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Master’s of Applied Anthropology (M.A.A.)

The Master of Applied Anthropology (M.A.A.) is a program designed both for students interested in an anthropology career outside of academia and for those who plan on continuing to a Ph.D. The program has been offered at the University of Maryland since 1984, and graduates have successfully secured employment or pursued doctoral work in a variety of fields, including medical and health practice, urban and regional planning and development, community development, conservation and heritage resource development, cultural resource management, historical archaeology, and anthropological genetic and ancestry reconstruction. The focus of the M.A.A. program has been to participate in the building of anthropological practice. We ask that M.A.A. students identify an area of subdiscipline focus in either archaeology, biological anthropology, sociocultural anthropology, or linguistics.  In addition, students are encouraged to choose an area of research concentration: anthropology of environment, health, or heritage. Click here for more information on the graduate program, subdisciplines and areas of concentration.

Degree Overview

The program requires 42 credit hours of coursework, including a core sequence (18 credit hours), an internship sequence (12 semester hours), and a sequence of individually approved courses that are related to a chosen domain of application (12 semester hours).
M.A.A. students must satisfactorily complete an internship proposal review with their advisory committee before beginning the internship, which is normally completed during the summer term between the first and second years of the program. Students are also required to present the results of their internship in a departmental colloquium prior to graduation. There is no thesis requirement.
As part of the discipline of diversity, all faculty members in the department are committed to training minority members at the M.A.A. levels and recognize such prospective graduate students in their quest for admission by identifying the strong need to expand their numbers in anthropology.
For more information on how to apply to UMD’s M.A.A. program please see our Admissions Page.

Course Requirements

A total of 42 credits are required for the M.A.A. degree. Please note that a portion of these, in the form of credits for the internship sequence, must be taken over the summer and students are responsible for the cost associated with this. Students are reviewed annually to ensure adequate progress towards the degree.

CORE Courses (18 credits)

Offered in fall:

• ANTH 601: Applied Anthropology (3 credits)
  
• ANTH 606: Qualitative Methods in Applied Anthropology (3 credits)
  
• ANTH 760: Development of Social/Cultural Theory (3 credits)
  

Offered in spring:

• ANTH 630: Quantification and Statistics in Applied Anthropology (3 credits)
• ANTH 720: Advanced Studies in Theory and Practice of Applied Biological Anthropology (3 credits)
  
• ANTH 740: Anthropological Theories of the Past (3 credits)

Internship Sequence (12 credits)

• ANTH 701: Internship Preparation (3 credits)
  
• ANTH 789: Internship (6 credits)
• ANTH 712: Anthropology Internship Analysis (3 credits)
  

Generally, students are expected to complete their first two semesters of core courses before moving on to an internship (usually conducted during the summer between the first and second year). Upon completion of the Internship, you may pursue the remaining coursework at your own pace because it consists primarily of work in your area of specialization.

Supporting Coursework (12 credits)

This course work should be chosen by the student in consultation with their advisor and should support the student’s interests in Anthropology.