Department of Anthropology Honours Programme Guide 2019-2020

Department of Anthropology
                                Honours Programme Guide
                                       2019-2020

The Department of Anthropology has prepared this guide to acquaint students with the procedures
for earning an Anthropology honours degree.

Admission
Most students apply to the honours programme during their third year of university or the year
before they intend to write their honours thesis and graduate. To be admitted to the programme,
you must satisfy Faculty of Arts requirements and submit an Anthropology Honours Thesis
Committee Form. The Arts application form is available from the Service Centre, and the
Committee Form is available on the Anthropology web site. You should submit the Committee
Form directly to the Anthropology Chairperson, who will not recommend admission to the
programme until you have submitted it. The minimum overall grade point average required for
admission is 3.0.

Continuation
To continue in the programme, you must maintain a minimum overall grade point average of 3.0.

Graduation
To graduate from the programme, you must satisfy Faculty of Arts requirements and complete the
equivalent of 60 credit hours in Anthropology including ANTH 1202, 1271, 1280, 1290, 4451 or
4452, 4501, and 4502. You must also complete six credit hours above the 1000 level in each of the
four subfields of archaeological, biological, linguistic, and socio-cultural anthropology, as well as
three credit hours in anthropological methods. A list of qualifying courses appears on pages 76 and
77 of the 2019-2020 Undergraduate Academic Calendar. To graduate from the programme, you
must maintain a minimum overall grade point average of 3.0 and receive minimum grades of B
(3.0) in ANTH 4501 and 4502. If you fail to meet the requirements for an honours degree but
otherwise meet the requirements for a general degree, on formal application, you will be awarded
a general degree.

Double Honours
It is possible to earn double honours in Anthropology and another of the Arts subjects listed in the
Academic Calendar. It is also possible to earn double honours in Anthropology and another subject

in the Faculty of Science; if you wish to pursue this option, you should first consult with advisors
in both Arts and Science.

Honours as a Second Degree

If you already possess an undergraduate degree, including a degree from Saint Mary’s, and you
wish to pursue honours in Anthropology as a second degree, you will be required to complete 60
additional credit hours at Saint Mary’s, even though less than 60 honours may be required to fulfill
your Anthropology course requirements.

Honours Thesis
A core requirement of the Anthropology honours programme is production of an honours thesis
under the guidance of a thesis committee and within the framework of ANTH 4501 Honours Thesis
Research and ANTH 4502 Honours Thesis Writing. Normally ANTH 4502 and 4502 must be
completed consecutively within a single academic year. Enrolment in these courses is restricted to
students who have been accepted into the honours programme. The honours thesis is a major
exercise in scholarly research and writing. It is an opportunity for you to explore an anthropological
interest and fashion it into an acceptably conceptualized, organized, and stylized final product.

Thesis Production Schedule and Deadlines
In order to insure that by the end of your honours thesis year you have produced an acceptable
thesis, the Department has adopted the following schedule and deadlines. Petitions for variance of
these deadlines, or for other major variances in procedure, should be made in writing to the
Department Chairperson. Committee members alone cannot grant major variances.
01 June 2019: Formation of Committee
     Normally you must be admitted into the honours programme. Meeting this deadline will help
      insure that you have ample time to work with your honours thesis committee. It is your
      responsibility to approach faculty members and ask them to serve on your committee. Your
      committee must consist of a chairperson and two additional members. Two of these three
      members must be full-time members of the Department of Anthropology; the third member
      can be based elsewhere. Your committee will assume primary responsibility for the direction
      of your thesis effort, and you should consult often with your committee members. The
      Department Chairperson must approve your choice of these members. If your thesis involves
      human subjects, it may require approval of the University’s Research Ethics Board (REB).
      You should become familiar with the REB and consult with your committee chairperson
      about it. REB approval can be a lengthy procedure, and you should find out early whether it
      is going to be required.

28 September 2019: Draft Written Proposal
You must provide your thesis committee members with a written draft of your thesis proposal.
Submit these copies electronically. Some recipients may request a paper copy.
04 October 2019: Final Written Proposal
You must provide the entire full-time Anthropology faculty and your thesis committee members
with written copies of your final thesis proposal. Submit these copies electronically. Some
recipients may request a paper copy.
06 October 2019: Presentation of Proposal
     You must attend a meeting with faculty and fellow students to present your proposal orally,
     using PowerPoint. Faculty approval of both the written proposal and oral presentation will
     constitute permission to proceed to the next phase of thesis production, subject to such
     modifications as the faculty may require. The Department will provide you with a written
     assessment of your written proposal and oral presentation. It will not approve your proposal
     until the REB has approved it, should such approval be required. Your provisional grade for
     ANTH 4501 will be IP (In Progress). After your progress report is completed, the IP will be
     changed to a letter grade.

