BA Single Honours Social Anthropology (UCAS Code: L600)
For entrance requirements
E: admissions@qub.ac.uk
T: +44 (0)28 9097 3838
For course information
School of History and Anthropology
T: +44 (0)28 9097 3701/3876
E: anthropology@qub.ac.uk
W: http://www.qub.ac.uk/schools/AnthropologicalStudies
BA Single Honours
Social Anthropology 3 yrs (L600)
BA Joint Honours
English and Social Anthropology 3 yrs (QL36)
French and Social Anthropology 4 yrs (RL16)
History and Social Anthropology 3 yrs (VL16)
Irish and Social Anthropology 3 yrs (QL56)
Social Anthropology and Spanish 4 yrs (LR64)
Entrance Requirements
A-level: BBB
Irish Leaving Certificate: B2B2B2B2CC/B2B2B2B2B2
All applicants
There are no specific subject requirements to study Social Anthropology. However, if you plan to study Social Anthropology as a Joint Honours degree you should refer to the subject requirements for the other course.
For students whose first language is not English
An IELTS score of 6.5 with a minimum of 5.5 in each test component or an equivalent acceptable qualification, details of which are available at: http://go.qub.ac.uk/EnglishLanguageReqs
If you are an international student and you do not meet the entrance requirements, you should consider a preparation course at INTO Queen's University Belfast, which will prepare you for successful study on these degree courses. INTO Queen's University Belfast is based on the University campus and offers a range of courses. For a full list click here
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Social Anthropology seeks to understand what it is to be human across the world, studying societies across space and time in order to grasp their cultural similarities and differences. By doing this, it opens windows onto worlds different from your own, and also provides mirrors for reflection about your own cultural world.
Queen's has one of the most successful Social Anthropology units in the UK and Ireland. Besides its wide reputation for research in communities, its staff have first-hand specialist knowledge of people across the world, and share their research on contemporary issues in their teaching. It has consistently obtained excellent gradings in the UK Research Assessment Exercises, and has been commended by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education for the teaching and learning opportunities it provides for its students.
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A wide range of approaches is adopted towards learning and teaching, including lectures, seminars, workshops, tutorials, practical exercises and individual supervision, depending on the modules taken.
All of these approaches will provide transferable and employability skills, as well as enabling you to deepen your knowledge of anthropology.
Year 1
The following modules are offered in first year:
A World on the Move: Anthropological and Historical Approaches to Globalisation
Culture and Society: The Social Anthropological Perspective
Expressive Cultures: Interpreting Text, Image and Sound
Power, Ritual and Symbol: The View from Anthropology
Years 2 and 3
In the second and third years the combinations of compulsory and optional modules vary according to the degree of specialisation in Social Anthropology.
An Ethnography of Political Violence in Ireland
Anthropology of Art
Contemporary Classics in Ethnographic Writing
Human-Animal Relations: An Anthropological Perspective
Japanese Society
Key Debates in Anthropology
Leisure, Tourism and Culture
Love, Hate and Beyond: Emotions, Culture, Practice
Music, Medicine and Culture
Performance, Power and Passion
Religion and Ritual
Sex and Gender
The Anthropology of Modern Dance
Dissertation on an approved subject
Note: only some of the modules are available each year.
'I decided to study at Queen's as it is one of the leading universities
in the UK for my course. I feel a lot more confident about my future now.
It also helps that Belfast is a very student-oriented city.'
Charlotte Ulett, Manchester, England
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At Queen’s, we aim to deliver a high-quality learning environment that embeds intellectual curiosity, innovation and best practice in learning, teaching and student support, to enable you to achieve your full academic potential.
On the BA in Social Anthropology we do this by providing a range of learning experiences which enable our students to engage with subject experts, develop attributes and perspectives that will equip them for life and work in a global society and make use of innovative technologies and a world class library that enhances their development as independent, lifelong learners. Examples of the opportunities provided for learning on this course:
Assessment (general): The way in which students are assessed will vary according to the Learning objectives of each module. Some modules are assessed solely through project work or written assignments. Others are assessed through a combination of coursework and end of semester examinations. Details of how each module is assessed are shown in the Student Handbook which is provided to all students during their first year induction.
