Entering students should have a completed a bachelors degree in anthropology, history, geography, or a related field and have a 3.0 GPA (on a scale of 4.0) for the last 60 hours of undergraduate work. Applicant must submit scores from the General Test of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE). Students with an undergraduate degree in related fields may apply to the program and, working with an advisor, they can devise a plan of study that allows them to overcome their educational deficiencies. An undergraduate archaeological field school is strongly recommended.

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Admission Procedures

Admission is allowed in the Fall semester only. To be considered for admission to the Master’s program, a student must have a bachelor’s degree in anthropology, history, geography, or a related field and must submit by MARCH 1

1. application to the Illinois State University’s Graduate School

2. GRE scores to ISU’s Graduate School;

3. two (2) letters of recommendation to the Graduate Coordinator at the Department of Sociology and Anthropology address listed below;

4. a statement of purpose to the Graduate Coordinator at the address listed below; applicants should specify which concentration (historical, prehistoric, or bio-archaeological) they are interested in; admissions decisions take into consideration the compatibility of the applicant’s proposed research with the expertise of our faculty.

Send to:
Prof. James Skibo
Archaeology Graduate Coordinator
4640 Anthropology Program
Illinois State University
Normal, IL 61790-4640

Research and Teaching Assistantships

Our department has some research and teaching assistantships that carry a full tuition waiver and a stipend. Applications for assistantships are carried out separately. We also offer two research assistantships sponsored by the Illinois Transportation Archaeological Research Program (ITARP) and the Illinois State Museum/Dickson Mounds.

Dickson Mounds Assistantship

The Illinois State Museum/Dickson Mounds offers an opportunity for a graduate assistantship in archaeology and/or human osteology. Dickson Mounds’ collection includes Native American artifacts and human skeletal remains acquired during the past 80 years from 5 counties (Peoria, Tazewell, Mason, Schuyler, and Fulton) that border the Illinois River. The collection provides many learning and research opportunities in the company of four resident archaeologists, all of whom are involved in research. For more information about the museum go to: http://www.museum.state.il.us/ismsites/dickson/

ITARP Assistantship

The Illinois Transportation Archaeological Research Program (ITARP) offers a graduate assistantship in archaeology. ITARP is a joint intergovernmental program of the University of Illinois and the Illinois Dept. of Transportation and one of the largest and oldest heritage management programs in the US. Collections range from the earliest Native American artifacts to French Colonial and mid-19th century materials, primarily from the Midcontinent. They reside in the Champaign offices (60 miles) and the Salisbury Lab (80 miles). This is an opportunity for the student to work with ITARP’s archaeologists who are actively involved in research. For more information about ITARP go to: http://www.itarp.uiuc.edu/