Anthropology (MA)

The New School is a progressive university in New York City where scholars, artists, and designers come together to challenge convention and create positive change.

Founded in 1919, the university consists of Parsons School of Design, Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts, the College of Performing Arts, The New School for Social Research, and numerous renowned graduate programs. The New School’s rigorous, multidimensional approach to education gives students the academic freedom to shape their unique, individual paths of study for a complex and rapidly changing world.

About

The MA in Anthropology is a 30 credit program combining the theoretical and methodological foundations of social and cultural anthropology with an emphasis on the critical exploration of how ethnographic sensibilities matter in the world today.

The program is designed to provide students with a broad understanding of the development of anthropology within the social sciences and introduce them to key concepts and issues that shape contemporary fields of knowledge production.

Program highlights

• 30-credit MA, 60-credit Ph.D.
• Combine basic concepts of anthropology with a critical exploration of the nature and role of ethnography in this leading graduate program.
• Recent courses include Anthropology and Time; Epidemiology of Belief, Ethnography, and Writing; and In Search of the Political.

Curriculum

A full account of degree requirements and procedures is contained in the Anthropology departmental handbook.

To earn the MA in Anthropology, a student must complete a total of 30 credits, of which 18 credits must be listed or cross-listed in Anthropology. These 18 credits include core courses as well as courses within “Perspectives” and “Practices” categories.

“Perspectives” courses provide different points of view on the objects of anthropological research, while “Practices” courses emphasize how to approach these objects - from ethnographic fieldwork and other research methods to forms of writing or the discussion of ethical questions as they arise in the course of anthropological inquiries.

A maximum of three credits taken at another university may be granted toward the credit requirement for the master's degree. Twenty-seven credits must be completed at The New School for Social Research.

MA Written Examination

After completion of a minimum of 27 credits, students may petition to sit for the MA written examination, which consists of questions based primarily on the required course sequence. The exam is offered once each year, in the Spring. See the academic calendar for examination dates