Department of Anthropology and Sociology

MA Social Anthropology (2022 entry)

Select year of entry: 2022 2021

Overview

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MA Social Anthropology

Overview and entry requirements

Our MA Social Anthropology programme is designed on a modular basis offering different routes to suit three categories of students:

students with a degree in social anthropology wishing to pursue more specialist topics and/or more regional and language-based study
students with little or no previous knowledge of social anthropology wishing to acquire a broad knowledge of the discipline
students with little or no previous knowledge of social anthropology wishing to take the degree as a conversion course before proceeding to a research degree in anthropology

This course in also available as an alternative MA Medical Anthropology pathway, which is an interdisciplinary course of study designed to understand and address pressing global challenges in health and mental health from diverse perspectives: click here for more information.

Why study MA Social Anthropology at SOAS

SOAS is ranked 5th in the UK in the 2022 QS World University Rankings for Anthropology, and 10th in the world
draw on the exceptional regional expertise of our academics in Asian, African, and Middle Eastern languages and politics, many of whom have joined us with a practical working knowledge of their disciplines
join our thriving community of alumni and academics who have an impact on the outside world of academia
flexibly structure your programme using our optional modules and/or the optional modules from other departments, including the opportunity to learn a regional language
we are specialists in the delivery of languages; your command of a language at SOAS will set you apart from graduates of other universities
this programme has a first-rate graduate employability record.

For more information email: anthsoc@soas.ac.uk

Start of programme: September intake only

Mode of Attendance: Full-time or Part-time

Entry requirements

We will consider all applications with a 2:2 (or international equivalent) or higher in social science of humanities subject. In addition to degree classification we take into account other elements of the application such as supporting statement. References are optional, but can help build a stronger application if you fall below the 2:2 requirement or have non-traditional qualifications.

Please see our 'postgraduate entry requirements' page for Overseas and EU qualifications and equivalencies.

Featured events

duration:: One calendar year (full-time) Two or three years (part-time, daytime only) We recommend that part-time students have between two and a half and three days free in the week to pursue their course of study. The expectation in the UK is of continuous study across the year, with break periods used to read and to prepare coursework.

Fees 2022/23

Home students fees:: £11,980

Overseas students fees:: £23,400

Fees for 2022/23 entrants. This is a Band 1 fee. The fees are per academic year. Please note that fees go up each year. Further details can be found on the Postgraduate tuition fees page

Convenors

Dr Benjamin Bowles Convenor

Structure

Learn a language as part of this programme

Degree programmes at SOAS - including this one - can include language courses in more than forty African and Asian languages. It is SOAS students’ command of an African or Asian language which sets SOAS apart from other universities.

Structure

The programme consists of 180 credits in total: 120 credits of modules and a dissertation of 10,000 words at 60 credits.

All students are expected to take the compulsory modules listed below, except for students with a previous Anthropology degree, who are not required to take the Theoretical Approaches to Social Anthropology (TASA) module but may wish to select this as one of their options. In addition to TASA, students who choose the Medical Anthropology pathway are required to take the compulsory modules associated with the pathway.

Programme

Compulsory Modules

All students take 45 credits compulsory modules:

Module	Code	Credits	Term
701 Contemporary Anthropological Theory	15PANH102	15	Term 1
702 Ethnographic Research Methods	15PANH002	15
721 Ethnographic Encounters	15PANH103	15	Term 1

Guided Options

All students choose 45 credits: minimum 30 credits from List A and up to 15 credits from List B

LIST A - Options

Module	Code	Credits	Term
722 Food, Place and Mobility	15PANH087	15	Term 1
725 African and Asian Diasporas: Culture, Politics, Identities	15PANH085	15	Term 2
751 Conceptualising the Social	15PANH104	15	Term 2
753 Mind, Culture and Psychiatry	15PANH032	15	Term 1
755 Anthropological Approaches to the Body and Embodiment	15PANH088	15

