTD	MAXIMUM TTD
M.A.	6	6	9

Doctoral Degree

Advising

Beyond basic requirements, each student’s program of study is unique. Accordingly, academic advising for graduate students in the department is primarily conducted on an individual basis by a student’s faculty adviser. The department’s graduate adviser is primarily responsible for counseling students in regard to program requirements, policies, and university regulations. Upon admission, students will be assigned both a primary and a secondary first-year adviser.

Student progress is periodically reviewed at faculty meetings. Students entering the program with a master’s degree are expected to be evaluated no later than their sixth quarter (spring quarter of their second year). At the Student Review Meeting, which occurs once per academic quarter, the full faculty evaluates the student’s progress in the program: formation of three-member departmental advisory committee; completion of the Proseminar and core courses; and evaluation of the Master’s research paper or thesis. Possible outcomes of the Student Review for students entering with a Master’s degree are: a) continuation to the Ph.D. program requirements; b) one-quarter extension to complete remaining requirements; and c) recommendation for academic disqualification from the Ph.D. program. All students are notified in writing about the outcome of the faculty discussion concerning their continuation to the doctoral program or degree progress. Students continue to be reviewed periodically throughout their time in the PhD program. The purpose of these reviews is to assess academic progress and help to ensure timely completion of the PhD.

For students completing the M.A. degree en route to the Ph.D., please see Master’s Degree, Advising.

Major Fields or Subdisciplines

Archaeology; biological anthropology; linguistic anthropology; and sociocultural anthropology.

Foreign Language Requirement

The department requires proficiency in a second language for all students in the Ph.D. program in anthropology. It is the responsibility of the student’s three-member departmental doctoral committee to determine what language(s) are required for their particular program of study.

If the requirement for second language proficiency is to be waived, students must prepare a request for a Ph.D. language requirement waiver, which consists of a letter justifying the request, addressed to the committee and filed with the graduate adviser. The committee must then draft a letter of approval, to be placed in the student’s file. If alternate research skills that are deemed necessary for the program of study for the student’s dissertation have been identified and satisfied, these are noted by the committee. However, no specific other courses or skills are obligatory.

If foreign language proficiency is required, proficiency will be determined by the three-member departmental doctoral committee and may include but is not limited to:

1. Completion of an appropriate level of language instruction; or
2. Demonstration of previously acquired language skills through documentation or an examination; or
3. Submission of an annotated bibliography, in English, of selected publications (in the selected language) that are related to the student’s dissertation topic.

The bibliography may be supplemented by a related analytical examination question or further translation examination.

For students required to demonstrate foreign language proficiency, all monitoring of the requirement takes place within the department. The committee chair is responsible for consulting with other committee members about the language requirement and plans for proficiency testing, and notifying them of the results of those tests, or otherwise providing them with copies of the documentation of proficiency.

Course Requirements

The minimum course load is 12 units per quarter. However, this may be waived for good cause by petition with the approval of the student’s committee chair and the department chair. Students must be registered and enrolled at all times unless on an official leave of absence.

Students who are entering the graduate program without a Master’s degree must complete all of the M.A. degree requirements (see above) en route to the Ph.D. Following completion of the M.A. degree requirements and permission by the faculty to begin the Ph.D. requirements, students are expected to enroll in three seminars, each with a different faculty member, between receipt of the M.A. degree from the department and taking the doctoral qualifying examinations.

Students who are entering the graduate program with a Master’s degree, whether or not in anthropology, are required to demonstrate basic knowledge of the discipline before being permitted to begin the requirements for the doctorate. It is expected that students accomplish this during the first year of academic residence through the following:

1. Nominating a three-member departmental advisory committee.
2. Completing the Proseminar (Anthropology 200).
3. Completing or demonstrating basic knowledge of the M.A. course requirements, including the methods course (see Master’s Degree, Course Requirements), by exercising one or a combination of the following three options:
   1. Taking the core course or methods course with a passing grade of B or better.
   2. Petitioning that course work completed elsewhere, or at UCLA as an undergraduate, constitutes the equivalent of such courses.
   3. Passing the subfield’s core course examination given in the Spring Quarter.
4. Submitting to the student’s departmental advisory committee, for evaluation, a master’s paper or a research paper that was written while in graduate status in their former Master’s program.

Only when these requisites have been met are students permitted to begin the requirements for the Ph.D. degree. Completion of 40 units is not required.

A grade of B or better is required in any core course (courses specifically listed above) taken at UCLA. If students received a grade of B-, C+, or C, they may not repeat the core course, but must take the core course examination and pass or be subject to being recommended for academic disqualification. If a grade of C- or below is received, students may repeat the course, but must receive a grade of B or better the second time the course is taken, or be subject to being recommended for academic disqualification.

Teaching Experience

Not required.

Written and Oral Qualifying Examinations

Academic Senate regulations require all doctoral students to complete and pass university written and oral qualifying examinations prior to doctoral advancement to candidacy. Also, under Senate regulations, the University Oral Qualifying Examination is open only to the student and appointed members of the doctoral committee. In addition to university requirements, some graduate programs have other pre-candidacy examination requirements. What follows in this section is how students are required to fulfill all of these requirements for this doctoral program.

All committee nominations and reconstitutions adhere to the Minimum Standards for Doctoral Committee Constitution.

The qualifying examinations for the Ph.D. degree consist of a written and an oral examination. The timing of these examinations is set in consultation with the members of the doctoral committee. Students must be registered and enrolled to take the qualifying examinations. The committee for each examination determines the conditions for reexamination should students not pass either portion of the qualifying examinations.

The three-member departmental doctoral committee administers the written portion of the qualifying examination. The fields and format of the examination are to be determined by the student’s departmental doctoral committee. There must be a minimum of two weeks between completion of the written examination and the scheduled date for the oral portion of the qualifying examination.

The University Oral Qualifying Examination is primarily a defense of the dissertation proposal. This examination is administered by the four-member doctoral committee.

Advancement to Candidacy

Students are advanced to candidacy upon successful completion of the written and oral qualifying examinations.

Doctoral Dissertation

Every doctoral degree program requires the completion of an approved dissertation that demonstrates the student’s ability to perform original, independent research and constitutes a distinct contribution to knowledge in the principal field of study.

Final Oral Examination (Defense of Dissertation)

The department does not require a final oral defense of the dissertation. However, individual doctoral committees can institute this requirement if they deem it important to do so; this decision is made by the doctoral committee.

Time-to-Degree

Full-time students admitted without deficiencies normally progress as follows:

DEGREE	NORMATIVE TIME TO ATC (Quarters)	NORMATIVE TTD	MAXIMUM TTD
Ph.D.	12	24	27

Academic Disqualification and Appeal of Disqualification

University Policy

A student who fails to meet the above requirements may be recommended for academic disqualification from graduate study. A graduate student may be disqualified from continuing in the graduate program for a variety of reasons. The most common is failure to maintain the minimum cumulative grade point average (3.00) required by the Academic Senate to remain in good standing (some programs require a higher grade point average). Other examples include failure of examinations, lack of timely progress toward the degree and poor performance in core courses. Probationary students (those with cumulative grade point averages below 3.00) are subject to immediate dismissal upon the recommendation of their department. University guidelines governing academic disqualification of graduate students, including the appeal procedure, are outlined in Standards and Procedures for Graduate Study at UCLA.

Special Departmental or Program Policy

Each term, a faculty meeting is held to review the progress of graduate students. If, at such a meeting, the faculty vote for academic disqualification, a recommendation for academic disqualification is made by the chair of the department. Before the recommendation is sent to the Graduate Division, the student is notified in writing and given two weeks to respond in writing to the chair. An appeal is reviewed by the department’s Executive Committee, which makes the final departmental recommendation to the Graduate Division.

Applicable only to students admitted during the 2021-2022 academic year.

