Honours Program in Anthropology

Brief Description of the Honours Program in Anthropology
The honours program in Anthropology at Mount Royal University allows dedicated undergraduate students the opportunity to participate in independent research and in the production of an honours thesis. Students who successfully complete the honours program will be well positioned to apply to graduate schools in Anthropology as most of these programs prefer, or require, an honours degree with a thesis component.

Application Process
As a first step, it is recommended that students meet with potential full-time faculty in advance of the application deadline to discuss possible honours projects. To apply to the Anthropology honours program students are required to complete two application forms. The forms are entitled “Application for Admission to the Honours Program in Anthropology” and “Application for the Admission to the Honours Program Bachelor of Arts.” Students can obtain these forms from the Department of Sociology & Anthropology. Completed forms must be submitted to the Department of Sociology & Anthropology between March 15th and May 15th of the year in which they apply for admission to the program, normally the third year of their program.

Eligibility and Continuation in the Program
In order to be eligible for the honours program, a student must have a GPA of at least 3.0 in the last 10 courses completed at the time of application. Once accepted into the program, students are required to maintain a GPA of 3.3 in all Anthropology courses. Should a student drop below a GPA of 3.3, in Anthropology courses, that student will revert to the Majors stream for a BA in Anthropology.

Status of the Application
After May 15, Anthropology full-time faculty will meet to review applications to decide which students will be accepted into the honours program. At this meeting, both GPA and the proposed thesis topic will be considered, with emphasis placed on the fit between the relevant research experience and interests of the advisors and the proposed project. Students will be informed of their application status and thesis advisor by June 15.
 
Specific Anthropology Courses Requirements
As described in the Mount Royal University calendar, students in the Anthropology Honours program must take a minimum of 18 ANTH courses and a maximum of 24 in addition to the general graduation requirements.
Students must take a minimum of 18 ANTH courses at the 2000-level or higher, including:

a.)  The following eight courses, some of which are prerequisites or strongly recommended for other upper-level ANTH courses:

ANTH 2225 – Ancient Civilizations
ANTH 2229 – Anthropology of “Race”
ANTH 2241 – Ethnography in Anthropology
ANTH 3305 – History of Anthropology
ANTH 3307 – Statistics for Anthropology
ANTH 4401 – Anthropological Theory
ANTH 5110 – Research Design/Professional Development
ANTH 5120 – Honours Thesis

b.)  Five additional senior-level ANTH courses, as follows:

- a minimum of four other ANTH courses at the 2000/3000- level, not including the required courses listed above;
- a minimum of two other ANTH courses at the 4000-level, not including the required courses listed above.

Honours Thesis courses
Honours students are required to take both honours courses (ANTH 5110 – Research Design/ Professional Development and ANTH 5120 – Honours Thesis). ANTH 5110 is to be taken in the Fall and ANTH 5120 in the Winter. Students in ANTH 5110 will define their research question, compile their literature reviews and present their thesis proposal. Students in ANTH 5120 continue their work by analyzing and discussing the anthropological significance of their findings with their advisor and completing the writing of their thesis.