New York University

The Department of Anthropology at New York University is part of the main campus, located in the heart of Greenwich Village. The Department occupies Rufus D. Smith Hall at 25 Waverly Place which houses the department's administrative and faculty offices, as well as laboratories for physical anthropology and archeology, seminar room, student lounge and film room. The department currently has six full-time faculty members in biological anthropology: Antón, Di Fiore, Disotell, Harrison, Harvati and Jolly.

In addition, the department faculty comprises 17 social anthropologists, two linguistic anthropologists, and three archaeologists. The department also has a large body of over 100 advanced graduate students, including 25 in physical anthropology, who are currently working on diverse research projects involving primate behavior, comparative anatomy and physiology, paleoanthropology, and genetics.

NYCEP students at NYU are admitted directly into the Ph.D. program, which requires the completion of 72 credits of coursework (the equivalent of 18 four-credit courses). Students are expected to take a full course-load of three courses each semester for three years. During their first two years, students are required to take the three NYCEP core courses, as well as the NYU Departmental Seminar and Physical Anthropology Seminar. On completion of these core requirements, students elect to take more advanced courses in biological anthropology and other related disciplines (i.e., Anatomy, Biology, Geology, Neurosciences) offered through NYU and NYCEP. All students are required to prepare an M.A. research paper en route to the Ph.D., which they finalize during their second year, after having completed 32 credits of coursework. On completion of at least 64 credits of coursework, students take a written comprehensive examination in biological anthropology. All Ph.D. students must also fulfill a foreign language requirement. When coursework is completed, students meet with their Ph.D. committee for an oral defense of their dissertation proposal, after which they are able to pursue their dissertation research.

The NYU Department of Anthropology has well-equipped laboratories for the study of molecular anthropology and population genetics, paleoanthropology, comparative skeletal morphology, and human osteology, as well as a wet laboratory for primate dissection and preparation of skeletal materials and a casting laboratory. Each of the main laboratories houses several computer workstations that are available for graduate research. The paleoanthropology laboratory contains a sizeable collection of non-human primate skeletal materials and a comprehensive collection of casts of fossil hominins and apes. The comparative skeletal morphology lab houses a representative collection of vertebrate skeletons, fossil primate casts, and a mammalogy library. The human osteology laboratory has a large collection of human skeletons and fragmentary skeletal material for training in human osteology and for use in studies of comparative anatomy, bone biology, and pathology. The skeletal laboratories is also equipped with standard osteometric equipment, microscribe digitizers, and computer workstations and software fully equipped for 3-D morphometrics. The molecular anthropology and population genetics laboratory is one of the best equipped molecular primatology laboratories in the country. It is fully equipped for protein and DNA-level analyses. Numerous DNA amplification systems are housed in the laboratory along with automated DNA sequencing/genotyping systems. There is also a separate ancient DNA extraction facility. A close collaboration with the biology and chemistry departments provides for access to additional automated DNA analysis systems and optical mapping facilties.

A 17 computer multimedia teaching laboratory with video camera, tape, and disc interfaces and projection TV capabilites is also found within the department. The Department has its own filmroom and darkroom, which are available for use by graduate students, as well as a student study area equipped with computers and a library.

At the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Gannon, Hof, and Schaffler are NYCEP resource faculty. Facilities available at Mount Sinai School of Medicine include a modern dissecting room and a wet laboratory facility equipped for large body to tissue sectioning and microdissection. There is also a separate osteology laboratory and a skeleton preparation laboratory.

Links:

New York University Home Page
New York University Department of Anthropology
Mount Sinai School of Medicine (MSSM) Home Page
MSSM Department of Anatomy and Functional Morphology
MSSM Department of Otolaryngology
MSSM Center for Neurobiology