Anthropology

College of Letters and Science

Graduate Degrees

The Department of Anthropology offers the Master of Arts (M.A.) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degrees in Anthropology. The M.A. is considered to be a step on the path to the PhD; initial admission to the graduate program is thus offered only to students intending to pursue the PhD.

Admissions Requirements

Master’s Degree

Advising

Academic advising for graduate students in the department is primarily conducted on an individual basis by a student’s faculty adviser. The department’s graduate adviser is primarily responsible for counseling students in regard to program requirements, policies, and university regulations. Upon admission, students will be assigned both a primary and a secondary first-year adviser.

Student progress is periodically reviewed at faculty meetings. Students entering the program without a master’s degree are expected to be evaluated no later than their sixth quarter (spring quarter of their second year). At the Student Review Meeting, which occurs once per academic quarter, the full faculty evaluates the student’s progress in the M.A. program: formation and endorsement of the master’s capstone/thesis committee; completion of core courses; advancement to master’s candidacy; and the result, or progress towards completion of, the capstone research paper or thesis. Possible outcomes of the Student Review for students completing the M.A. en route to the Ph.D. are: a) award the M.A. degree and continuation to the Ph.D. program; b) a one-quarter extension to complete degree requirements; c) award the M.A. degree without continuation to the Ph.D. program (recommendation for academic disqualification from the Ph.D. program); and d) recommend the student for academic disqualification from the Ph.D. program without award of the M.A. degree. All students are notified in writing the outcome of the faculty discussion concerning the award of the M.A. degree, continuation to the doctoral program, or degree progress.

For students entering with a Master’s degree, please see Doctoral Degree, Advising.

Areas of Study

Archaeology; biological anthropology; linguistic anthropology; and sociocultural anthropology.

Foreign Language Requirement

None.

Course Requirements

The minimum course load is 12 units per quarter. However, this may be waived for good cause by petition, with the approval of the student’s committee chair and the department chair. Students must be registered and enrolled at all times unless on an official leave of absence.

The M.A. degree requires 10 courses (40 units) taken for a letter grade, with a minimum 3.0 grade-point average. 24 of the required 40 units must be graduate level courses (200 series). Eight units of 596 taken for a letter grade may be applied toward the total M.A. course requirement, but only four of these eight units are applicable to the 24 unit minimum graduate-course requirement. Courses taken on an S/U basis, Anthropology 598, and 300- and 400-series courses may not be applied toward the fulfillment of the M.A. unit requirements.

The 10 required courses are distributed as follows:

Archaeology Subfield Required Courses
Anthropology 200, Proseminar	4
Anthropology M201A, Archaeology core course	4
Anthropology M201B, Archaeology core course	4
Anthropology M201C, Archaeology core course	4
Anthropology 202B or C, Biological core course	4
Anthropology 203A, Sociocultural core course	4
1 Methods course (see description below)	4
3 elective courses from within or outside Anthropology (may be 100 or 200 series, or 8 units maximum of 596)	12
TOTAL REQUIRED UNITS	40 Units

Biological Subfield Required Courses
Anthropology 200, Proseminar	4
Anthropology 202A, Biological core course	4
Anthropology 202B, Biological core course	4
Anthropology 202C, Biological core course	4
1 Methods course (see description below)	4
1 core seminar in other subfield (see list of courses below)	4
4 elective courses from within or outside Anthropology (may be 100 or 200 series, or 8 units maximum of 596)	16
TOTAL REQUIRED UNITS	40 Units
Students in the Biological Anthropology subfield are also required to enroll in Anthropology 221 – Behavior, Evolution, and Culture (BEC) each quarter that the student is in residence at UCLA, with the exception of a one-year/three-academic-quarters exemption, intended to be applied during the period that the student is conducting Ph.D. dissertation research or writing up that research; students must notify their Ph.D. dissertation committee when they wish to activate this one-year/three-academic-quarters exemption. Students who are physically conducting research outside of the Los Angeles area are exempted from the requirement to enroll in Anthropology 221 throughout their time away from Los Angeles. In addition, a student may submit a request to their primary and secondary advisers, Master’s thesis committee, or Ph.D. dissertation committee to temporarily waive the requirement to enroll in Anthropology 221 in order to allow the student to enroll in a class that is vital to the student’s degree progress, or engage in similar crucial activities, the duration of which is limited, and the scheduling of which is fixed and conflicts with Anthropology 221.  Anthropology 221 does not fulfill any of the 40 units required for the M.A.

Sociocultural Subfield Required Courses
Anthropology 200, Proseminar	4
Anthropology 203A, Sociocultural core course	4
Anthropology 203B, Sociocultural core course	4
Anthropology 203C, Sociocultural core course	4
1 Methods course (see description below)	4
1 core seminar in other subfield (see list of courses below)	4
4 elective courses from within or outside Anthropology (may be 100 or 200 series, or 8 units maximum of 596)	16
TOTAL REQUIRED UNITS	40 Units
Students in the Sociocultural Anthropology program are expected to enroll in Anthropology 241: Culture, Power and Social Change (CPSC) each quarter that they are in residence at UCLA. Students in their first year of the graduate program are required to enroll each quarter. Only in exceptional circumstances will first year students be permitted to waive this requirement. Students in the Psychocultural-Medical Anthropology program are expected to enroll in Anthropology 234: Mind, Medicine, and Culture (MMAC) each quarter they are in residence, including in their first year. Students are also invited to attend the meetings of other interest groups outside their subfield as they wish. Neither Anthropology 241 nor Anthropology 234 fulfills any of the 40 units required for the M.A.

Core Seminar in Other Subfield Requirement: For students in the Biological, Linguistic, and Sociocultural subfields who must fulfill the requirement to take one core course outside their subfield, any of the following core courses will be accepted:

• Archaeology subfield: Anthropology 111, M201A, M201B
• Biological subfield: Anthropology 202B, 202C
• Linguistic subfield: Anthropology 204A, 204B, 252A 253
• Sociocultural subfield: Anthropology 130, 140, 203A, 203B, 203C

Students must demonstrate basic knowledge in their core requirements (i.e., the courses specifically listed in the charts above) by exercising one or a combination of the following three options:

1. Taking the core courses with a passing grade of B or better.
2. Petitioning that course work completed elsewhere, or at UCLA as an undergraduate, constitutes the equivalent of such courses.
3. Passing the subfield’s core course examination given in the Spring Quarter.

A grade of B or better is required in any core course (i.e., the courses specifically listed in the charts above) taken at UCLA. If students received a grade of B-, C+, or C, they may not repeat the core course, but must take the core course examination and pass or be subject to being recommended for academic disqualification. If a grade of C- or below is received, students may repeat the course, but must receive a grade of B or better the second time the course is taken, or be subject to being recommended for academic disqualification.

Methods Course Requirement: The purpose of the methods requirement is to ensure that students have adequate training in anthropological methods and analytical techniques. Students should discuss with their advisers what the most relevant methods course(s) will be for their program of study. Students may count toward the methods requirement any of the following courses within their subfield:

• Archaeology subfield: Anthropology 210, CM210Q, 211, CM217
• Biological subfield: Anthropology 223 (4 units), 284B, PSYCH 250A,B,C
• Linguistic subfield: Anthropology 252B
• Sociocultural subfield: Anthropology 239, 252B, 282, M284A, 284B, 288

A minimum of one methods requirement course is required. A grade of B or better is required in any methods course taken for this requirement. In addition to the courses listed above, students may, in consultation with their advisers, select a methods course not listed above from within or outside of Anthropology to count for this requirement. To be considered eligible, the course must be devoted to either methodological or analytical training.

Interest Groups: Unless specifically required as stated in the subfield required courses, above, students are strongly recommended to enroll each quarter that they are in residence for the interest group that most closely aligns with their area of specialization. These are:

• Biological: Anthropology 221: Behavior Evolution and Culture (BEC)
• Linguistic: Anthropology 254: Discourse Lab
• Sociocultural: Anthropology 241: Culture, Power and Social Change (CPSC) or Anthropology 234: Mind, Medicine, and Culture (MMAC)

Teaching Experience

Not required.

