Admission

Applicants must have earned a Bachelor’s degree (in any relevant field) from an accredited institution; a graduate degree is not required to matriculate into the Ph.D. program. Applicants are expected to have an academic background that is predictive of success in the program. There are no minimum GPA and standardized test score requirements, although scores should also be predictive of success in the program. All applications will be evaluated considering multiple factors, including program fit, recommendation letters, faculty support, the quality of the applicant pool, and GPA/test scores.

Applicants must submit the following materials for consideration for admission into the program:

1. An application letter describing the applicant’s qualifications, desire for further study, career goals, and research interests. It is preferred that applicants contact potential faculty mentors to develop a possible research plan, and to articulate this in their application letter.
2. A writing sample: This might include an undergraduate course paper at least ten pages in length.
3. Three letters of recommendation from people qualified to evaluate the applicant’s experiences, professional skills, and potential for future study and research.
4. Optional: A GRE General Test score. The score must not be older than five years.
5. Official transcripts from all institutions where undergraduate courses were attempted/completed. At least one transcript must clearly document degree completion. Transcripts in languages other than English must be translated by an official translating agency.
6. For applicants whose first language is not English, they must submit scores from the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), International English Language Testing System (IELTS), or Duolingo. The score must not be older than five years.

Advisory Committee

Each student’s advisory committee will be composed of a minimum of four faculty members: one primary advisor and one secondary advisor (or two primary co-advisors) from among the Anthropology graduate faculty, one additional Baylor faculty member outside of the Department, and one member outside of Baylor. Committee composition can be changed at the request of the student or a committee member, and such changes will be granted pending decision of the student’s committee, the Graduate Program Director, and the Graduate School Dean. Students are required to meet with their committees prior to registering for classes at the beginning of each semester.  Students are required to meet with their committee annually to review and evaluate all aspects of the student’s coursework, teaching, and research.

Master’s Degree

Students admitted into the PhD program in Anthropology will also earn a Master of Science in Anthropology. The MS degree in Anthropology is only available to students admitted into the PhD program in Anthropology. After completion of 42 credit hours from the required/elective courses, the student will receive an MS in Anthropology. A thesis is not required for the MS degree, nor is passing the preliminary examination or successfully defending a dissertation proposal. A maximum of 12 credit hours from previous graduate coursework can be applied toward the MS degree; all other credit hours must be earned at Baylor.

Preliminary Examination and Admission to Candidacy

Each student will complete a written and oral comprehensive examination, prepared by the student’s advisory committee, in the summer after their second year. The date of examination will be determined by the advisory committee. Incomplete grades must be removed prior to the preliminary examination. This exam will be based on the student’s coursework and their proposed research topic. Students must demonstrate readiness to conduct dissertation research. Based on the results of the written portion of the exam, the advisory committee could permit a student to pass without required revision, pass on probation (‘provisional pass’) with further work required (which must be completed to be admitted to candidacy), fail with an opportunity to take a second written exam (‘provisional fail’), or fail with dismissal from the program. If a student fails but is given an opportunity to take a second written exam, that exam cannot take place less than four months (nor greater than eight months) from the first exam.  A second failure will result in release from the program. A private (advisory committee only) oral defense of the preliminary exam will be held within two weeks of passing the written portion of the exam.

Following successful completion of the preliminary exam, students will submit to their advisory committee, present publicly, and defend privately (closed door with committee members only) a full-length dissertation proposal written in the form of an NSF Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant. The student will pass their proposal defense only if the advisory committee is unanimous in its decision.

Admission to candidacy for the doctoral degree can be granted only after completing all course requirements (except the research and dissertation credits), passing the written preliminary examination, and submitting and defending the research proposal.

Dissertation

Candidates for the PhD in Anthropology must provide evidence they have pursued a program of research that has resulted in scholarly competence. The format of the dissertation must be approved by the candidate’s advisory committee and will normally consist of a minimum of three publishable papers in national or international journals pertinent to the field of study. These papers will normally be accompanied by an introduction and conclusion/summary to describe the overall research trajectory, connections among the manuscripts, and general findings.

