ANTHR-PHD - Anthropology (PhD)

Students who completed graduate coursework at another institution may transfer course units in the winter quarter of their first year of doctoral study. The Director of Graduate Studies and Curriculum Committee will evaluate the transfer of units on a course-by-course basis. Graduate work accepted for transfer of residency does not automatically exempt a student from having to complete a course requirement for the degree.

The Department of Anthropology is committed to academic advising and supporting graduate students’ scholarly and professional development. When most effective, this advising entails collaborative and sustained engagement by both the advisor and the advisee. As a best practice, advising expectations should be periodically discussed and reviewed to ensure mutual understanding. Both the advisor and the advisee are expected to maintain professionalism and integrity.

Big Tent Advising

The department strongly encourages PhD students to work with various faculty throughout their degree program. This expectation begins with the entering first-year PhD students. First-year PhD students are encouraged to meet with several Stanford Anthropology faculty members who work outside of the student’s proposed geographic/topical foci area. This ‘big tent’ advising style continues to be in practice during the qualifying exam and dissertation writing years when some students recruit faculty outside the department as readers.  

Faculty advisors guide students in critical areas such as selecting courses, designing and conducting research, developing teaching pedagogy, navigating policies and degree requirements, and exploring academic opportunities and professional pathways.

Graduate students should be active contributors to advising relationships, proactively seeking academic and professional guidance and taking responsibility to the best of their ability for informing themselves of academic policies and degree requirements for their graduate program.

Additional details on Advising can be found in the Graduate Handbook https://anthropology.stanford.edu/intranet-login/graduate-student-center.