Anthropology

ANTHROPOLOGY

Chair: John P. Hawkins
Graduate Coordinator: David J. Johnson
945 SWKT
Provo, UT 84602-5522
(801) 378-6111

THE PROGRAM OF STUDIES

The graduate program in anthropology emphasizes archaeology. Focusing on the emergence of complex societies, simple farmers and hunter-gatherers, and historic archaeology, the program's strength is the diversity of research opportunities it affords students, especially in Mesoamerica and the Great Basin/Southwest regions of North America.

Annual field schools in historic and prehistoric archaeology provide training in resolving field problems. The department's geographical specialties in archaeology are the Intermountain West (which verges into the southwestern cultural area in southern Utah), Mexico, Guatemala, and the Middle East. The university conducts field research in each of those areas, and qualified students may participate. Also, historic site excavations in Utah, Illinois, and New York have given students experience at mining, military, village, and LDS Church history sites.

Rather than emphasize specialized or topical interests, however, the program equips the graduate with the basics of professional anthropology: a broad and versatile perspective and the ability to (1) define a research problem, (2) choose tools wisely for approaching it, (3) gather and analyze data efficiently and creatively, and then (4) communicate results and recommendations effectively.

One degree is offered through the Department of Anthropology: Anthropology—MA. An anthropology minor is also available to students enrolled in other graduate programs. From four to six students enter the program each year, and most take three years to complete the requirements. The number of students in the program varies between ten and fifteen.

Anthropology—MA

The aim of this program is to prepare students (1) for productive employment at a junior professional level upon receiving an MA degree or (2) for entry into PhD programs in anthropology elsewhere.

Only a broad discussion of requirements is provided here. The department sends each prospective graduate student the “Graduate Program Description,” a detailed, step-by-step outline of expectations, requirements, and guidelines for progress through the program. The student must return a form indicating that he or she has read the detailed guidelines, understands them, and agrees to be governed by them. This is done because requirements sometimes change slightly in the interval between submission of catalog copy and publication of the finished catalog. By writing, calling, or visiting the department, prospective students will receive the most up-to-date and appropriate information.

Admission and Entry.

• Semesters of entry and application deadlines: fall, February 1 (U.S. and international); winter, February 1 (U.S. and international).
• Application requirements: submission of a letter of intent that specifies particular areas of interest. This letter will provide the basis for assignment of a temporary faculty advisor, who will work with the applicant until a thesis committee is organized.
• Entrance examiniation: GRE general test score should be entered on line 11 of part D of the application form. Foreign students who do not have English as a native language must take the TOEFL exam and submit the score (577 minimum) with the application.
• Prerequisite: undergraduate degree in anthropology. If a student's bachelor's degree is not in anthropology, the student may be admitted provisionally while completing appropriate background course work.

Requirements for Degree.

Thesis Option

• Credit hours (30): minimum 24 hours plus 6 thesis hours (Anthr 699R); minimum 20 hours under direct instruction of professional anthropologists at BYU or in another acceptable department at the university. Thesis, reading, internship, and individual work do not count toward these 20 hours.
• Required core courses: Anthr 505 or 510; 520, 695R, 699R, social science statistics.
• Additional courses: 9 hours from Anthr 530-590R; electives.
• Examinations: (A) written comprehensive examination at or near the end of the first year of study; (B) oral presentation of thesis proposal; (C) oral defense of thesis.
• Thesis.

Mesoamerican Nonthesis Option

• Credit hours (30): minimum 18 hours Mesoamerican graduate courses plus 12 graduate core courses; minimum 20 hours under direct instruction of professional anthropologists at BYU or in another acceptable department at the university.
• Required core courses: Anthr 505 or 510; 520, social science statistics.
• Additional courses: 3 hours from Anthr 505, 510, 515, 550, 551, or 575; 18 hours from Anthr 560, 562, 564, 566, 568, 572, 574, 575, or 590R; electives.
• Two publishable quality papers.
• Examinations:  written comprehensive examination at or near the end of the first year of study.
• Committee: each student identifies two or more faculty members and obtains their consent to serve on his or her graduate committee. One faculty member will become chair of the student's graduate committee, and the other will serve on it. The committee and the student agree on a curriculum plan in accordance with the “Graduate Program Description.”

