Questions regarding Linguistic Anthropology PhD Programs

[brojniak]

Hi;

 

I am considering to apply to linguistic anthropology PhD programs and I have some questions that I couldn't ask directly to faculty members. I thought maybe I could ask few questions to those who are already in PhD programs or those who are knowledgable in this field. 

 

First some info regarding me that might be related to my questions: I am an international student with no background in anthropology; my native language is not English; I have an M.A. in communication from UT Austin, and for the last 7 years I have been teaching French at various universities such as Tufts University, CUNY, and Temple University. I audited several graduate-level linguistic anthropology classes at various universities. While auditing those classes, and presently, I have been reading major texts of linguistic anthropology. But I have some questions that I didn't feel comfortable asking the faculty.

 

1. I noticed that there are very few international PhD students whose first language is not English in these programs. At one famous institution for its Linguistic Anthropology program, I didn't see any international student for at least 4 cohorts including its cultural anthropology track. I understand that it might be odd for a foreigner to pursue a career in this field, and I observe that the majority of the literature is heavy with its particular jargon, but do you guys think that it would be a career suicide if I try to get a PhD in this field? I am not asking whether it is possible or impossible, but I am just curious about the perception on foreign students among faculty members and graduate students. 

 

2. Naturally there is a field requirement in most of the programs. I have a difficult time grasping what is expected from foreign students when it comes to the site of their field study. Am I expected to go to a country which is neither a country where my native language is spoken (french), nor US, which is where i intend to pursue my degree? Would it be OK for instance to do my fieldwork in the US? Would it be OK to do it in France? I know the answer depends on my particular topic of interest, but what is the perception among faculty members in regards to what is more respectable to do by foreign students. I don't have any problem with learning a new language and doing my field study where that language is spoken, but I would like to know about the norms of the field, particularly among the faculty.

 

3. As I said above, I have been teaching French for the last 7 years, but my interests in the field of anthropology are nor necessarily related to language education, education, or french. Would this create a problem for me in the admissions process, or do you think that as long as I can give them a sense of strong match between my interests and faculty's interests that I can be considered for admission?

 

4. Last question. Do you think that programs would be willing to transfer at least some of the credits that I earned in my M.A., which was in the field of communication? I see two problems here. One, those credits are older than 7 years. And second, they are from a different department.

 

Thank you very much in advance.

[Canis]

No one ever answered these great questions - so here's my advice:

 

1. The faculty at my school includes a professor of linguistics who is a non-native English speaker. There's no reason this should stop you, but like any graduate work your English skills need to be excellent.

 

2. Fieldwork can be done anywhere. Each department is going to have their own areas of specialty, but there is no reason beyond that any anthro or socio-cultural linguistics program would expect you to have any particular field site. You could do your fieldwork one block from your school or on the other side of the world. You could do it in France, or anywhere in the US - that is up to your project and research topic. It's very common to anthropologists to train in the US and do fieldwork in their home regions.

 

3. & 4. These are related questions. In linguistics and anthro generally, your topic could be anything. But to frame that topic in terms of anthropology, you'll need to have a background in it. Some programs will accept credit transfers, some will not. I don't know of any anthropology programs that would accept non-anthropology credit transfers. Most people in your situation would be advised to get an MA in Anthropology prior to applying since you have no previous anthropology coursework (other than audited classes, which don't count). However, someone in your situation could also try to take some courses as a non-matriculated student in order to show that you can excel in anthropology. You could do this in the MA program at a school that has a good PhD program. That's a good way to make a change in discipline. After you've taken some courses and shown that you have no problem in anthro, they are more likely to consider your application.