Anthropology with Professional Development BSc

About the Course

Anthropology offers a unique and powerful means for understanding cultural and social diversity in the modern world. It is concerned with contemporary issues such as multiculturalism, identity politics, racism and ethnic nationalism, changing forms of the family, religious conflict, gender, and the political role of culture. It also addresses perennial questions about human nature, such as, ‘What do we have in common with each other cross-culturally?’ and ‘What makes us different?’ If you are intrigued by these questions and want to study a discipline that will enrich your everyday life as well as equip you for a great variety of occupations, anthropology is for you.

Enquiries

Dr James Staples
Admissions Tutor
Helen Stevenson
Undergraduate Admissions Administrator
+44 (0)1895 265952
Email: Helen.Stevenson@brunel.ac.uk

For more information about the Department visit: http://www.brunel.ac.uk/sss/anthropology

Related Courses

• Psychology and Anthropology with Professional Development BSc
• Anthropology and Sociology BSc
• Anthropology and Sociology with Professional Development BSc

Special Features

The latest thinking
You will be taught by an internationally respected team of anthropologists who have conducted fieldwork in five continents on religion, witchcraft, disability, memory, nationalism, political violence, social hierarchies, race, ethnicity, and ecology. Their innovative research  feeds directly into teaching.

Best of both worlds
Brunel offers you a foundation in core topics such as politics, religion and kinship, and the chance to venture into specialised areas like medical anthropology, psychological anthropology and the anthropology of childhood, education and youth and international development.

Fieldwork based research for dissertations and work placements abroad
All our students undertake fieldwork for their dissertations. Projects have included work in a Nepalese monastery, a South African women’s refuge, the Police Complaints Authority (on the Stephen Lawrence case), as well as in schools and charities. Uniquely for a British university, studying anthropology at Brunel will always mean applying what you have read to what you discover in real-life situations. Half our students on the four-year degree spend their second placement abroad, doing research in countries like South Africa, Botswana, India and Nepal.

International exchange programme
Students can take advantage of the opportunity offered by our membership of the European Union’s ERASMUS scheme to study at one of 15 continental European universities.

Brunel Anthropology Society
Brunel has a thriving Anthropology Society  which organises talks, socials, pub quizzes, film screenings, fieldtrips and other events - a great way to meet people and take anthropology beyond the classroom. For the latest events, see: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BrunelAnthSociety/.

Best employment rates
As a result of the unique profession-enhancing research experiences we offer, Brunel’s anthropology graduates have the best employment rates in the UK. Our graduates find jobs in education, NGOs,  international development, the charity sector,  medical and health professions, film, journalism and business.

Daniel, Anthropology with Professional Development BSc

Choosing Anthropology at Brunel was one of the best decisions I've made to date. The course is really interesting, with good lecturers and exciting modules. Brunel offers a thin sandwich work placement unlike any other university for Anthropology. I went to Sri Lanka and Ecuador, teaching English and then as a researcher at a human rights organisation. I developed some great skills and gained a lot of life experience along the way.

Course Content

Level 1 offers a grounding in the central themes and debates in anthropology; introduces students to the international work being carried out by the teaching staff; and explores the practicalities of undertaking anthropological fieldwork.

At Level 2, you will take more advanced modules in the history and theory of anthropology, alongside modules covering on topics such as kinship, ethnicity, religion, sex and gender and regional ethnography.

At Level 3, in addition to training in contemporary anthropological theory, students select from a range of topics as varied as personhood, the body, disability, medical anthropology, international development, childhood and youth, education, and psychological and psychiatric anthropology.

The BSc consists of both core and optional modules; a typical selection can be found below. Modules can vary from year to year, but these offer a good idea of what we teach.

Dissertation

All students write a 10-15,000 word dissertation in their final year (which, on four-year degrees, usually draws on research conducted during the second Work Placement). This is on a topic of your choice. In past years, students have written on topics such as:

• A New Age Settler Colony in South India
• The Effectiveness of AIDS Education Programmes
• The Role of Indigenous Healers in a South African Village
• Migration and Social Investment in a Mexican Village
• Exploring Modern Urban Paganism

MODULES

Core

Level 1

• Introduction to Anthropology: Themes and Debates
• Introduction to Anthropology: Beliefs and Ways of Thinking
• Fieldwork Encounters: Thinking Through Ethnography
• Anthropology through Film
• Research Methods in Anthropology
• Individual and Social Processes

Level

• Ethnicity, Culture and Identity
• Ethnography of the Contemporary World - Selected Regions
• Classical Anthropological Theory
• Political and Economic Issues in Anthropology
• Kinship, Sex and Gender

Level 3

• Contemporary Anthropological Theory

Optional

• Anthropology and Global Health
• Introducing Medical Anthropology: Theories, Themes and Controversies
• Anthropological Perspectives on War and Humanitarianism
• The Anthropology of the Body
• The Anthropology of Childhood and Youth
• The Anthropology of Disability and Difference
• The Anthropology of Education and Learning
• The Anthropology of International Development
• Medical Anthropology in Clinical and Community Settings
• The Anthropology of the Person
• Themes in Psychological and Psychiatric Anthropology

Teaching and Learning

Brunel offers you the best of both worlds: a solid foundation in core anthropological topics such as politics, religion and kinship, and the chance to venture into new and cutting-edge areas, notably in medical anthropology and the anthropology of childhood, education and youth.