Five-Year Integrated BA/MA

• The Department of Anthropology offers an integrated BA/MA that can be accomplished in five years from the start of the BA degree.
• Students who have completed 30 hours of undergraduate anthropology course work, including Anthr 205, 305, and 405, are encouraged to take 500-level courses under either the thesis first-year option or the Mesoamerican emphasis first-year option. Upon completing 9 hours of graduate course work, students may apply to the department for admission to the integrated BA/MA five-year program. They should take the GRE early and satisfy other requirements for admission to graduate study.
• Applying students must subsequently complete their 48-hour undergraduate degree plus the first-year menu (either thesis option or Mesoamerican nonthesis option) of 18 hours of graduate work. (These menus are detailed in the program description booklet available from the department.) If accepted, such students may remain in residence and complete the second-year menu as graduate students. This should take one year.
• The five-year integrated BA/MA allows no “double counting.” However, students may apply 500-level graduate work to their 48-hour undergraduate degree, if they elect not to apply for or finish the integrated BA/MA option (provided the graduate courses fulfill the basic intents of the various menu categories of the 48-hour undergraduate degree).
• The department will not consider this option for students with substantial accumulations of undergraduate hours. Students with over 128 hours of undergraduate credit at the time of application will be required to graduate and seek admission to the graduate program under regular admission procedures.

Anthropology—Minor

A minor in anthropology can add a cross-cultural perspective, useful for people with international or multicultural interests in the following majors or fields of interest: nutrition, education (either elementary or secondary), educational leadership, counseling, international and area studies, psychology, social work, sociology, art, communications, theatre and film, language, business administration, public administration, applied economics, family sciences, marriage and family therapy, geography, or history. The minor requires a minimum 15 hours. See department for specific requirements.

FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE

The Department of Anthropology offers tuition assistance to all incoming graduate students.

Additional support comes through assistantships, grants, and employment offered by the department and the Museum of Peoples and Cultures, but the funds are limited. The goal is to provide some support for many students rather than generously support a few. The department is currently developing special scholarships, work study, and project support programs for Native American students interested in careers in anthropology and museology. This is being done with the assistance of Multicultural Student Services at BYU.

The Office of Public Archaeology in the museum regularly gives employment and experience to students prepared to participate in contract archaeology projects.

RESOURCES AND OPPORTUNITIES

Museum of Peoples and Cultures. Closely associated with the Anthropology Department, the Museum of Peoples and Cultures offers unique research opportunities for students and faculty, several of whom have research offices in the museum. Located south and west of campus in Allen Hall, the museum holds a number of important archaeological and ethnographic collections that have not been systematically analyzed and reported. These collections, which represent Utah Valley, the American Southwest, and Mesoamerica, as well as other parts of the world, provide material for thesis topics, professional publications, and academic credit. Research entities in the museum include the Archaeological Technical Laboratory, which specializes in botanical and minerals analysis, and the Office of Public Archaeology, one of the most active archaeological contracting organizations in the intermountain area.

The New World Archaeological Foundation. This foundation is a research institution focused on formative Mesoamerican civilizations, especially in Chiapas, Mexico. Established in 1952, the NWAF maintains a staff and research facilities in San Cristobol, Chiapas. The NWAF publishes a monograph series (papers) as well as notes to disseminate research findings. Graduate student opportunities through the foundation include laboratory research on campus and limited field work in Mexico.

Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Church History. The institute's purpose is to study the Latter-day Saint past. Its personnel are historians whose primary work is writing and publishing for professional and general Church audiences. The institute also seeks to facilitate the research of other Church history scholars by providing limited support for research and publication.

