Program Overview

Overview

The MA in Socio-Cultural Anthropology introduces students to the academic study of humanity and the behaviors, societies, and cultures that underpin the lives of sentient beings.

Course Structure

Year 1 Modules

Core Modules:

• Thinking Anthropologically: Develops students' understanding of current issues and challenges in socio-cultural anthropology and enables them to apply theories and concepts to these issues.
• Fieldwork and Interpretation: Offers a comprehensive view of qualitative field methods used by social sciences, including the collection, management, and interpretation of qualitative data.
• Power and Inequality, Markets and Exchange, Ritual, Religion and Belief, and Relations and Belonging: Students make an individual choice of at least three of these core social and cultural anthropology modules.
• Dissertation: An independent research project based on a specialist area of the degree of particular interest, using the knowledge gained in the research methods modules.

Optional Modules:

• In recent years, optional modules have included:
  • Anthropology and Development
  • Sustainability, Energy, Environment, and Resilience
  • Anthropology of Global Health
  • Society, Health, and Wellbeing
  • Field Study
  • Climate and Energy
  • A language module offered by the Centre for Foreign Language Studies

Learning

Students learn through a mixture of lectures, seminars, and workshops, with lectures providing key information on subjects that are then analyzed and discussed in seminars.

Assessment

Course activities are assessed by a mixture of essays, portfolio work, critical reviews, and project work. In the final term, students complete a dissertation of up to 15,000 words.

Entry Requirements

A minimum 2:1 Honours degree from a UK institution (or the overseas equivalent) in a relevant subject.

Fees and Funding

Full-Time Fees

• Home students: £13,500 per year
• EU students: £28,500 per year
• Island students: £13,500 per year
• International students: £28,500 per year

Part-Time Fees

• Home students: £7,500 per year
• EU students: £15,700 per year
• Island students: £7,500 per year
• International students: £15,700 per year

Career Opportunities

Our anthropology postgraduates are well-placed to build on the research-led teaching the department offers. Many continue their academic careers by carrying out further research into the complex and diverse nature of humanity.

Department Information

Anthropology

Our Department carries out game-changing research in the fields of social and evolutionary anthropology and the anthropology of health. We offer the opportunity to develop a real and robust understanding of humanity's complex nature and the challenges faced by society through in-depth study supported by expert staff.

Facilities

In keeping with our vision to offer research-led teaching, the Department provides a wide range of state-of-the-art facilities to support postgraduate research projects and programmes. These include the Behavioural and Ecological Physiology Laboratory, the Physical Activity Laboratory, and the South Africa Field Station, as well as the award-winning Durham Infancy and Sleep Centre Laboratory.