Ph.D. ICON
Ph.D. in Integrative Conservation and Anthropology
At the beginning of the 21st century, as global environmental change proceeds at an unprecedented pace, the practice of conservation is adapting to a complex set of new challenges. The conservation community has increasingly recognized that responding effectively to these challenges will require that the next generation of practitioners and scholars not only develop expertise in specific fields but also have the conceptual tools to work across disciplines. The University of Georgia's Integrative Conservation Ph.D. program is designed to meet that need by ensuring that students gain disciplinary depth while also learning to collaborate across disciplines and fields of practice to seek integrative solutions to complex conservation challenges.
Students who choose Integrative Conservation and Anthropology as their disciplinary focus will receive rigorous theoretical and methodological training in a traditional discipline, while also working integratively at the intersections of multiple disciplines.
Highly Competitive Course of Study
Graduate study in Integrative Conservation and Anthropology at the University of Georgia is a demanding and highly competitive course of study. All students take four core courses in anthropological theory, foundations of ecological anthropology, population ecology, and evolution of human ecosystems in their first year, as well as Integrative Conservation I and II. ICON students also complete an internship in their first summer at UGA. Beyond these requirements, students and their advisory committees select additional courses in conservation-related disciplines to form a program tailored to their needs.
Admission Information
We encourage applicants to submit their paperwork as far in advance of the department's January 1st deadline as possible to make their application most competitive, because this gives enough time for the required letters of recommendation, transcripts, and so on to arrive and be processed. We normally screen applications starting mid-January, and inform students of the departmental decision in February. At any time you should feel welcome to check with the graduate secretary about the state of your application. We also strongly encourage applicants to make early contact with faculty members with whom they might like to work. While students do not select their faculty advisor more formally until the end of the first year, identifying a faculty member you would like to work with during the application process is advantageous.
To apply for graduate studies within the department you must submit materials from two categories:
- The University of Georgia Graduate School's forms and requirements
- Our departmental forms and requirements—including a supplemental essay that is required of ICON applicants.
Admission to the Department of Anthropology
The Ph.D. in Integrative Conservation and Anthropology has an admission requirement in addition to those for Department of Anthropology:
Submit also these departmental requirements for the Ph.D. program:
- The supplemental information form
- The statement of intent
- The application for departmental assistantship
- Three letters of recommendation
- Your curriculum vitae
Please send these items directly to the department by January 1st.
Department of Anthropology
250A Baldwin Hall, Jackson St.
University of Georgia
Athens, Georgia 30602-1619
Teaching Assistantships
Each year a limited number of departmental teaching assistantships, where students work 13 hours a week with faculty supporting instruction or research activities, are available on a competitive basis. Students awarded these assistantships find that they provide sufficient support to live (simply) in Athens. Additionally, the ICON program offers a limited number of research assistantships. There is also support for incoming students through very competitive Graduate School Assistantships for which we nominate the very strongest program applicants. Our students are very successful in securing competitive and extensive external funding for their dissertation research, and we provide training in methods, research design, and proposal writing in support of this pursuit.
Deadline
The deadline for Fall semester is January 1st of each year. We only accept applications for fall semesters. We encourage applicants to submit their paperwork as far in advance of the department's January 1st deadline as possible to make their application most competitive, because this gives enough time for the required letters of recommendation, transcripts, and so on to arrive and be processed. A master's degree is not required for consideration for admission to the Ph.D. program.
Financial Assistance
Both research and teaching assistantships are awarded on the basis of academic excellence. The Integrative Conservation admissions committee will make selections, and financial assistance will be included with admissions letters for those students who have been selected. Students with superior records may be nominated for university-wide Graduate School Assistantships. Please be aware that all awards are highly competitive. The application deadline for all assistantships is January 1st.
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