Charles Redd Center for Western Studies. Established in 1972 under an endowment from Charles Redd, a prominent Utah stockman and philanthropist, the center is charged with promoting the study of all aspects of the American West. The center publishes a monograph series, assists faculty and student research through grants and fellowships, and sponsors lectureships each year.

Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies. On Mount Scopus, overlooking the Holy City, BYU's newly completed Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies provides extraordinary educational opportunities for students and scholars. A seven-tiered, 120,000-square-foot structure, the center houses an extensive learning resource area, classrooms, dormitories, galleries, exhibits, a library, and auditoriums. Scholars and visitors from other universities, as well as students enrolled in its academic programs, are served here. The center's library, for example, offers a selected collection of contemporary Holy Land readings, rare books, special collections, and accessible computer data. For information concerning opportunities for graduate study in Jerusalem, call or write Paul Y. Hoskisson, chair of Near Eastern Studies (211 HRCB). BYU Travel Study information can be obtained from the director of the Jerusalem Center.

Examples of current faculty and graduate student research include: socio-political complexity in Chiapas and Guatemala; development of complex society among the Maya; hunter-gatherer ecology in the eastern Great Basin; historic economies and settlements of the western frontier and Utah.

For a more detailed description of the graduate program requirements, send for a copy of the department's Graduate Program Description.

COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

Class Schedule

505. Anthropological Theory. (3)

Prerequisite: 30 hours of anthropological courses including Anthr 205, 305, 405.

Major contributions to the development of anthropological theory, circa 1970 to the present.

510. History of Archaeology. (3)

Historical approach to the development of archaeological knowledge, method, and theory; emphases on North America and individual contribution.

515. Settlement, Trade, and Urbanism: Understanding the Ancient Landscape. (3)

Prerequisite: 30 hours of undergraduate anthropology courses.

Comparative study of the beginnings of settled life, systems of exchange, and city life. Special attention to theory as applied to evidence from the new and old worlds.

520. Economic Anthropology. (3)

Prerequisite: 30 hours of undergraduate anthropology courses, including Anthr 205, 305, 405.

Social context of production, distribution, and consumption in nonindustrial societies; technology; exchange and redistribution of resources. Currency, property rights, capital, recruitment, and rewards of labor.

525. Museum Registration and Collections Management. (3)

Prerequisite: Anthr 349 or equivalent.

Instruction and hands-on projects in managing anthropological collections: object-handling, object-tracking, accessing, deaccessioning, cataloguing, collections databases, loans, conservation environments, museum law, and ethical practices.

526. Museum Curation and Programming. (3)

Prerequisite: Anthr 525.

Research and connoisseurship of anthropological collections, curatorial writing, law, and ethics as regards curatorial concerns. Current thought and literature in museum education.

530. Great Basin Archaeology. (3)

Overview of ethnography, history of research, and prehistory of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. Current issues also emphasized.

535. Southwest Seminar. (3)

Current issues in archaeological research in the American Southwest.

540. Issues in Historic Archaeology. (3)

In-depth review of issues, trends, and methods of historic archaeology.

550. (Anthr-Ling) Sociolinguistics. (3)

Research and theory in anthropological linguistics and sociolinguistics.

551. (Anthr-Ling) Anthropological Linguistics. (3)

Language in culture and society: development, typology, and description.

560. Comparative Mayan Linguistics. (3)

Grammatical, semantic, lexical, and phonological issues in comparative Mayan. Historical linguistics of the Mayan language family. Special emphasis on languages relevant to understanding classic Mayan language and script.

562. Formative Mesoamerica. (3)

Prerequisite: 30 hours of undergraduate courses, including Anthr 355.

Topics and issues concerning beginnings and development of Mesoamerican civilizations. Mexican and preclassic Mayan antecedents of classic Mayan civilization and culture.

564. Classic Mayan Civilization. (3)

Prerequisite: 30 hours of undergraduate anthropology courses, including Anthr 355.

Topics and issues concerning archaeological and cultural aspects of classic Mayan civilization and society.

