MA Social Anthropology

Learn a language as part of this programme

Degree programmes at SOAS - including this one - can include language courses in more than forty African and Asian languages. It is SOAS students’ command of an African or Asian language which sets SOAS apart from other universities.

The programme consists of 180 credits in total: 120 credits of modules and a dissertation of 10,000 words at 60 credits.

All students are expected to take the core and compulsory modules listed below, except for students with a previous Anthropology degree, who are not required to take the Theoretical Approaches to Social Anthropology module but may wish to select this as part of their 120 credits from the options lists.

All students must audit the compulsory module, Ethnographic Research Methods during term 1. This will not count towards the 180 credits. Students will be expected to attend only lectures and do not attend seminars or submit any assessments. Students may choose to take this module (worth 15 credits) as part of their 120 credits from the option lists.

Students with a previous Anthropology degree are required to take 30 credits from the Anthropology and Sociology options.

All students can select the remaining credits from the Department of Anthropology and Sociology or relevant options from other departments or a language module. See below for a detailed programme structure.

Language Entitlement Programme:

Many students choose to pursue a language through the SOAS Language Entitlement Programme (LEP). Languages normally available include Arabic, Chinese, French, Hebrew, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swahili, Turkish and Urdu. Others may also be offered.

Students without a previous Anthropology degree are required to take all the compulsory modules, totalled at 90 credits. Students with a previous Anthropology degree are not required to take the Theoretical Approaches to Social Anthropology module, totalled at 60 credits. All students are required to audit the Ethnographic Research Methods module. This will not count towards your 180 credits.

• Dissertation in Anthropology and Sociology
• Ethnographic Research Methods
• Theoretical Approaches to Social Anthropology

All students must take the core module worth 30 credits.

• Comparative Studies of Society and Culture

Students with a previous Anthropology degree: 30 credits of your programme must be selected from the Anthropology and Sociology options list. All students can select the remaining 60 credits from Anthropology and Sociology or other departments or a language module.

• African and Asian Cultures in Britain
• African and Asian Diasporas in the Modern World
• Anthropological approaches to agriculture, food and nutrition
• Anthropology of Globalisation (PG)
• Anthropology of Human Rights (PG)
• Anthropology of Law
• Comparative Media Theory
• Culture and Society of China
• Culture and Society of East Africa
• Culture and Society of Japan
• Culture and Society of South Asia
• Culture and Society of South East Asia
• Culture and Society of Near and Middle East
• Culture and Society of West Africa
• Ethnographic Research Methods
• Issues in Anthropology and Film
• Issues in Mind, Culture and Psychiatry
• Issues in the Anthropology of Gender
• Media Production Skills
• Perspectives On Development
• Religions on the move: New Currents and Emerging Trends in Global Religion
• Therapy and Culture
• Tourism and Travel: A Global Perspective

• Death and Religion

• Genders and Sexualities in South East Asian Film
• Post-crisis Thai Cinema (1997-2007)
• (Post) Colonialism and Otherness in South East Asia on Screen

For a list of language modules, please go to the Faculty of Languages and Cultures webpages - - and view the options under the postgraduate modules section for each department.

If you are a current student you can find structure information on Moodle or through your Department.

• Programme Specification (pdf; 143kb)

Important notice regarding changes to programmes and modules