Field Experience

Not required, but highly recommended.

Capstone Plan

Students in the Archaeology subfield are required to complete a capstone project. They are not expected to complete a Thesis.

The capstone is a comprehensive examination that consists of three examinations, given at the completion of each section of Anthropology M201A, M201B, and M201C, respectively; and a research paper. Comprehensive examinations are graded by three readers (assembled by the archaeology faculty representative on the department’s Academic Coordinating Committee) as high pass, pass, or no pass. Each of the three examinations may be retaken once. The research paper, to be completed by the end of the sixth quarter of residence, is read by three faculty members and assists faculty in the determination of whether a student may continue for the Ph.D. degree during the Student Review Meeting. The paper is rated High Pass, Pass, or Fail by the three faculty members.

Thesis Plan

Every master’s degree thesis plan requires the completion of an approved thesis that demonstrates the student’s ability to perform original, independent research.

Students in the Biological, Linguistic, and Sociocultural subfields are required to complete a thesis. They are not expected to complete a Capstone.

The master’s thesis demonstrates a student’s ability to generate and assemble a body of data, analyze it, and indicate its relevance to established anthropological thought in lucid prose. Students must submit an original paper based on field, laboratory, or library research to all three committee members by the end of the fifth quarter of residence. The thesis committee assists students in formulating the research paper, monitoring its progress, and evaluating the paper when submitted. It is essential that students maintain close contact with all three members while preparing the M.A. thesis. Students should consult the Graduate Division publication, Policies and Procedures for Thesis and Dissertation Preparation and Filing, for instructions on the preparation and submission of the thesis.

Time-to-Degree

Candidates have one calendar year from the date of advancement to candidacy in which to complete all requirements for the degree.

Normal progress toward the degree is as follows:

DEGREE	NORMATIVE TIME TO ATC (Quarters)	NORMATIVE TTD	MAXIMUM TTD
M.A.	6	6	9

Doctoral Degree

Advising

Beyond basic requirements, each student’s program of study is unique. Accordingly, academic advising for graduate students in the department is primarily conducted on an individual basis by a student’s faculty adviser. The department’s graduate adviser is primarily responsible for counseling students in regard to program requirements, policies, and university regulations. Upon admission, students will be assigned both a primary and a secondary first-year adviser.

Student progress is periodically reviewed at faculty meetings. Students entering the program with a master’s degree are expected to be evaluated no later than their sixth quarter (spring quarter of their second year). At the Student Review Meeting, which occurs once per academic quarter, the full faculty evaluates the student’s progress in the program: formation of three-member departmental advisory committee; completion of the Proseminar and core courses; and evaluation of the Master’s research paper or thesis. Possible outcomes of the Student Review for students entering with a Master’s degree are: a) continuation to the Ph.D. program requirements; b) one-quarter extension to complete remaining requirements; and c) recommendation for academic disqualification from the Ph.D. program. All students are notified in writing about the outcome of the faculty discussion concerning their continuation to the doctoral program or degree progress. Students continue to be reviewed periodically throughout their time in the PhD program. The purpose of these reviews is to assess academic progress and help to ensure timely completion of the PhD.

For students completing the M.A. degree en route to the Ph.D., please see Master’s Degree, Advising.

Major Fields or Subdisciplines

Archaeology; biological anthropology; linguistic anthropology; and sociocultural anthropology.

Foreign Language Requirement

The department requires proficiency in a second language for all students in the Ph.D. program in anthropology. It is the responsibility of the student’s three-member departmental doctoral committee to determine what language(s) are required for their particular program of study.

If the requirement for second language proficiency is to be waived, students must prepare a request for a Ph.D. language requirement waiver, which consists of a letter justifying the request, addressed to the committee and filed with the graduate adviser. The committee must then draft a letter of approval, to be placed in the student’s file. If alternate research skills that are deemed necessary for the program of study for the student’s dissertation have been identified and satisfied, these are noted by the committee. However, no specific other courses or skills are obligatory.

If foreign language proficiency is required, proficiency will be determined by the three-member departmental doctoral committee and may include but is not limited to:

1. Completion of an appropriate level of language instruction; or
2. Demonstration of previously acquired language skills through documentation or an examination; or
3. Submission of an annotated bibliography, in English, of selected publications (in the selected language) that are related to the student’s dissertation topic.

The bibliography may be supplemented by a related analytical examination question or further translation examination.

For students required to demonstrate foreign language proficiency, all monitoring of the requirement takes place within the department. The committee chair is responsible for consulting with other committee members about the language requirement and plans for proficiency testing, and notifying them of the results of those tests, or otherwise providing them with copies of the documentation of proficiency.

Course Requirements

The minimum course load is 12 units per quarter. However, this may be waived for good cause by petition with the approval of the student’s committee chair and the department chair. Students must be registered and enrolled at all times unless on an official leave of absence.

Students who are entering the graduate program without a Master’s degree must complete all of the M.A. degree requirements (see above) en route to the Ph.D. Following completion of the M.A. degree requirements and permission by the faculty to begin the Ph.D. requirements, students are expected to enroll in three seminars, each with a different faculty member, between receipt of the M.A. degree from the department and taking the doctoral qualifying examinations.

Students who are entering the graduate program with a Master’s degree, whether or not in anthropology, are required to demonstrate basic knowledge of the discipline before being permitted to begin the requirements for the doctorate. It is expected that students accomplish this during the first year of academic residence through the following:

1. Nominating a three-member departmental advisory committee.
2. Completing the Proseminar (Anthropology 200).
3. Completing or demonstrating basic knowledge of the M.A. course requirements, including the methods course (see Master’s Degree, Course Requirements), by exercising one or a combination of the following three options:
   1. Taking the core course or methods course with a passing grade of B or better.
   2. Petitioning that course work completed elsewhere, or at UCLA as an undergraduate, constitutes the equivalent of such courses.
   3. Passing the subfield’s core course examination given in the Spring Quarter.
4. Submitting to the student’s departmental advisory committee, for evaluation, a master’s paper or a research paper that was written while in graduate status in their former Master’s program.

Only when these requisites have been met are students permitted to begin the requirements for the Ph.D. degree. Completion of 40 units is not required.

Additional Course Requirement for Students in the Sociocultural and Psychocultural-Medical Program: All students in the Sociocultural and Psychocultural-Medical program are required to take Anthropology 283 – Proposal Writing, typically offered in the Spring. Students must consult with their three-member departmental advisory committee chair before enrolling. Students are expected to complete the course in their second year but may complete it no later than the quarter they hold their qualifying examination:

• Students who completed the M.A. degree requirements must complete this course by their 12th quarter (fourth year) in the program.
• Students who entered the graduate program with a Master’s degree must complete this course by their ninth quarter (third year) in the program.

A grade of B or better is required in any core course (courses specifically listed above) taken at UCLA. If students received a grade of B-, C+, or C, they may not repeat the core course, but must take the core course examination and pass or be subject to being recommended for academic disqualification. If a grade of C- or below is received, students may repeat the course, but must receive a grade of B or better the second time the course is taken, or be subject to being recommended for academic disqualification.

Teaching Experience

Not required.

Written and Oral Qualifying Examinations

Academic Senate regulations require all doctoral students to complete and pass university written and oral qualifying examinations prior to doctoral advancement to candidacy. Also, under Senate regulations, the University Oral Qualifying Examination is open only to the student and appointed members of the doctoral committee. In addition to university requirements, some graduate programs have other pre-candidacy examination requirements. What follows in this section is how students are required to fulfill all of these requirements for this doctoral program.

All committee nominations and reconstitutions adhere to the Minimum Standards for Doctoral Committee Constitution.