Our courses are ethnographically grounded, covering a broad range of issues and societies across the world, from rural Java to the urban centres of South Africa. Our programmes are split into modules, each of which deals with a distinct topic.

Our approach
We pursue excellence in both teaching and research. Our aim is to produce degree programmes that combine innovative and classical teaching methods with leading-edge research, and which recognise the value of practical work experience in the learning process. We take great pride in both the quality of teaching and the extensive pastoral care of our students. As a student at Brunel you will also be assigned a personal tutor who will oversee your academic and personal development during your degree.

The latest thinking
All our modules are run by lecturers who are actively conducting research and publishing on these issues, so you will be taught by real specialists in the field.  Their innovative findings ensure that teaching is topical and interesting.

How will I be taught?
Like most social science subjects, anthropology is taught through a mixture of lectures and small discussion groups or seminars. For each module, you will usually attend one lecture and one seminar every week. You will need to spend much of the rest of your time in the library studying independently, or, depending on your assignments, out in the field conducting interviews or undertaking participant observation. 

Lectures
Most modules involve one or two hours of lectures a week. These provide a broad overview of key concepts and ideas relating to your course and provide you with a framework from which to carry out more in depth study.

Seminars
These relatively small groups are used to discuss the content of lectures and issues arising from the modules. Seminar activities, based on both discussion of readings and small group work, are structured to ensure active student participation and to allow students to clarify their own ideas in an atmosphere of discussion and debate.

Research work
All students take part in practical modules that engage directly with ethnographic methods, including participant-observation, interviewing, and other more specific research techniques. As you progress through the course, direction by staff over the design and implementation of projects is reduced.

One-to-one
You will have one-to-one supervision on your final year dissertation and at all levels you will have a personal tutor who is available to discuss personal and academic problems. When you go on placement, you will also be allocated a work placement tutor who will monitor your progress and provide further support if you need it. Lecturers are usually available to answer particular queries outside of scheduled hours – either in one-to-one tutorials or by email.

Assessment

Each of your modules will be assessed through a mixture of essays, examinations and other projects and tasks. Exam results from level 1 do not count towards your final degree mark but you have to pass this level to continue with your degree. Level 2 is worth a third, and Level 3 is worth the rest. The final year dissertation is worth a third of Level 3 marks.

We want each of our students to fulfil their potential. Brunel also offers great advice and support to help you develop your study skills and we are active in supporting students with dyslexia and other disabilities.

Employability

Anthropology at Brunel is exceptional in that it offers both a conventional three-year degree and a 'thin-sandwich' four-year degree with two six-month work placements. Students gain experience and contacts vital for future employment in a world that increasingly expects job candidates to offer something more than a degree certificate. Brunel anthropology graduates are amongst the most employable in the country.

Careers

Students of Anthropology can go on to pursue both private and public sector careers including work with governmental organisations like the United Nations and with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) like Save the Children and Oxfam.

Others now work as teachers, journalists and research officers in the health and social sectors, and in other professions requiring knowledge of social and cultural processes.

Some pursue further research degrees in anthropology and become academic anthropologists.

Placements

Few other sociology degrees contain work placements, let alone high quality organised placements. Students on our four year sandwich degree course benefit from our excellent links with external organisations.

Around half our students carry out a placement or fieldwork abroad, in places as wide ranging as India, Nepal, Australia, South Africa, Papua New Guinea and Jamaica. Recent UK placement destinations include the Royal Anthropological Institute, Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom, Amnesty International and the Department of Health.

The positive impact of a sandwich placement on graduate employment outcomes across Brunel is considerable. Those who have done placements are also much more likely to be in employment for which they their degree was a formal requirement or where they believe their degree gave them a competitive advantage in recruitment.

Placement leavers from Social Anthropology experienced the following outcomes:

• 100.0% progressed into employment or further study
• 100.0% were engaged in a graduate-level activity (employment or further study)
• 100.0% of employed leavers were working in the top three categories of graduate level employment
• The average starting salary was £15,000.
  

Fees for 2013/14 entry

UK/EU students: £9,000 full-time; £1,000 placement year

International students: £12,000 full-time

We are introducing over 700 scholarships for 2013, meaning that one in five applicants who join Brunel next year will receive financial support from the University. See our fees and funding page for full details

Fees quoted are per annum and are subject to an annual increase.

Entry Requirements for 2013 Entry

• GCE A-level ABB (General Studies/Critical Thinking accepted as third A-Level).
• Irish Leaving Certificate AABBB.
• Scottish Advanced Highers ABB.
• Advanced Diploma Progression Diploma Grade A in Society, Health and Development plus a C at A-level for Additional and Specialist Learning.
• BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma D*DD in a related subject.
• IBDP 33 points.
• Access Complete and pass a related subject Access course with 45 credits at Level 3, of which 30 credits must be at Distinction and 15 credits at Merit or higher.
  

For all of the above, 5 GCSEs or equivalent at Grade C or above are also required, to include English and Maths (please note that these must have been gained by the time you submit your UCAS application).

English Language Requirements

Brunel also offers our own BrunELT English Test and accept a range of other language courses. We also have a range of Pre-sessional English language courses, for students who do not meet these requirements, or who wish to improve their English.