Program Requirements

Admission Requirements

• An undergraduate degree from an accredited, four-year institution (or a course of study that is the equivalent of such a degree).
• A statement of purpose expressing student’s aspirations and reasons for choosing the MASS program and Georgia Southern University.
• A favorable review by the MASS Graduate Admissions Committee
• GRE scores are not required; however, if an applicant’s overall undergraduate GPA is less than a 3.0 it could be helpful to submit them.

Required Core Courses (12 Hours)

• ANTH, POLS, or SOCI 6638 – Proseminar in Social Science (3).
• Theory (3) (Can be any ANTH, CRJU, POLS, or SOCI theory course).
• Methods and/or Analysis (6) (Can be any ANTH, CRJU, POLS, or SOCI methods and/or analysis).

Elective Courses (12 Hours)

• A student will develop a program of study in conjunction with their advisor and approved by the graduate Director.
• A student will select an area of emphasis– Anthropology, Archeology, Political Science, or Sociology.
• An emphasis requires a minimum of 18 hours of coursework from within anthropology, political science, or sociology (with the exception of ANTH, POLS, or SOCI 6638, core courses can be used to fulfill the area of concentration requirements).

General Program Requirements

• Students can earn 15 hours of credit from courses at the 5000G level.
• Enrollment in courses outside anthropology, political science, and sociology is limited to a maximum of 9 semester hours.
• Courses that are taken to fulfill a prerequisite for admission may not be used to satisfy course hour requirements.
• All students must complete an online professional portfolio to demonstrate the completion of program objectives.

Final Project (6 Hours)

Applied/Public Service Track

The applied/public service track is for students who plan to enter applied or public service venues. Students may choose among 3 terminal projects:

1. Complete 6 hours of course work that has an applied emphasis (e.g., additional classes in methods, statistics, grant writing, program evaluation, public policy, or field research); courses must be approved by the advisor and graduate director.
2. Students complete an internship approved by the advisor and director.
3. Students take courses to prepare them for a career in teaching at the community college level (need 18 graduate hours in a specific discipline to teach that discipline in community colleges).

Research Thesis Track

The research thesis track is strongly recommended for students who plan to continue in graduate or professional education.

• The thesis may be theoretical or empirical and should represent the student’s knowledge of social science theory, methodology and a substantive area.
• Data for empirical research projects may be qualitative and/or quantitative and primary and/or secondary in nature.

Last updated: 9/29/2022