Degree Requirements for the MA in History and Historical Archaeology Track
Students in this track take a combination of history and anthropology courses totaling 35 credit hours. Required courses in history include:
Required anthropology courses include
- ANTH 575 (Cultural Theory in Anthropology) that provides students with an overview of anthropological theory and its historical roots
- AN 565 (Graduate Seminar in Archaeology) which focuses on current theoretical issues in archaeology and their methodological implications
- AN 525 (New England Historical Archaeology) a five credit course that includes a laboratory designed to provide students with a thorough background in contemporary historical archaeology.
Special emphasis is placed on the growing internationalization of the field, theoretical issues, the interpretation of material culture, and interdisciplinary analysis in historical archaeology. Specialized training in environmental archaeology, forensic osteology and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) applications is also available.
All students are required to complete
- one additional elective in anthropology or related field
- an archaeological field school (ANTH 585)
- a thesis (ANTH 599) based on original research.
Thesis research normally involves the analysis of material culture or environmental data from archaeological sites, collections based research or documentary analysis. The thesis is prepared under the supervision of a faculty advisor and defended before a committee of three faculty members.