- UCAS course code
- L600
- UCAS institution code
- M20
Bachelor of Social Sciences (BSocSc)
BSocSc Social Anthropology
- Typical A-level offer: ABB
- Typical contextual A-level offer: BBC
- Refugee/care-experienced offer: BBC
- Typical International Baccalaureate offer: 34 points overall with 6,5,5 at HL
Fees and funding
Fees
Tuition fees for home students commencing their studies in September 2025 will be £9,535 per annum (subject to Parliamentary approval). Tuition fees for international students will be £26,500 per annum. For general information please see the undergraduate finance pages.
Policy on additional costs
All students should normally be able to complete their programme of study without incurring additional study costs over and above the tuition fee for that programme. Any unavoidable additional compulsory costs totalling more than 1% of the annual home undergraduate fee per annum, regardless of whether the programme in question is undergraduate or postgraduate taught, will be made clear to you at the point of application. Further information can be found in the University's Policy on additional costs incurred by students on undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes (PDF document, 91KB).
Scholarships/sponsorships
Scholarships and bursaries, including the Manchester Bursary , are available to eligible home/EU students.
Some undergraduate UK students will receive bursaries of up to £2,000 per year, in addition to the government package of maintenance grants.
You can get information and advice on student finance to help you manage your money.
Course unit details:
Visual Anthropology
Unit code | SOAN10061 |
---|---|
Credit rating | 10 |
Unit level | Level 1 |
Teaching period(s) | Semester 1 |
Available as a free choice unit? | No |
Overview
This course introduces you to the visual as a field of anthropological study and is the partner course to Art Sound and Images. It will provide a historical perspective on this subfield and look at its place in the Granada Centre of Anthropology at the University of Manchester. It will deal with a variety of kinds of images from photography and film to art woks including drawing and painting. The course will introduce you to the ways in which anthropologists make as well as analyse images and ends by asking what lies beyong the visual by dealing with sound.
Pre/co-requisites
Aims
The organisation of this course is broadly historical but focuses on key themes which cross over with other courses you will come across in Anthropology about 'Method, Proof, Spectacle, Documentary, Aesthetics, Surrealism, Experiment, Collaboration, Sound and the Senses.
Learning outcomes
Students will develop skills in written and visual outputs. These skills will stand students in good stead to approach the practical activities in the second semester partner course, Art Sound and Images. The course will provide a distinctive anthropological perspective on themes which bridge common interests between images and anthropology. These skills will be useful outside of this anthropology course. Writing essays, analysing visual material and communicating ideas are transferable skills and important parts of many careers such as media work, the arts, academia, government and third sector organisations etc. Students will develop an anthropological perspective on media literacies.
Teaching and learning methods
10 week course. Weekly 2 hour lectures and one hour small group tutorials.
Knowledge and understanding
- Describe the key features of visual anthropology;
- Explain the main developments in the discipline of visual anthropology;
Intellectual skills
- Gain an introductory knowledge of the main debates on the use of media in anthropology;
- Gain insight into key debates on authorship and ethics;
- Understand the specific contributions that audiovisual media can bring to anthropology;
Practical skills
- Write in a complementary way to audiovisual components;
Transferable skills and personal qualities
- Present arguments effectively in written format;
Assessment methods
1,500 word final essay (worth 100%)
Feedback methods
- Written feedback - 15 working days after submission;
Recommended reading
Banks, Marcus. 2001. Visual Methods in Social Research. London. SAGE;
Banks, Marcus & Howard Morphy ed. 1997 Rethinking Visual Anthropology. New Haven: Yale University Press;
Banks, Marcus and Jay Ruby ed. 2011. Made to Be Seen Perspectivs On the History of Visual Anthropology. Chicago: University of Chicago Press;
Chaplin, Elizabeth. 1994. Sociology and Visual Representation. London; New York: Routledge;
Grimshaw, Anna. 2001. The Ethnographer’s Eye: Ways of Seeing in Anthropology. Cambridge UK; New York: Cambridge University Press;
MacDougall, David. 2006. The Coropreal Image: Film, Ethnography, and the Senses. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press;
Pink, Sarah. 2007. Doing Visual Ethnography. 2nd Edition. London: SAGE;
Rose, Gillian. 2012. Visual Methodologies: An Introduction to Researching with Visual Materials. Los Angeles: SAGE;
Teaching staff
Staff member | Role |
---|---|
Rupert Cox | Unit coordinator |
Additional notes
Only available to students on the BSocSc Social Anthropology