thesis statement for anthropology

Anthropology Thesis Statement Examples

The anthropological thesis statements are one of the most crucial elements of most essays or research papers. What your research will demonstrate and what you hope to persuade your readers once they have read your thesis is stated in your thesis statement. This is the core of the entire piece and explains precisely what you hope to accomplish and what you hope to establish or refute. This thesis statement will serve as the foundation for the whole of the work unless you are recording research or writing a purely descriptive essay, in which case you should consider it carefully.

What Function Does a Thesis Statement Serve?

The primary idea and central argument of a paper should be highlighted in the thesis statement. Without it, the reader lacks the basis to comprehend the arguments, examples, and data the author uses to support their points throughout the paper. A paper without a thesis statement would be made up of unrelated facts and ideas. A thesis statement provides a conclusion and the framework for how a writer will get there. A paper without a thesis statement is like giving someone random directions with no goal in mind.

Below are 31 anthropology thesis statements that will give you an idea of how to write an anthropology thesis statement;

Expanding on Levi- Strauss’s Analysis of Social Structures

Strauss claims that structuralism encompasses a broad spectrum of social processes. He maintained that the structures of a primitive mind and a civilized mind are the same and that human qualities are universally shared at their core. What precisely was Strauss’ notion of structuralism, how far could it be applied, and is there any relevance for it in terms of how historians view the past?

The Selfie’s Effects on Culture and Society

Selfies have been taken and shared using technology for almost 20 years, and the practice is still thriving as a digital ethnographic habit. Although taking this kind of picture is a simple process, there is undoubtedly a more profound knowledge of the human and cultural contexts underlying these visual representations. The cultural and societal elements included in selfies must be examined with references to anthropological ideas.

In the Genetic Age, Anthropology of “Others” and Bioculturalism

In recent decades, there has been a change in the epistemology of the study of “identity.” For a long time, anthropologists have worked to separate identity from the idea of a fixed object of study, claiming that this idea is solely the result of social performance and has a collective aspect that results from navigating existing political institutions. However, human genomics research advances counter this perspective because identity or distinctions have a biological basis. Through several different avenues of inquiry, anthropology has started to explore these issues: How has this recent genetic research affected how people develop identities and understand their heritage? What conceptual or methodological foundations enable anthropology to deal with the fallout from the genetic revolution?

Forensic Anthropology’s Code of Ethics

According to research, forensic anthropology is a susceptible field that calls for professionalism and dedication from all parties involved. While pursuing their education, conducting their research, and developing their careers, forensic anthropologists run across several ethical dilemmas. It is urgently necessary to review forensic anthropology’s current ethics condition regarding its application, level of professionalism, and resolving numerous legal issues.

Signaling in Human Breasts

Darwin theorized that the form of human breasts is peculiar among mammals and may have evolved to improve mating success by alluring partners. On our globe, there are more than 5,000 different species of mammals, but only homo sapiens have permanent breasts. To produce milk, all other mammals generate transient breasts during ovulation or when feeding a newborn. However, a female human’s breasts grow throughout puberty, indicating a different evolutionary process. There are various theories about why human breasts are continuously engorged, but the exact cause is unknown.  

Anthropological Studies and the Concept of Culture

Although the concept of culture may become more prevalent in public discourse, anthropology has instead witnessed a gradual trend away from culture. In anthropological discourse, the idea of culture remains problematic since it presumes a self-other dichotomy, reinforcing divisions that inevitably result in a hierarchy. But what is the reason for anthropologists’ lack of enthusiasm for culture? Though culture may no longer serve as an analytical notion for anthropology, it is nonetheless more crucial than ever as an ethnographic research subject. However, if we suppose that culture is a flawed organizing principle for anthropology, it should still be retained because it is still incredibly effective in helping anthropology solve the problems of the twenty-first century.

Factors Behind Different Societies’ Death Rituals

The reactions to death vary depending on the traditions and beliefs in the society, even though death is a universal component that affects everyone in all civilizations. The deceased’s individuality is preserved in various cultures and is honored through funeral rites. The anthropological study of funeral ceremonies is essential to comprehending the complexity of death as the globe becomes more interlinked. This makes it easier to understand, respect, and react in meaningful ways to cultures distinct from one’s own. From an anthropological perspective, the ritualistic nature of the death ceremony and its social functions hold different meanings.

Study on Chinese Students’ Perceptions of the Giant Panda

People in China, the giant panda’s native country, have shown a willingness to pay (WTP) for the species’ preservation, which is sufficient evidence that this endearing animal may find a home. Yang (2005) examines the connection between Chinese people’s attitudes toward the giant panda and the portrayal of the animal in the media. She concludes that the attitude in China is probably more likely to be linked to symbolic and domestic values than ecological and scientific values. However, since this judgment was made based on the literature study, it may not accurately represent how people feel. Thus, further research into this mindset is necessary.

AIDS Prevention Project and the New Paradigm Fund, Edward C.

The eminent anthropologist Edward C. Green’s life and career are examined in this paper. The Harvard AIDS Prevention Project, founded and led by Edward Green to reduce the prevalence of HIV and other infectious diseases in Africa and other parts of the world, will also be highlighted in combination with his biography in this paper. Edward Green, an anthropologist, had different ideas about how to fight AIDS and spent the rest of his life and career working to improve health outcomes for underserved groups of people. The perspective presented in this paper will contrast the conventional biomedical understanding of AIDS and ways to prevent it.  

China’s Individualism: A TV Case Study

A revolution that tends to strengthen an individual’s rights is individualism. A practice like this is common in nations like America. The locals there want everyone to have ample personal space without being bothered by the name of any authority or power. In contrast, collectivism—the exact opposite culture or practice—predominates in China. Here, neither an individual’s wish nor thought is given priority. They work together to achieve group success because they value collective intelligence. A similar technique might likewise require everyone to think the same thing. However, they have been adhering to this culture for a long time.

Ethnicity and Acculturation in Consumer Behavior

 Cultural processes—in particular, what has come to be known as acculturation—help us to understand the purchasing habits of consumers from ethnic minorities. It is crucial to demonstrate how acculturation affects ethnic minority consumers’ purchasing decisions and how it aids in understanding their buying habits.

Whistleblowers: Ethical Conundrums and Government Function

In most civilized nations, all professional occupations are performed within the confines of a specific Code of Conduct that is publicly known and understood by employers and employees. In uniformed groups like police forces, whistle-blowing tends to get more attention from academics with various backgrounds, including political science, history, law, sociology, and psychology. We must understand who whistleblowers are, their work, and the moral problems they encounter while carrying out their jobs, notably in law enforcement (Police Officers).

The Cornerstone Of Social Life Is Exchange

The transfer of items between social and actors is referred to as “exchange” in the Encyclopedia of Social and Cultural Anthropology. Things can be words or things, human or animal, material or immaterial. The actors could be one-off people, a group, or supernatural beings like gods and spirits. In a broad sense, commerce and barter are two examples of exchanges. It can be said that the exchange of gifts forms the cornerstone of social life.

Evolution of Primate Body Structure and Movement

Even though humans no longer primarily live in trees, they retain some physical adaptations for climbing them. Their hands, in particular, still maintain an arboreal shape. Through the evolution of primates, several changes in movement and body structure took place. Some of these changes are obvious, while others call for more in-depth study.  

Perspective on Sickle Cell Disease: Genetic Anthology

Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) is inherited, which means that genes from one set of parents are passed on to the next. Two defective hemoglobin genes, one from each parent, are inherited by people with SCD. SCD can take many forms, but the most severe and prevalent one, sickle cell anemia, disproportionately affects African-Americans and Hispanics in the US. SCD has possible hereditary benefits, social ramifications, and present societal repercussions.

Impact of Casual Clothing at Work

The need to return to a condition of elegance as a new approach to displaying professionalism and the gradual but steady shift away from the formal dress code are the two main drivers of the rising trend of casual wearing in the financial sector, with particular attention in Bank of America. Casual attire has its potential repercussions within the setting of Bank of America.

Islamic Law and Property Ownership

 This paper highlights the influence of Islam on Muslim women’s property ownership. Look at what the Islamic faith says about women owning property and the current reality, how the Islamic faith interacts with custom and the law and how it affects how Muslim women possess property in Muslim-majority areas.

A History of Interpreting Indigenous Culture through Art

To address the question of how contemporary Indigenous artwork, such as paintings and films, has lessened the stereotypes created by non-Indigenous people, this research paper will discuss the differences in Indigenous artwork throughout history.

Modern Behavior: African Stone Age Records from the Middle Stone Age

Developed behavioral characteristics that we connect with “modern” humans are called behavioral modernity. What we now categorize as modern human behaviors are cultural universals common by all people; these behaviors include characteristics like language, religion, and decorating, or what are referred to as the “behavioral B’s”: blades, beads, burials, manufacturing bone tools, and beauty. We need to look for the arguments supporting the identification of contemporary behavioral tendencies in the African Middle Stone Age (MSA) record.

Canadian Poverty’s Root Causes

This research examines some of the factors contributing to poverty in Canada against the contentious causes of poverty, paying particular attention to whether those who are poor voluntarily choose to be such. Even though some human characteristics may account for the poor, the study contends that poverty is also a result of structural flaws and that no matter how much individual reforms are made, poverty will endure if commensurate structural changes are not implemented.

Chiefdoms And Tribes: Their Differences

Two distinct African chiefdoms are the Mayogo in the Northern Democratic Republic of Congo and the Swazi in Southern Africa. The existence of the two chiefdoms within the borders of numerous African nations is explained by the fact that they share more in common with states than with tribes. The chiefdom and the state have many similarities, which accounts for why there is less friction between the two institutions than between the state and the tribe. The research paper will focus on kinship, marriage, and citizenship to study the two chiefdoms of Mayogo and Swazi through comparison with the nation and the tribe.

Marriage Rituals Interpreted Symbolically: Kom Marriage

It depends on the individual whether the marriage is monogamous or polygamous in Kom. Other types of marriage include civil unions and religious unions. Conventional marriage consists of three basic phrases, and families can follow all three or just one. The Kom people have witnessed an evolution in marriage rituals and practices as time has passed, which is why this essay will attempt to determine when a marriage has changed. What factors have triggered evolution? And how it affects customary marriage rituals and the Kom tradition, which the locals view as detrimental to their way of life.

Gujarati Immigrants’ Integration In Britain

Understanding the relationships between social and economic integration and involvement in international activities is necessary. Since Gujaratis are usually recognized as being among the wealthiest, most successful, and most devout South Asian immigrants to Britain, they must be focused upon. 

Perception Of Parents Having Children With Down Syndrome

This paper is based on a comparison of how African and Western cultures see parents of children with Down syndrome. While the case study for the West will be based on ethnographic research with a family in Leuven, the case study for Africa will be based on my experience with Down syndrome children in Bamenda and other available material. This study will look at the various theories on the origins of Down syndrome and how they affect the interaction between the family and the child with the condition. This study will also examine the types of care offered in these various cultural contexts.

Bahrain: Case Study on Career Discrimination and Gender

The case details the professional life and choices Ellen Moore made regarding her job while living abroad in Bahrain in the 1980s. Regarding her academic and professional background, Ellen is remarkable and competent. She immediately joined her spouse in Bahrain to begin work as a financial specialist after earning an MBA.

Obesity in Children: Determinants and Solutions

Obesity is a severe accumulation of fat that causes a person’s weight gain to be at least 20% higher than their ideal weight. Physiological, emotional, and familial factors can all contribute to childhood obesity. However, a small proportion of inherited characteristics, such as thyroid problems, can cause childhood obesity.  

Discrimination Based On Gender And Religion In Islamic Nations

Some social vices thought to have been eliminated long ago are very prominent in our culture today. This essay aims to expose the wrongs of religious law-based discrimination against minorities. Using Saudi Arabia as a case study, this study will discuss the spiritual and gender-based minorities in Islamic countries. The study’s central claim is that gender and religious discrimination are pervasive and persistent in countries with an Islamic cultural foundation. The conflicts and prejudices against minorities stem from religious cultures.

Putting Islamic and Public Schools Side by Side

It has been researched for a while now how Muslim parents choose whether to enroll their children in public or Islamic schools, and it has given various responses to various problems. This study was primarily motivated by the mounting evidence that the multiple cultures and religions among people of different races worldwide contribute to cultural and political differences.

Women’s Role In Anime: A Mirror Of Japanese Culture

What can be learned about the status of women in contemporary Japanese culture from the representation of women in animation? When discussing modern Japan, it’s necessary to explore the place of women in the culture. While data and survey results from more conventional study methods are significant, you also need to look at how the modern Japanese woman is portrayed in popular culture. We need to establish a link between Japanese animation, a kind of popular culture, and the status of women in modern Japanese society—specifically, whether this status is changing or staying the same.

Singapore’s Consumer Culture And Fashion Industry

The landscape of the twenty-first century has been formed by perpetual consumerism. It generates an endless demand for goods and stores in every conceivable location. The retail design transforms this potential area into a “place for consumption.” People come into contact with intense pressure to view and purchase goods there. The world of fashion offers the ideal illustration to support your claim. Strong evidence suggests that apparel manufacturers compete fiercely to capture the market. To raise brand awareness among the public, the store has emerged as a crucial element or, to put it another way, a powerful statement. The dilemma is how a business might be built to send a powerful message to attract the “crowd of consumption” to the area in a somewhat oversaturated market.

The Southeast Missouri Region’s Early Mississippian Peoples

There is a historical significance of people who may have been before the Cahokia Mound Builders of the Ohio River Valley. The available evidence for the existence of Paleolithic tribes in the southeast region of Missouri must be focused upon. There were different reasons why prehistoric Indians would have settled near what is now the Sac-Osage River just outside the town of Stockton, Missouri, the length of time they spent there, and the historically significant but now seemingly forgotten presence of an established and prosperous Indian settlement in this area before Cahokia.

• Pick an  anthropology thesis topic.
• For your project, prepare a proposal.
• Determine your thesis committee. Forward your idea to the committee members.
• Review the literature.
• Create a draft of your thesis and give it to your committee. Resubmit it after making any adjustments or additions that your committee requests. You can do this step as many times as necessary. Decide on a date and location for your thesis defense with your committee after they determine that you are prepared to defend your draft. At the graduate school, submit your defendable draught in the appropriate format.
• Support your thesis. When you succeed, submit the appropriate form to the graduate program. Make a final copy of your thesis, making that it follows the format specifications established by the graduate program. Create an outline, a title page, etc.

