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The purpose of the M.A. program is to provide advanced-level training in socio-cultural anthropology and archaeology to prepare students for research at the Ph.D. level.

The Development Studies Option (DSO) is a cross-disciplinary M.A. program that is unique in Canada, if not the world, because it is designed to provide students with a strong practical and theoretical foundation for engaging in genuinely cross-disciplinary research. The option is offered within existing M.A. and Ph.D. programs in the departments of Geography, History, Political Science, Anthropology, Economics, and Sociology. This thesis option is open to master's students specializing in development studies. Students enter through one of the participating departments and must meet the M.A. or Ph.D. requirements of that unit. Students will take an interdisciplinary seminar and a variety of graduate-level courses on international development issues. The M.A. or Ph.D. thesis must be on a topic relating to development studies, approved by the DSO coordinating committee.

The Environment option is aimed at students who wish to use interdisciplinary approaches in their graduate research on environmental issues and who wish to benefit from interaction with students from a wide range of different disciplines. Through research, seminars, and three courses, this option adds an interdisciplinary layer that will challenge students to defend their research and think in a broader context. The graduate option in Environment provides students with an appreciation for the role of science in informed decision-making in the environmental sector, and its influence on political, socio-economic, and ethical judgments. Students who have been admitted through their home department or faculty may apply for admission to the option. Option requirements are consistent across academic units. The option is coordinated by the Bieler School of Environment (BSE), in partnership with participating academic units.

The graduate option in Gender and Women’s Studies is an interdisciplinary program for students who meet degree requirements in Anthropology (and other participating departments and faculties), who wish to earn 6 credits of approved coursework focusing on gender and women’s studies, and issues in feminist research and methods. The thesis must be on a topic centrally related to gender and/or women’s studies.

The M.A. program in Medical Anthropology is given jointly by the Department of Anthropology and the Department of Social Studies of Medicine (SSOM). The program is open to students with backgrounds in the social sciences, the medical professions, or the medical sciences.

The M.A. in Anthropology (Non-Thesis) provides an intensive, course-based training in the fundamentals of anthropological theory and methodology over three semesters. The program is designed as a rigorous and comprehensive preparation for subsequent specialization in sociocultural anthropology, archaeology, or medical anthropology at the Ph.D. level.

The purpose of the Ph.D. program is to enable students to make original contributions to research in socio-cultural anthropology, archaeology, and medical anthropology in the form of a doctoral thesis. The program offers fieldwork-based doctoral training for students wishing to concentrate on different geographic areas (including Africa, Latin America, Europe, North America, and Asia).

The Ph.D. program in Neotropical Environment (NEO) is a specialized, interdisciplinary program made possible by collaborating institutions in Canada, Panama, and the United States. Students will complete their research in Latin America, and NEO's core and complementary courses will be taught in Panama. NEO is aimed at students who wish to focus their graduate research on environmental issues relevant to the neotropics and Latin American countries. Students work under the supervision of researchers from Æ»¹ûÒùÔº and/or the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI). This is a research-based option for Ph.D. students in the departments of Anthropology, Biology, Bioresource Engineering, Geography, Natural Resource Sciences, Plant Science, and Political Science at Æ»¹ûÒùÔº.