Master in Anthropology

The most important characteristics of our program include the following: The Department maintains a commitment to a four-field approach to graduate training despite an apparent national trend towards increasing specialization at earlier levels of graduate training. We feel that a substantial background in sociocultural anthropology, biological anthropology, anthropological archaeology, and linguistics is essential to student training irrespective of sub-disciplinary specialization.

Current theoretical approaches to problems of anthropological interest increasingly blur the traditional distinctions between sub-disciplines. Students with only minimal cross-quadrant training will be equally limited in their choice of future research topics. Further, in an increasingly difficult job market, there is growing pressure for a more generalized competency. As anthropology PhDs increasingly find employment in smaller institutions and outside academia, the drawbacks of highly specialized, wholly thesis-focused graduate programs become more serious. We feel that a student with a solid four-field background can readily opt to specialize, while one-talent specialists are hard to retrain as generalists.

The Department maintains stringent degree requirements such that students who complete the program have reached a level of training equivalent to, if not superior to virtually any other anthropology Master's program in the country.

At Hunter College, we offer more than 170 rich and challenging academic programs that equip students with a global outlook and the expertise to thrive in their chosen careers.

Hunter College of the City University of New York, a distinguished public university, values learning in the liberal arts and sciences as a cornerstone of individual development and a vital foundation for a more just and inclusive society. Continuing our long tradition of expanding opportunity, we seek students from all backgrounds to engage in a rigorous educational experience that prepares them to become leaders and innovators in their communities and in the world. Hunter also contributes to an intellectual discourse by supporting excellent scholarship and creative activity by its accomplished faculty.

Hunter undergraduate, graduate, and professional curricula challenge students to think critically—to approach problems from multiple perspectives, distinguish the questions each raises, and recognize the kinds of evidence for each value. The College’s academic programs stress the significance of human diversity, emphasize research and artistic creation, and invite students to extend their education beyond campus. We cultivate the qualities our graduates need to thrive in their chosen careers and make a difference as active citizens.