Overview
Anthropology has been taught at the University of Oklahoma since 1905 and became its own department in 1927. Celebrated faculty like Morris Opler and Robert Bell established the Department as a leader in the scholarly study of Native North America. In addition to conducting research in the southwest, southeast, and plains of North America, we have maintained a secondary emphasis on contemporary Latin America.
We offer an M.A. in anthropology, an M.A. in applied linguistic anthropology, and the only Ph.D. in anthropology in the state. Students receive rigorous training in the four subdisciplines of anthropology: sociocultural, archaeological, biological, and linguistic.With over twenty full-time professors and about seventy graduate students, degree candidates receive personalized attention from faculty mentors.
As part of a medium-sized department, our students benefit from the resources of a large research university while enjoying a nurturing intellectual environment. Our graduates have been successful in securing tenure-track academic jobs as well as positions in cultural resource management, museums, and government archaeology. For more information or to set up a meeting with faculty, contact the Graduate Liaison, Peter Cahn. For information on tuition and fees, you may use the Office of the Bursar tuition estimator.
Resources
The Department of Anthropology maintains close connections with several academic units across campus. The Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, the Oklahoma Archeological Survey, and the Center for Applied Social Research provide research and training opportunities for our students. Also, students can establish linguistic and ethnographic projects with the more than 35 Native American tribal entities across the state. The Department offers laboratory facilities for research in genetic and physical anthropology and archaeology as well as summer field schools in archaeology.
Financial support usually consists of a half-time graduate assistantship, usually as a grader for an undergraduate class or research assistant for a faculty member. Ph.D. students may teach their own classes. We fund master’s students for two years and doctoral students for a maximum of four years beyond the Master’s degree. In recent years, nearly all students who applied for funding received support from the Department. Our students have also been successful in obtaining extramural funding.
