The Biological Anthropology is internationally known as a center of excellence in research and doctoral training in this disciplinary area. This program enrolls a small and highly select number of doctoral students interested in research in biological anthropology. The program emphasizes a biological approach to research problems focusing of both human and non-human anthropology. Our faculty and facilities are outstanding and provide access to state-of-the-art facilities for young scientists interested in research careers in Biological Anthropology.
The Program
The Biological Anthropolgy Program offers research training in a wide variety of specializations including human and primate paleontology, dental anthropology, human and primate gross anatomy and osteology, palaeodemography and forensics, and biological demography, skeletal biomechanics, as well as other cognate areas of basic biology and human structure. The course of instruction strongly emphasizes basic human anatomy, developmental biology, mammalian physiology and palentology. In general, most graduates are prepared to teach both human antomy and another cognate field in demand at most medical schools (neuroanatomy, cell biology, physiology) and thereby normally face attractive postgraduate training and teaching options. Many graduates also use their training and teaching experience to enter regular anthropology or corporate research positions.
Resources
Graduate faculty in Biological Anthropology are drawn from the Departments of Anthropology and Biological Sciences at Kent State, the Department of Anatomy at the Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine and the Department of Biomedical Engineering at The University of Akron. This interdepartmental and inter-institutional structure makes available to doctoral candidates significant resources and facilities of a sizeable training faculty. These include state-of-the-art laboratories for physical anthropology and paleontology, an in-house computer facility, the Hammonn-Todd human and primate skeletal collection, biomechanics research facilities, a small colony of neotropical primates, and laboratories for the reproductive physiology and endocrinology of extant primate species. Additional resources and collections are available to students and graduate faculty through collaborators at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History and the Cleveland Metro Parks Zoological Center.
Admission
Applicants for admission should hold an M.A or an M.S. in Anthropology or one of the Biological Science disciplines and should have completed two years of college chemistry (including organic chemistry), one year of college biology (including genetics), and at least one course in college mathematics, statistics or computer science. Admission to the program is based on a review of a candidate's academic record, the general GRE exam score, and the recommendation of the faculty in Biological Anthropology. We encourage students to contact faculty to discuss the program and their research interests. Additional information and an application can be obtained by contacting the Director of the School of Biomedical Sciences.