The qualifying examinations for the Ph.D. degree consist of a written and an oral examination. The timing of these examinations is set in consultation with the members of the doctoral committee. Students must be registered and enrolled to take the qualifying examinations. The committee for each examination determines the conditions for reexamination should students not pass either portion of the qualifying examinations.

Departmental members of the doctoral committee administer the written portion of the qualifying examination. The fields and format of the examination are to be determined by the student’s departmental doctoral committee. There must be a minimum of two weeks between completion of the written examination and the scheduled date for the oral portion of the qualifying examination.

The University Oral Qualifying Examination is primarily a defense of the dissertation proposal. This examination is administered by the four-member doctoral committee.

Advancement to Candidacy

Students are advanced to candidacy upon successful completion of the written and oral qualifying examinations.

Doctoral Dissertation

Every doctoral degree program requires the completion of an approved dissertation that demonstrates the student’s ability to perform original, independent research and constitutes a distinct contribution to knowledge in the principal field of study.

Final Oral Examination (Defense of Dissertation)

The department does not require a final oral defense of the dissertation. However, individual doctoral committees can institute this requirement if they deem it important to do so; this decision is made by the doctoral committee.

Time-to-Degree

Full-time students admitted without deficiencies normally progress as follows:

DEGREE	NORMATIVE TIME TO ATC (Quarters)	NORMATIVE TTD	MAXIMUM TTD
Ph.D.	12	24	27

Academic Disqualification and Appeal of Disqualification

University Policy

A student who fails to meet the above requirements may be recommended for academic disqualification from graduate study. A graduate student may be disqualified from continuing in the graduate program for a variety of reasons. The most common is failure to maintain the minimum cumulative grade point average (3.00) required by the Academic Senate to remain in good standing (some programs require a higher grade point average). Other examples include failure of examinations, lack of timely progress toward the degree and poor performance in core courses. Probationary students (those with cumulative grade point averages below 3.00) are subject to immediate dismissal upon the recommendation of their department. University guidelines governing academic disqualification of graduate students, including the appeal procedure, are outlined in Standards and Procedures for Graduate Study at UCLA.

Special Departmental or Program Policy

Each term, a faculty meeting is held to review the progress of graduate students. If, at such a meeting, the faculty vote for academic disqualification, a recommendation for academic disqualification is made by the chair of the department. Before the recommendation is sent to the Graduate Division, the student is notified in writing and given two weeks to respond in writing to the chair. An appeal is reviewed by the department’s Executive Committee, which makes the final departmental recommendation to the Graduate Division.

Applicable only to students admitted during the 2022-2023 academic year.

Anthropology

College of Letters and Science

Graduate Degrees

The Department of Anthropology offers the Master of Arts (M.A.) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degrees in Anthropology. The M.A. is considered to be a step on the path to the PhD; initial admission to the graduate program is thus offered only to students intending to pursue the PhD.

Admissions Requirements

Master’s Degree

Advising

Academic advising for graduate students in the department is primarily conducted on an individual basis by a student’s faculty adviser. The department’s graduate adviser is primarily responsible for counseling students in regard to program requirements, policies, and university regulations. Upon admission, students will be assigned both a primary and a secondary first-year faculty adviser.

Student progress is periodically reviewed at faculty meetings. Students entering the program without a master’s degree are expected to be evaluated no later than their sixth quarter (spring quarter of their second year). At the Student Review Meeting, which occurs once per academic quarter, the full faculty evaluates the student’s progress in the M.A. program: formation and endorsement of the master’s capstone/thesis committee; completion of core courses; advancement to master’s candidacy; and the result, or progress towards completion of, the capstone research paper or thesis. Possible outcomes of the Student Review for students completing the M.A. en route to the Ph.D. are: a) award the M.A. degree and continuation to the Ph.D. program; b) a one-quarter extension to complete degree requirements; c) award the M.A. degree without continuation to the Ph.D. program (recommendation for academic disqualification from the Ph.D. program); and d) recommend the student for academic disqualification from the Ph.D. program without award of the M.A. degree. All students are notified in writing the outcome of the faculty discussion concerning the award of the M.A. degree, continuation to the doctoral program, or degree progress.

For students entering with a Master’s degree, please see Doctoral Degree, Advising.

Areas of Study

Archaeology; biological anthropology; linguistic anthropology; and sociocultural anthropology.

Foreign Language Requirement

None.

Course Requirements

The minimum course load is 12 units per quarter. However, this may be waived for good cause by petition, with the approval of the student’s committee chair and the department chair. Students must be registered and enrolled at all times unless on an official leave of absence.

The M.A. degree requires 10 courses (40 units) taken for a letter grade, with a minimum 3.0 grade-point average. 24 of the required 40 units must be graduate level courses (200 series). Eight units of 596 taken for a letter grade may be applied toward the total M.A. course requirement, but only four of these eight units are applicable to the 24 unit minimum graduate-course requirement. Courses taken on an S/U basis, Anthropology 598, and 300- and 400-series courses may not be applied toward the fulfillment of the M.A. unit requirements.

The 10 required courses are distributed as follows:

Archaeology Subfield Required Courses
Anthropology 200, Proseminar	4
Anthropology M201A, Archaeology core course	4
Anthropology M201B, Archaeology core course	4
Anthropology M201C, Archaeology core course	4
Anthropology 202B or C, Biological core course	4
Anthropology 203A, B, or C, Sociocultural core course	4
1 Methods course (see description below)	4
3 elective courses from within or outside Anthropology (may be 100 or 200 series, or 8 units maximum of 596)	12
TOTAL REQUIRED UNITS	40 Units

Biological Subfield Required Courses
Anthropology 200, Proseminar	4
Anthropology 202A, Biological core course	4
Anthropology 202B, Biological core course	4
Anthropology 202C, Biological core course	4
1 Methods course (see description below)	4
1 core seminar in other subfield (see list of courses below)	4
4 elective courses from within or outside Anthropology (may be 100 or 200 series, or 8 units maximum of 596)	16
TOTAL REQUIRED UNITS	40 Units
Students in the Biological Anthropology subfield are also required to enroll in Anthropology 221 – Behavior, Evolution, and Culture (BEC) each quarter that the student is in residence at UCLA, with the exception of a one-year/three-academic-quarters exemption, intended to be applied during the period that the student is conducting Ph.D. dissertation research or writing up that research; students must notify their Ph.D. dissertation committee when they wish to activate this one-year/three-academic-quarters exemption. Students who are physically conducting research outside of the Los Angeles area are exempted from the requirement to enroll in Anthropology 221 throughout their time away from Los Angeles. In addition, a student may submit a request to their primary and secondary advisers, Master’s thesis committee, or Ph.D. dissertation committee to temporarily waive the requirement to enroll in Anthropology 221 in order to allow the student to enroll in a class that is vital to the student’s degree progress, or engage in similar crucial activities, the duration of which is limited, and the scheduling of which is fixed and conflicts with Anthropology 221.  Anthropology 221 does not fulfill any of the 40 units required for the M.A.

Sociocultural Subfield Required Courses
Anthropology 200, Proseminar	4
Anthropology 203A, Sociocultural core course	4
Anthropology 203B, Sociocultural core course	4
Anthropology 203C, Sociocultural core course	4
1 Methods course (see description below)	4
1 core seminar in other subfield (see list of courses below)	4
4 elective courses from within or outside Anthropology (may be 100 or 200 series, or 8 units maximum of 596)	16
TOTAL REQUIRED UNITS	40 Units
Students in the Sociocultural Anthropology program are expected to enroll in Anthropology 241: Culture, Power and Social Change (CPSC) each quarter that they are in residence at UCLA. Students in their first year of the graduate program are required to enroll each quarter. Only in exceptional circumstances will first year students be permitted to waive this requirement. Students in the Psychocultural-Medical Anthropology program are expected to enroll in Anthropology 234: Mind, Medicine, and Culture (MMAC) each quarter they are in residence, including in their first year. Students are also invited to attend the meetings of other interest groups outside their subfield as they wish. Neither Anthropology 241 nor Anthropology 234 fulfills any of the 40 units required for the M.A.

