Program Overview

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Anthropology and Sociology BSc (Hons)

Overview

Studying anthropology and sociology at Brunel gives you the opportunity to do funded fieldwork placements anywhere in the world according to your anthropological interests. Take your knowledge of culture and society to the next level and equip yourself with a big range of practical and analytical skills for a changing world with our Anthropology and Sociology BSc.

Anthropology is concerned with contemporary issues such as multiculturalism, identity politics, racism and ethnic nationalism, changing forms of the family, religious conflict, gender, and the political role of culture. It also addresses fundamental questions about human nature, such as: 'What do we have in common with each other cross-culturally?' and 'What makes us different?'

Sociology, its sister subject, looks at the foundations of social life and the big issues in contemporary society such as inequality, racism, globalisation, and migration. In particular, your sociology studies at Brunel will be closely related to the central and ever-increasing importance of the communications media in our culture, for example, how poverty is portrayed and the powerful influence of celebrity.

Course Content

Your first year will be an introduction to academic studies in social science, including an introduction to key theoretical issues as well as practical training in research methods, such as interviewing and participant observation.

In your second year, anthropology modules cover the history and theory of anthropology, and current issues in the fields of ethnicity, gender, religion and kinship. Sociology topics include sociological theory, methods and contemporary social institutions.

In your final year, you can choose your own modules from a wide range of advanced options from both disciplines, alongside your own dissertation research project.

• Year 1:
  • Anthropology in the World
  • Beliefs and Ways of Thinking
  • Ethnographic Research Methods
  • Key Ideas in Sociology
  • Power, Inequality and Society
  • Global London
• Year 2:
  • Ethnicity, Migration and Identity
  • Gender, Sexuality and Feminism
  • Optional modules:
    • Anthropology of Education and Learning
    • Anthropology of the Body
    • Anthropology of the Person
    • Body, Media and Society
    • Colonialism, Migration and Global Racism
    • Critical Perspectives on International Development
    • Digital Culture
    • Ethnography in South Asia
    • Ethnography of a Selected Region
    • Global Health in Anthropological Perspective
    • Popular Culture and Creative Industries
    • Researching Your World
    • Sociology of Everyday Life: Issues in Contemporary Culture
    • Themes in Psychological and Psychiatric Anthropology
    • Understanding Childhood and Youth
    • War and Humanitarianism
• Year 3:
  • Advanced Research Skills for Anthropology
  • Anthropology and Sociology Dissertation
  • Optional modules:
    • Anthropology of Education and Learning
    • Anthropology of the Body
    • Anthropology of the Person
    • Apocalypse! Crisis and Society
    • Cities, Power and Social Change
    • Contemporary Anthropological Theory
    • Critical Perspectives on International Development
    • Drugs, Crime and Criminal Justice
    • Environment and Sustainability
    • Ethnography in South Asia
    • Ethnography of a Selected Region
    • Global Health in Anthropological Perspective
    • Global Migration
    • Lawyers, Guns and Money: Making the Modern World-System
    • Media, Social Movements and Change
    • Medical Anthropology in Clinical and Community Settings
    • Psychosocial Perspectives on Crime and Violence
    • Religion and Power in South Asian History
    • Social Media and Society
    • Social Reproduction and Care
    • Sociological Career Development
    • South Asia – Societies and Development
    • The Arab-Israeli Conflict
    • Themes in Psychological and Psychiatric Anthropology
    • Understanding Childhood and Youth
    • Violence and Conflict in Eastern Africa
    • War and Humanitarianism

Careers and Your Future

As a graduate of a three-year anthropology and sociology degree, your research and fieldwork experience, which forms such a major part of our degree course, will help to set you apart from other graduates.

These placements build up fantastic experience and can connect you with organisations and people who will be invaluable when it comes to progressing your career.

Brunel graduates have gone on to work at the World Bank, UNICEF, the NHS, NGOs and charities such as Oxfam and Save the Children, as well as local government, legal sectors and the media.

Graduates have also gone on to work as teachers, journalists and research officers in the health and social sectors, and in other professions requiring knowledge of social and cultural processes.

Others go on to pursue further research degrees in anthropology and become academic anthropologists.

UK Entry Requirements

• GCSEs: A minimum of five GCSEs are required, including GCSE English Language (grade C/4) or GCSE English Literature (grade B/5)
• A-level: Standard Offer: GCE A level BBB, Contextual Offer: GCE A level BCC
• BTEC National Extended Diploma: Standard Offer: BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma DDM in any subject, Contextual Offer: BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma DMM in any subject
• International Baccalaureate: Standard Offer: International Baccalaureate Diploma 30 points. GCSE English equivalent SL 5 or HL 4, Contextual Offer: International Baccalaureate Diploma 28 points. GCSE English equivalent SL 5 or HL 4

EU and International Entry Requirements

• English language requirements: IELTS: 6.5 (min 5.5 in all areas), Pearson: 59 (59 in all subscores), BrunELT: 63% (min 55% in all areas), TOEFL: 90 (min R18, L17, S20, W17)

Fees and Funding

• UK: £9,535 full-time, £1,385 placement year
• International: £17,400 full-time, £1,385 placement year

Teaching and Learning

You'll be taught by world-leading experts in your field of study, and have the opportunity to interact with fellow students at London's leading campus University.

Your programme will consist of a variety of learning and studying activities, including lectures, seminars and discussions. You'll study six modules during two terms across the academic year (four modules and a dissertation in the third year). Each module will have on average two to three hours of in-person contact time per week in lectures, seminars and workshops in the teaching terms.

Assessment and Feedback

Assessment is typically by essay or practical assignments (for example, analysis of a short field exercise), and a dissertation of approximately 10,000 to 15,000 words based upon your own fieldwork experience anywhere in the world.