Seminar
Students are required to register in ARCH 873 in their first semester in the program, and then ARCH 872 for every term that it is offered. The seminar is meant to expand students knowledge of general archaeology topics. Guests are invited to speak, as well as faculty, post docs, adjuncts, sessionals and students.
Proseminar
The Archaeology Graduate Student proseminar is a weekly meeting which allows for the graduate students to get together and discuss their research progress and challenges, learn from other students experiences and set goals to meet for future meetings. While proseminar meetings are held weekly, additional Guest Speaker proseminar meetings are held where a speaker is invited to lead a presentation and discussion on topics deemed important by the Archaeology graduate student cohort during the regular proseminar meetings. Recent proseminar topics include, publishing, applying for MITACS and getting ready to defend.
Meet the Faculty
The "Meet the Faculty" is designed to provide an opportunity for the graduate and undergraduate students to get to know each of our faculty members better, in a friendly and informal way where faculty members will share their personal perspectives on different fields and different aspect of archaeology and biological anthropology, and more importantly, their journey from being a graduate student to a faculty member at SFU. Each week, one faculty member will come and talk with the graduate students, speaking for about 20-30 minutes and then leaving 20-30 minutes to address questions from the graduate students. The event not only gets the faculty and students better acquainted with each other, but also serve as ice-breaking session for more interactions in the future. Topics include, where you received your education, highlights of your graduate school experiences, your research areas, projects you are working on, what you like and/or dislike about what you do, why you chose to become a professor, and other archaeological related jobs you have done before coming to SFU, any quotes, tips and anything else that faculty members would like to share with the students.
Q- I am almost done writing.... now what?
First of all, congratulations, you are almost done! You have a defendable draft of your thesis, and there are just a few more steps, and you will have completed your graduate degree. Here are a few important things to consider when getting ready to defend and hand-in your graduate thesis…
The form that gets the defence process started is called an “Approval of Examining Committee” form, and before I can submit it to graduate studies I will need some crucial information. This includes,
· Date
· Time
· Proposed room
· Examiners name (MA)
· Internal & external examiner name (PhD)
· A CV for the external examiners (PhD)
· Short bio for internal examiners (MA)
· Abstract
· Title
I must submit this form to the Dean of Graduate Studies office 4 weeks before the defence for an MA, and 6 weeks for a PhD. You will also need to supply me with a copy of your defendable draft for the front counter, and one for each of the examining committee members. This must arrive at least 4 weeks before the date of the defence. The sooner you can get it to me the better, as you need to consider the amount of time needed to get it to your examining committee members.
It is understandable that you may not have all of this information, but please go over this information with your senior supervisor, and try to supply me with as much of it as possible. Please note that as the student you are not to contact your examiners for any reason. That is to be done by your senior supervisor, or by the Graduate Program Assistant.
A common misconception is that the defence date determines the timing of convocation, e.g., if a defence is held by 30 April, the student will be able to attend summer convocation. FALSE-- In fact, in order to graduate in any given semester, the completed thesis (after the defence and necessary revisions) must be accepted by the Library before the Thesis Submission deadline for the previous semester. This deadline is last Friday of the last month of each semester (i.e., end of-Dec. to attend June convocation, end of-April for June convocation, and end of-August for October convocation).
For more information on Library Submission Guidelines, please refer to the “Last Steps” document that I send out every semester. It has some vital information on it. Pay careful attention to the last few pages, which are summaries of where to put all your required documentation.
Q- How important is it to get published or present papers at conferences?
Getting published and presenting papers at conferences plays a vital role in both funding and getting into a MA program or moving into a PhD program form an MA. For more info see our page on Thesis & Academic Writing.
Q- How long does it usually take to get a MA completed? PhD?
How long should it take to complete an M.A. or Ph.D. in Archaeology? Students with a strong career potential finish promptly. Others go to the full University time limit (M.A. 4 years, Ph.D. 8 years). Realistically, degrees should be completed in about half the maximum University time limits. When writing a letter of reference, it is difficult to describe a graduate student who has taken a long time to complete a M.A. as productive and efficient.
The following are Departmental maximum completion time schedules for the M.A. and Ph.D. degrees. They assume that students are in full-time attendance. The schedules should be modified accordingly if a student goes on leave or must take time off to work. Also, keep in mind that the time a committee requires to return a manuscript can vary depending on when the draft is submitted and on other obligations of faculty members. For example, if a student submits a first draft on 1 December, or just prior to the senior supervisor's departure to the field, it may be unrealistic to expect to receive comments in two weeks. The best way to avoid these scheduling problems is to keep the lines of communication open between student and committee members. Faculty members who plan an extended Study Leave away from the University should meet with their graduate students to arrange an interim supervisor.
