SOAS, University of London (The School of Oriental and African Studies)

Structure

Year 1

Students take a 1.0 unit Nepali language course (either Nepali Language 1 or Nepali Language 2); 1.0 unit Culture and Conflict in the Himalaya; 1.0 unit Theoretical Approaches in Social Anthropology (or other anthropology options, chosen in consultation with programme convenor, for students with equivalent anthropology training); 0.5 unit Media Production Skills; and 0.5 units of anthropology options.

Summer break between years 1 and 2

Two weeks of intensive Nepali language tuition at SOAS after the June exams, followed by two months in Kathmandu, attached to the Nepā School of Social Sciences and Humanities and the Bishwo Bhasa Campus of Tribhuvan University.  At the end of the summer students will be required to submit  a 5000-word preliminary fieldwork report and research proposal, accompanied by a 500-word abstract written in Nepali.

Year 2

Students take the following courses: 1.5 unit Nepali for researchers; 1.0 unit Anthropological Research Methods (0.5 units Ethnographic Research Methods in term 1 and 0.5 units in Introduction to Statistics in term 2).  They also attend the compulsory weekly MPhil Research Training Seminar in anthropology and write a 15,000 word MA Dissertation.

Language courses will be assessed though a mixture of written papers and oral examinations.  

Non-language courses will be assessed on the basis of coursework essays and written papers.

Year 1

• Nepali Language 1 (Postgraduate) - 15PSAC298 (1 Unit) - Full Year
• Culture and Conflict in the Himalaya - 15PSAC291 (1 Unit) - Full Year
• Theoretical Approaches to Social Anthropology - 15PANC008 (1 Unit) - Full Year
• Media Production Skills - 15PANH050 (0.5 Unit) - Term 2
• African and Asian Diasporas in the Modern World - 15PANH010 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1
• African and Asian Cultures in Britain - 15PANH009 (0.5 Unit) - Term 2
• Anthropology of travel and tourism A - 15PANH051 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1
• Anthropology of travel and tourism B - 15PANH052 (0.5 Unit) - Term 2
• Anthropology of Urban Space, Place and Architecture - 15PANH029 (0.5 Unit) - Term 2 - Not Running 2013/2014
• Approaches to the Other in Horror and Science Fiction Films - 15PANH043 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1 - Not Running 2013/2014
• Comparative Study of Islam: Anthropological Perspectives A (Masters) - 15PANH047 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1
• Comparative Study of Islam: Anthropological Perspectives B (Masters) - 15PANH048 (0.5 Unit) - Term 2 - Not Running 2013/2014 - Must be taken with the first term course - 15PANH047 Comparative Study of Islam: Anthropological Perspectives A (Masters)
• Directed Practical Study in the Anthropology of Food - 15PANH045 (0.5 Unit) - Full Year
• Anthropological approaches to agriculture, food and nutrition - 15PANH053 (0.5 Unit) - Term 2
• Issues in Psychoanalysis and Anthropology - 15PANH032 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1
• Issues in the Anthropology of Film - 15PANH022 (0.5 Unit) - Term 2
• Issues in the Anthropology of Gender - 15PANH024 (0.5 Unit) - Term 2 - Not to be combined with 15PDSH010 Gender & Development.
• Perspectives On Development - 15PANH033 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1
• Therapy and Culture - 15PANH027 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1

Summer Break

Fieldwork report and research proposal

Year 2

• Research Methods in Anthropology - 15PANC011 (1 Unit) - Full Year
• Dissertation in Anthropology and Sociology - 15PANC999 (1 Unit) - Full Year

Programme Specification

• Programme Specification (pdf; 78kb)

Teaching & Learning

Teaching & Learning

What methods will be used to achieve the learning outcomes?

Knowledge

1. How to assess data and evidence critically from manuscripts and digital sources, solve problems of conflicting sources and conflicting interpretations, locate materials, use research sources (particularly research library catalogues) and other relevant traditional sources.
2. The Research Methods course focuses on teaching the various research methods associated with anthropological fieldwork including: participant observation, historical research, qualitative interviewing, quantitative data collection, Rapid Participatory Assessment, how to design questionnaires and, especially, on how to formulate a research question and design a project and consider the ethical issues involved. The Statistics courseworks on how to compile statistics, and how to critically assess statistics.
3. The Research Training course, which is assessed by the Masters dissertation, works on students’ writing skills with an emphasis on thinking of the history of the discipline, writing to schedule, writing to requested word count, how to formulate a research question based on the material gathered, as well as how to do a presentation, how to comment on presentations and how to apply for funding.  Term three looks at the strategies for working on the Masters’ dissertation and how to be upgraded at the start of the MPhil year.
4. A good grounding in the sociocultural and political history of and contemporary sociocultural and political issues in Nepal, and familiarity with the scholarly literature on these topics.
5. Proficiency in spoken and written Nepali sufficient for the purposes of anthropological field research: ability to conduct conversations and interviews, and read and synthesise information from Nepali written sources.

Intellectual (thinking) skills

1. Students should become precise and cautious in their assessment of evidence, and to understand through practice what documents can and cannot tell us.
2. Students should question interpretations, however authoritative, and reassess evidence for themselves.  They should be able to design a research project, set a timetable, understand the principles of fieldwork, and consider questions of ethics.
3. Students should learn to read each others’ work for both its strengths and weaknesses, develop their skills as public speakers, learn how to compose short abstracts of their project (for funding), be able to think critically and yet be open to being critiqued themselves.

Subject-based practical skills

The programme aims to help students with the following practical skills:

1. Communicate effectively in writing, in both English and (at a less advanced level) Nepali
2. Retrieve, sift and select information from a variety of sources in both English and Nepali.
3. Present seminar papers.
4. Listen to and discuss ideas introduced during seminars.
5. Practice research techniques in a variety of specialized research libraries and institutes.
6. Be prepared to do fieldwork for an anthropology PhD.

Transferable skills

The programme will encourage students to:

1. Write good essays and dissertations.
2. Structure and communicate ideas effectively both orally and in writing.
3. Understand unconventional ideas.
4. Present (non–assessed) material orally.
5. Function as a student and researcher in a radically different environment.
6. Be able to apply for funding to do a PhD.
7. Be prepared to enter an Anthropology PhD programme and to be upgraded from MPhil to PhD in the shortest possible time.

Destinations

Students who study MA Anthropological Research Methods and Nepali develop a wide range of transferable skills such as research, analysis, oral and written communication skills.  

The communication skills of anthropologists transfer well to areas such as information and technology, the media and tourism. Other recent SOAS career choices have included commerce and banking, government service, the police and prison service, social services and health service administration. Opportunities for graduates with trained awareness of the socio-cultural norms of minority communities also arise in education, local government, libraries and museums.

For more information about Graduate Destinations from this department, please visit the Careers Service website.

How to apply

How to apply

• How to Apply
• Online Application
• Funding options
• English language requirements
• Tuition Fees
• Admissions Contacts

Scholarships

For further information visit the Scholarships section