Core Seminar in Other Subfield Requirement: For students in the Biological, Linguistic, and Sociocultural subfields who must fulfill the requirement to take one core course outside their subfield, any of the following core courses will be accepted:

• Archaeology subfield: Anthropology 111, M201A, M201B
• Biological subfield: Anthropology 202B, 202C
• Linguistic subfield: Anthropology 204A, 204B, 252A, 253
• Sociocultural subfield: Anthropology 130, 140, 203A, 203B, 203C

Students must demonstrate basic knowledge in their core requirements (i.e., the courses specifically listed in the charts above) by exercising one or a combination of the following three options:

1. Taking the core courses with a passing grade of B or better.
2. Petitioning that course work completed elsewhere, or at UCLA as an undergraduate, constitutes the equivalent of such courses.
3. Passing the subfield’s core course examination given in the Spring Quarter.

A grade of B or better is required in any core course (i.e., the courses specifically listed in the charts above) taken at UCLA. If students received a grade of B-, C+, or C, they may not repeat the core course, but must take the core course examination and pass or be subject to being recommended for academic disqualification. If a grade of C- or below is received, students may repeat the course, but must receive a grade of B or better the second time the course is taken, or be subject to being recommended for academic disqualification.

Methods Course Requirement: The purpose of the methods requirement is to ensure that students have adequate training in anthropological methods and analytical techniques. Students should discuss with their advisers what the most relevant methods course(s) will be for their program of study. Students may count toward the methods requirement any of the following courses within their subfield:

• Archaeology subfield: Anthropology 210, CM210Q, 211, CM217
• Biological subfield: Anthropology 223 (4 units), 284B, PSYCH 250A,B,C
• Linguistic subfield: Anthropology 252B
• Sociocultural subfield: Anthropology 239, 252B, 282, M284A, 284B, 288

A minimum of one methods requirement course is required. A grade of B or better is required in any methods course taken for this requirement. In addition to the courses listed above, students may, in consultation with their advisers, select a methods course not listed above from within or outside of Anthropology to count for this requirement. To be considered eligible, the course must be devoted to either methodological or analytical training.

Interest Groups: Unless specifically required as stated in the subfield required courses, above, students are strongly recommended to enroll each quarter that they are in residence for the interest group that most closely aligns with their area of specialization. These are:

• Biological: Anthropology 221: Behavior Evolution and Culture (BEC)
• Linguistic: Anthropology 254: Discourse Lab
• Sociocultural: Anthropology 241: Culture, Power and Social Change (CPSC) or Anthropology 234: Mind, Medicine, and Culture (MMAC)

Teaching Experience

Not required.

Field Experience

Not required, but highly recommended.

Capstone Plan

Students in the Archaeology subfield are required to complete a capstone project. They are not expected to complete a Thesis.

The capstone is a comprehensive examination that consists of three examinations, given at the completion of each section of Anthropology M201A, M201B, and M201C, respectively; and a research paper. Comprehensive examinations are graded by three readers (assembled by the archaeology faculty representative on the department’s Academic Coordinating Committee) as high pass, pass, or no pass. Each of the three examinations may be retaken once. The research paper, to be completed by the end of the sixth quarter of residence, is read by three faculty members and assists faculty in the determination of whether a student may continue for the Ph.D. degree during the Student Review Meeting. The paper is rated High Pass, Pass, or Fail by the three faculty members.

Thesis Plan

Every master’s degree thesis plan requires the completion of an approved thesis that demonstrates the student’s ability to perform original, independent research.

Students in the Biological, Linguistic, and Sociocultural subfields are required to complete a thesis. They are not expected to complete a Capstone.

The master’s thesis demonstrates a student’s ability to generate and assemble a body of data, analyze it, and indicate its relevance to established anthropological thought in lucid prose. Students must submit an original paper based on field, laboratory, or library research to all three committee members by the end of the fifth quarter of residence. The thesis committee assists students in formulating the research paper, monitoring its progress, and evaluating the paper when submitted. It is essential that students maintain close contact with all three members while preparing the M.A. thesis. Students should consult the Graduate Division publication, Policies and Procedures for Thesis and Dissertation Preparation and Filing, for instructions on the preparation and submission of the thesis.

Time-to-Degree

Candidates have one calendar year from the date of advancement to candidacy in which to complete all requirements for the degree.

Normal progress toward the degree is as follows:

DEGREE	NORMATIVE TIME TO ATC (Quarters)	NORMATIVE TTD	MAXIMUM TTD
M.A.	6	6	9

Doctoral Degree

Advising

Beyond basic requirements, each student’s program of study is unique. Accordingly, academic advising for graduate students in the department is primarily conducted on an individual basis by a student’s faculty adviser. The department’s graduate adviser is primarily responsible for counseling students in regard to program requirements, policies, and university regulations. Upon admission, students will be assigned both a primary and a secondary first-year adviser.

Student progress is periodically reviewed at faculty meetings. Students entering the program with a master’s degree are expected to be evaluated no later than their sixth quarter (spring quarter of their second year). At the Student Review Meeting, which occurs once per academic quarter, the full faculty evaluates the student’s progress in the program: formation of three-member departmental advisory committee; completion of the Proseminar and core courses; and evaluation of the Master’s research paper or thesis. Possible outcomes of the Student Review for students entering with a Master’s degree are: a) continuation to the Ph.D. program requirements; b) one-quarter extension to complete remaining requirements; and c) recommendation for academic disqualification from the Ph.D. program. All students are notified in writing about the outcome of the faculty discussion concerning their continuation to the doctoral program or degree progress. Students continue to be reviewed periodically throughout their time in the PhD program. The purpose of these reviews is to assess academic progress and help to ensure timely completion of the PhD.

For students completing the M.A. degree en route to the Ph.D., please see Master’s Degree, Advising.

Major Fields or Subdisciplines

Archaeology; biological anthropology; linguistic anthropology; and sociocultural anthropology.

Foreign Language Requirement

The department requires proficiency in a second language for all students in the Ph.D. program in anthropology. It is the responsibility of the student’s three-member departmental doctoral committee to determine what language(s) are required for their particular program of study.

If the requirement for second language proficiency is to be waived, students must prepare a request for a Ph.D. language requirement waiver, which consists of a letter justifying the request, addressed to the committee and filed with the graduate adviser. The committee must then draft a letter of approval, to be placed in the student’s file. If alternate research skills that are deemed necessary for the program of study for the student’s dissertation have been identified and satisfied, these are noted by the committee. However, no specific other courses or skills are obligatory.

If foreign language proficiency is required, proficiency will be determined by the three-member departmental doctoral committee and may include but is not limited to:

1. Completion of an appropriate level of language instruction; or
2. Demonstration of previously acquired language skills through documentation or an examination; or
3. Submission of an annotated bibliography, in English, of selected publications (in the selected language) that are related to the student’s dissertation topic.

The bibliography may be supplemented by a related analytical examination question or further translation examination.

For students required to demonstrate foreign language proficiency, all monitoring of the requirement takes place within the department. The committee chair is responsible for consulting with other committee members about the language requirement and plans for proficiency testing, and notifying them of the results of those tests, or otherwise providing them with copies of the documentation of proficiency.

Course Requirements

The minimum course load is 12 units per quarter. However, this may be waived for good cause by petition with the approval of the student’s committee chair and the department chair. Students must be registered and enrolled at all times unless on an official leave of absence.