Proposal Format
You should write your proposal in the following numbered sections. You should present your
proposal orally in these same sections. In your proposal, adhere to any applicable sections of the
Department of Anthropology Honours Thesis Style Guide. That way, you will become familiar
with the Guide.

In developing your proposal, keep scale and “do-ability” in mind. Students who are new to research
frequently make the mistake of taking on too much, so be careful. Start early and work regularly.
It may be helpful to set aside certain days or blocks of time for thesis work. Maintain regular
communication with your committee members, especially if you begin to encounter problems.
Your committee will be unable to help you if you bring major problems to them at the last minute.
In writing your proposal—as well as your progress report and final thesis—avoid contractions (for
example, “can’t” for “cannot), as they impart a tone that is too casual. Also avoid the passive voice
(for example, “it was decided by Smith” for “Smith decided”), which robs your prose of energy
and clarity. Use “I” sparingly if at all. If you have done previous work on the subject (for example,
research papers or essays), you may include it in your proposal (and cite it). Your thesis must do
more than simply summarize previous work, but those earlier efforts may function as a springboard
for more detailed and comprehensive study. In regards to tone, do not try to sound “smart” or
burden your prose with unnecessary jargon. Be yourself. Remember: precision, clarity and
economy. Edit and proofread carefully, and avoid redundancy. If in doubt, cut.
    1. Research Question(s)

The honours thesis is not a paper “about” a subject. Rather, it is a vehicle for answering a
   particular question or set of related questions. Stating the research question(s) precisely,
   accurately, and economically is essential. It will give faculty and committee members a
   clear sense of your intentions, and it will help keep your efforts focused once your work is
   underway. Indicate why the field of anthropology is an appropriate or necessary approach
   to answering your question(s).

2. Data
   Answering the research question(s) will demand reference to a body of information. The
   significance, extent, and availability of these “data” must be comprehended in advance.
   Are they relevant to your research question(s)? If so, why? What amount of data is
   available, and where is it? Are the data qualitative, quantitative, or both? Can they be found
   in existing sources, or will you have to undertake fieldwork or laboratory work to create
   them yourself? Is the dataset of a reasonable scale for an honours thesis? These are some
   of the questions Department and committee members will be asking when evaluating your
   proposal.

3. Method and Theory
   The research question(s) give the project a purpose, while the data constitute raw material
   needed to pursue that purpose. However, these data do not speak for themselves, and
   simply piling up data will not satisfy the minimum requirements for an honours thesis.
   Your data must be logically created, evaluated, and interpreted in order to generate
   meaning, and doing so calls for explicit statements as to the methods you intend to use and
   to the theoretical orientation of your research. What approach do you plan to take, and why
   is this approach reasonable?

4. Tradition of Scholarship
   No matter how innovative your approach, your research will always articulate with an
   existing body of scholarship. It is important to clarify the relationship between your work
   and the work that precedes it. Doing so guards against redundancy, allows you to learn
   properly from the work of others, and helps to clarify knowledge gaps. Understanding
   patterns and trends in your area of research may also illuminate socio-cultural forces
   affecting knowledge production.

5. Statement of Significance
   Finally, you should be able to explain the merits of the proposed research. You may find it
   personally interesting and intrinsically motivating, but ideally your subject will also have
   broader significance (for example, clarifying a subject that has been poorly understood or
   neglected, bringing a new approach to bear, and/or making a research contribution to an
   area of concern in public policy). This is excellent practice for graduate level research and
   beyond, where you will be expected to justify the value of proposed work in order to obtain
   funding.

At the end of your proposal, if you wish, attach appendixes, titling each appendix.
31 December 2019: Research Complete
     You should have completed all thesis research. The remainder of your academic year will be
     spent organizing material and writing.
04 January 2020: Draft Progress Report
     You must provide your thesis committee members with a written draft of your thesis progress
      report. Submit these copies electronically. Some recipients may request a paper copy.
10 January 2020: Final Progress Report
     You must provide the entire full-time Anthropology faculty and thesis committee members
      with written copies of your final progress report. Submit these copies electronically. Some
      recipients may request a paper copy.
12 January 2020: Presentation of Progress Report
     You must attend a meeting with faculty and fellow students to present your progress report
      orally, using PowerPoint. Faculty approval of both the written report and oral presentation
      will constitute permission to proceed to the next phase of thesis production, subject to such
      modifications as the faculty may require. The Department will provide you with a written
      assessment of your written report and oral presentation.

Progress Report Format
You should write your progress report in the following numbered sections. You should present
your progress report orally in these same sections. In your progress report, adhere to any applicable
sections of the Department of Anthropology Honours Thesis Style Guide. That way, you will
become more familiar with the Guide. In writing your progress report, be mindful of the same
stylistic advice given for the proposal format.
    1. Thesis Proposal
       In this section, succinctly recap your thesis proposal as you submitted and presented it the
       previous October.

