Requirements
The department encourages students to pursue independent courses of study and has minimal specific requirements. The major requirements for the completion of a degree are discussed below; further details will be provided upon matriculation, or on request.
Course requirements: Students generally enroll in course for credit until they have completed their preliminary exam. These courses may be a combination of formal courses in BAA or other departments, tutorials or independent studies.
All students must complete one graduate level course in each of the following areas: evolutionary theory, behavior and ecology, evolutionary history or systematics, morphology, and statistics and/or experimental design. All students must take gross human anatomy. At least two courses must be taken from a department other than BAA. Other courses are selected in consultation with the student's advisors.
Some courses currently offered in the Department of Biological Anthropology and Anatomy include:- Tropical Ecology
- Functional and Evolutionary Morphology of Primates
- Comparative Primate Ecology
- Primate Social Evolution
- The Primate Fossil Record
- The Hominid Fossil Record
- Evolution of Mammals
- Social Behavior and Evolutionary Changes
- Biometry
- Macroevolution
- Topics in Morphology and Evolution
- Gross Human Anatomy
Language requrements: All students will be expected to demonstrate competency in at least one language other than English.
The preliminary exam, which consists of two parts: 1) A major paper, which is a comprehensive, problem-oriented literature review of the student's area of interest, and 2) a two- to three-hour oral exam covering both general knowledge in the fields of biological anthropology and anatomy and the content of the major paper.
The presentation of a 45-minute seminar by the end of the student's third year.
Dissertation proposal and defense: Subsequent to the major paper and preliminary exam, students must submit to the dissertation committee a written dissertation project.
Dissertation, departmental seminar, and dissertation defense.