Social Anthropology

Entry requirements

Applicants for this course should have achieved a UK First class Honours Degree.

Months of entry

October

Course content

The PhD course is intended for students who already have full training at undergraduate and/or Master's level in the methods and perspectives of Social/Cultural Anthropology. It includes intensive fieldwork training in the first year, a research period of 12 to 18 months, and a further year for writing the thesis (a maximum of four years is allowed in total). Students work with the main Supervisor and a Faculty Advisor, who acts as a source of supplementary advice.

The PhD course begins with nine months of training in research issues and methods, culminating in the writing and submission of a fieldwork proposal. PhD students doing the pre-fieldwork course can expect to leave for field research at the end of their third term (June–July), subject to passing the fieldwork clearance interview.

Students then usually undertake 12–18 months of ethnographic fieldwork.

On return to Cambridge, students devote the remainder of their research time to writing their PhD dissertation in close consultation with their supervisor.