    2. Progress on Research
       In this section, report on your thesis research to date, keeping in mind that all research
       should have been completed by 31 December.

    3. Changes to Proposed Research
       In this section, report on any additions, deletions, or modifications to your research as
       you proposed it the previous October, and explain why these changes were necessary,
       keeping in mind that all major changes needed to have been approved by your committee.

    4. Research Remaining

In this section, identify any research that remains to be completed and explain why you
       were unable to complete it by 31 December.

   5. Proposed Structure of Thesis
       In this section, describe how you intend to “structure” your thesis, perhaps providing a
       tentative table of contents and timeline for writing your chapters.

   6. Preliminary Findings
      In this section, present any preliminary research findings, for example major discoveries,
      confirmation (or not) of hypotheses, and conclusions.
At the end of your written report, if you wish, attach appendixes, titling each appendix.
23 March 2020: Draft Thesis
     You must submit, to your thesis committee members, copies of the first draft of your thesis.
     At this stage, the draft must represent your best effort. While committee members will
     correct some errors and make suggestions for improvement, they are not obligated to
     undertake major editorial work on an incomplete or hastily prepared draft. Prepare the first—
     and final—drafts of your thesis in accordance with the Department of Anthropology
     Honours Thesis Style Guide.
      Submit the draft electronically. Some recipients may request a paper copy.
03 April 2020: Draft Thesis Returned
     Your committee members will return your first draft with comments.
20 April 2020: Final Thesis
     You must submit the final version of your thesis to the entire full-time Anthropology faculty
     and thesis committee members. Submit the thesis electronically. Some recipients may
     request a paper copy.

Thesis Grading
ANTH 4501
Your grade for ANTH 4501 will be based on the following components.
Written proposal                  (20%)
Oral presentation of proposal     (20%)
Written progress report           (20%)
Oral presentation of report       (20%)
Thesis committee participation    (20%)
                                 _____
                                (100%)

All full-time Anthropology faculty and committee members are eligible to grade your written
proposal and progress report. They are also eligible to grade the oral presentations of your proposal
and progress report as long as they attended those presentations. Only committee members are
eligible to grade committee participation; their grades will be based on your performance in
committee meetings, preparedness, attention to suggestions, and adherence to rules and
regulations. Failure to meet the deadline for submission of a written proposal or progress report or
for the presentation of a proposal or progress report will result in a penalty of one grade step (.30)
for each late submission or presentation. The Department Chairperson will average all grades
submitted to determine your final course grade. Grades of D (1.0) and above will allow you to
receive course credit. Only a grade of B (3.0) or above will count toward your honours degree. A
grade below B means that you must withdraw from ANTH 4502 and in effect withdraw from the
honours programme.
ANTH 4502
All full-time Anthropology faculty and committee members are eligible to grade the final version
of your thesis. Each grader will assign two grades: one for intellectual content and the other for
writing and presentation. The grade for intellectual content will take into account matters such as
argument, evidence, and organization. For argument, is the thesis clear and well developed, does
it pursue an argument throughout, and do you avoid logical fallacies and over-generalizations? For
evidence, is there sufficient and appropriate scholarly support, is the support used to bolster the
thesis, and do you properly evaluate the support? For organization, are the paragraphs ordered and
structured to support the main thesis, do the paragraphs convey a single idea, do transitions show
the links between those ideas, and do the introduction and conclusion frame and support the main
argument. The grade for writing and presentation will take into account matters such as style and
mechanics. For style, is the thesis written clearly and in a mature and scholarly way, and are there
grammatical or spelling problems? For mechanics, does the thesis adhere to the Department of
Anthropology Honours Thesis Style Guide? The Department Chairperson will average all grades
submitted to determine your final grade. This grade will not be assigned on the condition or
promise that you will make subsequent changes to your thesis. The grade will be based on your
thesis as submitted. Failure to meet the deadline for submission of the final version of your thesis
will result in a penalty of one grade step (.30) for each day late. Final grades of D (1.0) and above
will allow you to receive course credit. Only a grade of B (3.0) or above will count towards your
honours degree.
The Department will not normally recommend a grade of IC (Incomplete). Students seeking an IC
must petition the Department Chairperson in writing, stating reasons. This petition would also need
to be approved by the Dean of Arts.

Library and Department Thesis Archives
The Patrick Power Library requests that you submit an electronic copy of your thesis.

Specifications appear on the Library web site. These specifications are incorporated into the
Department of Anthropology Honours Thesis Style Guide. The Department also requires that you
submit an electronic copy of your thesis.