Overview | Summary of Courses

Offered By:	ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences
Academic Contact:	admin.arch&anth@anu.edu.au

This specialisation is no longer accepting new applicants. Please see the entries for the Master of Anthropology (Program: 7116XMANTH) and the Graduate Certificate in Anthropology (Program: 6034XANTH).

The Master of Arts specialising in Anthropology is designed for students who have a background (often, a pass degree) in another field, who have developed an interest in anthropology, but who may have little formal background in the subject. The aim of the qualification is to provide such a student, at the intensity appropriate for graduates, with a grounding by coursework in anthropology, and to proceed from that to a supervised research thesis in the field. In the coursework component, some class sessions and assessment items are common with undergraduates, while others are distinct.

Prerequisites

Admission to the Master of Arts program is available by two means:

• Applicants for direct entry to the Master of Arts program should have obtained a Bachelor degree from an approved tertiary education institution, with passes at least at credit level in six courses other than first year courses; or
• Admission to Part B is available to students who have completed the coursework courses (36 units), or equivalent, for a Graduate Diploma of Arts, specialising in Anthropology with an overall average mark of 70%. In the case of students transferring from Graduate Diploma enrolment, the completed Graduate Diploma coursework will count as status for Part A of the MA degree.

In the case of students who enrol initially for the MA but who fail to achieve the required 70% average mark for coursework, they will have the option of reverting to Graduate Diploma enrolment and having that credential awarded on the basis of the level of coursework completed.

Requirements

The degree is in two parts. In Part A, candidates are required normally to complete courses to the value of 36 units taught in the area of their specialization.

In order to proceed from Part A to Part B, a candidate must pass each course at their first attempt and achieve an overall 70% average or better.

Part B comprises an additional 36 units, normally comprising a thesis of between 25,000-30,000 words. The thesis is individually supervised and each student should contact potential supervisor(s) to discuss topic interests, towards the end of the coursework period at the latest.

For a candidate to meet the requirements for admission to the degree, he or she must achieve a result of at least 70% (H2A) in the sub-thesis (Part B) component. A candidate's degree performance will be determined as a fail where this result is not achieved.

The information published on the Study at ANU 2011 website applies to the 2011 academic year only. All information provided on this website replaces the information contained in the Study at ANU 2010 website.