Graduate Studies
Program Overview
Our graduate program offers courses and research opportunities leading to the M.A. degree. We offer courses in all four subfields of anthropology: archaeology, biological, cultural, and linguistic. In addition, you can also pursue an interdisciplinary graduate certificate in museum studies.
Graduate work in anthropology is designed to prepare you for teaching, conducting research in anthropology, practicing in applied anthropology, and continuing to doctoral study. You may choose either a coursework-based curriculum ending with comprehensive exams in all four subfields or a more focused track with research experience leading to a thesis. If you choose to pursue the thesis option, you are strongly encouraged to contact potential graduate advisors well in advance of the application deadline to discuss available options for research projects.
We are able to offer financial support to many of our graduate students through research and teaching assistantships. Applying for these types of financial support must be done separately from the admission application.
For more information on our program, refer to the graduate catalog.
Faculty Accepting Graduate Students
| Name | Specialty |
|---|---|
| Dana Bardolph | Archaeology, Midwestern U.S., Latin America, paleoethnobotany, foodways, gender equity, ethics |
| Giovanni Bennardo | Linguistic anthropology (code switching, conversation analysis, linguistic ideology Cognitive anthropology (cultural models) |
| Mitchell Irwin | Primatology/primate ecology. Professor Irwin is able to accept graduate students interested in pursuing independent research in primatology. Usually, this involves fieldwork in Madagascar and/or nutritional ecology lab work on the NIU campus. However, it is also possible to pursue other fieldwork sites or research with captive primate populations. |
| Judy Ledgerwood | Cultural Anthropology, Southeast Asia, Cambodia |
| Emily McKee | Nationalism, environment, farming, regional food systems, Middle East, United States |
| Micah Morton | Cultural anthropology; transnationalism, state-minority relations, social movements, religion and politics, spiritual ecology, ethnicity and nationalism and global Indigeneities in and beyond Southeast Asia and Southwest China |
| Leila Porter | primate behavior/primate ecology |
| Mark Schuller | NGO - Caribbean/Latin America |
