The Doctoral Program in Anthropology at MSU is designed to prepare students for careers as professional anthropologists in a variety of job settings, including academia, government agencies, non-governmental organizations, non-profit foundations, and private industry.

The Anthropology Department Faculty and graduate students are active in field work and research programs in North America, Latin America and the Caribbean, Asian Studies Center, Africa, and Europe. Because of the Department's international and interdisciplinary focus, it maintains close ties to several area and thematic studies centers on campus. In addition, the research interests of faculty and students have led to Department links with the School of Criminal Justice, the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism, the MSU Museum, and other units. The Consortium for Archaeological Research integrates archaeologists from the Departments of Anthropology, History, and Art History. The Department of Anthropology is also a cornerstone unit in the Center for Great Lakes Culture.

Anthropology graduate students are encouraged, with the consent of their guidance committees, to complete a cognate in a field outside the department. Similarly, the Department offers a cognate in Anthropology to individuals with majors in other disciplines.

The Department of Anthropology also participates in several Interdepartmental Graduate Specializations. Students in these interdisciplinary programs may be in either a Master's Degree or a Doctoral Degree program, and can elect Anthropology as their major field or as a cognate field. One such interdisciplinary degree program is the Interdepartmental Graduate Specialization in Ecology, Evolutionary Biology and Behavior, which is administered by the College of Natural Science.

• African Studies
• Gender, Justice, and Environmental Change
• Latin American and Caribbean Studies
• International Development and Sustainability
• Women and International Development

Graduate students in the Department of Anthropology may also elect to pursue an Interdisciplinary Specialization in Infant Studies, which is administered by the College of Social Science.

In addition, the Colleges of Social Science and Natural Science has developed an Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Forensic Sciences, which offers a Master of Science (M.S.) degree, and includes a specialization in Forensic Anthropology.

Michigan State University takes pride in its history as the nation's first land-grant university. The 5,263-acre East Lansing campus includes an arboretum with four designated natural areas. Campus buildings include a mix of historic and modern architecture in a parklike setting. The state capitol, Lansing, is two miles from campus. The metropolitan Lansing area has a population of over 400,000; it is located within 90 miles of the Great Lakes, Detroit, and Ontario, Canada. Students and faculty can find attractive and affordable housing in the urban environment of Lansing and in the suburban and rural communities that surround it.