Anthropology and Film and Visual Culture

Anthropology and film and visual culture is a pairing that connects two disciplines with a shared concern for how human beings represent and understand their experience. Anthropology is the study of humanity in all its diversity, asking how different societies are organised, how culture shapes perception and behaviour, and what can be learned from comparing different human ways of being in the world. Film and visual culture brings a complementary focus on the moving image and visual representation more broadly, examining how films and other visual media communicate meaning, how they reflect and shape the societies in which they are made, and what kinds of knowledge and empathy they can or cannot produce.

At the University of Aberdeen, this four-year full-time programme develops both disciplines alongside each other. You will develop a thorough grounding in social and cultural anthropology, including fieldwork-based and ethnographic approaches, while also engaging with the history, theory, and analysis of film and visual media. The combination is particularly coherent because both disciplines are deeply concerned with the relationship between observer and observed, and with the ways in which cultural difference is communicated and represented.

The programme includes a year abroad, broadening your engagement with different visual and cultural environments. The typical entry tariff of 168 points reflects the academic demands of the combined programme.

You will develop critical thinking, analytical and communication skills, cross-cultural awareness, and the capacity to engage with both written and visual forms of evidence and expression.

Graduates pursue careers in film and media production, arts administration, journalism, international development, research, education, and the cultural sector. Postgraduate study in anthropology, media studies, film studies, or development is a natural continuation.