Undergraduate Programmes

Brunel Anthropology is a dynamic department with a critical and engaged approach to understanding the world around us and our place in it. We are well known internationally for our cutting-edge work in new subfields, such as medical anthropology, the anthropology of childhood and education, psychological & psychiatric anthropology, and international development.

Innovative research

Our research centres provide students with access to innovative teaching and research in emerging areas, including the anthropology of health, disease and medicine; childhood and youth; education and learning; emotions, mind and consciousness; and international development.

We have world renowned experts who are sought-after by the media and policy makers. Find out more about their influential research in the 'Research Expertise' section (see above).

Exciting placement opportunities in the UK and abroad

We offer four-year sandwich courses (with Professional Development) as well as three year courses. Our award winning Placement and Careers Centre provides high quality placement opportunities in a wide range of organisations, which will help you to succeed in the job market.

Half our students on the four-year degree spend their second placement abroad, doing research in countries like South Africa, Botswana, India and Nepal.

Recent UK placements have included the following:

• BBC
• Foreign Office
• Campaign for Press
• Broadcasting Freedom
• Amnesty International
• Department of Health

Fieldwork-based research for dissertations

All our students undertake fieldwork-based research 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 special 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.

Best employment rates

As a result of the unique profession-enhancing research experiences provided to students, Brunel Anthropology graduates have one of the best employment rates in the UK. Our graduates find jobs in a wide range of fields, from education, charity work, NGOs and international development to medical and health professions, film, journalism and business.

A truly interdisciplinary approach

You have the opportunity to study Anthropology, Anthropology and Psychology or Anthropology and Sociology. At Brunel, you can make the most of the interdisciplinary research our academics undertake fully exploring the interface between Anthropology, Psychology and Sociology.

Learn more about our scholarships, research expertise, study abroad scheme and activities in the above sections.

Internationally respected scholars

Brunel is home to an internationally respected team of anthropologists who have conducted fieldwork in Oceania, Africa, Southeast Asia, India, South America and Europe on such diverse themes as religion, witchcraft, disability, memory, sport, food, political violence, social hierarchies, race, ethnicity, landscape and ecology. Our exciting research allows us to deliver excellent teaching at the cutting edge of anthropology.

• Dr Eric Hirsch, Head of Department
• Dr Melissa Parker, Senior Lecturer
• Dr Peggy Froerer, Senior Lecturer
• Dr Andrew Beatty, Senior Lecturer
• Dr Dominque Behague, Senior Lecturer
• Dr James Staples, Senior Lecturer

The latest thinking

You will be taught by specialists at the forefront of current research. Their innovative findings feed into your courses to ensure that teaching is topical and interesting. We pride ourselves on being accessible and approachable, with an effective Personal Tutoring system.

Ethnographically grounded

Courses are ethnographically ground, covering a broad range of issues and societies across the world, from rural Java to the urban centres of South Africa.

Fantastic international exchange scheme with partner institutions

In today’s globalised world, having the cultural experience of living abroad will give you an advantage in the job market. You can choose to study with one of our partner institutions worldwide and you will spend a full academic year in the chosen country:

• Universitat Wien, Austria
• Westfalische Wilhelms Universitat, Munster, Germany
• University of Copenhagen, Denmark
• Universite des Sciences et Technologies de Lille, France
• University of Paris-Vicennes Saint Denis, France
• Universita di Bologna, Italy
• University of Barcelona, Spain
• Universitat Humboldt, Berlin, Germany

Active student societies

You will have the opportunity to become a member of our student societies. We have a thriving student-run Anthropology Society which regularly organises talks, socials, pub quizzes, film screenings, field trips and other events. Its activities offer a great way to meet people and to take anthropology beyond the confines of the classroom.

Exciting associated activities

The Department runs a range of extra activities either for students or to which students are invited. These include field trips, seminar series with external speakers and other events.

Level 1Level 2Level 3

Introduction to Anthropology: Themes and Debates

This module provides a general introduction to core themes in social anthropology. The first part engages with topics such as nature, culture and ‘truth’; classification, purity and pollution; conception and how people are ‘made up’; exchange and social life; inequality and social relations; race and ethnicity.

Introduction to Anthropology: Beliefs and Ways of Thinking

The second introductory module turns more specifically to the issue of belief. Themes that may be explored include witchcraft and the explanation of misfortune; symbols, rituals and the meanings of myths. We shall also consider how these concepts find expression in African prophetic movements and in Melanesian cargo cults. 

Fieldwork Encounters: Thinking Through Ethnography

This team-taught module covers key anthropological issues and problems that Brunel anthropologists have tackled in carrying out their research in India, Indonesia, Singapore, Papua New Guinea and Brazil. These sessions offer students first-hand insight into the dilemmas that face contemporary anthropologists.

Anthropology through Film

This module uses ethnographic films in conjunction with written texts in order to introduce students to key debates in anthropology and the ethnography of particular regions, consider the changing styles and goals of ethnography and critically reflect on questions of representation. By examining different styles and conventions employed in the construction of ethnographic films, this module helps students question conventions in written modes to communicate an understanding of other peoples’ beliefs and behaviours.

Research Methods in Anthropology

Anthropology students at Brunel get the opportunity to put what they have learned into practice, and this module enables them to get hands-on experience of trying out anthropological field research methods, from participant observation to interviewing and other forms of contemporary ethnographic research.

Individual and Social Processes

This module aims to introduce students to contemporary issues and debates that are important in daily life and that are situated at the intersection of anthropology and various other social sciences, including psychology, sociology, and media and communications. Topics of study include: sex and sexuality, health, the media and violence, language acquisition, biosocial processes and the body.

The above modules are a typical selection and are subject to change.