Master’s of Applied Anthropology (M.A.A.)

The Master of Applied Anthropology (M.A.A.) is a program designed both for students interested in an anthropology career outside of academia and for those who plan on continuing to a Ph.D. The program has been offered at the University of Maryland since 1984, and graduates have successfully secured employment or pursued doctoral work in a variety of fields, including medical and health practice, urban and regional planning and development, community development, conservation and heritage resource development, cultural resource management, historical archaeology, and anthropological genetic and ancestry reconstruction. The focus of the M.A.A. program has been to participate in the building of anthropological practice. We ask that M.A.A. students identify an area of subdiscipline focus in either archaeology or sociocultural anthropology.  In addition, students are encouraged to choose an area of research concentration: anthropology of environment, health, or heritage. Click here for more information on the graduate program, subdisciplines and areas of concentration.

Degree Overview

The program requires 42 credit hours of coursework, including a core sequence (18 credit hours), an internship sequence (12 semester hours), and a sequence of individually approved courses that are related to a chosen domain of application (12 semester hours).

M.A.A. students must satisfactorily complete an internship proposal review with their advisory committee before beginning the internship, which is normally completed during the summer term between the first and second years of the program (minimum summer registration of 3 credits) . Students are also required to present the results of their internship in a departmental colloquium prior to graduation. There is no thesis requirement.

As part of our department's commitment to diversity, all faculty members in the department recognize the strong need to expand the numbers of underrepresented minorities in the discipline of anthropology and are therefore committed to training members of these groups at the Master's level.

For more information on how to apply to UMD’s M.A.A. program please see our Admissions Page.