Although the method for developing a thesis statement varies depending on the type of writing and the subject, the thesis statement should always serve as the paper’s primary objective. This indicates that it might be a response to a query or prompt, a supported argument, or the central idea of a story. Most of the time, it should only be a few sentences long and appear at the start of your essay. A strong thesis statement is specific and open to challenge. It presents a novel theoretical point or explores the relationship between two concepts. It uses or criticizes another person’s reasoning.

Researchers can use the following guidelines to ensure that their thesis statements are written and used correctly in their research papers.

Know your topic. Something you already know or can learn about should be the subject. Even writing a thesis statement for a paper on a subject you are unfamiliar with might be challenging. You can learn more about your issue by researching it and reflecting on personal experiences.

Do not get off the subject. Limit your topic to a specific area based on what you already know and the length requirements for your final paper. A lengthier paper will typically be needed for a vast spectrum, but a shorter paper will generally be adequate to prove a limited focus.

It is best to include the research statement early in the paper. This assertion should be made around the conclusion of the paper’s introduction or in the second paragraph. When used correctly, the thesis statement makes the researcher’s position obvious and points the reader in the right direction. If your school or the publication you wish to publish in requires APA formatting, you might want to consult it for guidance on where to put the study statement.

Brainstorm. If you’re having problems starting your paper or formulating your anthropology thesis ideas , grab a piece and jot down any statements regarding the subject. Did you make any new connections or discoveries? Do you think you can classify any of the notes you made? Do you see any common themes? Consider incorporating the concepts you’ve learned into your thesis statement and paper.

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Anthropology

What this handout is about.

This handout briefly situates anthropology as a discipline of study within the social sciences. It provides an introduction to the kinds of writing that you might encounter in your anthropology courses, describes some of the expectations that your instructors may have, and suggests some ways to approach your assignments. It also includes links to information on citation practices in anthropology and resources for writing anthropological research papers.

What is anthropology, and what do anthropologists study?

Anthropology is the study of human groups and cultures, both past and present. Anthropology shares this focus on the study of human groups with other social science disciplines like political science, sociology, and economics. What makes anthropology unique is its commitment to examining claims about human ‘nature’ using a four-field approach. The four major subfields within anthropology are linguistic anthropology, socio-cultural anthropology (sometimes called ethnology), archaeology, and physical anthropology. Each of these subfields takes a different approach to the study of humans; together, they provide a holistic view. So, for example, physical anthropologists are interested in humans as an evolving biological species. Linguistic anthropologists are concerned with the physical and historical development of human language, as well as contemporary issues related to culture and language. Archaeologists examine human cultures of the past through systematic examinations of artifactual evidence. And cultural anthropologists study contemporary human groups or cultures.

What kinds of writing assignments might I encounter in my anthropology courses?

The types of writing that you do in your anthropology course will depend on your instructor’s learning and writing goals for the class, as well as which subfield of anthropology you are studying. Each writing exercise is intended to help you to develop particular skills. Most introductory and intermediate level anthropology writing assignments ask for a critical assessment of a group of readings, course lectures, or concepts. Here are three common types of anthropology writing assignments:

Critical essays

This is the type of assignment most often given in anthropology courses (and many other college courses). Your anthropology courses will often require you to evaluate how successfully or persuasively a particular anthropological theory addresses, explains, or illuminates a particular ethnographic or archaeological example. When your instructor tells you to “argue,” “evaluate,” or “assess,” they are probably asking for some sort of critical essay. (For more help with deciphering your assignments, see our handout on understanding assignments .)

Writing a “critical” essay does not mean focusing only on the most negative aspects of a particular reading or theory. Instead, a critical essay should evaluate or assess both the weaknesses and the merits of a given set of readings, theories, methods, or arguments.

Sample assignment:

Assess the cultural evolutionary ideas of late 19th century anthropologist Lewis Henry Morgan in terms of recent anthropological writings on globalization (select one recent author to compare with Morgan). What kinds of anthropological concerns or questions did Morgan have? What kinds of anthropological concerns underlie the current anthropological work on globalization that you have selected? And what assumptions, theoretical frameworks, and methodologies inform these questions or projects?

Ethnographic projects

Another common type of research and writing activity in anthropology is the ethnographic assignment. Your anthropology instructor might expect you to engage in a semester-long ethnographic project or something shorter and less involved (for example, a two-week mini-ethnography).

So what is an ethnography? “Ethnography” means, literally, a portrait (graph) of a group of people (ethnos). An ethnography is a social, political, and/or historical portrait of a particular group of people or a particular situation or practice, at a particular period in time, and within a particular context or space. Ethnographies have traditionally been based on an anthropologist’s long-term, firsthand research (called fieldwork) in the place and among the people or activities they are studying. If your instructor asks you to do an ethnographic project, that project will likely require some fieldwork.

Because they are so important to anthropological writing and because they may be an unfamiliar form for many writers, ethnographies will be described in more detail later in this handout.

Spend two hours riding the Chapel Hill Transit bus. Take detailed notes on your observations, documenting the setting of your fieldwork, the time of day or night during which you observed and anything that you feel will help paint a picture of your experience. For example, how many people were on the bus? Which route was it? What time? How did the bus smell? What kinds of things did you see while you were riding? What did people do while riding? Where were people going? Did people talk? What did they say? What were people doing? Did anything happen that seemed unusual, ordinary, or interesting to you? Why? Write down any thoughts, self-reflections, and reactions you have during your two hours of fieldwork. At the end of your observation period, type up your fieldnotes, including your personal thoughts (labeling them as such to separate them from your more descriptive notes). Then write a reflective response about your experience that answers this question: how is riding a bus about more than transportation?

Analyses using fossil and material evidence

In some assignments, you might be asked to evaluate the claims different researchers have made about the emergence and effects of particular human phenomena, such as the advantages of bipedalism, the origins of agriculture, or the appearance of human language. To complete these assignments, you must understand and evaluate the claims being made by the authors of the sources you are reading, as well as the fossil or material evidence used to support those claims. Fossil evidence might include things like carbon dated bone remains; material evidence might include things like stone tools or pottery shards. You will usually learn about these kinds of evidence by reviewing scholarly studies, course readings, and photographs, rather than by studying fossils and artifacts directly.

The emergence of bipedalism (the ability to walk on two feet) is considered one of the most important adaptive shifts in the evolution of the human species, but its origins in space and time are debated. Using course materials and outside readings, examine three authors’ hypotheses for the origins of bipedalism. Compare the supporting points (such as fossil evidence and experimental data) that each author uses to support their claims. Based on your examination of the claims and the supporting data being used, construct an argument for why you think bipedal locomotion emerged where and when it did.

How should I approach anthropology papers?

Writing an essay in anthropology is very similar to writing an argumentative essay in other disciplines. In most cases, the only difference is in the kind of evidence you use to support your argument. In an English essay, you might use textual evidence from novels or literary theory to support your claims; in an anthropology essay, you will most often be using textual evidence from ethnographies, artifactual evidence, or other support from anthropological theories to make your arguments.

Here are some tips for approaching your anthropology writing assignments:

• Make sure that you understand what the prompt or question is asking you to do. It is a good idea to consult with your instructor or teaching assistant if the prompt is unclear to you. See our handout on arguments and handout on college writing for help understanding what many college instructors look for in a typical paper.
• Review the materials that you will be writing with and about. One way to start is to set aside the readings or lecture notes that are not relevant to the argument you will make in your paper. This will help you focus on the most important arguments, issues, and behavioral and/or material data that you will be critically assessing. Once you have reviewed your evidence and course materials, you might decide to have a brainstorming session. Our handouts on reading in preparation for writing and brainstorming might be useful for you at this point.
• Develop a working thesis and begin to organize your evidence (class lectures, texts, research materials) to support it. Our handouts on constructing thesis statements and paragraph development will help you generate a thesis and develop your ideas and arguments into clearly defined paragraphs.

What is an ethnography? What is ethnographic evidence?

Many introductory anthropology courses involve reading and evaluating a particular kind of text called an ethnography. To understand and assess ethnographies, you will need to know what counts as ethnographic data or evidence.

You’ll recall from earlier in this handout that an ethnography is a portrait—a description of a particular human situation, practice, or group as it exists (or existed) in a particular time, at a particular place, etc. So what kinds of things might be used as evidence or data in an ethnography (or in your discussion of an ethnography someone else has written)? Here are a few of the most common:

• Things said by informants (people who are being studied or interviewed). When you are trying to illustrate someone’s point of view, it is very helpful to appeal to their own words. In addition to using verbatim excerpts taken from interviews, you can also paraphrase an informant’s response to a particular question.
• Observations and descriptions of events, human activities, behaviors, or situations.
• Relevant historical background information.
• Statistical data.

Remember that “evidence” is not something that exists on its own. A fact or observation becomes evidence when it is clearly connected to an argument in order to support that argument. It is your job to help your reader understand the connection you are making: you must clearly explain why statements x, y, and z are evidence for a particular claim and why they are important to your overall claim or position.

Citation practices in anthropology

In anthropology, as in other fields of study, it is very important that you cite the sources that you use to form and articulate your ideas. (Please refer to our handout on plagiarism for information on how to avoid plagiarizing). Anthropologists follow the Chicago Manual of Style when they document their sources. The basic rules for anthropological citation practices can be found in the AAA (American Anthropological Association) Style Guide. Note that anthropologists generally use in-text citations, rather than footnotes. This means that when you are using someone else’s ideas (whether it’s a word-for-word quote or something you have restated in your own words), you should include the author’s last name and the date the source text was published in parentheses at the end of the sentence, like this: (Author 1983).

If your anthropology or archaeology instructor asks you to follow the style requirements of a particular academic journal, the journal’s website should contain the information you will need to format your citations. Examples of such journals include The American Journal of Physical Anthropology and American Antiquity . If the style requirements for a particular journal are not explicitly stated, many instructors will be satisfied if you consistently use the citation style of your choice.

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Scupin, Raymond, and Christopher DeCorse. 2016. Anthropology: A Global Perspective , 8th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall.

Solis, Jacqueline. 2020. “A to Z Databases: Anthropology.” Subject Research Guides, University of North Carolina. Last updated November 2, 2020. https://guides.lib.unc.edu/az.php?s=1107 .

University of Chicago Press. 2017. The Chicago Manual of Style , 17th ed. Chicago & London: University of Chicago Press.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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Department of Anthropology

Working independently.

A senior thesis is a remarkable opportunity to undertake a "capstone" project that culminates your work as an anthropology major. Please bear in mind, however, that a successful thesis requires a great deal of self-motivated work. You should expect to put into the year-long thesis writing project at least the level of work you would put into two upper-level academic courses.

Writing a senior thesis, you are expected to demonstrate a higher level of autonomy and initiative than in regular academic courses. The onus is on you to present your advisor, in a timely fashion, the various documents that will help them to help you. These might include annotated reading lists, summaries of field notes, outlines, draft chapters, and so forth. Please don't wait to be contacted by your advisor about meeting deadlines; you should be proactive and let your advisor know ahead of time if you are falling behind on your schedule.

Ask Meaningful Questions

The thesis should ask questions that are motivated; that feel like they need to be asked. Ideally, your introduction will set up your thesis statement (that is, your statement of your central argument) with context that shows how your thesis emerges from a tension, question, or puzzle in your field data or the anthropological literature or both. Rather than simply stating "I'm interested in X and Y," it is often helpful to formulate a "why" question that your thesis will attempt to answer, or at least illuminate. For example, "Why do thousands of people abandon their comfortable lives for a week every year to participate in the Burning Man Festival?", "Why, in the three different societies under consideration, are women much more likely than men to be accused of practicing witchcraft?", "Why did empire X collapse under this particular set of conditions, while empire Y, seemingly under the same conditions, flourished?" "How" questions can also be fruitful. For instance: "How do Hawaiians sustain the notion that certain culinary and ritual practices are 'traditional' even when they are actively engaged in the process of altering them?", or "How do the power dynamics between coaches and players manifest themselves even in seemingly casual and friendly conversations?" Having an interesting question or puzzle—a "motive"—built into your thesis helps you and your reader feel the urgency or importance of your argument.

Engaging with Anthropological Literature and Ideas

The thesis should engage in some meaningful way with the anthropological literature on the subject matter, and should show proficiency in that literature. Be careful, then, not to ground your thesis primarily in literature from other disciplines (e.g. sociology, psychology) and/or trade books (written for wide audiences, without a significant academic/theoretical slant). Drawing on the insights of other disciplines is fine, but the thesis must feel anthropological at its core.

Especially if your thesis is not based in fieldwork of some kind, it does need to clearly articulate with anthropological theory in order to succeed.

In consultation with faculty members and library staff, do your very best to review thoroughly the salient anthropological and scholarly literature on your topic. Be sure to search through the various databases, including JSTOR, Academic Search Premiere, Anthropological Abstracts, and so forth. It doesn't hurt to run relevant terms through Google Scholar.

The thesis should show signs that certain core lessons of anthropology have been internalized. A sociocultural anthropology thesis should, for instance, reflect your understanding that the normally taken-for-granted conceptual categories of modern western societies are themselves subject to critical examination, and that anthropologists tend to try to understand the internal logic of cultural practices. An archaeology thesis should also reflect such approaches, and should be about the people behind the potsherds, buildings, and other objects. It should question the how and why of patterns of material culture, striving to understand the cultural contexts and natural processes that produced the archaeological data.

Whether or not your thesis directly addresses a non-western case, it may be strengthened by the comparative, cross-cultural perspective associated with anthropology. For example, a thesis concerned with modern American conceptions of pets might benefit from thoughtful engagement with anthropological work on totemism and animal symbolism in a range of nonwestern societies. A thesis on archaic states might benefit from a comparative review of the role of kinship in segmentary and unitary forms of socio-political organization.

Writing about Methodology

A successful thesis should have a methodology section that not only explains the methods used, but also justifies them carefully. If, for example, your data comes from written surveys rather than ethnography, this choice requires some explanation. If your fieldwork was constrained by logistical or social considerations, these should be explained. If you chose to focus on a particular subgroup, this choice requires some background. You should also indicate your awareness of the potential pitfalls and limitations of your chosen methods. Your methodology section often appears in your introductory chapter, but in some instances, methodological issues may be addressed in an appendix. If you used surveys or an interview guide, for instance, those usually are placed in an appendix.

You may wish to include a reflexive section, clarifying your own relationship to the topic in question. Are you studying a tradition or community that you count yourself a part of? Did you begin this project with a strong draw towards, or anxiety about, the social group in question? Why?

