Social Anthropology

Description

Social anthropology studies human societies and cultures in a broad comparative perspective. Social anthropologists try to explain the causes of variation in social and cultural behaviour, and also to understand what it means to belong to a cultural group whose values and rules may be very different from those familiar to you. Studying anthropology will provide a framework to help you see what is universal to all human societies and what is variable. The programmes aim to build your capacity to analyse social and political relations and so to engage productively in major debates of today concerning social justice, multiculturalism and the direction of change in today's world.

Social anthropology is not a vocational degree, unless you choose to carry on with research in the subject. But it provides an excellent foundation for many careers. Thus, recent graduates have gone on to work in human rights, journalism, development, medicine and counselling, law, administration of refugees, nursing, teaching, business, theatre and film.

Features of LSE courses

Anthropology degrees across the UK share a common core of cross-cultural study. At LSE we are distinctive in our strengths in the fields of law, human rights, cognition, religious practice, kinship, gender, nationalism and everyday forms of the state. Our concern with the global south (or 'third world') leads to a serious engagement with issues of development, globalisation, industrialisation and the effects of neoliberalism. As well as encouraging sympathetic understanding of different cultural practices, we also make a priority the development of the critical faculties of our students. We analyse all forms of information - from texts to films - in ways that will enable you to question received versions of the world. Thus, as a student you will increase your factual understanding of the world, and of the interdependence of different parts of it. While an anthropology degree is not a vocational training, the skills you develop in reading critically, writing coherently, reasoning effectively and public expression are widely valued by employers.

Detailed Course Facts

• EUR 3847 Year (EEA)
• EUR 16632 Year (Non-EEA)

Home UK/EU £3,375 for the first year. Non-UK/EU £14,592 for the first year.

• English

Course Content

First year:

• Introduction to Social Anthropology
• Ethnography and Theory: Selected Texts
• Reading Other Cultures: the Anthropological Interpretation of Text and Film
• One outside option
• LSE100 (Lent Term only)

Second year:

• The Anthropology of Kinship, Sex and Gender
• Political and Legal Anthropology
• The Anthropology of Economic Institutions and their Social Transformations
• Options to the value of one unit from topics in social anthropology
• LSE100 (Michaelmas Term only)

Third year:

• Advanced Theory of Social Anthropology
• The Anthropology of Religion
• Options to the value of one unit from topics in social anthropology
• Special essay

As anthropology may be considered an art or a science, we allow you a choice of BA or BSc in the title. The programme is the same.

First year

There are three core courses. Introduction to Social Anthropology discusses the characteristic theories and methods of anthropology. It seeks to explain what is variable and what is universal in human culture and society by examining a range of political, economic, family, and religious systems found among different peoples of the world. Ethnography and Theory: Selected Texts introduces classic problems in understanding social institutions as they have appeared in the works of major theorists. Reading Other Cultures: the Anthropological Interpretation of Text and Film will develop your skills in anthropological analysis, your ability to read and reflect on complete book-length texts, to make well grounded comparisons and to generate independent opinions.

You choose one introductory option in any of the following subjects: economics, geography, employment relations and organisational behaviour, international relations, law, politics, social psychology, language and literature or population studies.

Second and third years

There are five core courses and an extended essay (which counts as one course unit) over the two years. The Anthropology of Kinship, Sex and Gender considers the varied ways in which the family, kinship, personhood, femaleness and maleness, birth and sex are understood in different cultures. Political and Legal Anthropology explores fundamental questions about how a wide range of societies handle conflict, dispute, violence and the establishment and maintenance of forms of political and legal order. The Anthropology of Economic Institutions and their Social Transformations examines the institutions of pre-market and market economies and their transformation as a result of state policies, development initiatives and incorporation into the global market.

The Anthropology of Religion examines differences between local religious practices and world religions, explores the reasons why ritual is so central to the organisation of cultural life, looks at the character of particular cosmologies and symbolic schemes, analyses the logic of some non-western systems of thought and philosophy, and considers the relationship between religion and modernity. Advanced Theory of Social Anthropology goes deeply into the roots of modern theory in social anthropology, examining structuralism, feminism, Marxism and postmodernism, and addressing contemporary perspectives and debates.