Students who are entering the graduate program without a Master’s degree must complete all of the M.A. degree requirements (see above) en route to the Ph.D. Following completion of the M.A. degree requirements and permission by the faculty to begin the Ph.D. requirements, students are expected to enroll in three seminars, each with a different faculty member, between receipt of the M.A. degree from the department and taking the doctoral qualifying examinations.

Students who are entering the graduate program with a Master’s degree, whether or not in anthropology, are required to demonstrate basic knowledge of the discipline before being permitted to begin the requirements for the doctorate. It is expected that students accomplish this during the first year of academic residence through the following:

1. Nominating a three-member departmental advisory committee.
2. Completing the Proseminar (Anthropology 200).
3. Completing or demonstrating basic knowledge of the M.A. course requirements, including the methods course (see Master’s Degree, Course Requirements), by exercising one or a combination of the following three options:
   1. Taking the core course or methods course with a passing grade of B or better.
   2. Petitioning that course work completed elsewhere, or at UCLA as an undergraduate, constitutes the equivalent of such courses.
   3. Passing the subfield’s core course examination given in the Spring Quarter.
4. Submitting to the student’s departmental advisory committee, for evaluation, a master’s paper or a research paper that was written while in graduate status in their former Master’s program.

Only when these requisites have been met are students permitted to begin the requirements for the Ph.D. degree. Completion of 40 units is not required.

Additional Course Requirement for Students in the Sociocultural and Psychocultural-Medical Program: All students in the Sociocultural and Psychocultural-Medical program are required to take Anthropology 283 – Proposal Writing, typically offered in the Spring. Students must consult with their three-member departmental advisory committee chair before enrolling. Students are expected to complete the course in their second year but may complete it no later than the quarter they hold their qualifying examination:

• Students who completed the M.A. degree requirements must complete this course by their 12th quarter (fourth year) in the program.
• Students who entered the graduate program with a Master’s degree must complete this course by their ninth quarter (third year) in the program.

A grade of B or better is required in any core course (courses specifically listed above) taken at UCLA. If students received a grade of B-, C+, or C, they may not repeat the core course, but must take the core course examination and pass or be subject to being recommended for academic disqualification. If a grade of C- or below is received, students may repeat the course, but must receive a grade of B or better the second time the course is taken, or be subject to being recommended for academic disqualification.

Teaching Experience

Not required.

Written and Oral Qualifying Examinations

Academic Senate regulations require all doctoral students to complete and pass university written and oral qualifying examinations prior to doctoral advancement to candidacy. Also, under Senate regulations, the University Oral Qualifying Examination is open only to the student and appointed members of the doctoral committee. In addition to university requirements, some graduate programs have other pre-candidacy examination requirements. What follows in this section is how students are required to fulfill all of these requirements for this doctoral program.

All committee nominations and reconstitutions adhere to the Minimum Standards for Doctoral Committee Constitution.

The qualifying examinations for the Ph.D. degree consist of a written and an oral examination. The timing of these examinations is set in consultation with the members of the doctoral committee. Students must be registered and enrolled to take the qualifying examinations. The committee for each examination determines the conditions for reexamination should students not pass either portion of the qualifying examinations.

Departmental members of the doctoral committee administer the written portion of the qualifying examination. The fields and format of the examination are to be determined by the student’s departmental doctoral committee. There must be a minimum of two weeks between completion of the written examination and the scheduled date for the oral portion of the qualifying examination.

The University Oral Qualifying Examination is primarily a defense of the dissertation proposal. This examination is administered by the four-member doctoral committee.

Advancement to Candidacy

Students are advanced to candidacy upon successful completion of the written and oral qualifying examinations.

Doctoral Dissertation

Every doctoral degree program requires the completion of an approved dissertation that demonstrates the student’s ability to perform original, independent research and constitutes a distinct contribution to knowledge in the principal field of study.

Final Oral Examination (Defense of Dissertation)

The department does not require a final oral defense of the dissertation. However, individual doctoral committees can institute this requirement if they deem it important to do so; this decision is made by the doctoral committee.

Time-to-Degree

Full-time students admitted without deficiencies normally progress as follows:

DEGREE	NORMATIVE TIME TO ATC (Quarters)	NORMATIVE TTD	MAXIMUM TTD
Ph.D.	12	24	27

Academic Disqualification and Appeal of Disqualification

University Policy

A student who fails to meet the above requirements may be recommended for academic disqualification from graduate study. A graduate student may be disqualified from continuing in the graduate program for a variety of reasons. The most common is failure to maintain the minimum cumulative grade point average (3.00) required by the Academic Senate to remain in good standing (some programs require a higher grade point average). Other examples include failure of examinations, lack of timely progress toward the degree and poor performance in core courses. Probationary students (those with cumulative grade point averages below 3.00) are subject to immediate dismissal upon the recommendation of their department. University guidelines governing academic disqualification of graduate students, including the appeal procedure, are outlined in Standards and Procedures for Graduate Study at UCLA.

Special Departmental or Program Policy

Each term, a faculty meeting is held to review the progress of graduate students. If, at such a meeting, the faculty vote for academic disqualification, a recommendation for academic disqualification is made by the chair of the department. Before the recommendation is sent to the Graduate Division, the student is notified in writing and given two weeks to respond in writing to the chair. An appeal is reviewed by the department’s Executive Committee, which makes the final departmental recommendation to the Graduate Division.

Applicable only to students admitted during the 2023-2024 academic year.

Anthropology

College of Letters and Science

Graduate Degrees

The Department of Anthropology offers the Master of Arts (M.A.) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degrees in Anthropology. The M.A. is considered to be a step on the path to the PhD; initial admission to the graduate program is thus offered only to students intending to pursue the PhD.

Admissions Requirements

Master’s Degree

Advising

Academic advising for graduate students in the department is primarily conducted on an individual basis by a student’s faculty adviser. The department’s graduate adviser is primarily responsible for counseling students in regard to program requirements, policies, and university regulations. Upon admission, students will be assigned both a primary and a secondary first-year faculty adviser.

Student progress is periodically reviewed at faculty meetings. Students entering the program without a master’s degree are expected to be evaluated no later than their sixth quarter (spring quarter of their second year). At the Student Review Meeting, which occurs once per academic quarter, the full faculty evaluates the student’s progress in the M.A. program: formation and endorsement of the master’s capstone/thesis committee; completion of core courses; advancement to master’s candidacy; and the result, or progress towards completion of, the capstone research paper or thesis. Possible outcomes of the Student Review for students completing the M.A. en route to the Ph.D. are: a) award the M.A. degree and continuation to the Ph.D. program; b) a one-quarter extension to complete degree requirements; c) award the M.A. degree without continuation to the Ph.D. program (recommendation for academic disqualification from the Ph.D. program); and d) recommend the student for academic disqualification from the Ph.D. program without award of the M.A. degree. All students are notified in writing the outcome of the faculty discussion concerning the award of the M.A. degree, continuation to the doctoral program, or degree progress.

For students entering with a Master’s degree, please see Doctoral Degree, Advising.

Areas of Study

Archaeology; biological anthropology; linguistic anthropology; and sociocultural anthropology.

Foreign Language Requirement

None.

Course Requirements

The minimum course load is 12 units per quarter. However, this may be waived for good cause by petition, with the approval of the student’s committee chair and the department chair. Students must be registered and enrolled at all times unless on an official leave of absence.

The M.A. degree requires 10 courses (40 units) taken for a letter grade, with a minimum 3.0 grade-point average. 24 of the required 40 units must be graduate level courses (200 series). Eight units of 596 taken for a letter grade may be applied toward the total M.A. course requirement, but only four of these eight units are applicable to the 24 unit minimum graduate-course requirement. Courses taken on an S/U basis, Anthropology 598, and 300- and 400-series courses may not be applied toward the fulfillment of the M.A. unit requirements.

