MA Social Anthropology / Course details

Students undertaking the MA Social Anthropology programme are required to write a dissertation proposal, produce a literature review relevant to their chosen topic of interest and presentation and produce a final dissertation of between 12,000 words to be submitted at the beginning of September after the summer break. Note that students are required to submit a full draft of their dissertation to their supervisor for comment and feedback before the beginning of the summer break. Precise dates for these deadlines will be communicated with students at the start of the programme. Working alone on the redrafting of the dissertation over the summer period is a process that students will be prepared for during the second semester of the dissertation process during one-to-one and group supervision/workshops. 

Not all students will choose to undertake ethnographic research for their dissertation and there is no necessary advantage in doing more than a library-based dissertation. For some students, however, undertaking a project of their own ethnographic research can be a highlight of the course. Students will meet regularly with their supervisor in small study groups in the first semester and in one-to-one supervision meetings in the second semester, to discuss and progress their dissertation ideas. Students will be expected to produce a non-assessed dissertation proposal of 1500 words to clarify their ideas by the start of the second semester. Dissertation workshops led by the Director of Postgraduate Studies will take place in each semester and are a compulsory aspect of the dissertation module. 

The dissertation module is a chance for students to integrate and demonstrate their understanding of what counts as an anthropological perspective and to explore how this makes a difference in the analysis of their topic of choice. It also allows students to bring together learning from core and optional modules from the programme including Ethnography Reading Seminar, Contemporary Debates in Social Anthropology, Images Text and Fieldwork and Key Approaches to Social Anthropology. 
 

These include: 

• An understanding of the use of bibliographic sources in preparing a research project. 
• An appreciation of how textual and visual media can be integrated in both the production and presentation of research. 
• Ability to develop a research project informed by anthropological analysis. 
• A developed awareness of the personal and ethical issues inherent in ethnographic research. 
• An ability to present a proposal to a group of peers and the course instructor.
• An ability to work in small groups and to peer review developing literature review work 
• The ability to produce a final dissertation project, perhaps with original ethnographic research, accompanied by critical analysis, from conception to completion independently, with guidance from tutors and supervisors. 



 

Workshop-based and potentially practice-based learning, small group and individual supervision meetings. 

Students received consistent feedback on their research project work during supervision meetings and throughout the autumn and spring semester. Students also receive supervised peer feedback in groups meetings.