Social Anthropology

Entry requirements

UK 2:1 (or overseas equivalent, eg GPA 3.00+ in many North American systems) in an appropriate subject for direct MA entry

UK 2:2 (or overseas equivalent, eg GPA 2.70+ in many North American systems) in an appropriate subject for Postgraduate Diploma route entry.

Months of entry

September

Course content

The objective of this programme is to communicate an anthropologically-informed understanding of social life in both Western and non-Western societies. By confronting students with the remarkable diversity of human social and cultural experience, its aim is to encourage them to question taken-for-granted assumptions and to view the world from a new perspective.

Through a set of core course units, comprising about a third of coursework credits, students are provided with a comprehensive grounding in classical as well as contemporary debates in social anthropology and are introduced to the distinctive research methods and ethical positions associated with the discipline. Students then complete their coursework credits by choosing from a broad range of units offered around the Faculty of Humanities.

Through these options, students apply the social anthropological theories and methods learnt on the core units to particular substantive themes and topics. Diploma students complete their coursework in May and formally graduate in July. Over the summer vacation, MA students carry out research for a 15,000 word dissertation that is submitted in September; normally expecting to graduate formally in December.