The 10 required courses are distributed as follows:

Archaeology Subfield Required Courses
Anthropology 200, Proseminar	4
Anthropology M201A, Archaeology core course	4
Anthropology M201B, Archaeology core course	4
Anthropology M201C, Archaeology core course	4
Anthropology 202B or C, Biological core course	4
Anthropology 203A, B, or C, Sociocultural core course	4
1 Methods course (see description below)	4
3 elective courses from within or outside Anthropology (may be 100 or 200 series, or 8 units maximum of 596)	12
TOTAL REQUIRED UNITS	40 Units

Biological Subfield Required Courses
Anthropology 200, Proseminar	4
Anthropology 202A, Biological core course	4
Anthropology 202B, Biological core course	4
Anthropology 202C, Biological core course	4
1 Methods course (see description below)	4
1 core seminar in other subfield (see list of courses below)	4
4 elective courses from within or outside Anthropology (may be 100 or 200 series, or 8 units maximum of 596)	16
TOTAL REQUIRED UNITS	40 Units
Students in the Biological Anthropology subfield are also required to enroll in Anthropology 221 – Behavior, Evolution, and Culture (BEC) each quarter that the student is in residence at UCLA, with the exception of a one-year/three-academic-quarters exemption, intended to be applied during the period that the student is conducting Ph.D. dissertation research or writing up that research; students must notify their Ph.D. dissertation committee when they wish to activate this one-year/three-academic-quarters exemption. Students who are physically conducting research outside of the Los Angeles area are exempted from the requirement to enroll in Anthropology 221 throughout their time away from Los Angeles. In addition, a student may submit a request to their primary and secondary advisers, Master’s thesis committee, or Ph.D. dissertation committee to temporarily waive the requirement to enroll in Anthropology 221 in order to allow the student to enroll in a class that is vital to the student’s degree progress, or engage in similar crucial activities, the duration of which is limited, and the scheduling of which is fixed and conflicts with Anthropology 221.  Anthropology 221 does not fulfill any of the 40 units required for the M.A.

Sociocultural Subfield Required Courses
Anthropology 200, Proseminar	4
Anthropology 203A, Sociocultural core course	4
Anthropology 203B, Sociocultural core course	4
Anthropology 203C, Sociocultural core course	4
1 Methods course (see description below)	4
1 core seminar in other subfield (see list of courses below)	4
4 elective courses from within or outside Anthropology (may be 100 or 200 series, or 8 units maximum of 596)	16
TOTAL REQUIRED UNITS	40 Units
Students in the Sociocultural Anthropology program are expected to enroll in Anthropology 241: Culture, Power and Social Change (CPSC) each quarter that they are in residence at UCLA. Students in their first year of the graduate program are required to enroll each quarter. Only in exceptional circumstances will first year students be permitted to waive this requirement. Students in the Psychocultural-Medical Anthropology program are expected to enroll in Anthropology 234: Mind, Medicine, and Culture (MMAC) each quarter they are in residence, including in their first year. Students are also invited to attend the meetings of other interest groups outside their subfield as they wish. Neither Anthropology 241 nor Anthropology 234 fulfills any of the 40 units required for the M.A.

Core Seminar in Other Subfield Requirement: For students in the Biological, Linguistic, and Sociocultural subfields who must fulfill the requirement to take one core course outside their subfield, any of the following core courses will be accepted:

• Archaeology subfield: Anthropology 111, M201A, M201B
• Biological subfield: Anthropology 202B, 202C
• Linguistic subfield: Anthropology 204A, 204B, 252A, 253
• Sociocultural subfield: Anthropology 130, 140, 203A, 203B, 203C

Students must demonstrate basic knowledge in their core requirements (i.e., the courses specifically listed in the charts above) by exercising one or a combination of the following three options:

1. Taking the core courses with a passing grade of B or better.
2. Petitioning that course work completed elsewhere, or at UCLA as an undergraduate, constitutes the equivalent of such courses.
3. Passing the subfield’s core course examination given in the Spring Quarter.

A grade of B or better is required in any core course (i.e., the courses specifically listed in the charts above) taken at UCLA. If students received a grade of B-, C+, or C, they may not repeat the core course, but must take the core course examination and pass or be subject to being recommended for academic disqualification. If a grade of C- or below is received, students may repeat the course, but must receive a grade of B or better the second time the course is taken, or be subject to being recommended for academic disqualification.

Methods Course Requirement: The purpose of the methods requirement is to ensure that students have adequate training in anthropological methods and analytical techniques. Students should discuss with their advisers what the most relevant methods course(s) will be for their program of study. Students may count toward the methods requirement any of the following courses within their subfield:

• Archaeology subfield: Anthropology 210, CM210Q, 211, CM217
• Biological subfield: Anthropology 223 (4 units), 284B, PSYCH 250A,B,C
• Linguistic subfield: Anthropology 252B
• Sociocultural subfield: Anthropology 239, 252B, 282, M284A, 284B, 288

A minimum of one methods requirement course is required. A grade of B or better is required in any methods course taken for this requirement. In addition to the courses listed above, students may, in consultation with their advisers, select a methods course not listed above from within or outside of Anthropology to count for this requirement. To be considered eligible, the course must be devoted to either methodological or analytical training.

Interest Groups: Unless specifically required as stated in the subfield required courses, above, students are strongly recommended to enroll each quarter that they are in residence for the interest group that most closely aligns with their area of specialization. These are:

• Biological: Anthropology 221: Behavior Evolution and Culture (BEC)
• Linguistic: Anthropology 254: Discourse Lab
• Sociocultural: Anthropology 241: Culture, Power and Social Change (CPSC) or Anthropology 234: Mind, Medicine, and Culture (MMAC)

Teaching Experience

Not required.

Field Experience

Not required, but highly recommended.

Capstone Plan

Students in the Archaeology subfield are required to complete a capstone project. They are not expected to complete a Thesis.

The capstone is a comprehensive examination that consists of three examinations, given at the completion of each section of Anthropology M201A, M201B, and M201C, respectively; and a research paper. Comprehensive examinations are graded by three readers (assembled by the archaeology faculty representative on the department’s Academic Coordinating Committee) as high pass, pass, or no pass. Each of the three examinations may be retaken once. The research paper, to be completed by the end of the sixth quarter of residence, is read by three faculty members and assists faculty in the determination of whether a student may continue for the Ph.D. degree during the Student Review Meeting. The paper is rated High Pass, Pass, or Fail by the three faculty members.

Thesis Plan

Every master’s degree thesis plan requires the completion of an approved thesis that demonstrates the student’s ability to perform original, independent research.

Students in the Biological, Linguistic, and Sociocultural subfields are required to complete a thesis. They are not expected to complete a Capstone.

The master’s thesis demonstrates a student’s ability to generate and assemble a body of data, analyze it, and indicate its relevance to established anthropological thought in lucid prose. Students must submit an original paper based on field, laboratory, or library research to all three committee members by the end of the fifth quarter of residence. The thesis committee assists students in formulating the research paper, monitoring its progress, and evaluating the paper when submitted. It is essential that students maintain close contact with all three members while preparing the M.A. thesis. Students should consult the Graduate Division publication, Policies and Procedures for Thesis and Dissertation Preparation and Filing, for instructions on the preparation and submission of the thesis.

Time-to-Degree

Candidates have one calendar year from the date of advancement to candidacy in which to complete all requirements for the degree.

Normal progress toward the degree is as follows:

DEGREE	NORMATIVE TIME TO ATC (Quarters)	NORMATIVE TTD	MAXIMUM TTD
M.A.	6	6	9

Doctoral Degree

Advising

Beyond basic requirements, each student’s program of study is unique. Accordingly, academic advising for graduate students in the department is primarily conducted on an individual basis by a student’s faculty adviser. The department’s graduate adviser is primarily responsible for counseling students in regard to program requirements, policies, and university regulations. Upon admission, students will be assigned both a primary and a secondary first-year adviser.

