Applying to the Anthropology and Social Change PhD and MA Programs
About the MA program in Anthropology and Social Change
The master of arts program in Anthropology and Social Change is unique among graduate programs in the United States due to the its focus on activism and social justice. We recognize social movements as a key location of knowledge production alongside that of the university. The mission of the MA program is to generate a dialogue among agents active in these two locations of knowledge production. Our intention is to establish a particular kind of institutional space where social movement activists immersed in organizing would meet scholars primarily engaged in theoretical work. The program is envisioned as a space of translation of academic and grassroots knowledge and experiences, produced in the encounter among social scientists, artists, and activists from the Bay Area. Students will work with some of the most prominent activists in San Francisco Bay Area, as well as with core faculty from the department and the Institute. In this process of encounter and co-learning, students and faculty are expected to share ideas, debates, and practices of radical politics and social movements, as well as practical skills in research, organizing, campaigning, policy analysis, legal and environmental work, and activist media.
The MA in Anthropology and Social Change provides students with an opportunity to simultaneously engage with the world of social movements and with the world of social science and radical theory. As our program is located in an area that is unique in terms of diversity and richness of social struggles, we encourage students to establish a relationship with local social justice groups, organizations, movements, and campaigns. Activist ethnography with a focus on integral research makes this graduate experience rewarding both for students and for the local community.
Admission to the Program
Applicants are asked to include a recent example of scholarly writing. The required autobiographical statement should describe significant events in the applicant's life that have led to the decision to pursue admission to this department. A goal statement reflecting areas of academic interest should be included.
Applicants to the MA program need not have an undergraduate major in anthropology; however, it is necessary to have had at least three upper-division-level social science courses.
If lacking, these courses can usually be taken concurrently with graduate courses, although they will not be counted toward required degree units. The MA in Anthropology and Social Change is a residential program.
Students fulfill social service practicums as part of their coursework throughout the program. Research projects take students into communities of struggle, and a large number of master's candidates have received job offers before they graduate.
This degree prepares graduates for careers as scholars, teachers, researchers, consultants, in such areas as social science, international development, community organizing, and social change.
Admission Requirements
Application for Admission
Non-refundable $65 Application Fee
Degree Requirement: An undergraduate degree (BA, BS, or the equivalent) from an accredited college or university.
Transcripts: Official transcripts from all accredited academic institutions attended within the United States. Transcripts must arrive in their official, sealed envelopes.
Résumé
Autobiographical Statement: A four-to-six page (typed, double-spaced) introspective autobiographical statement discussing your values, emotional and spiritual insights, aspirations, and life experiences that have led to your decision to apply.
Goal Statement: A one-page (typed, double-spaced) statement of your educational and professional objectives.
Two Letters of Recommendation: Recommenders should use standard business format and include full contact information-name, email, phone number, and mailing address.
Academic Writing Sample: A writing sample of eight-to-ten pages (typed, double-spaced) that demonstrates your capacity to think critically and reflectively and demonstrates graduate level writing abilities. A sample that uses outside sources must include proper citations. You may submit copies of previous work, such as a recent academic paper, article, or report that reflects scholarly abilities.
For International students there are additional requirements. Please see the International Student page for additional information.
Please visit Applying to CIIS for more information.
For questions about admissions please contact:
David Townes
(415) 575-6152
dtownes@ciis.edu
About the PhD program in Anthropology and Social Change
The Anthropology and Social Change PhD is unique among graduate programs in the United States due to its focus on exploring counter-hegemonic alternatives, postcapitalist cultures, and prefigurative practices. In a certain sense, we are a department of postcapitalist studies. However, by this complicated word, postcapitalism, we do not wish to refer to some dreamed-up utopia, nor to a speculative exploration of futuristic scenarios. While we agree with Lewis Mumford on the "importance of building castles in the sky," we see as an even more urgent necessity to study politics of alternatives in the here and now: the need to engage with postcapitalist cultures that are already being built, and to understand other worlds that are already possible.
The practice and technique of ethnography provides an important model of a possible "postcapitalist" social science. As one contemporary anthropologist, a friend of our program, recently noted, when one "carries out an ethnography, one observes what people do, and then tries to tease out the hidden symbolic, moral, or pragmatic logics that underlie their actions; one tries to get at the way people's habits and actions make sense in ways that they are not themselves completely aware of."
We ask our students to do precisely this: to look at those who are creating viable alternatives, to try to figure out what might be the larger implications of what they are already doing, and then to offer those ideas back, not as prescriptions, but as contributions, possibilities-as gifts.
The doctoral program is distinctive for its focus on alternatives. What are some of them? Worker cooperatives in Oakland, social centers in Italy, autonomous systems of justice in Guerrero, community gardens in Detroit, occupied self-managed factories in Argentina, "good government" of the Zapatistas, buen vivir (good life) and plurinationalism in Bolivia, participatory democracy in Kerala, solidarity economics of Mondragon, participatory economics in Winnipeg, pedagogy of the block in African-American communities, alternative environmentalism in Afro-Colombian river regions, legal pluralism, autonomy of migration, marginalized medical practices in South Asia, solidarity unionism in New York City, communal agriculture in Malawi, shack dweller democracy in South Africa, Copwatch in Berkeley, the U'wa battle against oil companies, biodiversity in Brazil, restorative justice in Ohio, knowledge commons and globalization, independent media, and autonomous food systems in Japan, are only some of the examples of postcapitalist possibilities. There are so many more, and one of the responsibilities of our students is to discover them.
Admission to the PhD Program Without an MA in Anthropology From CIIS
Students entering the PhD without an MA in Anthropology and Social Change from CIIS are required to take an additional 12 to 15 units of MA-level coursework within the Anthropology and Social Change Program.
Students may require an additional year in which to complete these courses.
Once students are admitted, advisors will facilitate the drafting of a tailored curriculum contract that incorporates these additional courses and suggests a timeline. These additional courses include three of the five courses:
Ideas for Action: Social Theory for Radical Change
Global Social Movements
Unthinking Social Science
Radical Theory
Radical Political Economy
Our PhD candidates conduct field research throughout their course of study. Collaborating with communities of struggle, as activist scholars, they formulate dissertation projects in social justice.
Admission Requirements
Application for Admission
Non-refundable $65 Application Fee
Degree Requirement: A master's degree (or the equivalent) from an accredited college or university.
Transcripts: Official transcripts from all accredited academic institutions attended within the United States. Transcripts must arrive in their official, sealed envelopes.
Résumé
Autobiographical Statement: A four-to-six page (typed, double-spaced) introspective autobiographical statement discussing your values, emotional and spiritual insights, aspirations, and life experiences that have led to your decision to apply.
Goal Statement: A one-page (typed, double-spaced) statement of your educational and professional objectives.
Two Letters of Recommendation: Recommenders should use standard business format and include full contact information-name, email, phone number, and mailing address.
Academic Writing Sample: A writing sample of eight to ten pages (typed, double-spaced) that demonstrates your capacity to think critically and reflectively and demonstrates graduate level writing abilities. A sample that uses outside sources must include proper citations. You may submit copies of previous work, such as a recent academic paper, article, or report that reflects scholarly abilities.
For International students there are additional requirements. Please see the International Student page for additional information.
Please visit Applying to CIIS for more information.
For questions about admissions please contact:
David Townes
(415) 575-6152
dtownes@ciis.edu