List B - Regions

Module	Code	Credits
750A Ethnographic Locations: Sub-Saharan Africa	15PANH063	15
750B Ethnographic Locations: East Asia	15PANH062	15
750C Ethnographic Locations: Near and Middle East	15PANH067	15

Open Options

All students choose 30 credits from List C or any module from the School Open Options List or a language

List C – Representative Open Options

Module	Code	Credits	Term
730 Anthropology and Climate Change	15PANH070	15	Term 2
731 How to Change Things	15PANH093	15	Term 2
752 Anthropology of 'Race', Gender and Sexuality	15PANH082	15	Term 2
754 Medical Anthropology: Global Perspectives	15PANH089	15	Term 1
Labour, Activism and Global Development	15PDSH032	15	Term 2
Economics of Environment and Development	15PECC048	15	Term 1
Queer Politics in Asia, Africa and the Middle East	15PGNH007	15	Term 2
Prejudice, Conspiracy and Misinformation: Understanding the Debate around '(Post)-Truth'	15PMSH038	15	Term 1

Dissertation

All students enrol in the dissertation module:

Module	Code	Credits	Term
799A Dissertation (MA) in Anthropology	15PANC999	60	Full Year

Programme Specification

MA Social Anthropology Programme Specification (pdf; 523kb)

Important notice

The information on the programme page reflects the intended programme structure against the given academic session. If you are a current student you can find structure information on the previous year link at the top of the page or through your Department. Please read the important notice regarding changes to programmes and modules.

Teaching and Learning

Teaching & Learning

The academic staff in the Department of Anthropology are dynamic, experienced teachers who are widely recognised for their expertise and enjoy working directly with students. Renowned scholars from other institutions also come to share their knowledge. The SOAS Anthropology Department sponsors several lecture series, including the weekly Departmental Research Seminar, the Food Studies Centre's Food Forum and the Centre for Migration and Diaspora Studies’ Seminar Series.

In addition to these formal settings for learning, our students also learn from one another. Hailing from around the globe and bringing diverse life experiences to bear on their studies, all MA students in the Department of Anthropology can take courses together, making it a rich environment for intellectual exchange. Students also benefit from campus-wide programmes, clubs, study groups, and performances.

Contact hours

During the academic year, modules are delivered through a combination of lectures, tutorials and/or seminars. Students can expect an average of two hours of classroom time per week for each module. Outside of the classroom, students explore topics of the module through independent study and through personal exchanges with teachers and fellow students. In some cases, modules are taught by several teachers within the department to provide students with an array of perpsectives on the subject.

All modules involve the active participation of students in the discussion of ideas, viewpoints and readings. The majority of the student’s time will be through their own independent study. Students become more active in class through their reading and essay-writing and should greatly enhance their participation in discussion groups.

Dissertation

The MA Social Anthropology culminates in a 10,000-word dissertation, based on original research on a topic of the student's own choosing and developed in discussion with a supervisor.

SOAS Library

SOAS Library is one of the world's most important academic libraries for the study of Africa, Asia and the Middle East, attracting scholars from all over the world. The Library houses over 1.2 million volumes, together with significant archival holdings, special collections and a growing network of electronic resources.

Fees and funding

Tuition fees

Fees for 2022/23 entrants, per academic year (Band 1 tuition fee)

Full-time		Part-time 2 Years		Part-time 3 Years
Home Students	Overseas Students	Home Students	Overseas Students	Home Students	Overseas Students
£11,980	£23,400	£5,990	£11,700	£3,955	£7,725

Fees go up each year, therefore, your tuition fee in your second and subsequent years of study will be higher.

Our continuing students, on the same degree programme, are protected from annual increases higher than 5%.

For full details of postgraduate tuition fees see our postgraduate tuition fees page.

Scholarships

Felix Non- Indian Scholarship

Application Deadline: 2022-01-28 15:00