Anthropology MA

Program Overview

The Department of Anthropology at Texas State prepares M.A. students for their future endeavors. M.A. students regularly take part in field schools and internships, collaborate with faculty on research projects, work with professionals on applied projects, present their research at professional conferences, and publish their work in academic journals.

Course Work

TXST offers an intense two-year M.A. program. During this time, students complete 36 credit hours, taking seminars in archaeology, biological anthropology, and cultural anthropology; data collection and analysis; and electives appropriate to their sub-discipline.

Thesis research is typically conducted during the summer between years one and two. In year two, students take six credit hours of thesis during the fall and spring semesters as they write their theses.

Program Details

The M.A. program at Texas State provides students with the solid foundation they need to become professional anthropologists.

Program Mission

At TXST Anthropology, we are transcending the borders that divide us and restrain us - whether that's transnational borders, disciplinary borders, or the borders between academic and practicing anthropologists. Our research and learning engage theoretically-grounded, evidence-based, applied, public, and creative anthropologies to make impacts beyond the borders of anthropology.

The mission of the M.A. program is to educate and train students to become professional, practicing anthropologists in the 21st century. M.A. students can focus their studies in archaeology, biological anthropology, or cultural anthropology.

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Career Options

Graduates of the program have successfully achieved professional careers in the corporate and business sector, public agencies, and non-profit and community-based organizations. Graduates have also successfully entered and completed top-tier doctoral programs.

Program Faculty

Faculty in the department conduct research across the world, in the U.S., and locally in Texas. Faculty regularly include M.A. students in their research and mentor them as they pursue their own projects.

The department also hosts the Center for Archaeological Studies, the Forensic Anthropology Center, and the InnoAnth Lab, all of which provide hands-on educational opportunities and training to ensure M.A. students have marketable skills for employment and/or the skills to continue their education in a Ph.D. program.