Dissertation Committee & Defense - Archaeology

The dissertation committee is composed of at least three members, two of whom must be members of the Harvard Anthropology Department faculty. The chair of the committee must be a member of the Archaeology program faculty. Normally the prospectus examination committee and the dissertation committee are composed of the same individuals, although it may be appropriate that substitutions or additions be made. A complete draft of the dissertation must be received by all members of the dissertation committee at least six weeks before the proposed dissertation defense date, and must be approved by the committee at least one month before the dissertation defense date.  A draft of the dissertation must be made available to other members of the Department at least two weeks before the private defense (see below). The text of the dissertation, exclusive of charts, figures, references cited, and appendices, ordinarily may not exceed 300 typewritten double-spaced pages. 

The dissertation ordinarily must be:

  1. Submitted to the dissertation committee at least 1.5 months (6 weeks)  before the dissertation defense.
  2. Approved by all members of the committee at least one month prior to the dissertation defense date. 
  3. Formally defended in a closed meeting (private defense) with the dissertation committee and other interested faculty members at least one month before the Registrar’s due date. 
  4. Presented orally to a general audience, including other faculty members (public presentation) as soon as possible after a successful private defense.

After successful completion of the above assessments and after the incorporation of any required revisions, signatures of the committee members must be obtained on the dissertation acceptance certificate, which is submitted with the dissertation to the Registrar’s office. Note that the above timetables are estimates. The candidate should discuss timetables with the chair of the PhD committee.  

Dissertations are submitted electronically. The final manuscript of the dissertation must conform to the requirements described in the Harvard Griffin GSAS Dissertations webpage. Students are expected to submit a complete draft of the dissertation by the end of the sixth year of graduate study, and ordinarily the dissertation must be approved by the end of the eighth year of graduate study or the student will be required to withdraw.