Final Examination

Following completion of all degree requirements, and submission of the dissertation to the Graduate School and the candidate’s advisory committee, the candidate will provide a public lecture of their dissertation research. Following the public lecture, the candidate will privately defend their dissertation research to a dissertation advisory committee, which will include five members of the Baylor Graduate Faculty: the committee chairperson, two other Graduate Faculty members from the student’s home department, and one additional Graduate Faculty member, either from the home department or outside, and a fifth member or “outside” member. The outside member must be a Graduate Faculty member whose primary faculty appointment is from a department other than the one conferring the degree. The Dissertation director will serve as the chairperson of the committee and ensure that formal announcement of the examination is made (publicized by public posting in the Department, as well as by e-mail, at least one week before the scheduled defense), that the exam is conducted fairly, and that it is open to the faculty. The “official outside” member helps to ensure a consistent level of quality, rigor, and fairness across all graduate programs at Baylor University and may or may not be actively involved in the dissertation. The committee may include additional members (who are not necessarily members of the Graduate Faculty) beyond the minimum required number. The date of the lecture and defense will be determined by the examination committee.

The examination committee will make recommendations regarding any necessary revisions of the dissertation that may be required before the conferment of degree. Candidates who fail this examination may take a second one only upon the recommendation of the graduate program director and the approval of the Graduate School. In no case will this examination be given until an interval of at least four months has elapsed. After two failures, no further examination is permitted.

No longer than ten days after the oral examination, but no later than the “last day” deadline posted in the Graduate School Academic Calendar for the semester of graduation, an electronic pdf copy of the dissertation in its final departmentally approved form should be submitted to the Graduate School. With the dissertation copy, the student should also submit the appropriate forms required, as stated in the Guidelines. A student is certified for graduation once the pdf copy of the dissertation is submitted electronically and approved, and all remaining steps, as stated in the Guidelines, have been completed.

General Course Requirements

General requirements of the Ph.D. are given in the general requirements section of this catalog.

• There is no foreign language requirement for this Ph.D. program. A student’s committee may recommend that the student satisfy a language requirement or demonstrate some other special research skill.
• Students may transfer graduate level credits from another institution, although most courses for completion of the Ph.D. must be taken at Baylor. The number of credit hours (and waiver of course requirements) to be transferred is at the discretion of the student’s committee, the Graduate Program Director, and the Graduate School. Transfer credits must be approved by the Graduate Program Director as equivalent to courses offered at Baylor before being forwarded to the Graduate School. The courses must have been taken within five years of matriculation to Baylor and must carry a grade of B or higher (cannot accept P/F, CR/NC or certificates of completion). Furthermore, none of the transfer course work can consist of extension, workshop courses, or master’s thesis or doctoral dissertation credits. Course work must be from an accredited university and appear on a graduate transcript.
• Specific requirements for the degree can be waived or substituted for several reasons, including previous work, professional experience, etc. This is all at the discretion of the student’s committee, the Graduate Program Director, and the Graduate School.
• Because the program does not require a general theory course in Anthropology, any deficiencies (in anthropological and evolutionary theory) identified in a student by his/her committee will be corrected by additional readings and independent study.
• Completion of the Ph.D. requires sixty (60) credit hours, all post-baccalaureate.

