Course description
There is so much to gain from this course.
Before I started I had never even picked up a film camera, now my final film has gone on to win several awards. It's opened my eyes to the different ways research can be done.
Chandni Brown / MA Visual Anthropology
I had access to high quality professional equipment, an editing suit room and a projection room.
I studied alongside an international community of lawyers, biologists, musicians and visual artists like myself and became part of a community of peers and tutors that were genuinely interested in each other, and empathetic, offering support and critical views to each other in respectful and sensitive ways The programme encouraged us to develop projects collaboratively and learning to assume different roles, negotiating and learning how to overcome obstacles as an individual and as a team. As an alumni I am still able to request access to these facilities and equipment.
Jose Luis Cote / MA Visual Anthropology
The MAVA programme gave me the perspective to re-examine what I had seen, heard, and experienced through the lens of social anthropology.
It encouraged me to question the very foundations of my own values and worldview. Beyond the technical aspects of filmmaking and sound recording, MAVA taught me how to work collaboratively with participants and explore ways to situate our creative process within anthropological significance. Through this, I learned that reconsidering my values while creating something together with others is a skill that contributes to living more meaningfully with people. Above all, what I value the most from the programme is the time spent with world-class professors and fellow students from across the globe. I am now working as a director at NHK, Japan's public broadcaster, drawing on all that I learned at MAVA.
Shiro Hasegawa / MA Visual Anthropology
Our Visual Anthropology master’s course will empower you to examine differences and similarities between cultures, so we can better understand the essence of what makes us human.
Visual methods are ideal for anthropology because they invite people who participate in our projects to express themselves in their own verbal and physical language, enabling researchers to present their findings with unmatched authenticity.
On this course, you’ll learn about cutting-edge ethnographic techniques using art, film, photography, music and a range of other media, drawing on a bank of fascinating projects produced at the Granada Centre for Visual Anthropology.
Regardless of prior experience, you’ll develop the skills you need to produce your own ethnographic films. Hence, this is the UK’s only visual anthropology course that is recognised by the Economic and Social Research Council and the Arts and Humanities Research Council as a professional preparation master’s.
Special features
This course is highly intensive and runs over 13 months rather than the standard 12, to allow additional time to complete your final project. If you need to complete the course within a 12-month period, please apply beforehand so that appropriate arrangements can be put in place.
Student-organised graduation film screenings are held in mid-October. This is not a compulsory element of the course but provides an outstanding opportunity to showcase your work and celebrate with friends, family and the general public.
Teaching and learning
The course combines conventional lectures and seminars with practical 'hands-on' instruction and workshops. Students work in teams and individually.
Your final piece of work is an individual production, however, throughout the year you will spend time working in teams in order to develop team-working and presentational skills. Work is presented to the class and receives feedback from fellow students as well as instructors.
In this way, you learn to analyse your own and others works and through each other's successes and failures, generating a strong range of intellectual, practical and aesthetic resources as well as a sense of camaraderie and cooperation.
Coursework and assessment
During both semesters, you take:
- 1 x 30-credit unit; or
- 2 x 15 credit practical film or media courses; and
- 2 x 15-credit lecture or seminar-based units on more theoretical, methodological or substantive ethnographic topics;
- the latter are each assessed by means of a 4000-word essay;
The practical units are assessed by various combinations of a portfolio of project work and an accompanying written text.
Course content for year 1
First semester
Ethnographic Documentary (30 credits)
Practical film-making, directing, camera work and editing: working in teams all students make 3 short films (1) a social or technical process film, (2) a testimony film, and (3) an event film. Compulsory Course.
Screening Culture (15 credits)
Weekly lectures and film screenings on the place of film in anthropology and the theory and history of ethnographic film and film-making. Core Course.
Anthropology of Vision, Memory and the Senses (15 credits)
Weekly lectures, screenings and workshops, on the anthropology of the senses and memory. Core Course.
Or, Key Approaches to Anthropology (15 credits)
A foundation module on Social Anthropology for those without anthropological background.
Second semester
Beyond Observational Cinema (30 credits)
Further film training delivered through lectures and practical workshops. Compulsory Course.
Documentary and Sensory Media (15 credits)
Practice as Research, delivered through lectures, practical workshops and field trips. Compulsory Course.
Images, Texts, Fieldwork (15 Credits)
Practical research course in urban anthropology that explores traditional and experiential approaches and methods to anthropological research. Compulsory Course.
Course unit details
- intensive practical training in film-making and ethnographic documentary;
- courses on visual and sensory perception;
- theories and history of anthropological and ethnographic films; and
- the anthropology of sound;
- students with little or no anthropological background will also take introductory courses in anthropology where necessary.
In semester two, you will engage in:
- alternative modes of ethnographic film-making;
- courses and workshops in photography, sensory ethnography and sound recording and other art based and experimental forms;
- anthropological and ethnographic methods in preparation of students' summer research projects.
Throughout the year, screenings and additional workshops are conducted by visiting professionals, including film-makers, photographers and sound recordists.
Over the summer, you will engage in an original piece of ethnographic and anthropological research. The potential for research projects is wide-ranging, both in terms of location and theme, and in any one year may focus on diverse subjects, such as:
- burlesque dancing in the UK;
- education in China;
- Balkan music;
- Brazilian favelas;
- Palestinian identity;
- US summer camps;
- gay cruising in Manchester;
- life in Latin American prisons;
- migration across the Sahara;
- Congolese fashion; and
- East African nomads.
We actively welcome Manchester based projects and recent projects include The Manchester Library, post-industrial ruins, and Manchester canals, female prisoners, green spaces and the Manchester music scene.
There are a number of formats in that students may make a 25-30 minute documentary or may choose to combine film with other forms of media and representation, such as photography, a gallery installation or sound and multimedia pieces. The high standard of the MA summer projects is attested to by the number of domestic and international prizes and awards they receive.
Course unit list
The course unit details given below are subject to change, and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this course of study.
| Title | Code | Credit rating | Mandatory/optional |
|---|---|---|---|
| MAVA Dissertation | SOAN60000 | 60 | Mandatory |
| Elemental Media: Documentary and Sensory Practice | SOAN60992 | 15 | Mandatory |
| Ethnographic Documentary | SOAN70121 | 30 | Mandatory |
| Beyond Observational Cinema | SOAN70142 | 30 | Mandatory |
| Images, Text, Fieldwork | SOAN70452 | 15 | Mandatory |
| Anthropology of Vision, Senses and Memory | SOAN70591 | 15 | Mandatory |
| Screening Culture | SOAN70771 | 15 | Mandatory |
| Beyond Observational Cinema | SOAN70142 | 30 | Optional |
| Beyond Observational Cinema | SOAN70143 | 15 | Optional |
| Key Approaches in Social Anthropology | SOAN70811 | 15 | Optional |
Scholarships and bursaries
The School offers a number of awards for students applying for master's study.
To find our more, please visit our master's funding opportunity search page.