Titling the Thesis

Your title should be precise; rather than merely gesturing at a topic ("Gender among Boston Construction Workers") it should give the reader a more precise hint of your argument or your theoretical focus (e.g. "Rebuilding Gender: Practices of Self-Fashioning among Boston Construction Workers"). In the case of sociocultural theses, it is at times helpful for the first part of the title to incorporate an especially evocative quote by one of your informants—a quote that foreshadows the central concerns of the thesis.

• Research and Funding

Department of Anthropology

Writing Guide

The steps to writing a research paper.

1. Select a general topic

2. Research the selected topic

• How to Do Research at the UNT Library (from the UNT Libraries' Web site)
• Anthropology Subject Guide (finding anthropology-related books and articles from the UNT Libraries' Web site)
• Research Tools from the UNT Library

3. Evaluate your resources

• How to Search the Internet and Evaluate Internet Sources

5. Define/Refine Your Topic and Develop Your Thesis

Thesis - An arguable statement put forth for discussion and proof.

• A thesis should be a strong, original idea, claim, or argument.
• A thesis is normally found in the introduction of a paper.
• A thesis informs the reader of the purpose of your paper.
• A thesis should be specific, not broad or vague. Avoid vague terms like "good" or "bad."
• A thesis should analyze, not summarize.
• A thesis will tie together all the ideas of your paper.

6. Re-read with an eye on the thesis

7. Develop Supporting Ideas and Arguments

Make sure the content of your papers is relevant tyour argument. Read carefully and cut or revise parts of your paper that don't support your argument.

8. Types of Supporting Ideas and Arguments

• Data from a Research Project If you conducted a project, present summaries of the data you collected, and relevant examples.
• Facts & Figures Information about your topic that has been collected by other agencies or researchers
• Statistics These are not as central tanthropology as some other fields, but they can still greatly strengthen your arguments.
• Authorities (Quotes from Experts) You must establish the credentials of the authorities before their quotes are persuasive and credibility tthe argument.
• Textual Evidence Supporting information from texts.
• Historical Background

9. Take notes

10. Organize notes

11. Develop an Outline

An outline is key the organization of your paper. See the Purdue University guide for developing outlines at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/general/gl_outlin.html

12. Write a Draft

When writing a draft, make sure to reference the Chicago Manual of Style . Please note that this requires the Adobe Acrobat Reader .

The Writing Lab at Purdue University provides thorough information on writing a research paper see below for assistance with particular parts of a draft:

• Writing a first draft ( http://owl.english.purdue.edu/workshops/hypertext/ResearchW/1draft.html )
• Introduction ( http://owl.english.purdue.edu/workshops/hypertext/ResearchW/writeintro.html )
• Paragraphs ( http://owl.english.purdue.edu/workshops/hypertext/ResearchW/paragrf.html )
• Conclusion ( http://owl.english.purdue.edu/workshops/hypertext/ResearchW/conclude.html )

13. Avoid Plagiarism

Plagiarism may be defined as the following:

• Using the exact words or phrases of a source without proper quotation marks both before and after the words or phrases.
• Using the exact words or phrases or the ideas of a source without proper documentation in APA style.
• Using slightly changed words or phrases of a source tavoid quotation.
• Submitting a paper that in any way represents the words, phrases, or ideas of someone else as your own.
• Submitting a paper that you did not write.

This definition of plagiarism was written by the English Faculty at Weatherford College.

14. Citing Works Within a Paper

When citing works within a paper, make sure to reference the Chicago Manual of Style Please note that this requires the Adobe Acrobat Reader .

15. Write a Works Cited or Bibliography

When writing a Works Cited or Bibliography, make sure to reference the Chicago Manual of Style Please note that this requires the Adobe Acrobat Reader .

When using APA style, you may reference APA Formatting and Style Guide at Purdue http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/

16. Leave it alone for a couple of days

17. Submit for peer review if possible

18. Revise, revise, and revise!

19. Proofread, Proofread, Proofread!

For an excellent, proofreading checklist, visit the Writing Center at George Mason University Online Handouts, including:

• 23 Ways to Improve Your Draft
• Editing Checklist

All available at https://writingcenter.gmu.edu/writing-resources/wc-quick-guides .

If you need assistance writing your research paper, try these UNT Resources

• The University Writing Center
• The Learning Center

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How to Write an Anthropology Paper

Last Updated: October 1, 2020

wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, volunteer authors worked to edit and improve it over time. This article has been viewed 14,848 times.

Writing a paper for an Anthropology course can be a new experience for those of you that are new to this field of study. Anthropology is generally understood as the study of all people across all points in time and space, and is broken down into four distinct sub-fields in the American tradition: Cultural anthropology, Biological/Physical anthropology, Linguistic anthropology, and Archaeology. Most introductory-level courses, or “Anthropology 101”, will briefly cover what each of these sub-fields mean and how anthropologists work within them. If you’re taking one of these beginner courses, you will most likely have to write an academic paper at some point. This instructional set will provide step-by-step instructions on how to help you successfully write your first anthropological essay using the American Anthropological Association (AAA) guidelines for formatting and citations and how to find credible anthropological sources/information

• Get all of your supplies organized and have everything on hand.
• Make a quick schedule to help you stay on track. If you have plenty of time before the due date, set up daily goals to help you stay on track with all of the research and writing you might have to do. Spreading out your workload will definitely help take away some of the stress.
• If you have plenty of time before the due date, set up daily goals to help you stay on track with all of the research and writing you might have to do. Spreading out your workload will definitely help take away some of the stress.

• Obviously this step isn't anthropology-specific, but it really is one of the most important steps when it comes to writing any paper.
• Try to start and finish your outline in one sitting.  You can always edit it as you move along, but having a complete outline before you start the actual writing process will help you work a lot quicker and more efficiently.

• American anthropology has four distinct sub-fields: archaeological, cultural, linguistic, and biological/physical.  Knowing how you can apply one or more of these sub-fields to help support your argument is crucial to anthropological writing.
• How do you know which field applies to your paper's topic?  The answer is usually all of the above.  In very basic terms, everything that has anything to do with people can be observed and analyzed anthropologically.

• The Internet is a magical and wonderful place for conducting research.  Just make sure that you know where to look when it comes to credible resources.
• Know the difference between scholarly and public sources.
• Get familiar with your school's library system.  Many universities and colleges have free and easy-to-access websites that can access great material.

• This is the official formatting guideline for the American Anthropological Association.
• You can access a free PDF of it here: http://www.aaanet.org/publications/guidelines.cfm
• Although you may not use this format in an introductory-level course, anyone who wishes to pursue their degree in anthropology will most certainly have to write a few papers using this.

• Make sure you understand all of the vocabulary and key concepts from your notes and textbook.
• Does your thesis statement makes sense and do your topic sentences support your claims?
• Do you have enough sources for your assignment?  Are they credible, accurate, and relevant?

• Remember to follow your outline and stick to your writing schedule (if you made one).
• Take short breaks every hour or so to review your work, or to simply just give yourself a rest.

• Ask them to look for things like logical flow of ideas, clarity, and get their overall opinion first.  Spelling and grammatical errors should be noted, but not the main focus of this part in the editing process.
• Once you have their feedback, start working on your final masterpiece.

• Have you completed all of the prompts or answered all of the questions that may have been listed in the rubric?
• Did you meet the length requirements?
• Does the format and citation style comply with the rubric as well?
• Can you identify your thesis statement and topic sentences?
• Did you successfully support your claim?
• Did you cite your sources properly?
• Are there any spelling or grammatical mistakes?
• How did you apply your knowledge of anthropology in this paper?

Expert Q&A

• Here are a few links to some really great anthropological websites. Check them out if you get stuck on your research step. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• American Anthropological Association website: http://www.aaanet.org Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Anthropology Resources on the Internet: http://www.anthropology-resources.net/index.html Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

Things You'll Need

• a computer with a word processor program
• your class notes and textbook
• access to the Internet

You Might Also Like

• American Anthropological Association logo [Image], Retrieved from: http://www.ssrn.com/en/index.cfm/aarn/

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• Honors & Theses

Anthropology concentrators pursue a diverse range of topics and places that covers every time period from the pre-historical to the present, and every major world area. Recent senior honors thesis have investigated:

• The relationship between the Boston Catholic Church and its Spanish-speaking members
• Islamic Finance in Malaysia
• A Cancer Ward in Kenya
• Stigma in the Lives of Unmarried Women in Contemporary China
• Challenges in Housing Rights Advocacy in Bolivia

The requirements for honors eligibility are distinguished by program. Certain honors recommendations are possible without a thesis. 

Students are encouraged to consult A Student's Guide to Reading and Writing in Social Anthropology and the AnthroWrites website.

• Archaeology Honors
• Social Anthropology Honors
• Combined Archaeology-Social Anthropology Honors

Thesis Track (12 courses)

• Including one Archaeology Graduate-Level Research Seminar (2000-level)
• ANTH 99: Thesis Tutorial in Anthropology, a full-year writing workshop, culminating in the submission of a senior thesis and an oral thesis examination.

Non-Thesis Track (10 courses)

All graduating seniors in Archaeology who are not thesis candidates and have taken a 2000-level course may be considered for a non-thesis honors recommendation of Honors (but not High or Highest Honors), provided that their concentration grade point averages calculated at the end of their next to last terms are among the highest twenty-five percent of non-thesis candidates in their graduating class in Archaeology. To be considered for a High or Highest Honors recommendation in Anthropology, a student must complete a thesis, in addition to the requirements specified above.

• Basic Concentration Requirements

All graduating seniors in Social Anthropology who are not thesis candidates may be considered for a non-thesis honors recommendation of Honors, provided that their concentration grade point averages calculated at the end of their next to last terms are among the highest twenty-five percent of non-thesis candidates in their graduating class in Social Anthropology. To be considered for a High or Highest Honors recommendation in Anthropology, a student must complete a thesis, in addition to the requirements specified above.

All graduating seniors in Combined Archaeology and Social Anthropology, who are not thesis candidates may be considered for a non-thesis honors recommendation of Honors (but not High or Highest Honors), provided that their concentration grade point averages calculated at the end of their next to last terms are among the highest twenty-five percent of non-thesis candidates in their graduating class in Combined Archaeology and Social Anthropology. To be considered for a High or Highest Honors recommendation in Anthropology, a student must complete a thesis, in addition to the requirements specified above.

• For Prospectives
• Concentration Requirements
• Research & Study Abroad
• Program Contacts
• Anthropology Undergraduate Advising Packet (2023-2024)

University of Pennsylvania

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Department of Anthropology

Senior Thesis Style and Formatting Guide

• Undergraduate /
• Senior Thesis Option

Writing Support Resources

Style Guide

Page Numbering

Title Page Format

In-Text Citations

Endnotes vs. Footnotes

References Cited

Figures and Tables

Formatting the Printed Version

Useful Sources on Formal Writing

If you would like feedback and support while writing, the Marks Family Resource Center, located at 3808 Walnut Street, is an excellent resource.  Consult their web page , where you will find links to guides on writing. They also meet with students to improve their writing one-on-one. Writing Center drop-in tutoring hours can be found here . 

You should use consistent style for your in-text citations, references cited, and writing in general.  All Undergraduate Theses submitted to the Department of Anthropology must use the formal “style guide.” We recommend the  American Anthropologist  for cultural anthropology and linguistics topics,  American Antiquity  and  Historical Archaeology  for archaeology topics, and  American Journal of Physical Anthropology  for physical anthropology and biological anthropology topics.  You must use the style guide consistently for the Abstract, Main Text, References Cited, Figures, and Tables.  All citations must have the complete reference in the section “References Cited.”  All figures must be numbered and must be referred to in the text at least once.  Online style guides are available for the following journals:

American Anthropologist :

http://www.aaanet.org/publications/guidelines.cfm

American Antiquity :

https://documents.saa.org/container/docs/default-source/doc-publications/style-guide/saa-style-guide_updated-july-2018c5062f7e55154959ab57564384bda7de.pdf?sfvrsn=8247640e_6

Historical Archaeology

http://www.sha.org/publications/for_authors.cfm

American Journal of Physical Anthropology :

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/%28ISSN%291096-8644/homepage/ForAuthors.html

All pages in your thesis should be numbered at the bottom center using Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3 . . .) (including Main Text, References Cited section, Figures section, and Tables section).  The Title page is not numbered.  Any preliminary pages (Abstract, Table of Contents, or lists of Figures) use small Roman numerals (i, ii, iii . . .).

Your title page is unnumbered. All text of the title page should be centered and have the same font as the main text  Your title page should have the following elements (note the use of upper and lower case):

[TITLE OF THE UNDERGRADUATE THESIS IN UPPER CASE]

[Author’s Name]

Anthropology

Submitted to the

Thesis Advisor:  [name of the Thesis Advisor]

The Undergraduate Thesis must include a formal abstract (summary) of 100-200 words at the beginning, immediately following your Title page. Your thesis abstract presents a concise summary of the thesis (research problem or issue, the methods or approach used, and results). Do not cite references in the abstract.

Anthropology generally uses in-text citations to refer to published work as you’ll see in the Style Guide above. It is better to over-cite your sources than to under-cite them!  Below are links to the Penn Library’s documentation guide and the University guide to academic integrity.  Please read these documents carefully:

http://gethelp.library.upenn.edu/PORT/documentation/

http://www.upenn.edu/academicintegrity/index.html

We discourage the use of footnotes and endnotes for “additional information.”  If necessary, use endnotes rather than footnotes.  Endnotes appear in sequence at the end of the main text as a separate section titled “Endnotes” and are numbered in sequence in the text (using a superscript font). Endnotes are single-spaced with double spaces between them.  

Your Undergraduate Thesis should include a complete “References Cited” section (this is not a “Bibliography”). Refer to the appropriate style guide ( American Anthropologist ,  American Antiquity , Historical Archaeology,  or  American Journal of Physical Anthropology ) above for details on citations.  Your References Cited section must include all and only the references that you’ve formally cited in your main text, endnotes, figures, and tables. Work with your advisor to agree on appropriate citations for archival sources, interviews, museum records, and other research data.

The Undergraduate Thesis in Anthropology is a formal document, so your figures and tables should be sharp, clear, readable and directly relevant to the topic. Your figures should be clear and legible. Scan images from publications and reduce or enlarge these to best fit the margins of your page using Photoshop or Illustrator (available on computers in the Department and in Weigle Information Commons).

