Human Geography and Anthropology BSc (Hons)

Compulsory

• Anthropology in the World

  An introduction to the field of social anthropology through reviews of some classic problems and topics. You will gain basic knowledge of the variety of human cultures as you discover the types of argument employed and forms of evidence characteristic of social anthropology.

• Beliefs and Ways of Thinking

  Learn about the ways anthropologists interpret and explain systems of knowledge and belief and their ability to detach themselves from taken-for-granted beliefs and values to help them to appreciate the logic of others systems.

• SC1xxA - Fundamentals of the Social Sciences
• Introduction Geographical Research and Fieldwork

  This module introduces students to the nature of geographical research and some of the ways of collecting and analysing geographical data. Through both local and multi-day residential fieldwork, the module provides opportunities for experiential learning and an introduction to a variety of types of fieldwork, in both familiar and unfamiliar environments.   

• Living with Environmental Change

  Through specific case studies, this module provides a holistic, integrated approach to understanding reciprocal relationships between societies and environments, drawing on both social and natural science expertise. It enables students to better understand the ways in which environmental change impacts on society at multiple scales, and the possibilities for societies to respond.  

• Space, Place and Society

  This module aims to familiarise you with key ideas and fundamental concepts in human geography. In particular, it will focus on reciprocal relationships between space, place, and society and the significance of these concepts within diverse areas of human geography. 

Compulsory

• Geography: A Controversial Discipline

  This module will introduce students to the history and philosophy of geography through a critical, decolonial lens. Students will explore the social, cultural, economic and political context of past and present knowledge production, and the people and forms of knowledge excluded from this. 

• Political and Economic Issues in Anthropology

  In this topic you will be introduced to some of the key research topics in modern social anthropology, including aspects of political economy, social organisation, cultural systems, historical change, and theoretical frames through which to view them.

• SA2xxE - Qualitative Research in Professional Practice

Optional

• Climate Politics

  This module aims to enable students to attain a comprehensive understanding of key concepts and theories in the politics and political economy of climate change. It will provide students with resources to assist them in making informed judgments on a range of questions and debates.  

• Colonialism, Migration and Global Racism

  This module explores the concept, meaning and practices of ‘race’, ethnicity, racialization, and global racisms. It identifies how ‘race’ and racism have evolved over time, and in different contexts - both nationally in the contemporary UK as well as in other parts of the world. 

• SA5638 - Global Development: Critical Perspectives

  To acquire a theoretical and historical overview of the changing relationship between the critical social sciences and global development, to understand the multiple ways in which social science research can enhance our understanding of contemporary policies and practices in global development and to critically evaluate, from a social science perspective, various theoretical approaches to global development.

• SA5XXH - Global Health: Critical Perspectives

  This module aims to provide a theoretical introduction to the anthropological study of global health. It will provide students with a detailed insight into the ways in which medical anthropology can contribute towards the critique of existing interventions in the field of global health and with a detailed insight into the construction of global; health problems such as plagues and epidemics Finally, it will assess a range of ethnography and theory bearing on issues pertaining to global health, enabling students to bring a comparative perspective to familiar problems.

• SA2xxC - Middle East: Societies, Religion and Politics
• SA5639 - Migration, Citizenship and Identity

  This module introduces students to a range of key concepts and theories in the anthropology of ethnicity, culture, nationhood and identity. These classical anthropological themes will be examined through the lens of high-profile contemporary social issues, including migration, citizenship, transnationalism and globalisation, xenophobia and deportation. Drawing on ethnographic case studies from settings across the world, we will explore how categories of identity and belonging are constructed, deployed and contested, and the ways in which they are embedded in broader social, political, legal and economic contexts.

• SA5641 - South Asia: Cultures, Societies and Development

  This module examines the region of South Asia, assessing whether the geographical region can usefully be considered as a cultural area, and going on to examine the key issues for the different parts of the region. The module covers topics including colonial histories, caste and class, gender, kinship, globalisation, and South Asian diasporas. It draws, in particular, on the disciplines of anthropology and history and on the field of development studies.

• Sustainable Development and Political Ecology

  Students will engage critically with principles and practices of sustainable development and learn to understand environmental questions through a lens of political ecology. The module will provide opportunities for students to develop their own of attitudes and values in relation to the environment.  

• Urban Regeneration and Inequalities (field-based)

  You are introduced to issues of urban regeneration and their impacts in relation to urban inequalities, and apply this understanding in relation initially to London and subsequently to a European city in which they undertake a field visit. 

