UNT Home | Graduate Studies | College of Public Affairs and Community Service | Applied Anthropology
Graduate faculty and research areas
Beverly Ann Davenport, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., University of California-San Francisco. Anthropology and social epidemiology of chronic disease (especially hypertension, type II diabetes and obesity); the role of race and class as variables in health disparities in the United States; communication processes in medical care; medical professional socialization processes; qualitative methods in program evaluation.
Doug Henry, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Southern Methodist University. Medical anthropology; refugee and immigrant health; international and public health; the demographic impacts of culture change; the Internet; international disaster relief; violence; Africa.
Lisa Henry, Associate Professor and Department Chair; Ph.D., Southern Methodist University. Crosscultural health beliefs and treatments; healthcare decision making and alternative medicine; evaluation of healthcare delivery in hospitals and clinics; patient response and compliance to treatment plan; curriculum evaluation in medical schools.
Pankaj Jain, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., University of Iowa. Asian religious communities; Asian religious communities’ environmentalist practices; the interactions between religion and environmental ethics.
Ann T. Jordan, Professor; Ph.D., University of Oklahoma. Business anthropology; organizational culture; self-managed work teams; organizational diversity; American Indians, especially urban American Indian groups and traditional medicine people.
Mariela Nuñez-Janes, Associate Professor; Ph.D., University of New Mexico. Anthropology of education; bilingual education; multiculturalism; hidden curriculum and critical pedagogy; race and ethnicity; nationalism; Latinos; whiteness; border studies; U.S. Southwest; applied implications of “insider” research.
Alicia Re Cruz, Professor; Ph.D., University at Albany. Migrants and refugees; displacement; border studies; Hispanic culture and society; Latin America; Mesoamerican culture; Maya culture and society; rural-urban migration; social change; tourism; transnationalism; peasant societies.
Susan Squires, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Boston University. Organizational culture; design anthropology; research theory and methodology in business and design; practicing anthropology.
Jonathan Tomhave, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., University of Washington. Media studies; film production; colonial efforts in mainstream media systems and the decolonization efforts by American Indians and First Nations peoples.
James Veteto, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., University of Georgia. Environmental and ecological anthropology; sustainability of traditional food systems; heirloom seeds and culinary traditions; farmer motivations.
Christina Wasson, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Yale University. Virtual and face-to-face communication in the workplace; usercentered design of products and technologies; organizational culture; human-computer interaction; video ethnography; how visitors experience museums.
For More Information
University of North Texas
Department of Anthropology
Graduate Advisor
Chilton Hall, Room 330
E-mail: marisa.abbe@unt.edu
Phone: 940-565-2290
Toulouse Graduate School
940-565-2383
Applied Anthropology
Graduate opportunities
By studying applied anthropology at the University of North Texas, you are well trained in helping solve some of society’s most compelling problems while working with nonprofit and for-profit community agencies.
The Master of Science or Master of Arts degree in Applied Anthropology teaches you to take informed and thoughtful action as a street-level practitioner, an administrator, an agency-based researcher or a program evaluator. A dual degree is available in Applied Anthropology and Public Health through a cooperative effort with the UNT Health Science Center at Fort Worth. The master’s program also prepares you to enter a doctoral program.
We offer a number of unique advantages including:
- many opportunities to collaborate on projects with a variety of organizations from corporations to social service agencies
- faculty members who are applied anthropologists with a variety of geographic focuses including Africa, Oceania, North America, Latin America, the Middle East and Europe
- faculty members who are actively engaged in building networks around the diverse applications of anthropology in North Texas
- flexibility that allows you to take classes online or on campus (We offer the nation’s first online master’s program in applied anthropology.)
- prime location in one of the largest urban areas in the U.S. for applied research projects such as those involving health issues of ethnic minorities, migrants and/or refugees from all over the world
Our faculty members have expertise in a wide range of areas such as migration, race and ethnicity, sustainable communities, and bilingual education. Their research has explored:
- outreach and educational attainment of Latinos
- quality of life with rheumatoid arthritis
- violence and refugees
- visual and media anthropology
- virtual communication and collaboration in the workplace
Areas of specialization
You are not required to choose a specific track in the program, but the Department of Anthropology offers several specialties.
Anthropology of Education focuses on understanding various aspects related to the educational process.
Business, Technology and Design Anthropology includes the areas of communication in the workplace, consumer behavior, diversity, globalization, human-computer interaction, marketing, organizational analysis and change, teams, and user-centered design.
Environmental and Ecological Anthropology includes community-based conservation of natural and cultural resources, cultural landscapes/seascapes, environmental justice, ethnoecology, globalization and environmental policy, human ecology, indigenous peoples and protected areas, political ecology, traditional ecological knowledge, sustainable development, and world views concerning the environment.
Medical Anthropology focuses on health issues of ethnic minorities, migrants and/or refugees; healthcare delivery; indigenous medicine; and public health.
Migration and Border Studies include the situations of migrants and refugees, cultures of Latin America, and experiences of Mexicanos and Latinos in the U.S.
Attending UNT
Admission requirements
You will need to meet the admission requirements for the Toulouse Graduate School as well as the following program requirements:
- adequate subject preparation in anthropology (If you are accepted into the program with fewer than 12 credit hours of anthropology, you must take an online prerequisite leveling course the summer before the first semester of study.)
- completed Department of Anthropology application form
- 500- to 750-word statement of purpose
- three reference evaluation forms (or supply letters of recommendation) from persons familiar with your academic record
- writing sample that is a significant piece of scholarly work from your undergraduate career or any research you have done since you graduated
More details are available at the Anthropology website.
Degree requirements
You will need to demonstrate proficiency in a foreign language if you are pursuing the M.A. degree.
You are required to take a course in an additional skill appropriate to your specialty as part of the 36 required credit hours if you are pursuing the M.S. degree. Both degrees require the completion of:
- 15 credit hours of core courses
- 15 credit hours of electives
- 6 credit hours of applied thesis
Specific course requirements and descriptions are available in the catalog.
Financial assistance
The department funds a number of scholarships to help you pursue your master’s degree. The graduate committee recommends nominees based on their firstyear status and academic achievements. On-campus students must take a minimum of 9 credit hours, and online students must take a minimum of 6 credit hours.
Several teaching assistant/grader positions are also available.
Visit the Anthropology website for more information about financial assistance. You can also access the Financial Aid website.