Feedback (general): As students progress through their course at Queen’s they will receive general and specific feedback about their work from a variety of sources including lecturers, module co-ordinators, placement supervisors, personal tutors, advisers of study and your peers. University students are expected to engage with reflective practice and to use this approach to improve the quality of their work. Feedback may be provided in a variety of forms including:
Once students have reviewed their feedback, they are encouraged to identify and implement further improvements to the quality of their work.
Back to topOur graduates have found our degree life-enhancing and intellectually challenging. It has given them a good grounding in a multitude of workplaces, and is attractive to employers as it indicates an ability to closely analyse cultural and social issues and develop coherent arguments in written and verbal form. Moreover, the subject matter studied in pursuit of an anthropology degree is invariably related to a wide range of contemporary issues, and shows that social, political and economic processes developing in the present need be understood in a proper cross-cultural perspective.
Employers of all kinds wish to employ the social anthropology graduates who have developed their employability skills and have sought work experience beyond the university. There is an awareness throughout the School of History and Anthropology that students need every opportunity to engage with employability issues, and we work very closely with the Careers Service in order to achieve this.
Graduates from this degree at Queen’s are thus well regarded by many employers (local, national and international) and over half of all graduate jobs are now open to graduates of any discipline, including Social Anthropology.
Although the majority of our graduates are interested in pursuing careers in Social and Community Development work, significant numbers develop careers in a wide range of other sectors. The following is a list of the major career sectors (and some starting salaries) that have attracted our graduates in recent years:
Employer Links – Consultations: We regularly consult and develop links with a large number of employers via the School of History and Anthropology’s Employers’ Forum. Members of this forum include senior figures from: the Northern Ireland Civil Service; PricewaterhouseCoopers; the British Council; Bank of Ireland; Chambre Public Affairs; and from the NGO sector such as Arts Care and the NI Institute for Conflict Research.
Placement Employers: Our past students have also gained work placement with organisations such as:
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Some examples of employer Links include:
Other Career-related information: Queen’s is a member of the Russell Group and, therefore, one of the 20 universities most-targeted by leading graduate employers. Queen’s students will be advised and guided about career choice and, through the Degree Plusinitiative, will have an opportunity to seek accreditation for skills development and experience gained through the wide range of extra-curricular activities on offer. See Queen’s University Belfast fullEmployability Statementfor further information.
Degree Plus and other related initiatives: Recognising student diversity, as well as promoting employability enhancements and other interests, is part of the developmental experience at Queen’s. Students are encouraged to plan and build their own, personal skill and experiential profile through a range of activities including; recognised Queen’s Certificates, placements and other work experiences (at home or overseas), Erasmus study options elsewhere in Europe, learning development opportunities and involvement in wider university life through activities, such as clubs, societies, and sports.
Queen’s actively encourages this type of activity by offering students an additional qualification, the Degree Plus Award (and the related Researcher Plus Award for PhD and MPhil students). Degree Plus accredits wider experiential and skill development gained through extra-curricular activities that promote the enhancement of academic, career management, personal and employability skills in a variety of contexts. As part of the Award, students are also trained on how to reflect on the experience(s) and make the link between academic achievement, extracurricular activities, transferable skills and graduate employment. Participating students will also be trained in how to reflect on their skills and experiences and can gain an understanding of how to articulate the significance of these to others, e.g. employers.
Overall, these initiatives, and Degree Plus in particular, reward the energy, drive, determination and enthusiasm shown by students engaging in activities over-and-above the requirements of their academic studies. These qualities are amongst those valued highly by graduate employers.
Back to topIndependent Study: if you choose to specialise with us, you will have the chance to develop your own fieldwork project. By studying Social Anthropology at Queen's you will find first-hand knowledge of, and respect for, people from all sorts of societies and from all cultural backgrounds. In recent years students have visited the Pacific, India, Africa, Latin America and various areas of Western Europe, as well as conducting research in their own home communities.
Placement: past students have gained work placements with organisations such as Arts Care, Institute for Conflict Research, Operation Wallacea and the Ulster Museum.
Last updated 13.08.13
