Archaeology (MA)

Graduate School

Program Website

Graduate Field

Archaeology

Program Description

The MA Program in Archaeology at Cornell is designed to provide students with an intensive orientation to the field, appropriate to both students with BA degrees in the liberal arts who have considerable experience in archaeology and those seeking to build a solid foundation for future work or study. The goal of the program is to offer students the intellectual resources and institutional support necessary to prepare them for successful admissions to top tier PhD programs and for careers in heritage management.

Cornell archaeology supports a diverse array of interests, ranging from material culture studies to public archaeology, historic preservation, and archaeological method and theory. Archaeology at Cornell is deeply committed to multidisciplinary studies. Faculty in Archaeology belong to the fields of Anthropology, Classics, History of Art, Landscape Architecture, and Near Eastern Studies.

The ideal trajectory toward the MA should result in the completion of all requirements within 12-18 months, although extensions to 24 months are allowed when warranted by a student’s research program.

Concentrations

  • Archaeological science (minor)
  • Archaeology of Europe, the Caucasus and Eurasia
  • Economy and exchange (minor)
  • Identity (minor)
  • Intercultural engagement (minor)
  • Landscape and environment (minor)
  • Latin American and Caribbean archaeology
  • Materiality
  • Mediterranean and Near Eastern archaeology
  • Museums and heritage (minor)
  • North American archaeology
  • Politics and complexity (minor)
  • Ritual and religion (minor)
  • South and East Asian archaeology
  • Visual culture (minor)