• Understanding Childhood and Youth

  This module will introduce you to the study of childhood and youth as they are constructed and practiced in different social, cultural and economic settings. The first section focuses on children, looking first at how ideas of childhood are constructed by adults, the second section is devoted to young people.

• War and Humanitarianism

  This module aims to provide students with a critical understanding of the main themes in the anthropology of war and humanitarian assistance. These include the anthropology of violence, how societies respond in the aftermath of violence, the origins of humanitarianism, the concept of emergency, refugees and Giorgio Agamben’s concept of ‘bare life’.

Compulsory

• SC3xxB - Dissertation
• GY3603 - Leadership for Change

  To further develop the leadership and influence skills that will help students to promote sustainability or other forms of positive change within society and the environment (either individually or collectively). To encourage innovation, entrepreneurialism, the acquisition of additional awards and professional qualifications and to engage in personal and professional development activities that will enhance students’ employability.

Optional

• SO3xxA - Cities, Culture and Social Change
• GY3xxB - Climate Justice in a Changing World
• SA3xxD - Contemporary Worlds
• SA5xxD - Culture, Education and Learning

  To provide students with a broad appreciation of the key issues in cross-cultural perspectives on education and learning, an understanding, ethnographically and theoretically, of how culture shapes and informs the educational and learning process and how, in turn, education and learning impact upon social and cultural practices and an understanding of the relevance of cross-cultural studies of education and learning for different theoretical approaches within the social and human sciences in general and professional practice in particular.

• Environment and Sustainability

  The aim of this module is to look at environment and sustainability from a multipronged perspective. The module will help students develop a nuanced understanding about managing our natural resources. Both top down and bottom up approaches to manage nature will be explored. 

• SA5638 - Global Development: Critical Perspectives

  To acquire a theoretical and historical overview of the changing relationship between the critical social sciences and global development, to understand the multiple ways in which social science research can enhance our understanding of contemporary policies and practices in global development and to critically evaluate, from a social science perspective, various theoretical approaches to global development.

• SA5XXH - Global Health: Critical Perspectives

  This module aims to provide a theoretical introduction to the anthropological study of global health. It will provide students with a detailed insight into the ways in which medical anthropology can contribute towards the critique of existing interventions in the field of global health and with a detailed insight into the construction of global; health problems such as plagues and epidemics Finally, it will assess a range of ethnography and theory bearing on issues pertaining to global health, enabling students to bring a comparative perspective to familiar problems.

• Global Migration

  Equips students with an understanding of the key concepts in global migration including the causes and consequences of migration, national and international responses to migration and the diversity of migrant flows within a global context, using cases from both Global North and Global South contexts.

• Home, Housing and Social Harm

  This module introduces students to a number of questions concerning notions of home and housing in contemporary society, and how sociologists and criminologists should confront these issues as they occupy a central place in political, public, and mediated debates. It explores sociological and criminological debates around housing and the home, looking at the relationship between self, society, and state.

• SO3617 - Lawyers, Guns and Money: Making the modern world-system

  This module will explore issues raised by historical and political sociology regarding the development of the modern world-system. In particular the course will focus upon the rise to dominance of Europe in the building of the modern world-system and the explanations offered for this.

• SC3600 - Making the Social

  An introduction to core concepts in social theory. The emphasis is on concepts through which students can relate to the worlds they inhabit and the lives they live, connecting these to a broad canvas: the diversity of social existence and the sweep of human history. The focus is on basic building blocks of social existence.

• PP3631 - Marx and the Critique of Political Economy

  This module involves reading several key works by Marx, culminating in several weeks on Das Kapital

• GY3xxA - Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking
• PP3xxC - Political Economy of the Changing World Order

  The module introduces students to political economy, in particular international political economy (IPE), and to geopolitics. It explores the evolution of world orders, with a focus on the current period. It examines relationships between economic forces and state strategies (economic and geopolitical) on the international stage. It will familiarise students with key concepts and topics in IPE.

• Understanding Childhood and Youth

  This module will introduce you to the study of childhood and youth as they are constructed and practiced in different social, cultural and economic settings. The first section focuses on children, looking first at how ideas of childhood are constructed by adults, the second section is devoted to young people.

• War and Humanitarianism

  This module aims to provide students with a critical understanding of the main themes in the anthropology of war and humanitarian assistance. These include the anthropology of violence, how societies respond in the aftermath of violence, the origins of humanitarianism, the concept of emergency, refugees and Giorgio Agamben’s concept of ‘bare life’.