MA Social Anthropology: The University of Manchester

Course description

The general objective of the MA Social Anthropology is to enable students to develop an anthropologically-informed understanding of the lives of people in both Western and non-Western societies. Through confronting them with the diversity of human social and cultural experience, it encourages students to develop a critical approach to taken-for-granted assumptions and understandings. It also provides certain transferable academic skills, such as conducting bibliographic research, basic computing skills, using the internet as a research tool, making seminar presentations, and effective essay-writing etc.

This course is intended to bring students with little or no background in social anthropology to a sufficiently advanced level of knowledge that they can go onto a PhD-track research degree the following year. Through the core modules, it provides a comprehensive grounding in classical as well as contemporary debates in social anthropology , whilst also encouraging students to explore more specialist fields through a broad range of further options. These include a 'research methods track' that is particularly intended for students who have had some form of anthropological training in the past.

The course is available with a Visual Pathway which enables students to specialize in visual anthropology modules alongside the generic core modules. Students on the Visual Pathway would also be expected to write on a visual anthropology topic in their dissertation.

Career opportunities

Graduates from the MA in Social Anthropology go on to a wide variety of careers. As the programme is a "conversion" course, taken mainly by people who have decided they want to explore anthropology after undergraduate studies in another field, the MA often represents a change of career direction, which leads in different directions. About 20 percent of the graduates carry on to do a PhD with us and others continue with postgraduate studies elsewhere. In common with students who do anthropology at undergraduate level, some students are drawn to the voluntary sector, perhaps working with development agencies abroad. Others move into the publishing world or take jobs in the educational sector, from school teaching to administrative jobs in higher education. Some find opportunities in business, where perspectives related to ethnographic methods are increasingly popular as a way of finding out how people - from consumers to office workers - interact with their everyday worlds.

The MA trains students in a range of transferable skills, from carrying out independent research to presenting a clear argument, both in writing and orally. Students also learn the methods and problems involved in carrying out ethnographic research, as well as the ethical issues related to this type of research.

Entry requirements

Academic entry qualification overview:

• UK 2:1 (or overseas equivalent) in an appropriate subject for direct MA entry.
• UK 2:2 (or overseas equivalent) in an appropriate subject for Postgraduate Diploma route entry.

English language: Applicants whose first language is not English must attain one of the following:

• IELTS - Overall 7, writing score  7
• TOEFL - Overall 623, TWE 5 (PBT)
• TOEFL - Overall 263, TWE 5 (CBT).  This test is no longer available but results less than 2 years old can be submitted.
• TOEFL  - Overall 100, with 25 in each of the 4 sections (IBT)