Master of Arts in Anthropology

The Department of Anthropology welcomes master's degree-seeking students with an interest in archaeology, physical anthropology, and cultural anthropology. Faculty members are concentrated on research in the Southeastern United States, Canada, the Caribbean, Mesoamerica, and Australia. Course work and research experiences are available in prehistoric and historic archaeology, underwater archaeology, geoarchaeology, zooarchaeology, sociocultural anthropology, visual anthropology, ethnographic media production, Native American Studies, and human osteology.
The Florida State University, through the Department of Anthropology, is the host institution for the Southeast Archeological Center (SEAC), which is responsible for archaeological research and collections from U.S. National Park Service installations throughout the southeastern United States, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The SEAC collections exceed three million items and span the period from Paleoindian to the twentieth century. SEAC and FSU Anthropology currently share a building at Innovation Park, southwest of the main campus.

As the capital of the state, Tallahassee is home to the Department of State, which is responsible for cultural resources in Florida. The Florida Master Site File, the Bureau of Archaeological Research, the National Register of Historic Places, and Florida Folklife Programs are administered by the Department of State. The U.S. Forest Service has an office here as does the State Park Service. Several private Cultural Resource Management firms have offices in Tallahassee. Students have found internships and employment in all of these agencies and firms.As the capital of the state, Tallahassee is home to the Department of State, which is responsible for cultural resources in Florida. The Florida Master Site File, the Bureau of Archaeological Research, the National Register of Historic Places, and Florida Folklife Programs are administered by the Department of State. The U.S. Forest Service has an office here as does the State Park Service. Several private Cultural Resource Management firms have offices in Tallahassee. Students have found internships and employment in all of these agencies and firms. Training and field experience are available in archaeology (terrestrial and underwater), physical anthropology, forensic sciences, ethnology, and media studies. Programs sponsored by other University departments of interest to anthropology students include courses offered in Geographical Information Systems (Department of Geography), computational forensics (Scientific Computing), historical administration (Department of Art History), classical archaeology and classical civilizations (Department of Classics), ethnomusicology (College of Music), international and intercultural education program (College of Education), and the interdisciplinary program in Museum Studies (based in the College of Fine Arts).

Minimum standards for admission to the graduate program of the Department of Anthropology are:

An upper-division cumulative grade point average of at least 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale) for their junior and senior years of undergraduate work. We recommend you review FSU's Upper-Division GPA Computation Guidelines. Students must have satisfactory grades in the required undergraduate prerequisite coursework for the specialization which they wish to pursue,
Official transcripts must be sent from each college and/or university attended to the Office of Graduate Admissions. Transcripts are considered official when they bear an official seal and signature and are sent directly from the issuing college or university to FSU. Any transcripts uploaded by the applicant are not considered to be official transcripts. Transfer credit posted on the records of other institutions is not accepted in lieu of transcripts from the original institutions.
The Revised Graduate Record Examination (rGRE) requirement has been waived until the 2026 application cycle.
To be competitive, applicants with degrees in disciplines other than Anthropology should have a strong undergraduate coursework foundation in archaeology, cultural anthropology, physical anthropology and the history of anthropology. Archaeology candidates are strongly encouraged to have field experience.
Three (3) letters of recommendation from former instructors, employers, or supervisors who know the student's work. Letters from former university level instructors are preferred.
Original writing sample pertaining to the field of Anthropology. The guidelines for the writing sample can be found at the following link>>
Writing Sample Guidelines for application to the FSU Anthropology Graduate Program.
For students whose native language is not English, an official TOEFL score of 80 is required by the University.
A Statement of Purpose (sometimes referred to as a Statement of Intent) not to exceed 1000 words, clearly identifying and containing:
the reasons for your interest in anthropology,
the subdiscipline of anthropology you intend to pursue,
your career objectives,
your proposed thesis project.
Internet based TOEFL (IBTOEFL): 80
Paper based TOEFL (TOEFL): 550
International English Language Testing System (Academic IELTS): 6.5