Figures includes diagrams, photographs, drawings, graphics, illustrations, and maps. They will be numbered in sequence “Figure X..”. Label all of your tables “Table Y..” in a separate numbered sequence. You should mention each figure and table at least once in your text [for example:  “As Table 5 demonstrates, the alcoholic content of maize beer is low.”]  Each figure or table must have an individual caption on the page where it appears. If information or images in your figures come from published or unpublished work of others, you must include formal citations in your captions and References Cited section (“Figure 3:  Location map showing the excavations completed during the 1994 field season (after Smith et al. 1995).”

Photographs are numbered in the figure sequence. Photographs should be sharp, fit within the required margins, and have direct relevance to your thesis. Like all figures, each photograph must have a caption, must be cited in the text, and must be listed in the table of figures if you include one. You must cite the sources of any published image you reproduce, and that citation must appear in your “References Cited.”

The text, tables and figures of your thesis should have a 1-inch margin on all sides. Your text should be double spaced except for the Title Page, Abstract, Table of Contents, long quoted passages (“block” quotes), References Cited, Endnotes and Captions. Format these sections according to the style guide for your thesis subject area.

Choose a clear standard typeface (Times New Roman, etc.) and format pages with 12-point font throughout your document.

Gibaldi, Joseph.  2009.  MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers.  7th ed. New York:  Modern Language Association of America.  A comprehensive guide to writing research papers.

Strunk, W. and E.B. White.  2005.  The Elements of Style.  New York:  Penguin Press.  Appropriate for more humanities-oriented papers (and therefore possibly for cultural- and linguistic anthropology theses).  Focuses on rules of standard English and calls attention to common errors.

Turabian, Kate L.  2007.  A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations.  7th ed.  Chicago:  University of Chicago Press.  Updated in accordance with the Chicago Manual of Style.

University of Chicago.  2010.  The Chicago Manual of Style.  16th edition.  Chicago:  University of Chicago Press.  Another classic, comprehensive style guide; extensively revised for the 16th edition.

• Faculty/Staff Intranet
• Graduate Student Intranet

DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY

• Undergraduate

Senior Theses and Honors

Conducting original research is central to the field of Anthropology. By undertaking original research in Anthropology students develop core skills in critical thinking, research, and written and oral communication. These skills, rooted in the holistic discipline of Anthropology, are widely applicable regardless of your career choice. Original research for the Senior Thesis may be based on library, laboratory, or field research on a topic that the student has chosen in consultation with their faculty adviser. The Senior Thesis is an opportunity for students to explore a topic of their interest in Anthropology.

Majors with an interest in pursuing original research in anthropology during their senior year identify a thesis topic and advisor during their junior year and submit an application to write a senior thesis to the Honors Coordinator by spring of junior year. The thesis requires:

• Completion of 399 in the Fall quarter of senior year
• Completion of 398 in Winter quarter of senior year

398 may be counted toward the 300-level requirements for the major. 399 is in addition to the 300-level requirements for the major

Honors in Anthropology

Students interested in pursuing honors in Anthropology are required to (1) prepare a 1-2 page project proposal and (2) secure a project advisor during their junior year. The proposal and an email from the advisor attesting to their work with the student should be sent to the Honors Coordinator, Prof. Erin Waxenbaum ( [email protected] ), by July 1 of the student’s junior year.

Students who write a thesis and whose theses and grades meet university criteria are recommended to the college for graduation with honors. Eligibility for honors includes:

• Writing an outstanding senior thesis
• 3.3 GPA overall
• 3.5 GPA in Anthropology 

Honors and awards

Students who prepare an outstanding honors thesis will be nominated for honors in anthropology to the Weinberg College Committee on Undergraduate Academic Excellence, which has the final authority to grant the honors degree. All students writing an honors thesis are also eligible for following departmental awards:

• Oswald Werner Prize for Distinguished Honors Thesis in Anthropology

This prize honors Professor Emeritus Oswald Werner’s research, teaching, fieldwork training and administrative contributions. He was a faculty member for 35 years, a department chair, founder, and director of the Northwestern University Ethnographic Field School, and an ardent supporter of undergraduate research.

• Friends of Anthropology Award for Distinguished Honors Thesis in Public Anthropology

This prize recognizes outstanding research that  matters to the communities in which the researcher works, addressing important  social issues and helping to foster change. The award was established in 2005 with funding from the "Friends of Anthropology at Northwestern" (FAN) Alumni Group.

• Elizabeth M. Brumfiel Award for Distinguished Honors Thesis in Archaeology

See a list of award-winners who have won scholarships and other prizes.

The Honors Coordinator for Anthropology is: Prof. Erin Waxenbaum 

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• Thesis Option

The thesis is a major requirement for those in the MA in anthropology thesis track.  The thesis should demonstrate the student's ability to apply knowledge and skills gained from the anthropology department's curriculum.  A desirable goal for an excellent thesis would be a work of sufficient rigor and quality that it could be considered for publication. Original data collection ("fieldwork") is recommended but not required for the thesis.  Analysis of secondary data-whether quantitative, qualitative, visual or other formats--is perfectly acceptable as long as the research is informed by a clearly articulated research question and under-girded by a research proposal.

The traditional thesis is a single document that often incorporates a literature review, definition of a problem, discussion of methods to address the problem, the subsequent research activity and results.  However, the student may design a thesis with different emphases, in consultation with their advisor.  For example the goal may instead be a more compact paper submitted to a peer-reviewed journal.  Other thesis plans may combine some research activity such as a video production, museum exhibit or an internship, with an accompanying paper.  Students pursuing the thesis option must develop a topic and research proposal that specifies their plans in the semester after their completion of 18 credit hours.

The thesis must be defended before a committee of three faculty, at least two of whom need to be on the Department of Anthropology faculty (which includes senior instructors and research faculty).  The structure of the thesis is largely determined by the  University of Colorado Denver Graduate School Rules ; i.e., a thesis must conform to the rules.

• For the thesis, students must prepare a full research proposal which must be approved by their thesis chair before beginning their research. This proposal must be completed by the semester after the student has completed 18 credit hours. Sections of the proposal should include, at a minimum:
• Introduction and statement of the problem: Should include a one sentence statement of the problem on the first page, and a discussion of its significance (i.e., why is it important that this topic be researched).
• Literature review covering theoretical and topical material.
• Research design and methods including a data analysis plan.

Note:   Wenner-Gren and National Science Foundation both provide good models and templates for the research proposal. Those in the medical anthropology track might want to consider following the NIH model, depending the nature of their research questions and career goals.

• All students proposing to work with humans or data on modern humans must apply for and receive approval from the  Human Subjects Research Committee  before they begin their research. Note: most of the material for the application will be drawn from the research proposal.
• The draft thesis must be reviewed and approved as "defensible" by the student’s thesis committee faculty chair before a thesis defense date can be set. Defensible means the chair has reviewed the draft and suggested changes have been made.
• The draft sent to the student’s committee must be substantively complete: All references must be in the text and properly formatted in a references cited section; there should be no "track changes" comments in the text; the text should be formatted according to Graduate School requirements.
• Given the complexity of faculty and student schedules, consultation on a defense date should be done as far in advance as possible.
• There must be a minimum of three weeks between the agreed-upon date for the defense and distribution of the draft thesis defined as defensible by the student’s chair. If you would like feedback from your committee members before the defense, you should plan to distribute the thesis at least 4 weeks before the defense date.

Note:  If you intend to graduate the same semester you defend your thesis, you must schedule, successfully defend, and complete all recommended changes in accordance with UC Denver Thesis and Dissertation Guidelines  . This effectively translates to having the thesis completed and “defensible” before the middle of the semester.

Your Thesis Committee

The committee generally consists of your major advisor and two other faculty members with whom you have worked during the course of your program. You may choose committee members from outside the department, particularly if they are experts in an area that you explore in the thesis. However, at least two of your committee members must be from the anthropology department. And, all committee members must belong to the Graduate Faculty.  See the rules of the Graduate School .

Thesis Preparation

Click here to obtain a copy of Directions for Preparing Masters and Doctoral Theses .

The Process of Submitting a Thesis

In the semester in which a student intends to submit the thesis for examination, he/she must first submit an  Application for Admission to Candidacy . This initiates a process of determining if the student has met all of the other requirements for the degree, and is eligible to submit a thesis. The application for candidacy form should be completed in consultation with your major advisor, and the graduate director. A  Diploma Card  is submitted at the same time, to initiate the process of preparing final records for graduation.

The completed thesis itself is then submitted for a format review. This review ensures that the material is presented in a readable format that is consistent with the standards of the university. The student then submits a  Request for Examination,  which publicly announces the exam or defense for all interested parties.

At the exam or defense, the student may be asked to revise or add to the thesis before it is approved. The revised thesis is then submitted to the examination committee for final approval, and then copies are handed in to the Graduate School. These copies are permanently kept in the library as a resource for other scholars in the field.

Thesis Submission

Questions concerning matters not discussed in this document must be directed to the thesis committee chairperson. Theses must be reviewed by the Graduate School for format review before the final examination or defense. Once the thesis is signed by the appropriate faculty committee, submit three reproduced or original copies of the thesis, two on CU bond and one on regular paper. The University keeps all three of these copies. You may also order additional copies at this time. The binding fee is due and payable when the thesis is submitted to the Graduate School. Since fees are subject to change, contact the Graduate School for current fees.

The Thesis Examination

The exam consists of a public presentation and defense of the work. The tradition calls for the following steps to be completed:

• Your thesis committee greets you, and then sends you out of the room while the chair of your committee discusses the thesis, asks if there are any particular concerns, and establishes the particular procedure for the conduct of the examination.
• After you are invited to reenter the examination room, the chair will invite you to provide a formal presentation of your research, which should generally not exceed 30 minutes in length.
• After your presentation, the committee will ask you questions about the thesis, work related to it, and perhaps general questions about theory, method, and practical implications of the research.
• When questioning is completed, you will be asked to leave the room again so that your committee may discuss the defense, and decide on whether to give you a pass or fail.
• A "pass" may take many forms, including a request for revision that must be approved by the full committee, or simply a request that revisions be reviewed by the chair.

Registration Issues

Students must be registered during the semester of their final examination/ defense. Students who choose to perform these examinations or defend their thesis on a date that falls between semesters (between Fall and Spring; Spring and Summer, or between Summer and Fall), must register for the semester immediately after their exam/defense.

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Recent Doctoral Dissertations and MA Theses

BK, Amar B (2022) Dalit Women’s Struggle for Dignity Through a Charismatic Healing Movement: Caste, Gender, and Religion in Nepal . Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh. 

Beckhorn, Patrick (2022)  The Lives of Cycle Rickshaw Men: Labor Migration and Masculinity in North India . Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Cai, Yan (2022) The Role of Productive Differentiation in the Development of Early Social Complexity in Palau, Micronesia, 200BC-1800AD . Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Farquhar, Jennifer (2022) Human-Environment Interactions: The Role of Foragers in the Development of Mobile Pastoralism in Mongolia's Desert-Steppe . Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Mullins, Patrick James (2022) Legacies in the Landscape: Borderland Processes in the Upper Moche Valley Chaupiyunga of Peru . Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Netsch Lopez, Trisha S (2022) Intercultural Health in Ecuador: A Critical Evaluation of the Case For Affirmative Biopolitics . Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Ran, Weiyu (2022) Sustaining Ritual: Provisioning a Hongshan Pilgrimage Center at Niuheliang . Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Toth, Sharon (2022)  ACL rupture rates and disparities: Using dog CCL rupture as a translational medical model for humans . Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Wong, Wei Mei (2022) Poetics and politics of purpose: Understanding dating app users in Shanghai . Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Kennedy, Sarah (2021)  Marginalized Labor in Colonial Silver Refining: Reconstructing Power and Identity in Colonial Peru (1600-1800 AD) .   Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Rovito, Benjamin (2021)  Analysis of the A1/A2 Alleyway Peri-Abandonment Deposit at Cahal Pech, Belize . Master's Thesis, University of Pittsburgh.

Ruiz-Sánchez, Héctor-Camilo (2021) Facing the Plagues Alone. Men Reshaping the HIV and Heroin Epidemics in Colombia . Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Walker, Jessica (2021) Social Identity and Life Course Stress in Nabatean Jordan .  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Baiocchi, María Lis (2020)  A Law of One’s Own: Newfound Labor Rights, Household Workers' Agency, and Activist Praxis in Buenos Aires, Argentina . Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Cervantes Quequezana, Gabriela (2020) Urban Layout and Sociopolitical Organization in Sicán , Perú. Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Gremba, Allison (2020): Biocultural Analysis of Otitis Media and its Relationship to Traditional Skeletal Stress Markers in the Assessment of Structural Violence . Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Grosso, Alicia (2020): Tissue Variability Effects on Saw Mark Evidence in Bone . Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Hoyos Gomez, Diana Rocío (2020) Campesinos and the State: Building and Experiencing the State in Rural Communities in the 'Post-conflict' Transition in Montes de María, Colombia . Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh. 

Kello, Erin (2020): Facial clefting and the Vietnam War: A Study of DNA Methylation Patterns and Intergenerational Stress.  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh. 

Kojanic, Ognjen (2020)  Ownership vs. Property Rights in a Worker-Owned Company in Post-Socialist Croatia.  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh. (Unpublished)

Krishnamurti, Lauren Sealy (2020) Care with Aloha: Preventing Suicide in Oahu, Hawaii.  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Walker, Jessica (2020) Social Identity and Life Course Stress in Nabataean Jordan .

Zhang Chi (Charles) (2020) A Critical Assessment of Sampling Biases in Geometric Morphometric Analysis: The Case of Homo erectus. Doctoral Dissertation , University of Pittsburgh. 

Zhao, Chao (2020): A Study of Land-use across the Transition to Agriculture in the Northern Yinshan Mountain Region at the Edge of Southern Mongolia Steppe Zone of Ulanqab, China .  

Chen, Peiyu (2019) Big Transitions in a Small Fishing Village: Late Preceramic Life in Huaca Negra, Virú Valley, Peru . Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Franchetti, Fernando (2019):  Hunter-gatherer adaptation in the deserts of northern Patagonia.  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.  Kocic, Miroslav (2019): Emergence of Social Complexity and Community building in the Late Neolithic (5400-4600 cal. BCE) of the Central Balkans.

Muñoz Rojas, Lizette (2019) Cuisine and the Conquest: Contrasting Two Sixteenth Century Native Populations of the Viceroyalty of Peru. Doctoral Dissertation . University of Pittsburgh.