In the second and third years you will also take options equivalent to one course unit per year. Over the two years you must take at least two half unit courses which focus on the anthropology of a selected geographical or ethnographic region (for example, China, India or Melanesia).

It may be possible, dependent on timetabling, for you to take options from three other colleges of the University of London which have anthropology departments: Goldsmiths College, University College London, and the School of Oriental and African Studies.

Options

In recent years the Department has offered a number of the half-unit social anthropology options listed below. In any given year only a few are offered, and options in coming years will change to reflect the research interests of staff.

(* half unit)

• The Anthropology of a Selected Region (eg South East Asia*, Melanesia*, India*, Southern Africa*, Post-Soviet Eurasia*, Philippines*, South Asia*)
• The Anthropology of Christianity*
• Cognition and Anthropology*
• The Anthropology of Industrialisation and Industrial Life*
• The Anthropology of Development*
• Anthropology and Human Rights*
• Social Anthropology and Darwinian Theories*
• Anthropology and Media*
• Anthropological Approaches to Questions of Being*
• Children and Youth in Contemporary Ethnography*
• The Anthropology of Borders and Boundaries*
• Research Methods in Social Anthropology*
• Anthropology of Schooling*

English Language Requirements

IELTS band : 7 CAE score : 80(Grade A) TOEFL paper-based test score : 627 TOEFL iBT® test : 107

To study at this university, you have to speak English. We advice you to

Requirements

Usual standard offer: A level: grades A A BInternational Baccalaureate: Diploma with 37 points including 6 6 6 at Higher level

Other qualifications are considered and applications from mature students are welcomed.

English language requirements

Although it is not necessary to have the required grade in an acceptable English Language qualification when you make your application to LSE, if you are made an offer of a place and English is not your mother tongue, it is likely that you would be asked to obtain an acceptable English Language qualification as a condition of your offer.

The following qualifications are acceptable to LSE:

• GCSE English Language with a grade B or better.
• International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) English as a First Language with a grade B or better including the Speaking and Listening coursework component (Edexcel) or grade 2 in the optional speaking test (CIE).
• International English Language Testing Service (IELTS) academic test with a score of 7.0 in all four components.
• Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) with a minimum score of 627 in the paper test including 5.5 in writing and 50 in TSE, or 107 in the internet based test with a minimum of 25 out of 30 in each of the four skills.
• Cambridge Certificate of Proficiency in English (CPE) with grade B or better.
• Cambridge Advanced Certificate of English (CACE) with a grade A.
• Cambridge English Language (1119) conducted overseas by the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate: B4 or better.
• O level (1120 Brunei, 1125 Mauritius A, 1127 Singapore) grade B or better.
• Singapore Integrated Programme (IP) Secondary 4 English Language grade B or better.
• Pearson Test of English (General) with a distinction at level 5 in both the written and the oral test.

Exceptions

If students offer the IGCSE in English as a First Language or O level (other than those specified above) and have been educated in the medium of English during their five most recent years of study (prior to 1 September 2011), then we will accept the qualification as sufficient evidence of English Language proficiency.

Please note that test scores must be achieved from one sitting of the relevant qualification. We will not accept individual component scores from multiple tests

Work Experience

No work experience is required.

Related Scholarships*

• Academic Excellence Scholarship

  "The Academic Excellence Scholarship can provide up to a 50 % reduction in tuition per semester. These scholarships will be renewed if the student maintains superior academic performance during each semester of their 3-year Bachelor programme. The scholarship will be directly applied to the student’s tuition fees."

• Access Bursary

  Bursary for UK students all subjects where the variable tuition fee rate is payable.

• Alumni Bursary

  Alumni Bursary for UK Undergraduate students

* The scholarships shown on this page are suggestions first and foremost. They could be offered by other organisations than London School of Economics and Political Science.

Funding

Financial support for 2011 entry

The School recognises that the cost of living in London may be higher than in your home town or country. Government support, in the form of loans and grants, is available to UK and some EU students, while LSE provides generous financial support, in the form of bursaries and scholarships to UK, EU and overseas students.