566. Mayan Ethnohistory. (3)

Prerequisite: 30 hours of undergraduate anthropology courses, including Anthr 355.

Topics and issues of cultural change, colonization, and documentation of change processes in the Mayan region, from the postclassic period and independence from Spain.

568. Modern Mayan Society. (3)

Prerequisite: 30 hours of undergraduate anthropology courses, including Anthr 326.

Advanced analysis of cultural process issues among the Maya, from their independence from Spain to the present.

572. Ancient Mayan Writing 1. (3)

Nature and content of Mayan hieroglyphic writing, from AD 100 to 1600. Methods of decipherment, introduction to textual analysis, and application to interpreting Mayan language, art, world view, and society. Explorations of literacy and the Mesoamerican background of Mayan script.

574. Ancient Mayan Writing 2. (3)

Prerequisite: Anthr 372 or 572.

Advanced study of Mayan heiroglyphic writing. Guided workshop with focus on inscriptions, rituals, dynastic history, and linguistic records from major Mayan cities. Emphasis on archaeological setting and preparation of technical commentaries.

575. Writing Systems. (3)

Prerequisite: 30 hours of undergraduate anthropology courses.

Comparative study of writing around the world, with special emphasis on ancient scripts. Topics include: linguistic concepts; social, political, and economic function of early script; ancient literacy; development and extinction of script.

580. Near East Seminar. (3)

Prerequisite: 30 hours of undergraduate anthropology courses.

Current issues in Near Eastern archaeological research.

585. Current Issues in African Ethnography. (3)

Prerequisite: Anthr 330 or instructor's consent.

Current anthropological issues: the rise of markets and labor systems; statism and nationalism; change in domestic life; globalization of African culture; tradition amidst change.

590R. Seminar. (2-3)

Special topics in archaeology.

596. Museum Projects. (3)

Prerequisite: Anthr 475 or equivalent; instructor's consent.

Students supervised in one or more museum projects, such as producing an exhibition, developing educational materials, and accessing collections.

599. Federal Agency Internship. (1-6)

Earning credit while employed in federal agency archaeology. Agencies include the BLM and U.S. Forest Service.

625R. Issues in Mesoamerican Prehistory. (3)

Current issues in archaeological research in Mesoamerica.

655R. Field School Supervision. (2)

694R. Readings. (1-3)

Prerequisite: supervising instructor's consent.

Reading about 1,000 pages per credit hour and providing required products.

695R. Research. (1-6)

Prerequisite: completion of 18 hours of 500-level core curriculum for MA program.

Field research, data acquisition, and data analysis. Must be thesis related.

699R. Master's Thesis. (1-9)

FACULTY 

BERGE, DALE L., Professor. PhD, University of Arizona, 1968. Historical Archaeology.

CLARK, JOHN E., Associate Professor. PhD, University of Michigan, 1994. Archaeology; Political and Economic Institutions; Cultural Evolution.

CRANDALL, DAVID P., Assistant Professor. DPhil, Oxford University, 1993. Social Anthropology; South Africa; Kinship, Ritual, and Symbols.

FORSYTH, DONALD W., Professor. PhD, University of Pennsylvania, 1979. Archaeology; Ceramic Analysis; Ethnohistory.

HAWKINS, JOHN P., Professor. PhD, University of Chicago, 1978. Social Anthropology; Ethnicity; Kinship and Family.

HOUSTON, STEVEN D., Professor. PhD, Yale University, 1987. Archaeology; Mayan Writing Systems; Complex Societies.

JANETSKI, JOEL C., Associate Professor. PhD, University of Utah, 1983. Archaeology; Ethnohistory; Hunter-Gatherer Studies.

JOHNSON, DAVID J., Associate Professor. PhD, University of Utah, 1987. Archaeology; Archeometry; Ancient Trade, Near East.

MATHENY, RAY T., Professor. PhD, University of Oregon, 1968. Archaeology; Ceramic Typology; Mesoamerica.

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