Ng, Chuen Yan (2019): Subsistence Economics among Bronze Age Steppe Communities: An Archaeobotanical Approach to the study of  Multi-resource Pastoralism in the Southeastern Ural Mountains Region, Russia . Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Pantovic, Ljiljana (2019):  Private within the Public: Negotiating Birth in Serbia . Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Pompeani, Katherine M. (2019): The Bioarchaeology of Life, Death, and Social Status in the Early Bronze Age Community at Ostojićevo, Serbia.  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Portillo, Alejandra Sejas (2019):  Local Level Leadership and Centralization in the Late Prehispanic Yaretani Basin, Bolivia . Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Yoo, Wonji (2019):  The Making of God's Subject: Christian Conversion and Urban Youth in China. Doctoral Dissertation , University of Pittsburgh.

Cao, Junyang (2018) The Extirpation of the Chinese Alligator in North China. Masters Paper , University of Pittsburgh.

Carlson, Rebecca, (2018) More Japanese than Japanese: Subjectivation in the Age of Brand Nationalism and the Internet. Doctoral Dissertation. University of Pittsburgh.

Chamberlin, Rachel (2018)  Defining the Bio-citizen in Pluralistic Healthcare Settings: The Role of Patient Choice. Doctoral Dissertation .  University of Pittsburgh.

Chechushkov, Igor (2018)   Bronze Age Human Communities in the Southern Urals Steppe: Sintashta-Petrovka Social and Subsistence Organization . Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh. 

Wang, Wenjing (2018)  Lingjiatan Social Organization in the Yuxi Valley China: A Comparative Perspective . Doctoral Dissertation. University of Pittsburgh.

Bridges, Nora (2017)  The Therapeutic Ecologies of Napo Runa Wellbeing. Doctoral Dissertation. University of Pittsburgh.

Chan, Zi Lin Carol (2017)  Gendered Moral Economies of Transnational Migration: Mobilizing Shame and Faith in Migrant-Origin Villages of Central Java, Indonesia . Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Guler-Biyikli, Senem (2017)  Sacred Secular Relics: World Trade Center Steel in Off-Site 9/11 Memorials in the United States . Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Khalikova, Venera (2017)  Institutionalized Alternative Medicine in North India: Plurality, Legitimacy, and Nationalist Discourses .  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Puzo, Ieva (2017)  The Local LIves of Global Science: Foreign Scientists in Japan's Research Institutions .  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Robinson, Amanda S. (2017)  Animal Socialities: Healing and Affect in Japanese Animal Cafés .  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Sharapov, Denis V. (2017) Bronze Age Settlement Patterns and the Developments of Complex Societies in the Southern Ural Steppes (3500-1400 BC) . Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Sturm, Camilla (2017)  Structure and Evolution of Economic Networks in Neolithic Walled Towns of the Jianghan Plain: A Geochemical Perspective.  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Vargas Ruiz, Juan Carlos (2017)  Complex Societies, Leadership Strategies and Agricultural Intensification in the Llanos of Casanare, Colombia . Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Venegas, Maria (2017)  Alienated Affliction: The Politics of Grisi Siknis Experience in Nicaragua . Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Wakefield-Murphy, Robyn (2017)  The Bioarchaeology of Gendered Social Processes Among Pre- and Post-Contact Native Americans: An Analysis of Mortuary Patterns, Health, and Activity in the Ohio Valley .  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Zickefoose, Amanda (2017)  Sustainable Practices and Sustainability Ideology on Small Farms in North-Central West Virginia. Doctoral Dissertation. University of Pittsburgh.

Fajardo, Sebastian (2016)  Prehispanic and Colonial Settlement Patterns of the Sogamoso Valley.  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Kesterke, Matthew J. (2016)  The Effects of In-utero Thyroxine Exposure On Mandibular Shape in Mice.  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Leeper, Bobbie J. (2016)  Evaluation of Current Methods of Soft Tissue Removal From Bone.  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Li, Tao  (2016)  Economic Differentiation in Hongshan Core Zone Communities (Northeastern China): A Geochemical Perspective.  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Li, Dongdong  (2016)  The Emergence of Walled Towns and Social Complexity in the Taojiahu-Xiaocheng Region of Jianghan Plain China.  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Wentworth Fournier, Chelsea  (2015)  Feasting and Food Security: Negotiating Infant and Child Feeding in Urban and Peri-Urban Vanuatu. Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Lin, Hao-Li  (2015)  Vanua as Environment: Conservation, Farming, and Development in Waitabu, Fiji.  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Johnson, James  (2015)  Community Matters? Investigating Social Complexity Through Centralization And Differentiation In Bronze Age Pastoral Societies Of The Southern Urals, Russian Federation, 2100 – 900 BC.   Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Ikehara Tsukayama, Hugo C.  (2015)  Leadership, Crisis And Political Change: The End Of The Formative Period In The Nepeña Valley, Peru.   Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Herckis, Lauren R.  (2015)  Cultural Variation in the Maya City of Palenque.  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Harmansah, Rabia  (2015)  Performing Social Forgetting in a Post-Conflict Landscape: The Case of Cyprus.   Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Garrido Escobar, Francisco Javier  (2015)  Mining and the Inca Road in Prehistoric Atacama Desert, Chile.   Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

de St. Maurice, Gregory  (2015)  The Kyoto Brand: Protecting Agricultural and Culinary Heritage.  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Clark, Julia  (2015)  Modeling Late Prehistoric and Early Historic Pastoral Adaptations in Northern Mongolia's Darkhad Depression.   Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Argüello García, Pedro María  (2015)    Subsistence Economy And Chiefdom Emergence in the Muisca Area. A Study of the Valle De Tena.  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Williams, James T.  (2014)  Staple Economies and Social Integration in Northeast China: Regional Organization in Zhangwu, Liaoning, China. Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Sung, Shih-Hsiang   (2014)  The Flowing Materiality of Crystal: A Global Commodity Chain of Fengshui Objects From Brazil, China to Taiwan.  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Romano, Francisco  (2014)  Changing Bases of Power: The Transition From Regional Classic to Recent in the Alto Magdalena (Colombia).   Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.             

Roman, Michael  (2014)  Migration, Transnationality, and Climate Change in the Republic of Kiribati.   Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.  

Pesantes Villa, Maria Amalia  (2014)  Out of sight out of mind: intercultural health technicians in the Peruvian Amazon.  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Ornellas, Melody Li  (2014)  When a Wife is a Visitor: Mainland Chinese Marriage Migration, Citizenship, and Activism in Hong Kong.  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Giraldo Tenorio, Hernando Javier  (2014)   Sources of Power and the Development of Sociopolitical Complexity in Malagana, Southwestern Colombia.  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Berrey, Charles A.  (2014)  Organization and Growth among Early Complex Societies in Central Pacific Panama.  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Ventresca Miller, Alicia (2013)  Social Organization And Interaction In Bronze Age Eurasia: A Bioarchaeological And Statistical Approach To The Study Of Communities.  Doctoral Dissertation, University Of Pittsburgh.

Tulbure, Narcis (2013)  Chary Opportunists: Money, Values, And Change In Postsocialist Romania.  Doctoral Dissertation, University Of Pittsburgh.

Sözer, Hande (2013)  Managing (In)Visibility By A Double Minority: Dissimulation And Identity Maintenance Among Alevi Bulgarian Turks.  Doctoral Dissertation, University Of Pittsburgh.

Sol Castillo, Ricardo Felipe (2013)  Religious Organization And Political Structure In Prehispanic Southern Costa Rica. Doctoral Dissertation, University Of Pittsburgh.

Roman-Lacayo, Manuel/A (2013)  Social And Environmental Risk And The Development Of Social Complexity In Precolumbian Masaya, Nicaragua.  Doctoral Dissertation, University Of Pittsburgh.

Rak, Kimberly (2013)  Seeing Green: Gendered Relationship Expectations And Sexual Risk Among Economically Underserved Adolescents In Braddock, Pennsylvania.  Doctoral Dissertation, University Of Pittsburgh.

Ming, Kevin (2013)  Slow Separations: Everyday Sex Work In Southern China.  Doctoral Dissertation, University Of Pittsburgh.

McCarthy, Rory G. (2013)  The Sikh Diaspora In Australia: Migration, Multiculturalism And The Imagining Of Home.  Doctoral Dissertation, University Of Pittsburgh.

Lopez Bravo, Roberto (2013)  State Interventionism In The Late Classic Maya Palenque Polity: Household And Community Archaeology At El Lacandon.  Doctoral Dissertation, University Of Pittsburgh.

Lee, Yi-Tze (2013)  Divided Dreams On Limited Land: Cultural Experiences Of Agricultural Bio-Energy Project And Organic Farming Transition In Taiwan.  Doctoral Dissertation, University Of Pittsburgh.

Hoggarth, Julie A.  (2013)  Social Reorganization and Household Adaptation in the Aftermath of Collapse at Baking Pot, Belize.  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Guerra-Reyes, Lucia (2013)  Safe motherhood and maternal mortality reduction strategies: a cross cultural perspective.  Master Essay, University of Pittsburgh.

Guerra-Reyes, Lucia (2013)  Changing Birth in The Andes: Safe Motherhood, Culture and Policy in Peru.  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Gamez Diaz, Laura (2013)  Cosmology And Society: Household Ritual Among The Terminal Classic Maya People Of Yaxha (Ca. A.D. 850-950), Guatemala.  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Marcone, Giancarlo (2012)  Political Strategies And Domestic Economy Of The Lote B Rural Elite In The Prehispanic Lurín Valley, Peru.  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Macia, Laura (2012)  Dealing With Grievances: The Latino Experience In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Hooe, Todd (2012)  “Little Kingdoms”: Adat And Inequality In The Kei Islands, Eastern Indonesia.  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Hamm, Megan (2012)  Activism, Sex Work, And Womanhood In North India.  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Frenopoulo, Christian (2012)  The Referential Functions Of Agency: Health Workers In Medical Missions To Madiha (Kulina) Indians In The Brazilian Amazon.  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

DePaoli, Lisa Coffield (2012)  "No Podemos Comer Billetes": Climate Change And Development In Southern Ecuador.  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Campbell, Roberto  (2012)  Socioeconomic differentiation, leadership, and residential patterning at an Araucanian chiefly center (Isla Mocha, AD 1000-1700).  Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.

Household Organization and Social Inequality at Bandurria, A Late Preceramic Village in Huaura, Peru.  Alejandro Jose Chu Barrera.  2011.

Kokeshi: Continued and Created Traditions/Motivations for a Japanese Folk Art Doll.  Jennifer E. McDowell.  2011.

Ideology and the Development of Social Hierarchy at the Site of Panquilma, Peruvian Central Coast.  Luis Enrique Lopez-Hurtado Orjeda.  2011.

Our Roots, Our Strength: The Jamu Industry, Women's Health and Islam in Contemporary Indonesia.  Sarah Elizabeth Krier.  2011.

An investigation of sex determination from the subadult pelvis: A morphometric analysis.  Kathleen Ann Satterlee Blake.  2011.

Carrying Out Modernity: Migration, Work, and Masculinity in China .  Xia Zhang.  2011.

Marriage Across the Taiwan Strait: Male Migrants, Marital Desire and Social Location.   Joseph Leo Cichosz.  2011.

Conditions of Social Change at El Dornajo, Southwestern Ecuador .   Sarah Ruth Taylor .  2011 .

Transfers and the Private Lives of Public Servants in Japan: Teachers in Nagasaki’s Outer Islands .   Blaine Phillip Connor .  2010 .

Oapan Nawa Folktales: Links to the Pre-Hispanic Past in a Contemporary Indian Community of Mexico .  Joanne Michel de Guerrero .  2010 .

Communal Tradition and the Nature of Social Inequality Among the Prehispanic Households of El Hatillo (HE-4), Panama .  William A. Locascio .  2010 .

Prehispanic Social Organization in the Jamastrán Valley, Southeastern Honduras .  Eva L. Martinez .  2010 .

Democracy “At Risk”? Governmental and Non-governmental Organizations, “At Risk” Youth, and Programming in Juiz de Fora, Brazil .   Penelope Kay Morrison .  2010 .

Emergent Complexity on the Mongolian Steppe: Mobility, Territoriality, and the Development of Early Nomadic Polities .  Jean-Luc Houle .  2010 .

Between the Kitchen and the State: Domestic Practice and Chimú Expansion in the Jequetepeque Valley, Peru.   Robyn E. Cutright. 2009.

Craft Specialization and the Emergence of the Chiefly Central Place Community of HE-4 (El Hatillo), Central Panama .  Adam Clayton Joseph Menzies .  2009 .

The Interaction of Androgenic Hormone and Craniofacial Variation: Relationship Between Epigenetics and the Environment on the Genome with an Eye Toward Non-Syndromic Craniosynostosis .   James John Cray, Jr. .  2009 .

The Development of Complex Society in the Volcán Barú Region of Western Panama .  Scott Palumbo .  2009 .

Huaracane Social Organization: Change Over Time at the Prehispanic Community of Yahuay Alta, Perú .  Kirk E. Costion .  2009 .

The Social and Political Evolution of Chiapa de Corzo, Chiapas, Mexico: An Analysis of Changing Strategies of Rulership in a Middle Formative Through Early Classic Mesoamerican Political Center .  Timothy D. Sullivan .  2009 .

Social Change in Pre-Columbian San Ramon de Alajuela, Costa Rica, and Its Relation with Adjacent Regions .  Mauricio Murillo Herrera .  2009 .

The Domestic Mode of Production and the Development of Sociopolitical Complexity: Evidence from the Spondylus Industry of Coastal Ecuador .   Alexander Javier Martin .  2009 .

Bread, Sweat, and Tears? The Ascendance of Capitalist Accumulation Strategies in the Russian Republic of Karelia, 2001-2002 .  Mark Wesley Abbott .  2008 .

The Organization of Agricultural Production on the Southwest Periphery of the Maya Lowlands: A Settlement Patterns Study in the Upper Grijalva Basin, Chiapas, Mexico .  Dean H. Wheeler .  2008 .

Donkey Friends: Travel, Voluntary Associations and the New Public Sphere in Contemporary Urban China .  Ning Zhang .  2008 .

Fashioning Change: The Cultural Economy of Clothing in Contemporary China .   Jianhua (Andrew) Zhao .  2008 .

Time and Process in an Early Village Settlement System on the Bolivian Southern Altiplano .  Jason (Jake) R. Fox .  2007 .

Social and Economic Development of a Specialized Community in Chengue, Parque Tairona, Colombia .  Alejandro Dever .  2007 .

