THE UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA
DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY

PH.D. PROGRAM IN ANTHROPOLOGY
WITH A SPECIALIZATION IN
CULTURAL HERITAGE STUDIES AND HISTORICAL ANTHROPOLOGY

The Department of Anthropology offers a program of graduate study leading to a Doctorate of Philosophy degree in Anthropology. Students can specialize in Cultural Heritage Studies or Historical Anthropology. While the program emphasizes all four fields of anthropology, the department will train doctoral students in cultural heritage studies, with a focus on cultural resource management and historical anthropology. The doctoral program caters to students who wish to study cultural heritage issues as an academic subject and those who wish to apply those skills in a broad range of non-academic employment opportunities.

Our department aims at producing the next generation of academic scholars and professionals in these growing anthropological sub-fields. The program is designed to train students in archaeology, ethnohistory, cultural resource management practices, ethnology, biological heritage and bio-cultural diversity, as well as indigenous language retention and preservation. Specifically, cultural heritage studies along with its parallel counterpart historical anthropology, draws from the concepts and methods of cultural heritage from a theoretical and methodological perspective, analyzing 'heritage' as an archaeological, ethnohistorical, social, biological, linguistic, and legal construct. Heritage is a complex system that reflects a socially and personally important set of cultural, linguistic, and biological attributes that has developed through historical processes and which have social and legal meanings as well as consequences. The concept also includes the primary principles of unity and diversity in that all people share a common heritage, but also recognizes diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Different notions of heritage are explored from a theoretical perspective using various anthropological and other relevant paradigms. The course of study will cover topics such as cultural resource management, social impact assessment, the interaction between cultures, invention of tradition through time, cultural landscapes, cultural property, biological heritage issues, culture and language retention.

It will incorporate a regional focus on the greater Northwest and Native North America, but with a strong comparative focus beyond the region. The program’s orientation will be on issues of common concern to anthropologists, cultural resource managers, ethnohistorians, and others who engage in cultural heritage research and activities.

Admissions

Applicants to the Ph.D. program should include a significant writing sample as part of their application. For students with a masters degree this should be their Masters level original work such as a thesis or professional paper. For students without a masters degree this should consists of a selection of term papers or research reports that they have completed.

Students in an M.A. or B.A./B.S. program (at The University of Montana or another institution) may apply for admission to the Ph.D. program up to one year before completing the M.A. degree, but their admission to the program will be provisional, contingent upon finishing their M.A. or B.A./B.S. program.

Graduate student applicants may apply online at http://www.umt.edu/grad/apply/default.htm

Degree Requirements

Advisor. The faculty will assign the student a Ph.D. committee chair upon acceptance into the Ph.D. program; and the student, in consultation with the chair, will select at least two more members for the committee within their first semester in the program. The Ph.D. committee chair will guide the student in choosing appropriate courses and research experiences to accomplish their desired educational outcomes, including serving as the dissertation committee chair. If a student’s interests change to the extent that another faculty member would be more appropriate as the dissertation committee chair the student may present a written petition to the graduate advising coordinator, who will consult with the student’s existing committee chair, the prospective new committee chair, the Department Chair, and any other relevant faculty in making a decision to grant the student’s request.

The requirements for earning the Ph.D. in Cultural Heritage Studies and Historical Anthropology are as follows:

1. Graduate Contract and Portfolio. The student and their Ph.D. committee will formulate a plan of study, in the form of a graduate contract, tailored to the student’s specific goals and consistent with Graduate School policy (section D.2000), within the student’s first semester of entering the program. The contract will state the student’s desired educational outcomes, the way in which the outcomes will be achieved, and the manner in which the outcomes will be assessed. The contract may only be altered with the approval of the student’s Ph.D. committee. The student will create and maintain a portfolio of work documenting progress toward fulfillment of the graduate contract.

2. Coursework. Students are expected to complete the following course requirements:
   1. A total of 30 credits beyond those required for the MA degree (total of at least 60 credits post bachelors degree).

   2. The core course sequence consisting of ANTH 600, 601, and 602.

   3. At least nine credits in research (ANTH 697) and/or dissertation (ANTH 699). Students may apply up to 10 credits of ANTH 593/597/599 or the equivalent and 10 credits of ANTH 697/699 or the equivalent toward the 60 post-baccalaureate credits required for the degree. After students have earned a M.A. degree they may not enroll in ANTH 593/597/599.

   4. Students may not count more than 6 credits in 300-level courses toward the Ph.D. degree.

3. Dissertation Research Proposal. Before accumulating 45 postbaccalaureate credits and before enrolling in ANTH 699 the student will develop a detailed dissertation research proposal. A funding proposal to an appropriate source may be substituted for the research proposal. At a minimum the proposal should include:
   1. The goal of the scholarly work, including hypotheses to be tested;

   2. The materials and methods to be used;

   3. A significant annotated bibiography or literature review;

   4. A completed, but not submitted, University of Montana Institutional Review Board for Human Subjects in Research checklist form if the scholarly work involves living human subjects.

   5. A completed, but not submitted, Graduate School Application for Graduation.

4. Dissertation Committee. After completion of the dissertation proposal the candidate will form a dissertation committee consisting of five members who meet the requirements listed in Graduate School Policy (sections D4.100 and D4.300), including one University of Montana -- Missoula faculty member who is outside Anthropology.

5. Comprehensive Examination. Each student will orally present their research proposal at a meeting with their dissertation committee. During this meeting the committee will ask questions designed to assess whether the proposal and the student’s background demonstrate the likelihood of successful completion of the dissertation research. The committee will also review the student’s portfolio to assess the student’s progress toward their desired outcomes. If the student has demonstrated substantial progress toward fulfillment of their graduate contract and is, in the opinion of the committee, prepared to undertake dissertation research, then they will be invited to continue work toward the completion of their dissertation. If deficiencies exist the committee may prescribe remedial action or direct the student toward graduation with a terminal M.A. degree. However, students may not earn a second M.A. degree in Anthropology from The University of Montana by this mechanism.

6. Dissertation Defense. After the dissertation is completed, the student’s dissertation committee will review it and ask the student to defend it following the process described in Graduate School policy (section D5.000).