Government support

for students from England

Student loan for maintenance

The student loan for maintenance helps students pay living costs during term times and holidays. The maximum loan available for students studying in London and living away from their parents' home is currently £6,928.

Maintenance grants

The means-tested maintenance grant (currently worth up to £2,906) also helps students with living expenses during their time at university. The amount a student is eligible to receive is assessed by Student Finance England. The grant does not have to be repaid.

Special Support Grant

The special support grant replaces the maintenance grant for some students who during the course of the academic year, meet the conditions for being a 'prescribed person' under the income support or housing benefit regulations. Students who are likely to qualify include:

• Single parents
• Other student parents if they have a partner who is also a student
• Students with certain disabilities

Other students may be eligible for the Special Support Grant. You don't necessarily have to receive or even have applied for Income Support or Housing Benefit.

for students from elsewhere in the UK

Different financial support packages are available for students from Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Students from these countries should refer to one of the following websites:

Student Finance Wales

www.studentfinancewales.co.uk

Student Awards Agency Scotland

www.saas.gov.uk

Student Finance Northern Ireland

www.studentfinanceni.co.uk

for EU students

Students from the EU are not usually eligible for UK Government financial support. However, EU nationals (or children of EU nationals) who have lived in the UK or islands for three years before the start of their course (ie, since 1 September 2008 for a course starting on 1 September 2011) may now qualify for a student loan and grants.

for overseas students

Students from outside the EU are not eligible to apply for UK Government funds. However, there is a range of funding available for overseas students from external agencies, bodies or your home government, details of which are available from your home government or nearest British Council office (www.britishcouncil.org/learning), or UKCISA (www.ukcisa.org.uk).

LSE financial support

for UK students

LSE Bursary

The LSE Bursary is available for students from low-income backgrounds (from England and Wales) and is worth up to £7,500 over a three-year programme. The value of the LSE Bursary is linked to students' (or their family's) income levels, which will be assessed when calculating the maintenance grant. The maximum LSE Bursary of £2,500 per year is awarded to those students with the lowest residual income. These Bursaries do not have to be repaid.

LSE Discretionary Bursary

The LSE Discretionary Bursary is available for new LSE students (from the UK and the EU) who face exceptional financial needs, including, for example, caring responsibilities, financial need related to disability or an unavoidable requirement to live at home. The value of the award may vary according to need. These Bursaries do not have to be repaid.

LSE Scholarships

Each year LSE awards a number of scholarships - funded by private or corporate donation - to UK applicants to the School. The number, value, eligibility criteria and type of awards vary from year to year. Awards are made on the basis of financial need and academic merit.

Stelios scholarships

Four Stelios scholarships, currently worth £5,444 per year, are available for UK students applying for business subjects at LSE.

Access to Learning funds

Registered UK students from low-income households can apply directly to LSE for Access to Learning funds. These funds are designed for students who may need extra financial support for their course, and are provided by the Government to assist with living expenses.

for EU students

LSE Discretionary Bursary

The LSE discretionary bursary is available to EU students. For information about this bursary and how to apply, please see the section on LSE financial support for UK students.

LSE scholarships

LSE offers a number of undergraduate scholarships of varying amounts each year to EU students.

Stelios scholarships

Six Stelios scholarships, currently worth £5,444 per year, are available for EU students applying for business subjects at LSE.

for overseas students

LSE undergraduate support scheme

The LSE undergraduate support scheme (USS) is designed to help overseas students who do not have the necessary funds to meet all their costs of study. In 2008, the School disbursed nearly £1 million in entrance awards available to self-financing students of all nationalities. This financial aid is available only for study at LSE. If you are made an offer of admission, we will advise you on how to apply to the USS online. This system is able to provide an immediate indication of an applicant's eligibility for assistance. In the first instance, you will be assessed on the basis of your financial circumstances. Awards are renewable for each year of your course. Applications will be considered between the end of February and the middle of August.

LSE scholarships

The School offers a limited number of undergraduate scholarships of varying amounts each year for overseas students.