Tracing the Red Thread: An Ethnography of Chinese-U.S. Transnational Adoption .  Frayda Cohen .  2007 .

Identity and Development in Rural Bolivia: Negotiating Gender, Ethnicity, and Class in Development Contexts .  Christine Hippert .  2007 .

Three-Dimensional Morphometric Analysis of the Craniofacial Complex in the Unaffected Relatives of Individuals with Nonsyndromic Orofacial Clefts .  Seth M. Weinberg .  2007 .

Cultural Politics and Health: The Development of Intercultural Health Policies in the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua .   Edgardo Ruiz .  2006 .

Ritual and Status: Mortuary Display at the Household Level at the Middle Horizon Wari Site of Conchopata, Peru .  Charlene D. Milliken .  2006 .

“Crafting” Hongshan Communities? Household Archeology In The Chiefing Region Of Eastern Inner Mongolia, PRC .   Christian Eric Peterson .  2006 .

Subsistence, Environment Fluctuation and Social Change: A Case Study in South Central Inner Mongolia .  Gregory G. Indrisano .  2006 .

Power and Competition in the Upper Egyptian Predynastic: A View from the Predynastic Settlement at el-Mahâsna, Egypt .  David Allen Anderson .  2006 .

Dusk Without Sunset: Actively Aging in Traditional Chinese Medicine .   Xiaohui Yang .  2006 .

The Organization of Agricultural Production in the Emergence of Chiefdoms in the Quijos Region, Eastern Andes of Ecuador.   Andrea Cuellar .  2006 .

The Utility of Cladistic Analysis of Nonmetric Skeletal Traits for Biodistance Analysis .  James Christopher Reed .  2006 .

Ethnography of Voting: Nostalgia, Subjectivity, and Popular Politics in Post-Socialist Lithuania .   Neringa Klumbyte .  2006 .

Risky Business: Cultural Conceptions of HIV/AIDS in Indonesia .   Piper Crisovan .  2006 .

The Mahaney Site (UB 666) -- Habitation or Special Purpose Site? .  Catherine M. Serventi .  2006 .

Food for the Dead, Cuisine of the Living: Mortuary Food Offerings from Pacatnamú and Farfán, Jequetepeque Valley, Perú .  Robyn E. Cutright .  2005 .

Czech Balneotherapy: From Public Health to Health Tourism.   Amy Speier.  2005.

Taxonomy of the Genus Perodicticus .  David Paul Stump .  2005 .

Rice Agricultural Intensification and Sociopolitical Development in the Bronze Age, central western Korean Peninsula.   Bumcheol Kim.  2005.

A Cold Of The Heart: Japan Strives To Normalize Depression .  George Kendall Vickery.  2005.

Cayuga Iroquois Households and Gender Relations During the Contact Period: An Investigation of the Rogers Farm Site, 1660s--1680s (New York) .  Kimberly Louise Williams-Shuker.  2005.

The Camutins Chiefdom: Rise and Development of Social Complexity on Marajo Island, Brazilian Amazon . Denise Pahl Schaan.  2004.

Cuban Color Classification and Identity Negotiation: Old terms in a New World. Shawn Alfonso Wells. 2004.

Natural Variation in Human Mating Strategy and the Evolutionary Significance of Mate Choice Criteria.  Helen Katherine Perilloux.  2004.

The Emergence and Development of Chiefly Societies in the Rio Parita Valley, Panama . Mikael Haller.  2004.

The Form, Function, and Organization of Anthropogenic Deposits at Dust Cave, Alabama. Lara Kristine Homsey. 2004.

Does Natal Territory Quality Predict Human Dispersal Choices? A Test of Emlen's Model of Family Formation . Elizabeth R. Blum. 2004.

Pragmatic Singles: Being an Unmarried Woman in Contemporary Japan. Tamiko Ortega Noll. 2004

Regional Settlement Patterns and Political Complexity in the Cinti Valley, Bolivia . Claudia Rivera Casanovas. 2004.

Turning Numbers Against Themselves: Religion, Statistics, and Political Distance in Romania . Mihnea Vasilescu. 2004.

(Re) Producing the Nation: The Politics of Reproduction in Serbia in Serbia in the 1980's and 1990's . Rada Drezgic. 2004.

Female Choice, Male Dominance, and the Evolution of Low Voice Pitch in Men . David Andrew Putz. 2004.

A Cultural History of the Micheal and Mary Jane Brubaker Family of Somerset County, Pennsylvania, with a Focus on Women's Marriage. John Michael Krajnak. 2004.

Cranial Content Changes in Craniosynostotic Rabbits . Wendy Kay Fellows-Mayle.  2004.

Created Unequal: Multiregionalism and the Origins of Anthropological Racism. Adam Wells Davis. 2004.

Gendered Visions of the Bosnian Future: Women’s Activism and Representation in Post-War Bosnia-Herzegovina . Elissa Lynelle Helms. 2003.

Spirtual Warfare and Social Transformation in Fiji: The Life History of Loto Fiafia of Kioa . Thomas James Mullane. 2003.

Samurai Beneath Blue Tarps: Doing Homelessness, Rejecting Marginality and Preserving Nation in Ueno Park (Japan) . Abby Rachael Margolis. 2003.

The Evolutionary Biology of the Apolipoprotein E Allele System with Special Reference to Alzheimer's Disease . Jessica Ann Garver. 2003

Setting Nets on Troubled Waters: Environment, Economics, and Autonomy Among Nori Cultivating Households in a Japanese Fishing Cooperative. Alyne Elizabeth Delaney. 2003.

Skeletal Maturation and Estimating Age-At-Death During the First Decade of Life . Frank D. Houghton Jr. 2003.

"Civil Society or a Nation-State?" Macedonian and Albanian Intellectuals Building the Macedonian State and Nation(s) . Nevena Dicheva Dimova. 2003.

Sex Determination of the Fragmented Pelvis Using Euclidean Distance Matrix Analysis . Joan A. Bytheway. 2003.

Proximate Mechanisms of Kin Recogniton in Non-human Primates. Aislinn Kelly. 2003.

The Evolution of Hairlessness in Humans a a Means of Increased Vitamin D Biosynthesis . D. A. Putz. 2003.

The Evolution of the Bogota Chiefdom: A Household View . Michael H. Kruschek. 2003.

Multi-Scalar Analysis of Domestic Activities at Parker Farm: A Late Prehistoric Cayuga Iroquois Village . Tracy Sue Michaud Stutzman. 2002.

Late Intermediate Period Political Economy and Household Organization at Jachakala, Bolivia. Christine Beaule. 2002.

Indigenous Federations, NGOs, and the State: Development and the Politics of Culture in Ecuador's Amazon. Patrick C. Wilson. 2002

Wild Resources in the Andes: Algarrobo, Chanar and Palqui: Implications for Archaeology . Claudia Rivera-Casanovas. 2002.

Nonmetric Population Variation In The Skulls of Human Perinates . Seth M. Weinberg. 2002.

Intensive Agriculture and Political Economy of the Yaguachi Chiefdom of Guayas Basin, Coastal Ecuador . Florencio German Delgado-Espinoza. 2002.

Sedentism, Site Occupation and Settlement Organization at La Joya, A Formative Village in the Sierra De Los Tuxtlas, Veracruz, Mexico . Valerie J. McCormack. 2002.

The Road to Health: The Experience of Tuberculosis in Southern Chile Joan Elizabeth Paluzzi. 2002.

Household and Community Organization of a Formative Period, Bolivian Settlement . Courtney Elizabeth Rose. 2001.

Emerging Cultural Markets and Private Enterprise in Urban China: Managing Change in Values, Families and Futures . David Hudgens. 2001.

Equal Education - Unequal Lives: Life Course Goals of Japanese Female Undergraduates . Judith Lynn Misko. 2001.

Women’s Economic Activities in an Industrializing Malay Village . Margaret Wolfberg Kedia. 2001.

Interisland Interaction and the Development of Chiefdoms in the Eastern Caribbean . John Gordon Crock. 2001.

Public and Private Space at Mohenjo-Daro: the Implications for Social Organization . Sara Clark. 2001.

Anasazi Settlement Patterns: the Importance of Seasonal Mobility . Charlene Milliken. 2001.

Post-Saladoid Age Pottery in the Northern Lesser Antilles: Lessons Learned from Thin Section Photography . Martin Todd Fuess. 2001.

Peasants and the State: The Political economy of a Village in Maoist and Post-Mao China .Young Kyun Yang. 2000.

The Chichén Itzá - Ek Balam Transect Project: An Intersite Perspective on the Political Organization of the Ancient Maya . James Gregory Smith. 2000.

Japanese Adult Learning: Karaoke Naraigoto . Hideo Watanabe. 2000.

Inventing Indigenous Knowledge: Archaeology, Rural Development, and the Raised Field Rehabilitation Project in Bolivia . Lynn Swartley. 2000.

Valuable Women: Gendered Strategies for Success in Korean College Culture . Elise Michelle Mellinger. 2000.

A Study of Late Classic Maya Population Growth at La Milpa, Belize. John Janson Rose. 2000.

Development of the Central Nervous System and the Evolution of the Neocortex . Elizabeth Louise Dick. 2000.

Dynamical Systems Modeling in Archaeology: A GIS Approach to Site Selection Processes in the Greater Yellowstone Region . Thomas G. Whitley. 2000.

Rural Agrarian Diversity in the Late Classic (600-950 A.D.) Naco Valley, Northwest Honduras . John Douglass. 1999.

The Functional Morphology of the Lower Cervical Spine in Non-Human Primates . Susan R. Mercer. 1999.

T he Organization of Agricultural Production at a Maya Center. Settlement Patterns in the Palenque Region, Chiapas, Mexico . Rodrigo Ruben Gregorio Liendo Stuardo. 1999.

The Political Ecology of Indigenous Self-Development in Bolivia’s Multiethnic Indigenous Territory . J. Montgomery Roper. 1999.

Origins Research in Archaeology at the Turn of the Millennium and Giambattista Vico’s New Science (1744) . Stephanie Koerner. 1999.

Social Differentiation at the Kerniskey Site?: A Contribution to the Study of Emerging Social Complexity . Elizabeth Ramos Roca. 1999.

Lithic Economy and Household Interdependence Among the Late Classic Maya of BelizeLithic Economy and Household Interdependence Among the Late Classic Maya of Belize . Jon VandenBosch. 1999.

The Late Formative to Classic Period Obsidian Economy at Palo Errado, Veracruz, Mexico . Charles Leonard Fredrick Knight. 1999.

Postclassic Craft Production in Morelos, Mexico: The Cotton Thread Industry in the Provinces . Ruth Fauman-Fichman. 1999.

The Organization of Staple Crop Production in Middle Formative, Late Formative, and Classic Period Farming Households at K'axob, Belize . Helen Hope Henderson. 1998.

The 'Becoming' Mother: Transitions to Motherhood in Urban China . Suzanne Kelley Gottschang. 1998

Prehispanic Intensive Agriculture, Settlement Pattern and Political Economy in the Western Venezuelan Llanos . Rafael Angel Gassón Pacheco. 1998.

Prehispanic Change in the Mesitas Community: Documenting the Development of a Chiefdom's Central Place in San Agustín, Colombia . Víctor González Fernández. 1998.

"We Just Live Here": Health Decision Making and the Myth of Community in El Alto, Bolivia . Jerome Winston Pettus Crowder. 1998

Bases of Social Hierarchy in a Muisca Central Village of the Northeastern Highland of Columbia . Ana Maria Boada Rivas. 1998.

The Effect of Time Manipulation on the Exchange of Information in the Patient-Provider Encounter. Van Yasek. 1998.

Social Support Networks of Impaired Older Adults . Marcie Caryn Nightingale. 1998.

Early Village-Based Society and Long-Term Cultural Evolution in the South-Central Andean Altiplano. Timothy McAndrews. 1998.

Sacred Confluence: Worship, History and the Politics of Change in a Himalayan Village. Lipika Mazumdar. 1998

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Digital Commons @ USF > College of Arts and Sciences > Anthropology > Theses and Dissertations

Anthropology Theses and Dissertations

Theses/dissertations from 2023 2023.

Entanglements of Teenage Food Security Within High School Pantries in Pinellas County, Florida , Karen T. Díaz Serrano

The Applicability of the Postmortem Submersion Interval Estimation Formula for Human Remains Found in Subtropical Aquatic Environments , Kara L. DiComo

Early Agricultural Lives: Bioarchaeological Inferences from Neolithic and Early Copper Age Tombs in the Central Po Valley, Italy , Christopher J. Eck Jr.

