MA in Anthropology (Public Issues) in Waterloo Canada | University of Waterloo

Our Master of Arts in Public Issues Anthropology equips students to recognize how anthropological insights and methodologies apply to contemporary societal debates. Graduate candidates have explored thesis subjects ranging from Arctic archaeology's connection to climate change, to drag culture and gender bias, indigenous sovereignty movements, and economic transformations in isolated regions. The University of Waterloo's Public Issues Anthropology MA is a research-intensive degree, requiring students to conduct original investigations and produce a thesis alongside their coursework. This research-focused master's program serves as excellent preparation for doctoral studies or careers demanding strong research and analytical capabilities.
This anthropology program offers a distinctive graduate education framework built upon two core tenets:

Certain anthropological themes inherently bridge the discipline's conventional branches—including sociocultural, biological, archaeological (along with applied and linguistic anthropology)—throughout all research phases.
Anthropological knowledge, theories, practices, field experiences, and research techniques hold significant value for addressing modern social, political, and cultural challenges.
Participants may concentrate on conventional research areas within their specialization while highlighting their work's societal relevance, or adopt cross-disciplinary methods to investigate topics crossing multiple anthropological fields or pioneering research approaches.

Traditional research paths might involve studying ancient civilizations through their artifacts, examining human biological diversity, or documenting varied cultural systems. Previous interdisciplinary projects have connected anthropology to diverse fields including consumer behavior studies, artificial intelligence development, and feminist performance art analysis.