Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Evolutionary Anthropology

Evolutionary anthropology is the study of humankind's place in nature. The central questions of this unique discipline revolve around how humans arose from our primate ancestors, how our distinctive attributes – such as enhanced cognitive abilities, striding bipedal locomotion, and our extraordinary connections with culture and technology – came to be, and why, from an evolutionary perspective, we behave the way we do. Our doctoral program provides students with foundational course work and guides them through the development of a dissertation project. The program is designed to be completed in five years, and our students are fully funded (tuition, fees, health insurance, and stipend) by the Graduate School for that interval. Features of the program include: A two-semester tutorial, taught by the entire faculty of the department, that covers major intellectual issues in the field of Evolutionary Anthropology. Coursework designed to develop academic competence in the core knowledge areas and research skills of the discipline. Service as a teaching assistant in lecture and laboratory classes to promote the development of effective teaching skills. Structured writing and presentation experiences designed to improve scientific writing and oral presentation skills. We encourage informal presentations to the department community in an atmosphere that promotes the exchange of useful feedback on both the student’s research and presentation.