Specific Course Requirements

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Required Core Courses within Anthropology
ANT 5311	Descriptive and Exploratory Methods in Anthropology	3
ANT 5312	Laboratory Methods in Anthropological Reserach	3
ANT 5313	Professional Skills and Grant Writing	3
Nine additional credit hours within Anthropology at the 4000 level or above		9
Elective Category: Statistics and Methods
STA 5300	Statistical Methods (Required Course)	3
Restricted Category
Select nine credit hours from the following:		9
BINF 5309	Introduction to Bioinformatics and Systems Biology
BINF 5330	Advanced Computational Biology
BIO 5350	Biocomputing
BIO 5351	Advanced Biocomputing
BIO 5413	Advanced Ecological Data Analysis
EDC 6336	Qualitative Research and Data Analysis
EDC 6339	Ethnographic Research Methods in Education
EDC 6359	Mixed Methods Research Design and Analysis
EDC 6370	Case Study Research Methods and Analysis in Education
EDP 6360	Experimental Design I
EDP 6362	Applied Multiple Regression/Correlation Analysis in Education
ENV 4487	Advanced GIS Analysis
GEO 4386	Remote Sensing
GEO 4485	Introduction to Geographic Information Systems
MIS 5340	Database Management Systems
MIS 5343	Seminar in Data Visualization
PSY 5301	Introduction to Experimental Design
PSY 5307	Advanced Statistics II
PSY 5388	Advanced Statistical Methods
PSY 5391	Multilevel Modeling
SOC 5312	Social Science Data Analysis
SOC 6317	Community Spatial Analysis
STA 4370	Sampling Techniques
STA 5301	Introduction to Experimental Design
STA 5361	Methods in Time Series Analysis
STA 5371	Methods in Data Mining and Management
STA 5373	Computational Statistical Methods
STA 5376	Methods in Biostatistics
STA 5384	Multivariate Statistical Methods
SWO 6381	Statistical Analysis for Social Work
Elective Category: Communication and Management
Select six credit hours from the following:		6
BUS 5390	Management Communication
CSS 4301	Organizational Communication
CSS 4303	Leadership and Communication
CSS 4315	Health Communication
CSS 4317	Narrating Health Across Culture
CSS 5316	Seminar in Organizational Communication
ENV 4307	Environmental Law
ENV 4323	The Environment and Economic Analysis
MGT 5310	Management of Organizational Behavior
MGT 5331	Project Management
PSC 4300	Political Behavior
PSC 4305	International Law
PSC 4375	International Organization
PSC 5322	Seminar in Public Administration
PSC 5325	Seminar in International Relations
SWO 6342	Academic Leadership and Administration in Social Work Education
SWO 6343	Program Evaluation
Elective Category: Health
Select six credit hours from the following:		6
BIO 4301	Immunology
BIO 4306	Molecular Genetics and Genomics
BIO 4354	Neglected Tropical Diseases
BIO 5315	Genomics & Infectious Diseases
BIO 5330	Conservation Biology
BIO 5335	Climate Change and Biodiversity
BIO 5340	Ecosystem Process Modeling
BIO 5360	Biological Invasions: Ecology and Management
BIO 5401	Microbial Ecology
ENV 4325	Human Health Risk Assessment
ENV 4344	Fundamentals of Toxicology
ENV 5300	Integrative Seminar in Environmental Studies
ENV 5302	Foundations of Environmental Health Science
ENV 5325	Advanced Methods for Human Health Risk Assessment and Analysis
ENV 5342	Ecological Risk Assessment
GEO 5389	Earth System Science
PSY 5323	Biological Foundations of Behavior
PUBH 5315	Theoretical Foundations of Public Health
PUBH 5334	Foundations of Public Health
SOC 6351	Seminar in Population Health
SOC 6357	Health Inequalities in America
Internship
ANT 6V98	Internship	6
Dissertation
ANT 6V99	Dissertation	12
Total Hours		60

Teaching Requirements

Students are required to serve as a teaching assistant or instructor-of-record prior to graduating. It is anticipated that this teaching will take place in the fourth and fifth years of study. Prior to teaching, students will attend a workshop organized by the Baylor University Academy for Teaching and Learning (ATL). This three-part workshop will introduce participants to the literature on student learning and discuss effective teaching practices. Topics will include course design, learning activities, and effective assessment. The workshop will also provide participants space to share their ideas, get feedback from peers, and relate pedagogy to their discipline.

Internship Requirement

Students should complete an internship (six hours of 6V98) with an organization outside of the Department of Anthropology at Baylor University. The internships should usually take place during a summer semester and require approximately 150 hours or more of work time. There should be one representative from the internship organization who will be the primary mentor for the student. A research activity should be identified by the mentor, student, student’s advisory committee, and GPD, and a mentorship agreement signed before the research begins. This internship should aim to generate a professional product like a publication or presentation.

Other Requirements

• Students are required to provide a podium presentation at a professional conference prior to graduating.
• At a minimum, students must have one paper accepted by a professional publishing house (preferably a journal article), and one other paper submitted prior to graduation. The student must be first author on both.
• Students must participate in the department colloquium series. In consultation with a faculty coordinator, students will select speakers annually to visit the department. Students must read a paper by the visiting speaker, attend the lecture, and meet with the speaker, and then discuss the paper and presentation with the faculty coordinator. Students are expected to participate in at least two of these events, every year while enrolled in the program.
• All students must apply for an NSF pre-doctoral fellowship, an NSF Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant, and a Wenner-Gren Dissertation Fieldwork Grant.