Social Anthropology

The programme is designed on a modular basis offering different pathways to suit, broadly, 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

The Department of Anthropology and Sociology teaches the discipline of Social Anthropology with special reference to the societies and cultures of Asia and Africa, both past and present. The emphasis given to particular regions and approaches varies with current trends in the discipline and contemporary global developments.

Students come to the course from all over the world, following BA study, work and travel experience or after long careers in other fields.

Many of our students have not previously trained as anthropologists. This combination of diverse experience and skills makes for an intellectually exciting atmosphere for both teachers and students.

The MA degree programme in Social Anthropology is designed on a modular basis offering different pathways to suit, broadly, three categories of student:

• 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, who are required to pass all the examinations with appropriately high marks.

The programme consists of four units in total: three units of examined courses and a one unit dissertation of 10,000 words.

Core Courses:

• Comparative Studies of Society and Culture - 15PANC073 (1.0 unit).
• Dissertation in Anthropology and Sociology - 15PANC999 (1.0 unit). This is a 10,000 word dissertation on a topic agreed with the Programme Convenor of the MA Social Anthropology and the candidates supervisor.
• Additionally all MA Anthropology students 'audit' the course Ethnographic Research Methods during term 1 - this will not count towards your 4 units.

Foundation Course:

• Theoretical Approaches to Social Anthropology - 15PANC008 (1.0 unit). This is compulsory only for students without a previous anthropology degree.

Option Courses:

• The remaining unit(s) of your programme, either 1 unit of option courses (if taking Theoretical Approaches to Social Anthropology) or 2 units (if exempted from Theoretical Approaches to Social Anthropology), may then be selected from the Option Courses list below.
• Your 1 or 2 total units may be made up of any combination of 0.5 or 1 unit option courses.
• Alternatively, one language course may be taken from the Faculty of Languages and Cultures.

Programme Specification

Programme specification removed for correction on 3 June 2011. Please contact the QA Manager if you have any queries.

Programme Detail

Core Courses

• Comparative Studies of Society and Culture - 15PANC073 (1 Unit) - Full Year
• Dissertation in Anthropology and Sociology - 15PANC999 (1 Unit) - Full Year

Foundation Course

• Theoretical Approaches to Social Anthropology - 15PANC008 (1 Unit) - Full Year

Option Courses Full Unit Anthropology Options

• Culture and Society of China - 15PANC089 (1 Unit) - Full Year
• Culture and Society of East Africa - 15PANC084 (1 Unit) - Full Year
• Culture and Society of Japan - 15PANC086 (1 Unit) - Full Year
• Culture and Society of South Asia - 15PANC087 (1 Unit) - Full Year
• Culture and Society of South East Asia - 15PANC088 (1 Unit) - Full Year
• Culture and Society of the Near & Middle East - 15PANC097 (1 Unit) - Full Year
• Culture and Society of West Africa - 15PANC083 (1 Unit) - Full Year

Half Unit Anthropology Options

• 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
• Anthropological Approaches to Agriculture, Food and Nutrition - (0.5 Unit)
• 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 2012/2013
• Approaches to the Other in Horror and Science Fiction Films - 15PANH043 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1
• Comparative Media Theory - 15PANH028 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1
• Ethnographic Research Methods - 15PANH002 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1
• Issues in the Anthropology of Film - 15PANH022 (0.5 Unit) - Term 2
• Comparative Study of Islam: Anthropological Perspectives A (Masters) - 15PANH047 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1 - Not Running 2012/2013
• Comparative Study of Islam: Anthropological Perspectives B (Masters) - 15PANH048 (0.5 Unit) - Term 2 - Not Running 2012/2013 - Must be taken with the first term course - 15PANH047 Comparative Study of Islam: Anthropological Perspectives A (Masters)
• Issues in the Anthropology of Gender - 15PANH024 (0.5 Unit) - Term 2 - Not to be combined with 15PDSH010 Gender & Development.
• Food, Body And Society - 15 PAN H041 (0.5 Unit) - Cannot be taken with Food Development and the Global Economy
• Food, Development and the Global Economy - 15PANH042 (0.5 Unit) - Term 2 - Cannot be taken with Food Body and Society.
• Perspectives On Development - 15PANH033 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1
• Therapy and Culture - 15PANH027 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1

Courses taught outside the Department of Anthropology

These courses are available subject to the approval of the course convenor and the agreement of the MA Social Anthropology programme convenor. Students may take no more than one full unit of courses taught outside of the Department of Anthropology. A language course unit in the Faculty of Languages & Cultures may also be taken instead. Alternatively, an approved Area or General course from the Music Department can be taken. See the Music Departments website for details.

