Graduate programs
Admissions
Learn everything you need to know about becoming a UVic grad student, from finding a supervisor to submitting your application.
ANTH grad application deadline - January 15. More quesitons at our FAQs.
Grad info session (from Oct 2024) slides here.
Graduate students
To subscribe to emails about upcoming students' defenses please email anthtwo@uvic.ca.
Funding
Every year, UVic awards $12 million to help fund graduate students through a combination of:
- UVic fellowships and awards
- teaching assistantships
- research assistantships
Most of our students also receive external awards and scholarships, and financial aid and bursaries. Consideration for funding is automatic. A funding offer is normally included with an offer of admission.
Our department offers a limited number of graduate awards and fellowships each year to incoming students. These range from $1,000 to $18,000. Some funding offers may include a combination of teaching assistantships, graduate awards and/or fellowships.
Co-op & Career Services
UVic is home to the largest co-op graduate program in Canada. Learn about combining co-op placements with your MA on the co-op for graduate students website.
Grad students are also eligible for the shorter Work Experience Program.
Visit career services website.
Lab facilities
Our labs are well-equipped to meet the instructional and research needs of our students.
- archaeology labs
- biological lab
- ethnographic mapping lab
- zooarchaeology lab
- visual media and teaching labs
- teaching labs
- counter currency lab
Courses
Visit graduate courses page here.
MA program planning
This full-time program is designed to be completed in 2 years. MA students must complete a minimum of 7.5 units of coursework and a 7.5-unit thesis.
Your coursework will connect across the subfields of anthropology. Our department works within 4 innovative and integrative themes:
You'll take courses in relevant methods and your research area. Your independent thesis research project will incorporate fieldwork and/or lab work, which will allow you to make original contributions to the discipline and our communities of practice.
You will complete 5 1.5-unit graduate courses on campus during the first 2 years of your program.
You'll also complete ANTH 597: Thesis proposal development with your supervisor and then enroll in ANTH 599: Thesis.
See program requirements in the academic calendar.
PhD program planning
This program is designed to be completed in 4-5 years. Your coursework will connect across the subfields of anthropology. Our department works within four innovative and integrative themes:
- culture, health and inequality
- evolution and ecology
- space, place, knowledge and power
- visual anthropology and materiality
Learn about research in the department.
You’ll complete 4 1.5-unit graduate courses on campus during the first 2 years of your program.
You’ll also participate in ANTH 612: Graduate Colloquium during your two-year residency.
See program requirements in the academic calendar.
After fulfilling all course requirements, you’ll enroll in ANTH 693 (PhD Candidacy Examinations) and complete the language requirement, the comprehensive examinations and the dissertation proposal defence.
Language requirement
If English is your first language, you must complete a language requirement by either:
- coursework: taking courses in another language (2 introductory courses or 1 upper-level course taken as part of your program) or
- translation exam: passing a language translation exam administered by the relevant department (e.g., French, Hispanic and Italian Studies, Pacific and Asian Studies)
Comprehensive exam
You will create 3 important questions about your research area with your supervisory committee. You will answer these questions in three papers, drawing upon pertinent literature. The committee will evaluate the papers as pass or fail. They may ask for revisions before passing the exam.
Dissertation proposal defense
You will prepare and defend a dissertation research proposal. You will give a 20 to 30-minute presentation on your topic and answer questions from the supervisory committee. The oral defense will be evaluated as pass or fail.
After you’ve fulfilled these requirements, you will enroll in ANTH 699 Dissertation and start your dissertation research.
Customize your degree
Concentration or certificate: You have the option of combining this program with the concentration in Cultural, Social and Political Thought or the Graduate Certificate in Indigenous Nationhood.
Interdisciplinary degree: Combine more than one field of study in an individual interdisciplinary (INTD) degree. Tailor an academic program to your unique interests or choose from one of UVic’s existing interdisciplinary programs.
You’ll work with co-supervisors and faculty members from at least 2 different units to develop an individual program tailored to your interests.