We are an innovative program using anthropological knowledge and skills to understand and make changes in the world. As a research-intensive university with a public service mission, our broad training in anthropological subfields at Purdue uniquely positions us to study human diversity through time. Through our integrated approaches to discovery, learning, and engagement, we expand human knowledge and address global grand challenges. Anthropology, as the 'science of humans, is the discipline that studies human diversity, through time and globally, and focuses on human and other primate adaptations on our planet. What that teaches us is that humans have a huge range of experiences and many ways of living. None of our societies is perfect, but all societies have contributed valuable and creative discoveries and perspectives. We all share in the great adventure of living life to its fullest within the circumstances we have. Anthropologists are committed also to figuring out how to make things better for human societieshow to solve the grand challenges while respecting differences, to live as neighbors on one small planet, helping one another to achieve fulfillment, peace, justice, and freedom. We apply anthropological knowledge and perspectives to work collaboratively with those who work on economic development, food security, human rights, technological improvements, and peace initiatives.
At least 90 total credit hours are required to complete the PhD program, including coursework and research credit hours. PhD program students will take at least a total of 48 semester hours of graduate-level courses beyond the Bachelor's degree (including MS and PhD level courses). For students who have already completed 36 credits as part of their MS requirements in this department, a further 12 credits of coursework are required. For students who have completed a master's degree or professional doctoral degree from another accredited institution, their coursework may be considered to contribute up to 30 credit hours toward satisfying this requirement at the discretion of the student's graduate program. In this case, of the remaining credit hours required, a minimum of 18 credits will be taken as coursework. The student in conjunction with their major advisor and advisory committee will develop a plan of study with considerable depth in selected areas of specialization using courses within and outside the department.
Although African American Studies does not offer graduate degrees, graduate students are able to make African American Studies a concentration in their M.A. and Ph.D. degree programs. African American Studies is an interdisciplinary field with theories, methods, and approaches particular to it. The African American experience represents an important global dimension of American culture. Students wishing to conduct research on African American subjects with a specific interest in gaining expertise in African American Studies practices, theories, and methods. This focus of the graduate concentration in African American Studies introduces students to methods, theories, and approaches to the study of African American life that are widely agreed upon as most efficacious and ethical. Students are encouraged to explore African American social and economic life, cultural developments, engagement with the wider world, and its people and institutions in all their complexity.