• Media Production Skills - 15PANH050 (0.5 Unit) - Term 2
• Iranian Cinema - 15PMSH010 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1
• Post-crisis Thai Cinema (1997-2007) - 15PSEH008 (0.5 Unit) - Term 2 - Not Running 2012/2013
• (Post) Colonialism and Otherness in South East Asia on Screen - 15PSEH010 (0.5 Unit) - Term 2
• Genders and Sexualities in South East Asian Film - 15PSEH011 (0.5 Unit) - Term 2 - Not Running 2012/2013
• Indian Mahayana Buddhism - 15PSRH005 (0.5 Unit) - Not Running 2012/13
• Features of Buddhist Monasticism - 15PSRH014 (0.5 Unit) - Term 2 - Not Running 2012/2013
• Esoteric Buddhism in India and Tibet - 15PSRH007 (0.5 Unit) - Not Running 2012/13
• Central Concepts and Tenets of Indian Buddhism - 15PSRH010 (0.5 Unit) - Not Running 2012/13
• Buddhist Scriptures: Mahayana and Vajrayana - 15PSRH011 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1 - Not Running 2012/2013
• The Buddhist Conquest of Central Asia - 15PSRH009 (0.5 Unit) - Term 2 - Not Running 2012/2013
• Buddhist Rituals - 15PSRHO12 (0.5 Unit)
• Death and Religion - 15PSRC162 (1 Unit) - Full Year - Not Running 2012/2013
• Culture and Practice of Warfare in Pre-Colonial Sub-Saharan Africa - 15PHIH004 (0.5 Unit) - Term 2 - Not Running 2012/2013
• History and Doctrines of Indian Buddhism - 15PSRC059 (1 Unit) - Full Year - Not Running 2012/2013

Minimum upper second class honours degree (or equivalent)English language requirementsIn order to ensure that SOAS students have a sufficient standard of English to study effectively, we require overseas students to submit evidence, during the application process, of their current level of proficiency.Score for Unconditional EntryIELTS: Overall 7+ with at least 7 in all sub scoresTOEFL: iBT105+ with at least 25 in all sub scoresPearson Test of English - Academic: Score of 75 or above with at least 70 in all sub scores English Language Requirements IELTS band: 7 TOEFL iBT® test: 105 IMPORTANT NOTE: Since April 2014 the ETS tests (including TOEFL and TOEIC) are no longer accepted for Tier 4 visa applications to the United Kingdom. The university might still accept these tests to admit you to the university, but if you require a Tier 4 visa to enter the UK and begin your degree programme, these tests will not be sufficient to obtain your Visa. The IELTS test is most widely accepted by universities and is also accepted for Tier 4 visas to the UK- learn more.

Scholarships and Bursaries

There are some scholarships and bursaries available for postgraduate students. These are very competitive and early application is advised.

· The Ahmad Mustafa Abu-Hakima Bursary (programme must include studying the history of the modern Arab world)

· AKS Postgraduate Bursary (in Korean Studies)

· Bernard Buckman Scholarship (MA Chinese Studies, for UK/EU fee paying students)

· The Canon Collins Scholarships at SOAS. There are two scholarships available available in 2013-14 for study at SOAS. These scholarships are for Masters study in any subject field. Open a national of and resident in one of the following countries:
Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, Zimbabwe. The application process normally opens in December and closes in February, for study commencing in September the following year. Please go to the Canon Collins website and click "Apply for A Scholarship" and then "Canon Collins Scholarship for Masters Study in the UK" for further information on how to apply.

· Commonwealth Shared Scholarship (for students from African Commonwealth countries)

· D.G.Hall Scholarship (Taught Masters programmes at SOAS, for applicants holding a Burma/Myanmar passport)

· Felix Scholarships (for Indian students)

· Ferguson Scholarships (for African nationals from an African Country)

· HSBC SOAS Scholarships (MA Sinology & MA Chinese Literature, for UK/EU fee paying students)

· Kamran Djam Scholarships (MA Iranian Studies)

· Professor Stuart Wilson Scholarship (MA South East Asian Studies)

· Standard Chartered Scholarships (for a range of full-time Taught Masters programmes. The programmes relate to Asia, Africa, and the Middle East/NorthAfrica)

· Tibawi Trust Awards (for Palestinian students currently enrolled in a programme at SOAS)

· SOAS Master's Scholarships - Faculty of Arts & Humanities - (for any full-time taught masters programme in the Faculty of Arts & Humanities)

· SOAS Master's Scholarships - Faculty of Language & Cultures (for the full-time MA Gender Studies, MA Postcolonial Studies, MA Linguistics, MA Applied Linguistics & Language Pedagogy, MA Language, Documentation and Description, MA Translation Theory and Practice (Asian and African Languages)

· SOAS Master's Scholarships- Faculty of Law and Social Sciences (for any full-time master's programmes in the Department of Development Studies, Economics, Law, Politics & International Studies and Financial & Management Studies)

· Tallow Chandlers and M. W Beer scholarship (MA) (MA Anthropology of Food, for UK/EU fee paying students)

· William Ross Murray Scholarship (LLM, for students from a developing country)