Anthropology Doctoral Candidacy Requirements

Department of Anthropology and Archaeology Graduate Program

Looking for a downloadable PDF version? View PDF

Statement of purpose

The candidacy requirements in the Anthropology program are designed to provide a student with the background necessary to be a professional in their field, and to assess the ability of the student to conduct independent research leading to the successful completion of a dissertation. Anthropology is a broadly defined discipline that requires a thorough understanding of method, theory, and analysis of data. This disciplinary knowledge is both acquired through graduate-level courses selected in consultation with the supervisor and evaluated through a series of examinations. A detailed and well-crafted research design is a necessary component of any successful doctoral research project, and is developed through a written dissertation proposal.

Candidacy components

Doctoral students may enter the PhD program directly, or bypass into the program following the first year of their MA program (with permission of the department).

All doctoral students in the Anthropology Graduate Program must successfully complete the following components:

  1. All course requirements
  2. A written dissertation proposal
  3. A second-language proficiency exam
  4. A written field of study examination
  5. An oral field of study examination

Timeline for PhD students that is normally followed

  1. By the end of the 12th month in the PhD program, all course requirements should be completed.
  2. By the end of the 20th month in the PhD program, the second-language proficiency examination should be completed.
  3. By the end of the 24th month in the PhD program, the written dissertation proposal that has been approved by the supervisory committee should be completed.
  4. By the end of the 28th month in the PhD program, the Written and the Oral Field of Study Examinations should be completed.

Timeline for by-pass PhD students that is normally followed

  1. By the end of the 20th month in the graduate program, all course requirements should be completed.
  2. By the end of the 28th month in the graduate program, the second language proficiency examination should be completed.
  3. By the end of the 32nd month in the graduate program, the written dissertation proposal that has been approved by the supervisory committee should be completed.
  4. By the end of the 36th month in the graduate program, the Written and the Oral Field of Study Examinations should be completed.

Written dissertation proposal

The examining committee for the written dissertation proposal consists of the supervisory committee. In consultation with the student, the supervisory committee will clearly communicate to the student what constitutes an acceptable written dissertation proposal. When preparing a dissertation proposal, students are expected to include the following sections: Background, Statement of Purpose or Hypotheses, Methods, and Significance. Normally, the proposal will contain an extensive Literature Review, Predictions, a Timeline, and a Budget.

The date by which the thesis proposal must be submitted will be set by the supervisor in consultation with the supervisory committee. On that date by 4:30 pm, the thesis proposal will be presented to the supervisory committee. A digital version of the thesis proposal submitted by email is acceptable, if it is followed with a hard copy within 24 hours. The committee members have two weeks to read the dissertation proposal.

Outcome of the written dissertation proposal

The written dissertation proposal will be evaluated by the student’s supervisory committee. Upon receiving a copy of the dissertation proposal, the supervisory committee will have two weeks to review the proposal. After reviewing the proposal, each supervisory committee member will send a written recommendation indicating approval or non-approval to the supervisor. Unanimous approval by the committee is necessary for the student to satisfy this requirement. At the discretion of the supervisor, a meeting can be arranged with the student to discuss any comments or feedback on the written dissertation proposal from the supervisory committee.

Criteria for approval consists of a dissertation proposal presenting a viable program of research that is well-situated within the discipline of Anthropology, grounded in an appropriate theoretical framework, and engaging suitable methods.

Once the written dissertation proposal has been approved, each member of the supervisory committee will sign the dissertation proposal approval form. The completed form will then be forwarded to the Graduate Program Director for her/his signature and will be added to the student’s file.

If a student’s written dissertation proposal is not approved, each member of the supervisory committee will provide a detailed letter to the supervisor, outlining why the proposal does not satisfy the requirement. Each letter must be received no later than five business days from when the written recommendation for rejection was received by the supervisor.

The student must revise the proposal as necessary and re-submit it to the supervisory committee within six months. If a written dissertation proposal is unacceptable a second time, then the student will be required to withdraw from the program.

The second language proficiency examination

The second-language proficiency examination is normally scheduled by the end of the 20th month in program. The exam is arranged by the supervisor, who invites a faculty member who is not on the supervisory committee to administer and evaluate the exam. The faculty member who is invited to administer and evaluate the exam, henceforth called the examiner, should be a fluent speaker of the language which is to be examined. There are two types of second language examinations. The first case relates to situations where a student must use a second language to access the anthropological or other relevant literature in that language. The second case relates to situations where a student has to demonstrate competency in a “field” language, in order to conduct fieldwork in a specific community. The supervisor, in consultation with the supervisory committee, will determine which examination the student will undertake, and will schedule the exam.

In the first case (literature language), the exam will normally consist of summarizing in English one or two articles in the chosen second language. The student, in consultation with the examiner, will select the article(s). The article(s) selected must be on topics related to student’s area of studies. The student is given one week to summarize the article(s) and provide a 2-3 page summary to the examiner.

In the second case (field language), the examiner will carry out a 30-45 minute oral conversation with the student to determine fluency. This can be conducted by video or telephone conference call.

Outcome of the second language proficiency examination

The examiner reviews the summary and matches its contents to the original articles(s) to determine pass or fail.

Criteria for a recommendation of pass for a literature language examination consists of an accurate account in the English translation of the meaning and structure of the original text.

Criteria for a recommendation of pass for a field language examination consists of competency (spoken) in the language which will enable the student to conduct all necessary field research.

If the examiner recommends a fail on the second language proficiency examination, then the supervisor in consultation with the student and the examiner will provide written feedback to aid the student in improvement. A re-take of the examination will be scheduled no sooner than three, but no later than six months after the original exam.

The examination committee for the Written Field of Study Examination will consist of the supervisory committee, one faculty member from the student’s program, and one faculty member from outside of the student’s program.