M.A.
| Year 1 | |
| Autumn | Archaeological Theory (ARCH 871-5) Directed Readings in Prehistory (ARCH 892-5) (or other course) |
| Spring | Research Design (ARCH 876-5) Establish supervisory committee Submission of prospectus Presentation of colloquium |
| Summer | Thesis research (field or lab work) |
| Year 2 | |
| Autumn | Thesis research (analysis) |
| Spring | Thesis writing |
| Summer | Thesis writing |
| Year 3 | |
| Autumn | Week 1. Submission of complete first draft to supervisor and committee Week 3. Supervisor returns comments on first draft Week 5. Other committee members return comments Week 11. Second draft submitted to supervisor and committee Week 13. Supervisor returns comments |
| Spring | Week 1. Other committee members return comments Week 2. Thesis is declared defensible (if no further revisions) Week 3. Graduate Chair informs Dean of recommended defense date Week 5. The complete (in every detail) thesis is circulated to examiners Week 7. Defense |
Ph.D.
| Year 1 | |
| Autumn | ARCH 871-5 Archaeological Theory Directed Readings in Prehistory (ARCH 892-5) (or other course) Develop thesis research design |
| Spring | ARCH 876-5 Research Design Develop thesis research design Establish supervisory committee |
| Spring | Work on thesis research design Preliminary thesis fieldwork, pilot studies Study for comprehensive exams |
| Year 2 | |
| Autumn | Submit reading areas for comprehensive exams to GPC for approval Study for comprehensive exams Work on thesis research design |
| Spring | Submission of prospectus to senior supervisor (may require revisions) Write Ph.D. comprehensive exams Present colloquium |
| Summer | Thesis research (fieldwork) |
| Year 3 | |
| Autumn | Thesis research (analysis) |
| Spring | Thesis research (analysis) |
| Summer | Thesis research (fieldwork) |
| Year 4 | |
| Autumn | Thesis research (analysis) |
| Spring | Thesis research (analysis) |
| Summer | Thesis writing |
| Year 5 | |
| Autumn | Thesis writing |
| Spring | Week 1. Submission of complete first draft to superviser and committee Week 3. Supervisor returns comments on first draft Week 5. Other committee members return comments Week 11. Second draft is submitted to supervisor and committee Week 13. Supervisor returns comments |
| Summer | Week 1. Other committee members return comments Week 2. Thesis is declared defensible (if no further revision) Week 3. Graduate Chair informs Dean of Recommended Defense date Week 5. The complete (in every detail) thesis is circulated to examiners Week 7. Defense |
Students should realize that the progression of a thesis through various drafts to a defensible version does not take place overnight. Note that the above scenarios allow for only one set of major revisions. If more than two drafts are required, the process will take longer. If students run out of time, various options for withdrawal and re-admission are available.
Q- How much funding can I expect on average in this program?
The Dean of Graduate Studies has recently published some statistics on the funding available to Archaeology graduate students. The results were an average over three years with a total of $11,906 per student.
Q- What are the benefits of becoming a Teaching Assistant?
Well, the obvious is the money. If you do not have any other sources of funding a TA position can really help you. However, the experience of the role is also important. If you are planning on getting sessional instructor positions, or you are thinking about teaching at any level, this experience will really help you. Some course professors will even let you do a guest lecture to give you experience with lecturing, rather then just marking or supervising undergraduate students.
Q- Who should I contact about my graduate health plan?
That is simple, just go to ihaveaplan.ca they have everything you need to know, and unlike most benefit plan dealers - if you need to contact them directly you will not have to suffer through automated people or prompts.
Q- What sorts of jobs are available to archaeology graduate students?
Archaeology is a very applicable degree in that there are jobs out there for graduate students. While most of our students go onto teach, others work in museums, for government sectors like Parks Canada.
Consulting jobs are also possible, even while studying as well as jobs in archaeological laboratories and research facilities.
Cultural resource management positions are a popular career path for those that have an interest in that area of archaeology.
For those of you that are taking more of a physical anthropology or bioarchaeology route, there are jobs available through the Coroners Office and the RCMP.
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