The Process of Government in Clearwater, Florida , Picot deBoisfeuillet Floyd

“I Was Doing the Best with What I Had”: Exploring Student Veterans’ Experiences with Community Reintegration, Food Insecurity, and Health Challenges , Jacquelyn N. Heuer

Transformative Psychedelic Experiences at Music Events: Using Subjective Experience to Explore Chemosocial Assemblages of Culture , Gabrielle R. Lehigh

“We Need to Have a Place to Vent and Get Our Frustrations Out”: Addressing the Needs of Mothering Students in Higher Education using a Positive Deviance Framework , Melissa León

“They’re Still Trying to Wrap Their Head Around Forever”: An Anatomy of Hope for Spinal Cord Injury Patients , William A. Lucas

Foodways of the Florida Frontier: Zooarchaeological Analysis of Gamble Plantation Historic State Park (8MA100) , Mary S. Maisel

The Impacts of Disability Policy and its Implementation on Deaf University Students: An Applied Anthropological Approach , Tailyn Marie Osorio

“I’m Still Suffering”: Mental Health Care Among Central African Refugee Populations in the Tampa Bay Area , C. Danee Ruszczyk

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Immigration-Related Stressors, Pregnancy, Birth, and Post-Partum Experiences of Women Living Along the US-Mexico Border , Isabela Solis

Clinically Applied Anthropology: A Syndemic Intervention. , Jason W. Wilson

Theses/Dissertations from 2022 2022

An Assessment of Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Individuals Gender Affirming Health Care Practices in the Greater Tampa Bay , Sara J. Berumen

Mound-Summit Practices at Cockroach Key (8HI2) Through the Lens of Practice Theory , Chandler O. Burchfield

Crafting a Scene: The Nexus of Production and Consumption of Tampa Bay Craft Beer , Russell L. Edwards

Applied Anthropology of Addiction in Clinical Spaces: co-Developing and Assessing a Novel Opioid Treatment Pathway , Heather Diane Henderson

Japan’s COVID 19 Infection Rate: A Focus on Tokyo Neighborhoods , Lauren Koerner

Farmers’ Organizations and Development Actors in a Pandemic: Responses to Covid-19 and the Food-Energy-Water Nexus , Atte Penttilä

An Ideology of Racism: Community Representation, Segregation, and the Historical Cemeteries of Panama City, Florida , Ethan David Mauldin Putman

“Even If You Have Food in Your House, It Will Not Taste Sweet”: Central African Refugees’ Experiences of Cultural Food Insecurity and Other Overlapping Insecurities in Tampa, Florida , Shaye Soifoine

Afro-Latinx and Afro-Latin Americans in the United States: Examining Ethnic and Racial Experiences in Higher Education , Glenda Maria Vaillant Cruz

Black Cemeteries Matter: The Erasure of Historic Black Cemeteries in Polk County, Florida , Juliana C. Waters

An Anthropology with Human Waste Management: Non-Humans, The State, and Matters of Care on the Placencia Peninsula, Belize , William Alex Webb

An Edgefield Ceramic Assemblage from the Lost Town of St. Joseph, Northwest Florida , Crystal R. Wright

Theses/Dissertations from 2021 2021

Aspiring to “Make it Work”: Defining Resilience and Agency Amongst Hispanic Youth Living in Low-Income Neighborhoods , Sara Arias-Steele

“I Wish Somebody Called Me, Told Me Not to Worry”: Evaluating a Non-Profit’s Use of Social Support to Address Refugee Women’s Resettlement Challenges , Brandylyn L. Arredondo

Of Body and Mind: Bioarchaeological Analysis of Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century Anatomization and Institutionalization in Siena, Italy , Jacqueline M. Berger

Cannabis Capitalism in Colorado: An Ethnography of Il/legal Production and Consumption , Lia Berman

Analyses Of Woodland Check-Stamped Ceramics In Northwest Florida , John D. Blackburn

“Here Come the Crackers!”: An Ethnohistorical Case Study of Local Heritage Discourses and Cultural Reproduction at a Florida Living History Museum , Blair Bordelon

Privies as Portals: A Ceramic and Glass Bottle Analysis of a Late 19th Century Household Privy in Ellenton, FL , Shana Boyer

Making Change in the Nickel City: Food Banking and Food Insecurity in Buffalo, NY During the COVID-19 Pandemic , Sarah E. Bradley

Ware and Tear in Ancient Tampa Bay: Ceramic Elemental Analyses from Pinellas County Sites , McKenna Loren Douglass

Rethinking Settlement Patterns at the Weeden Island Site (8PI1) on Florida’s Central Gulf Coast , Heather E. Draskovich

Listening to Women: Using a Mixed-Methods Approach to Understanding Women’s Desires and Experience During Childbirth , Nicole Loraine Falk Smith

Archaeology and Seasonality of Stock Island (8Mo2), a Glades-Tradition Village on Key West , Ryan M. Harke

How Culture and Storytelling Can Influence Urban Development: An Ethnographic Look at the Community-Driven Revitalization of Newtown in Sarasota, Florida , Michala Head

Educational Experiences of Congolese Refugees in West-Central Florida High Schools , Michaela J. Inks

Constructing 'Child Safety': Policy, Practice, and Marginalized Families in Florida's Child Welfare System , Melissa Hope Johnson

"We're the Lucky Ones": A Social Network Analysis of Recovery After the Iowa Derecho , Kayla C. Jones

How Race is Made in Everyday Life: Food, Eating, and Dietary Acculturation among Black and White Migrants in Florida, U.S. , Laura Kihlstrom

Tourism, Education, and Identity Making: Agency and Representation of Indigenous Communities in Public Sites within Florida. , Timothy R. Lomberk II

Pregnancy and Fertility Amongst Women with the MTHFR C677T Polymorphism: An Anthropological Review , Caroline A. MacLean

A Biocultural Analysis of the Impacts of Interactions Between West Africans and Europeans During the Trans-Atlantic Trade at Elmina, Ghana , Heidi Ellen Miller

The Distribution in Native Populations from Mexico and Central America of the C677T Variant in the MTHFR Gene , Lucio A. Reyes

Politics vs. The Environment: The Spatial Distributions of Mississippian Mound Centers in Tampa Bay , Adam J. Sax

Seasonality, Labor Organization, and Monumental Constructions: An Otolith Study from Florida’s Crystal River Site (8CI1) and Roberts Island Shell Mound Complex (8CI40 and 41) , Elizabeth Anne Southard

Eating and Body Image Disorders in the Time of COVID19: An Anthropological Inquiry into the Pandemic’s Effects on the Bodies , Theresa A. Stoddard

The Early Medieval Transition: Diet Reconstruction, Mobility, and Culture Contact in the Ravenna Countryside, Northern Italy , Anastasia Temkina

The Science of Guessing: Critiquing Ancestral Estimation Through Computer Generated Statistical Analysis Within Forensic Anthropology in a Real-World Setting , Christopher J. Turner

Listening to Queens: Ghana's Women Traditional Leaders as a Model for Gender Parity , Kristen M. Vogel

Site Suitability Modeling in the Sand Pine Scrub of the Ocala National Forest , Jelane M. Wallace

Our Story, Our Homeland, Our Legacy: Settlement Patterns of The Geechee at Sapelo Island Georgia, From 1860 To 1950 , Colette D. Witcher

Identifying Skeletal Puberty Stages in a Modern Sample from the United States , Jordan T. Wright

Pollen-Vegetation Relationships in Upper Tampa Bay , Jaime E. Zolik

Theses/Dissertations from 2020 2020

Maternal Social Status, Offspring 2D:4D Ratio and Postnatal Growth, in Macaca mulatta (Rhesus Macaques) , Juan Pablo Arroyo

Social Exclusion of Older Mossi Women Accused of Witchcraft in Burkina Faso, West Africa , Clarisse Barbier

Fields Brook Superfund Site: Race, Class, and Environmental Justice in a Blasted Landscape , Richard C. Bargielski

The Effects of Feudalism on Medieval English Mobility: A Biological Distance Study Using Nonmetric Cranial Traits. , Jonathan H. Barkmeier

Before the Storm: Water and Energy Utilities, Human Vulnerability and Disaster Risk , Cori D. Bender

Recipes for the Living and the Dead: Technological Investigation of Ceramics from prehistoric Sicily. The case studies of Sant’Angelo Muxaro and Polizzello , Gianpiero Caso

Save Water Drink Wine: Challenges of Implementing the Ethnography of the Temecula Valley Wine Industry into Food-Energy-Water Nexus Decision-Making , Zaida E. Darley

İYo luché! : Uncovering and Interrupting Silencing in an Indigenous and Afro-descendant Community , Eileen Cecelia Deluca

Unwritten Records: Crime and Punishment in Early Virginia , Jessica L. Gantzert

‘It’s Been a Huge Stress’: An In-Depth, Exploratory Study of Vaccine Hesitant Parents in Southern California , Mika Kadono

Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy for Elemental Analysis in Bioarchaeology and Forensic Anthropology , Kelsi N. Kuehn

Middle Woodland Mounds of the Lower Chattahoochee, Lower Flint, and Apalachicola River Basin , Michael H. Lockman

Overturning the Turnbull Settlement: Artifact Analysis of the Old Stone Wharf in New Smyrna Beach, Florida , Tracy R. Lovingood

“They will think we are the Cancer Family”: Studying Patterns of Cancer Disclosure and Communication among Indian Immigrants in the United States , Kanan Mehta

Museum Kura Hulanda: Representations of Transatlantic Slavery and African and Dutch Heritage in Post-Colonial Curaçao , April Min

Nurses and Needlesticks: Perceptions of Stigma and HIV Risk , Bethany Sharon Moore

Circadian Rhythms and the Embodiment of Social Zeitgebers: Linking the Bio and Social , Tiffany R. Moore

Civic Engagement amid Civil Unrest: Haitian Social Scientists Working at Home , Nadège Nau

“Placing our breasts on a hot kerosene lantern”: A Critical Study of Microfinancialization in the Lives of Women Entrepreneurs in the Informal Economic Sector in Ibadan, Nigeria , Olubukola Olayiwola

Domestic Life during the Late Intermediate Period at El Campanario Site, Huarmey Valley, Peru , Jose Luis Peña

Archaeology and the Philosopher's Stance: An Advance in Ethics and Information Accessibility , Dina Rivera

A South Florida Ethnography of Mobile Home Park Residents Organizing Against Neoliberal Crony Capitalist Displacement , Juan Guillermo Ruiz

From Colonial Legacy to Difficult Heritage: Responding to and Remembering An Gorta Mór , Ireland’s Great Hunger , Katherine Elizabeth Shakour

The Role of Financial Insecurity and Expectations on Perspectives of Mental Health Services among Refugees , Jacqueline M. Siven

A Multidisciplinary Approach to Trauma Analysis in Cases of Child Fatality , Jaime D. Sykes

Governmentality, Biopower, and Sexual Citizenship: A Feminist Examination of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare Experiences of 18-24 Year-Olds in the U.S. Southeast , Melina K. Taylor

Characterizing Childhood and Diet in Migration Period Hungary , Kirsten A. Verostick

An Ethnography of WaSH Infrastructures and Governance in Sulphur Springs, Florida , Mathews Jackon Wakhungu

A Plan for Progress, Preservation, and Presentation at the Safety Harbor Museum and Cultural Center , Amanda L. Ward

Theses/Dissertations from 2019 2019

Pathways to Parenthood: Attitudes and Preferences of Eight Self-Identified Queer Women Living in Tampa Bay, FL , Emily Noelle Baker

"It's Not Addiction Until You Graduate": Natural Recovery in the College Context , Breanne I. Casper

Tales of Trafficking: Performing Women's Narratives in a Sex Trafficking Rehabilitation Program in Florida , Jaine E. Danlag

Perceptions of Infrastructure, Flood Management, and Environmental Redevelopment in the University Area, Hillsborough County, Florida , Kris-An K. Hinds

Eating in America: Easing the Transition for Resettled Refugees through an Applied Anthropological Intervention , Emily A. Holbrook

Genetic Testing and the Power of the Provider: Women’s Experiences with Cancer Genetic Testing , Dana Erin Ketcher

An Archaeological Investigation of Enslavement at Gamble Plantation , S. Matthew Litteral

“Right in the Trenches with Them”: Caregiving, Advocacy, and the Political Economy of Community Health Workers , Ryan I. Logan

Exploring Variations in Diet and Migration from Late Antiquity to the Early Medieval Period in the Veneto, Italy: A Biochemical Analysis , Ashley B. Maxwell

Least of My Worries: Food Security, Diet Quality, and Antiretroviral Adherence among People Living with HIV , Charlotte Ann Noble

The Tampa Gym Study: An Ethnographic Exploration of Gyms, Female Gym-Goers and The Quest for Fitness in Tampa, FL , Danielle Reneé Rosen

Environmental Legacies of Pre-Contact and Historic Land Use in Antigua, West Indies , Anthony Richard Tricarico

“What I Hadn’t Realized is How Difficult it is, You Know?”: Examining the Protective Factors and Barriers to Breastfeeding in the UK , Cheyenne R. Wagi

Theses/Dissertations from 2018 2018

“I Want Ketchup on my Rice”: The Role of Child Agency on Arab Migrant Families Food and Foodways , Faisal Kh. Alkhuzaim

Exploring Explicit Fanfiction as a Vehicle for Sex Education among Adolescents and Young Adults , Donna Jeanne Barth

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195 Top Anthropology Topics For Great Thesis

Anthropology is one of the most interesting disciplines that you can pursue at the university level. The whole idea of exploring everything known about human beings, from their origins to evolution, is pretty exciting.

However, the study requires preparing multiple assignments, which can be pretty challenging because you need a deep understanding of biology, history, and culture. The first step, which is even more stressful when preparing an anthropology paper, is selecting the right topic. So, we are here to help.

In this post, we have a list of the best anthropology topics that you can use to get good grades. To help you increase the chances of scoring the best grade in your paper, we have also included a comprehensive guide on how to write your paper like a pro.

What Is Anthropology?

Anthropology is the study of humanity, and it is concerned about human biology, behavior, societies, cultures and linguistics in the past and present. The discipline stretches back to the study of past human species. Because of its broad nature, it is broken down into a number of units, with each focusing on a specific area:

Social anthropology: Focuses on patterns of human behavior. Cultural anthropology: This branch mainly focuses on culture, including values and norms in the society. Linguistic anthropology: Unlike the other two, this branch of anthropology targets determining how language impacts people’s lives. Biological anthropology: This branch focuses on studying the biological development of humans. Archaeological anthropology: This branch of anthropology is concerned with investigating humans in the past. In some jurisdictions, such as Europe, it is considered a full discipline like geography or history.

How To Write Best Quality Anthropology Research Paper

When your professors issue anthropology research paper prompts, one of the questions that you might have is, “how do I write a high level paper?” Here are the main steps that you can use to write a great college paper.

Step One: Understand the Assignment The biggest mistake that you can make is starting an assignment without understanding what it entails. So, read the prompt carefully and grasp what is needed. For example, does your teacher want a qualitative or quantitative research paper? For masters and graduate students, it might be a quantitative anthropology dissertation. Step Two: Select the Preferred Research Paper Topic The topic that you select is very important, and it is advisable to go for the title that is interesting to you. Furthermore, the topic should have ample resources to help you complete the paper smoothly. If there are no books, journals, and other important resources to prepare the paper, there is a risk of getting stuck midway. Once you select the topic, carry preliminary research to gather key points that you will use to prepare the paper. However, these points are not final and will need to get updated along the way. Step Three: Develop Your Research Paper Outline An outline defines the structure of the paper. It makes further research and preparing the paper pretty straightforward. Also, it eliminates the risk of forgetting important bits of the research paper. To make the paper more informative, make sure to add supportive information progressively. Step Four: Write the Thesis Statement of Your Paper The thesis statement of a paper is your stand about the topic that you are writing about. The statement comes in the introduction but will further be restated in conclusion. The information you present on the research paper will approve or disapprove your thesis statement. Step Five: Write the Draft Paper After gathering the information about the topic, it is time to get down and prepare the first draft. So, strictly follow the prepared outline to craft a good paper, starting with the introduction to the conclusion. If you are writing a dissertation, it might be good to tell your supervisor about the progress. Remember that a dissertation is more comprehensive than a research paper. To write a dissertation, you should start with the introduction, followed by the literature review, research methods, results, discussion, and finally, conclusion. Step Six: Write the Final Paper After finishing the draft, it is time to refine it further and make the work exceptional. Therefore, you might want to go through more resources to establish if there is anything more helpful to add. Finally, edit your paper and proofread the paper. You might also want to ask a friend to help with proofreading to identify mistakes that might have skipped your eye.