Student progress is periodically reviewed at faculty meetings. Students entering the program with a master’s degree are expected to be evaluated no later than their sixth quarter (spring quarter of their second year). At the Student Review Meeting, which occurs once per academic quarter, the full faculty evaluates the student’s progress in the program: formation of three-member departmental advisory committee; completion of the Proseminar and core courses; and evaluation of the Master’s research paper or thesis. Possible outcomes of the Student Review for students entering with a Master’s degree are: a) continuation to the Ph.D. program requirements; b) one-quarter extension to complete remaining requirements; and c) recommendation for academic disqualification from the Ph.D. program. All students are notified in writing about the outcome of the faculty discussion concerning their continuation to the doctoral program or degree progress. Students continue to be reviewed periodically throughout their time in the PhD program. The purpose of these reviews is to assess academic progress and help to ensure timely completion of the PhD.

For students completing the M.A. degree en route to the Ph.D., please see Master’s Degree, Advising.

Major Fields or Subdisciplines

Archaeology; biological anthropology; linguistic anthropology; and sociocultural anthropology.

Foreign Language Requirement

The department requires proficiency in a second language for all students in the Ph.D. program in anthropology. It is the responsibility of the student’s three-member departmental doctoral committee to determine what language(s) are required for their particular program of study.

If the requirement for second language proficiency is to be waived, students must prepare a request for a Ph.D. language requirement waiver, which consists of a letter justifying the request, addressed to the committee and filed with the graduate adviser. The committee must then draft a letter of approval, to be placed in the student’s file. If alternate research skills that are deemed necessary for the program of study for the student’s dissertation have been identified and satisfied, these are noted by the committee. However, no specific other courses or skills are obligatory.

If foreign language proficiency is required, proficiency will be determined by the three-member departmental doctoral committee and may include but is not limited to:

1. Completion of an appropriate level of language instruction; or
2. Demonstration of previously acquired language skills through documentation or an examination; or
3. Submission of an annotated bibliography, in English, of selected publications (in the selected language) that are related to the student’s dissertation topic.

The bibliography may be supplemented by a related analytical examination question or further translation examination.

For students required to demonstrate foreign language proficiency, all monitoring of the requirement takes place within the department. The committee chair is responsible for consulting with other committee members about the language requirement and plans for proficiency testing, and notifying them of the results of those tests, or otherwise providing them with copies of the documentation of proficiency.

Course Requirements

The minimum course load is 12 units per quarter. However, this may be waived for good cause by petition with the approval of the student’s committee chair and the department chair. Students must be registered and enrolled at all times unless on an official leave of absence.

Students who are entering the graduate program without a Master’s degree must complete all of the M.A. degree requirements (see above) en route to the Ph.D. Following completion of the M.A. degree requirements and permission by the faculty to begin the Ph.D. requirements, students are expected to enroll in three seminars, each with a different faculty member, between receipt of the M.A. degree from the department and taking the doctoral qualifying examinations.

Students who are entering the graduate program with a Master’s degree, whether or not in anthropology, are required to demonstrate basic knowledge of the discipline before being permitted to begin the requirements for the doctorate. It is expected that students accomplish this during the first year of academic residence through the following:

1. Nominating a three-member departmental advisory committee.
2. Completing the Proseminar (Anthropology 200).
3. Completing or demonstrating basic knowledge of the M.A. course requirements, including the methods course (see Master’s Degree, Course Requirements), by exercising one or a combination of the following three options:
   1. Taking the core course or methods course with a passing grade of B or better.
   2. Petitioning that course work completed elsewhere, or at UCLA as an undergraduate, constitutes the equivalent of such courses.
   3. Passing the subfield’s core course examination given in the Spring Quarter.
4. Submitting to the student’s departmental advisory committee, for evaluation, a master’s paper or a research paper that was written while in graduate status in their former Master’s program.

Only when these requisites have been met are students permitted to begin the requirements for the Ph.D. degree. Completion of 40 units is not required.

Additional Course Requirement for Students in the Sociocultural and Psychocultural-Medical Program: All students in the Sociocultural and Psychocultural-Medical program are required to take Anthropology 283 – Proposal Writing, typically offered in the Spring. Students must consult with their three-member departmental advisory committee chair before enrolling. Students are expected to complete the course in their second year but may complete it no later than the quarter they hold their qualifying examination:

• Students who completed the M.A. degree requirements must complete this course by their 12th quarter (fourth year) in the program.
• Students who entered the graduate program with a Master’s degree must complete this course by their ninth quarter (third year) in the program.

A grade of B or better is required in any core course (courses specifically listed above) taken at UCLA. If students received a grade of B-, C+, or C, they may not repeat the core course, but must take the core course examination and pass or be subject to being recommended for academic disqualification. If a grade of C- or below is received, students may repeat the course, but must receive a grade of B or better the second time the course is taken, or be subject to being recommended for academic disqualification.

Teaching Experience

Not required.

Written and Oral Qualifying Examinations

Academic Senate regulations require all doctoral students to complete and pass university written and oral qualifying examinations prior to doctoral advancement to candidacy. Also, under Senate regulations, the University Oral Qualifying Examination is open only to the student and appointed members of the doctoral committee. In addition to university requirements, some graduate programs have other pre-candidacy examination requirements. What follows in this section is how students are required to fulfill all of these requirements for this doctoral program.

All committee nominations and reconstitutions adhere to the Minimum Standards for Doctoral Committee Constitution.

The qualifying examinations for the Ph.D. degree consist of a written and an oral examination. The timing of these examinations is set in consultation with the members of the doctoral committee. Students must be registered and enrolled to take the qualifying examinations. The committee for each examination determines the conditions for reexamination should students not pass either portion of the qualifying examinations.

Departmental members of the doctoral committee administer the written portion of the qualifying examination. The fields and format of the examination are to be determined by the student’s departmental doctoral committee. There must be a minimum of two weeks between completion of the written examination and the scheduled date for the oral portion of the qualifying examination.

The University Oral Qualifying Examination is primarily a defense of the dissertation proposal. This examination is administered by the four-member doctoral committee.

Advancement to Candidacy

Students are advanced to candidacy upon successful completion of the written and oral qualifying examinations.

Doctoral Dissertation

Every doctoral degree program requires the completion of an approved dissertation that demonstrates the student’s ability to perform original, independent research and constitutes a distinct contribution to knowledge in the principal field of study.

Final Oral Examination (Defense of Dissertation)

The department does not require a final oral defense of the dissertation. However, individual doctoral committees can institute this requirement if they deem it important to do so; this decision is made by the doctoral committee.

Time-to-Degree

Full-time students admitted without deficiencies normally progress as follows:

DEGREE	NORMATIVE TIME TO ATC (Quarters)	NORMATIVE TTD	MAXIMUM TTD
Ph.D.	12	24	27

Academic Disqualification and Appeal of Disqualification

University Policy

A student who fails to meet the above requirements may be recommended for academic disqualification from graduate study. A graduate student may be disqualified from continuing in the graduate program for a variety of reasons. The most common is failure to maintain the minimum cumulative grade point average (3.00) required by the Academic Senate to remain in good standing (some programs require a higher grade point average). Other examples include failure of examinations, lack of timely progress toward the degree and poor performance in core courses. Probationary students (those with cumulative grade point averages below 3.00) are subject to immediate dismissal upon the recommendation of their department. University guidelines governing academic disqualification of graduate students, including the appeal procedure, are outlined in Standards and Procedures for Graduate Study at UCLA.

Special Departmental or Program Policy

Each term, a faculty meeting is held to review the progress of graduate students. If, at such a meeting, the faculty vote for academic disqualification, a recommendation for academic disqualification is made by the chair of the department. Before the recommendation is sent to the Graduate Division, the student is notified in writing and given two weeks to respond in writing to the chair. An appeal is reviewed by the department’s Executive Committee, which makes the final departmental recommendation to the Graduate Division.