Social Anthropology

Social anthropology is the comparative study of human societies and cultures, using extended fieldwork and ethnographic methods to understand how people in different parts of the world organise their social lives, produce and exchange goods, construct meaning, relate to the sacred, manage power, and navigate questions of identity and belonging. It is a discipline that insists on taking difference seriously, approaching other cultures not as exotic curiosities but as full and complex social worlds that can illuminate questions about human nature, social organisation, and the conditions under which different ways of living are possible.

At the University of Manchester, this three-year full-time programme benefits from one of the UK's strongest social anthropology departments, with a faculty that covers a broad range of regional and thematic specialisms across Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, and Europe. You will engage with ethnographic theory and method, the social organisation of kinship and gender, the anthropology of religion and ritual, economic anthropology, political anthropology, and the anthropology of science, technology, and environment, among other areas. Manchester's research culture is strong and intellectually diverse, and students are encouraged to engage with ongoing research and to develop their own scholarly interests through dissertation and extended essay work.

The university's location in one of the UK's most diverse and internationally connected cities provides an interesting backdrop for questions about culture, migration, and social difference.

Graduates from social anthropology go on to careers in international development, NGOs, the United Nations system, government departments working on international policy, journalism, education, the civil service, social research, and a wide range of other fields where cross-cultural competence, qualitative research skills, and the ability to think across disciplinary boundaries are valued. Some continue to postgraduate study in social anthropology, development studies, international relations, or social policy, often with a view to academic research or policy careers.