Next, we will highlight the leading anthropology topics that you should consider. So, pick the preferred one or tweak it a little to suit your needs.

Top 20 Anthropology Paper Topics

• How does the environment impact the color of a person?
• The advantages and disadvantages of eugenics in the 21st century.
• A closer look at the aging process in the western culture.
• What are the implications of physical labor on the physique of a person?
• Define the relationship between Kyphosis to human senescence
• Does smoking impact the appearance of a human being?
• Death caused by drowning: How to determine it through examination of physical and anatomical evidence.
• Existence of Homo Habilis is supported by modern facts.
• Compare two theories that explain the origins of human beings.
• A review of key beliefs about human body preservation in ancient Egypt.
• The role played by storytelling in different cultures.
• Applying anthropology as forensic science.
• Heroes in society.
• Closed societies.
• Emergency of terrorism into a culture.
• Feminism application in different cultures.
• A review of the concept of wellness in different cultures.
• What role does literature play in human development?
• Analyzing conflicts in Latin American and Asian cultures.
• Genetic engineering and anthropology: How are they related?

Interesting Anthropology Topics

• Investigating how religious beliefs impact the Hispanic cultures.
• A review of the evolution of sexual discrimination.
• The impact of culture on same sex marriages: A case study of LGBT community in France.
• A closer look at racism in modern societies.
• Causes of homelessness among the Hispanic communities.
• Causes and effects of homelessness among the Indian people in Asia.
• Comparing the strategies adopted to deal with homelessness in the US and India.
• Cultural anthropology and political science: How are they related?
• Identify and review two most important organizations when it comes to advancing anthropology.
• Peru’s Quechua people.
• Contemporary policy and environmental anthropology.
• What influences human social patterns?
• A review of the impact of western culture on indigenous people in North America.
• Analyzing the caste systems and ranking in societies.
• A review of ancient Roman culture.
• The evolution of the human ear.
• Comparing the evolution of man to the evolution of birds.
• What is the origin of modern humans?
• A closer look at the main issues in female circumcision.

Biological Anthropology Research Paper Topics

• Exploring the meaning of biological anthropology and its application in different fields.
• Analyzing how primatologists use primates to understand human evolution.
• How paleontologists use fossil records for anthropological comparisons.
• Biological anthropology: How does it explain human behavior development?
• Identify and review top geographical locations where anthropologists do their work: Why are these locations so important?
• Define the connection between social sciences and biological anthropology.
• The evolution of the primate diet.
• Analyzing the evolution of tapetum lucidum.
• A closer look at the extinction of giant lemurs in Madagascar.
• Human resistance to drugs: Human pathogen coevolution.
• How to determine the age of an animal using its bones.
• How does syphilis impact bones?
• Poaching and habitat destruction.
• The application of natural selection in the animal kingdom.

Good Cultural Anthropology Research Paper Topics

• Religious beliefs in the Asian cultures.
• Comparing religious beliefs in African and Aboriginal cultures.
• A review of the key cultural concepts in a culture of choice in Europe.
• Comparing the idea of worldview from the perspectives of two societies.
• Marriage in a traditional society of your choice.
• A review of early development of economic organizations.
• The role of women in Indian society.
• A closer look at the process of language acquisition in African culture.
• Missionary and anthropology: What is the relationship?
• What strategies would you propose to minimize ethnocentrism?
• How can society minimize the notion of cultural baggage?
• Culture shock: Insights on how to address it.
• Belief in magic in different societies.
• A review of the impacts of globalization on nutritional anthropology.

Anthropological Research Questions

• Should anthropology be merged fully with biology?
• Is DNA evidence accurate in criminology applications?
• How does the practice of anthropology application in China compare to that of the US?
• Use of radiological tools in anthropology: What is their level of effectiveness?
• What are the main hazards and risks of forensic anthropology?
• What effect do mythologies have in modern society?
• How does language acquisition impact the culture of a society?
• Body project change projects: What are the valued attributes?
• Halloween celebrations: How have they evolved over the years?
• What are the impacts of adaptive mutation?
• How did WWI and WWII impact human societies?
• What are the impacts of climate change on animal evolution?
• Location of crime: What can you learn about it?
• What are the impacts of long-term alcohol addiction on the human body?
• Magic and science: Are they related?

Easy Anthropological Ideas

• Development of anthropology in the 21st century.
• Important lessons about humans that can be drawn from anthropological studies.
• Anthropological issues in pre-capitalist societies.
• A closer look at folk roles and primitive society.
• Urban centers and modern man.
• How is automation impacting human behavior?
• How does biology impact human culture?
• Reviewing racial identity and stereotypes in society.
• Comparing ancient Aztec to Maya civilizations.
• Analyzing religious diversity in the United States.
• Comparing religious diversity in the UK and Italy.
• Why is studying anthropology important?
• Comparing different death rituals in different cultures on the globe.
• What is the relationship between literature and human development?
• Analyzing the influence of anthropology on modern art.
• How has social media impacted different cultures on the globe?

Linguistic Anthropology Research Topics

• What led to the emergence of linguistics anthropology?
• A review of the main theories in linguistic anthropology.
• Linguistics used by different communities in the same nation.
• Comparing sign and verbal communication.
• How did Dell Hymes contribute to linguistic anthropology?
• Language is the most important component among Bengal immigrants.
• Language endangerment: What is it?
• Comparing different categories of arts from an anthropological context for an Asian and Western country.
• The impact of colonization on the language of a specific society of your choice.
• Explore three different indigenous languages in America.

Controversial Anthropology Topics

• Social anthropology is not worth studying because it is very general.
• Human societies are cultural constructs.
• The past should be considered a foreign nation.
• What are your views of petro behavior in chimps?
• Man is natural killer
• Infant killing is an important evolutionary strategy.
• The war on infanticides: Which side do you support?
• Evaluating the concept of human morality.
• Should all the political leaders be required to undertake training in cultural anthropology?
• Human cleansing: Evaluating the driving factors in different societies.
• Analyzing the concept of political correctness in the 21st century.
• What are the earliest life forms to exist on the planet?

Medical Anthropology Research Topics List

• Comparing and contrasting physical and medical anthropology studies.
• Do we have evidence of evolution over the last 2000 years?
• Exploring the importance of anthropology in modern medicine.
• The health implications of adapting to ecology.
• Domestic health culture practices in two societies of choice.
• A review of clinical anthropology applications.
• Political ecology of infectious diseases.
• What is the relationship between violence, diseases and malnutrition?
• The economic aspect of political health in a country of choice.
• Perception of risk, vulnerability and illnesses: A case study of the United States.
• What are the main factors that drive good nutrition and health transition?
• The adoption of preventive health practices in society.
• Important cultural conditions that help shape medical practices.
• Comparing the medical practices during the colonial and post-colonial eras in a county of choice.
• Use of mitochondria in forensic and anthropology.
• Commercialization of health and medicine: What are the implications in society?
• Analyzing health disparity in a society of your choice.

Current Topics In Anthropology

• Using anthropology studies to determine the impact of political systems on different societies.
• Human rights of people who are convicted of crimes.
• What are the most important organizations when studying anthropology?
• A closer look at the dialect of a modern feminist.
• A study of current queer life in Germany.
• Implications of Barack Obama as the African American President.
• Reviewing the Pagan rituals and their impacts.
• Comparing aging in the west and growing old in the African setting.
• Cultural implications of deviant behavior in society.
• The new concept of childhood in the emerging economies.

Physical Anthropology Research Topics

• What does genetic hitchhiking mean?
• Analyzing the cephalization process.
• What is adaptive mutation?
• Altruism: Is it learnt or a natural trait?
• What is abiogenesis in human development?
• A study of Australian marsupial’s convergent evolution.
• Comparing stability of animals in stability and those in the wild.
• Evolution of different animals in different parts of the globe. What drives the differences?
• A review of physical anthropology trends.
• The future evolution of human beings.
• Physical anthropology: The human and digital culture.
• What really makes people human?

Special Anthropology Topics to Write About

• Enlightenment and Victorian Anthropological Theory.
• Race and ethnicity: The anthropologist’s viewpoint.
• A closer look at reciprocity in the native aboriginal communities in Australia.
• What is the relationship between Neanderthal and modern humans?
• Cultural anthropology versus sociology.
• Anthropology of Mormonism.
• What is the biggest change since WWI?
• What is reflexive anthropology?
• What is the main purpose of rituals in society?
• Comparing rituals around childbirth in Asia.
• Evaluating the connection between religion and myths in different societies.
• Comparing the 20th and 21st century’s method of collecting anthropological data.
• Why is medical anthropology so important today?
• The importance of Benin artifacts in the history of the world.
• The sociology theory: A review of its structure and shortcomings.
• Christian believes in anthropology.
• Comparing Anthropology of Europe to Anthropology of Africa.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of reflexivity use in ethnographic studies.

Forensic Anthropology Paper Topics

• What are the primary agents that cause biological changes in the human body?
• Are the biological change agents in a human being similar to those of other animals?
• Assessing the accuracy of carbon dating technology.
• Analyzing the latest improvements in crime detection technology.
• Analyzing evidence that supports evolution views of human beings.
• How does radioactivity impact different animals?
• The main signs of asphyxiation.
• A review of the latest archaeological dating methods: Are they effective?
• Mummification: How effective was the process as applied in Egypt?
• Importance of crime scenes in forensic anthropology.
• Analyzing the effectiveness of Buccal Swabs when profiling insides of cheeks.
• Criminal profiling: How effective is it in deterring a criminal’s traits?
• Footprint in the crime scene: What can they tell you?
• Soil comparison in forensic anthropology.
• Insect as important agents of body decomposition.
• How do you identify blunt force trauma?
• Comparing and contrasting penetrating and perforating trauma.
• Analyzing the Rigor Mortis method of establishing a person’s death.

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• Anthropology Thesis Statement
• Samples List

An thesis examples on anthropology statement is a prosaic composition of a small volume and free composition, expressing individual impressions and thoughts on a specific occasion or issue and obviously not claiming a definitive or exhaustive interpretation of the subject.

Some signs of anthropology statement thesis:

• the presence of a specific topic or question. A work devoted to the analysis of a wide range of problems in biology, by definition, cannot be performed in the genre of anthropology statement thesis topic.
• The thesis expresses individual impressions and thoughts on a specific occasion or issue, in this case, on anthropology statement and does not knowingly pretend to a definitive or exhaustive interpretation of the subject.
• As a rule, an essay suggests a new, subjectively colored word about something, such a work may have a philosophical, historical, biographical, journalistic, literary, critical, popular scientific or purely fiction character.
• in the content of an thesis samples on anthropology statement, first of all, the author’s personality is assessed - his worldview, thoughts and feelings.

The goal of an thesis in anthropology statement is to develop such skills as independent creative thinking and writing out your own thoughts.

Writing an thesis is extremely useful, because it allows the author to learn to clearly and correctly formulate thoughts, structure information, use basic concepts, highlight causal relationships, illustrate experience with relevant examples, and substantiate his conclusions.

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Annual Three-Minute Thesis Competition Provides Research Capsule Talks

Creating an elevator pitch from information gleaned through years of specialized research takes clear thinking, precise wording and a flair for presenting to an audience. Just ask the participants of this year’s Three-Minute Thesis (3MT) competition. Ten graduate and doctoral students took part in the contest’s final round last month.  

3MT provides participants with the chance to share details about their research and creative work in a compelling way—within a three-minute time limit. It was first developed by the University of Queensland in Australia and is now held at colleges and universities around the world.   

“3MT forces students to come up with ways to describe their research succinctly to non-specialists in a way that is not just comprehensible, but is also interesting and engaging. That’s a skill set that will pay off on the job market, and even beyond, as far as interacting with the media and others who can help disseminate your work and findings more broadly,” says Glenn Wright, executive director of career and professional development for the Graduate School, who runs the competition.  

Nimisha Thakur

This year’s top winner is Nim isha Thakur , a Ph.D. student in anthropology, whose topic was “ River Song: Riverine Futures Amidst Climate Change on the Brahmaputra Floodplains .” Thakur, a graduate research associate at the South Asia Center in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs , won a 16-inch MacBook Pro M3 and a year membership in the Anthropological Association of America. Thakur also has the chance to represent Syracuse University in the regional 3MT competition hosted by the Northeastern Association of Graduate Schools.   

Qingyang Liu

Qingyang Liu , a Ph.D. student in human developm ent and family science, was named the “People’s Choice” winner by audience vote. Liu conducts research in the SELF Regulation Laboratory in  the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics . Her topic was “ Material Hardship’s Influence on Self-Regulation Across Childhood: Which Hardship Truly Matters ?” The prize was a set of Bose noise-cancelling headphones.   

Additional finalists were:   

• Caroline Barraco , master’s student in history, “Authenticity, Commodity and Empire in the Early Modern Spanish Relic Trade”  
• Yener Çağla Çimendereli , Ph.D. student in philosophy, “Nonnative Speaking and Linguistic Justice”  
• Nicholas Croce , Ph.D. student in social science, “America’s Forgotten Labor Colony Experiment”  
• Nardini Jhawar , Ph.D. student in clinical psychology, “Racial Reflections: Examining ADHD Help-Seeking Among Asian American College Students”  
• Matthew D. O’Leary , Ph.D. student in anthropology, “Entangled Frontiers: Capitalism and Artifacts of Power at Fort St. Frédéric”  
• Andrew Ridgeway , Ph.D. student in composition and cultural rhetoric, “Evil We Desire: Akrasia and Conspiracy Rhetoric”  
• Paul Sagoe , Ph.D. student in biomedical engineering, “From Joint Pain to Joy Gain: Delivering Drugs for Osteoarthritis Cure”’  
• Julia Zeh , Ph.D. student in biology, “From Baby Babbles to Masterful Melodies: Investigating Vocal Development in Humpback Whales”  

Judges were Sarah Hamersma, associate professor and director of doctoral studies in public administration and international affairs, and Chung-Chin Eugene Liu, assistant professor of economics, both of the Maxwell School; and Corey Williams, a Syracuse City School District employee and a Common Councilor for Syracuse’s Third District.

Diane Stirling

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