Normally, immediately following the successful conclusion of evaluating the dissertation proposal, the supervisory committee and student will agree on the two areas of interest. These areas will be communicated (in writing) to the student at this time, with copies to other members of the Field of Study Examination committee, and to the Graduate Program Director.

No less than eight weeks before the proposed date of the Oral Field of Study Examination, the supervisor in consultation with members of the supervisory committee and the student will select the two additional members of the examination committee (described above).

The two areas of interest will also be communicated to the two other members of the Field of Study Examination committee at this time.

The Field of Study Examination committee will meet no less than six weeks prior to the proposed date of the Oral Field of Study Examination to prepare one question per area of interest.

Four weeks before the date of the Oral Field of Study examination, at 8:30 am, the two questions prepared by the examination committee will be presented to the student in the form of a take-home, open-book examination. Two weeks after receiving the questions, by 4:30 pm, the student will submit her or his written answers to the supervisor. Answers may be submitted in electronic format (i.e. as an email attachment), followed by a hard copy within 24 hours of the deadline for submission, if the latter is requested.

The student should research and respond to each question in the form of an essay. Each essay should be approximately 25 to 30 pages long, including references cited. The text is to be double-spaced using 12-point font on pages with normal margins.

At least two weeks before the scheduled date of the Oral Field of Study Examination, all members of the examination committee receive copies of the Written Field of Study Examination. They will be asked to read and evaluate the student’s responses to the two questions prior to the Oral Field of Study Examination.

The examiners will contact the supervisor five days prior to the scheduled Oral Field of Study Examination, indicating a pass or fail and adding comments where appropriate. The supervisor will then communicate the results of the Written Field of Study to the student in advance of the Oral Field of Study examination. If the result is a fail, then the Oral Field of Study examination will be rescheduled between two and six months from the examination’s original scheduled date (see section F below for possible outcomes of the Written and Oral Field of Study Examinations).

The committee for Oral Field of Study Examination is the same as for the Written Field of Study Examination. In addition, the Oral Field of Study Examination will be chaired by a Neutral Chair.

The Oral Field of Study Examination is scheduled no later than four weeks in advance.

The Oral Field of Study Examination provides students with an opportunity to discuss and elaborate on their written Field of Study Examination responses, as well as to be questioned orally about their areas of interest. Oral Field of Study Examinations in Anthropology are not meant to be comprehensive to the entire discipline. The Written Field of Study Examination is understood to serve as the basis from which the Oral Field of Study Examination shall proceed. However, members of the examining committee are not limited to the written component in framing the questions asked, and questioning may range into cognate areas.

The Oral Field of Study Examination will be chaired by a Neutral Chair. The Chair will facilitate rounds of questions to the student and ensure that all relevant Faculty of Graduate Studies policies and protocols are followed. The duration of the exam will not exceed two hours, excluding time for deliberations or breaks in the examination approved by the Neutral Chair.

Examiners may use the responses to the Written Field of Study Examination as a foundation for questions in the oral examination or they may seek clarification about the written responses. They may also ask students to defend their written responses, provided that the lines of questioning are meant to test the understanding of the student and not re-evaluate the written answers.

The Neutral Chair will ensure that examiners ask clear and succinct questions and that the student has ample time to respond or seek clarification to each question. If the student has understood the question and cannot answer, the examiner should pass to another question and not engage in a prolonged interrogation of the student.

The Field of Study Examinations (Oral and Written) will be evaluated as a pass or fail, independently but sequentially, with the Written Field of Study exam being evaluated five days prior to the Oral Field of Study exam. A failure is indicated by two or more examination committee members that vote for a failed Field of Study examination; otherwise, that Field of Study examination will be considered a pass (i.e., a single vote for a fail results in a pass for an examination).

The Neutral Chair will solicit a straw ballot for the Oral Examination and then facilitate deliberations by the Examination Committee. When possible, the Examination Committee will seek to reach a unanimous decision on the Oral Field of Study examination, although a unanimous decision is not required (see above). When deliberations are complete, the Neutral Chair will record the final outcome for each component and have each committee member record their vote on the designated form. The Neutral Chair will then immediately inform the student about the recommendation of the Examining Committee on the outcome of the Field of Study examinations. In the instance of a fail recommendation, the Graduate Program Director may uphold the fail in the case of a clear fail or refer to FGS for decision in the case of an unclear fail.

If a student fails the Written Field of Study Examination, then one re-take of the written examination will be permitted, provided it can be accomplished within FGS program deadlines. The conduct for the re-take of the Written Field of Study Examination will follow that of the original Written Field of Study Examination. If a student fails the Oral Field of Study Examination, then one re-take of the oral exam will be permitted, provided they can do so within the FGS program deadlines. The conduct for the re-take of the Oral Field of Study Examination will follow that of the original Oral Field of Study Examination.

A re-take of the Written and/or the Oral Field of Study Examination must occur between two and six months following the date of the first examination. If a student fails either examination component (written or oral) twice, they will be required to withdraw from the Program.

Committee procedures for failed Field of Study Examinations

If a student does not pass a Field of Study Examination component (written or oral), each member of the examination committee will provide a detailed letter to the Graduate Program Director (or the Head of the Department or delegate, the Graduate Program Director evaluated the failed component) stating the rationale for his or her evaluation. The Neutral Chair will also provide a letter than details the examination procedures, including timings and any irregularities that may have been observed. Each letter must be delivered to the Head or the Graduate Program Director no later than five business days following the date of the failed Field of Study Examination. If the fail recommendation is upheld, within five business days of receiving the letters from the committee, and after consultation with the Supervisor, the Graduate Program Director summarizes the essential points from the letter to the student, copied to the Supervisor and FGS (gpoform@ucalgary.ca).