Program Overview

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Social Anthropology (MRes) 2025 entry

Overview

Explore the immense diversity of contemporary human social and cultural experience worldwide.

Application Deadline

Thursday 7 August 2025

Starts

September 2025

Duration

One year full time

School

School of Philosophical, Anthropological and Film Studies

Fees

• UK: £12,030
• Rest of the world: £25,900

Why Study This Course?

The programme takes a comparative and global view of human individuality, society and culture, studying how people make meaningful lives in extremely diverse settings. Research covers lives in cities and villages in Europe, the Pacific, Africa, Asia and the Americas.

You will examine topics as diverse as belief, politics, gender, illness, art, migration, colonialism and postcolonialism, or our relationship with the environment. You will question taken-for-granted ideas and learn to understand how others see the world.

The programme provides a general introduction to social anthropology at the postgraduate level, with an emphasis on bringing interdisciplinary skills to anthropological research. It enhances existing anthropological knowledge and helps develop theory and practice in those coming to anthropology for the first time. The MRes offers a range of social science components, research and methodology training, and core social anthropology teaching.

Highlights

• Opportunities for theoretical development and specialist interests with training in research methodologies
• Small class sizes encourage student-led seminars and discussion as well as more contact with supervisors
• Introduction to cross-disciplinary connections and differences

Teaching

Delivered through formal lectures combined with seminar-style teaching and student-led group work.

Class Sizes

Groups range from 5 to 10 students in lectures and 2 to 6 students in tutorials.

Dissertation

A 15,000-word project with regular support with an assigned individual supervisor.

Assessment

Modules are assessed through coursework which includes essays or learning journals, independent research-led assignments, and group-assessed oral presentations.

Modules

The St Andrews degree structure is designed to be flexible. You study compulsory modules delivering core learning together with optional modules you choose from the list available that year.

Compulsory

Core social science training modules are listed below. These may be required for recognition of the MRes by the ESRC as a doctoral pathway. They are optional for non-ESRC funded students.

• Being a Social Scientist: focuses on how to design and produce a research dissertation and addresses issues of professional development (e.g., ethics, careers, grant writing).
• Philosophy and Methodology of the Social Sciences: introduces students to the basic theoretical approaches in the social sciences, covering the methodological and epistemological issues involved in conducting social scientific research.
• Qualitative Methods in Social Research: offers both a theoretical and practical introduction to the collection, analysis and writing of qualitative social science research.
• Quantitative Research in Social Science: provides an introduction to the fundamental concepts of quantitative analysis - underlying principles, research design, sampling strategies, uncertainty and missing data, and some statistical approaches to data analysis.

Non-ESRC funded students may substitute up to 30 credits from undergraduate Honours-level Social Anthropology modules, with the approval of the course coordinator.

Optional

• Anthropology, Art and Perception 1 or Anthropology, Art and Perception 2: draw on themes from across the subject boundaries between art and anthropology to provide training for postgraduate research into the anthropology of human creativity and visual expression.
• Methodological and Philosophical Issues in Anthropology: is specifically designed for students who have not studied anthropology before. It will outline the key methods, philosophical and theoretical ideas that have shaped the discipline.
• The Anthropology of Connections: Interdisciplinarity as Methodology: examines the relevance of other disciplines for social anthropology by working with methodologies and concepts drawn from history, social science, philosophy, language and the arts.
• Research Methods in Social Anthropology: examines the methodology of anthropological research through close attention to the relationship between method and fieldwork experience.

Optional modules are subject to change each year and require a minimum number of participants to be offered; some may only allow limited numbers of students (see the University’s position on curriculum development).

Dissertation

Student dissertations will be supervised by members of the teaching staff who will advise on the choice of subject and provide guidance throughout the research process. The completed dissertation of not more than 15,000 words must be submitted by a date specified in August.

If students choose not to complete the dissertation requirement for the MRes, there is an exit award available that allows suitably qualified candidates to receive a Postgraduate Diploma. By choosing an exit award, you will finish your degree at the end of the second semester of study and receive a PGDip instead of an MRes.

What It Will Lead To

Careers

Graduates in social anthropology from St Andrews will gain key practical skills in analysing social and cultural dynamics and how these shape relations, attitudes and experiences. They will learn how to communicate cross-culturally and to examine problems reflexively and holistically, revealing and questioning taken-for-granted assumptions.

These skills are transferable to many different careers, and are particularly sought after in development, the non-profit sector, the civil service, human resources, museums and curation, environmental conservation, business, and education.

Further Study

Many graduates continue their education by enrolling in PhD programmes at St Andrews or elsewhere. The Department of Social Anthropology offers PhD supervision across a diverse range of theoretical interests and topics.

Why St Andrews?

The Department of Social Anthropology provides postgraduates with access to a museum collection of ethnographic material and a common room that includes a general anthropological library, providing a space that is shared by both staff and postgraduates. The departmental libraries, together with the main University library which holds a fine anthropology collection, include resources covering nearly all regions of the world.

The Scottish Training in Anthropological Research (STAR) consortium brings together social anthropologists from the universities of St Andrews, Aberdeen and Edinburgh to support innovation in research and teaching.

In addition to co-hosting international conferences and workshops, the consortium runs two free week-long residential training courses each year in anthropology for postgraduate students and early career researchers. The first course is for students at the pre-fieldwork level and the second is for those at an advanced stage of research writing.

Entry Requirements

• A 2.1 Honours undergraduate degree. No previous anthropological experience is required. If you studied your first degree outside the UK, see the international entry requirements.
• English language proficiency. See English language tests and qualifications.

The qualifications listed are indicative minimum requirements for entry. Some academic Schools will ask applicants to achieve significantly higher marks than the minimum. Obtaining the listed entry requirements will not guarantee you a place, as the University considers all aspects of every application including, where applicable, the writing sample, personal statement, and supporting documents.

Application Requirements

• CV
• Personal statement
• Sample of your own, single-authored academic written work (2,000 words)
• Two original signed academic references
• Academic transcripts and degree certificates

For more guidance, see supporting documents and references for postgraduate taught programmes.

English Language Proficiency

If English is not your first language, you may need to provide an English language test score to evidence your English language ability. See approved English language tests and scores for this course.

Fees and Funding

• UK: £12,030
• Rest of the world: £25,900

Before we can begin processing your application, a payment of an application fee of £50 is required. In some instances, you may be eligible for an application fee waiver. Details of this, along with information on our tuition fees, can be found on the postgraduate fees and funding page.

Scholarships and Funding

We are committed to supporting you through your studies, regardless of your financial circumstances. You may be eligible for scholarships, discounts or other support:

• GREAT Scholarship
• St Andrews Sanctuary Scholarship
• St Leonard's funding opportunities
• Graduate discount (15% off tuition fees)

Social anthropology scholarships