BA in Anthropology
Belfast, United Kingdom
DURATION
3 Years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
Request application deadline
EARLIEST START DATE
Request earliest startdate
TUITION FEES
GBP 18,800 / per year *
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* England, Scotland or Wales: £9,250 | Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland: £4,710 | EU Other and International: £18,800
Introduction
Anthropology is the study of human diversity around the world. In studying anthropology, you will learn how different societies live together and think about such topics as family, sex, religion, art, and economics and gain skills increasingly in demand in a globalized and automated world.
The BA in Anthropology at Queen’s will allow you to examine some of the deepest and most pressing questions about human beings. Issues addressed in our modules include:
- Does globalisation mean the end of cultural differences?
- Can a post-conflict society heal?
- How do ritual traditions, musical performances, and art shape cultural identities?
- How do some people become willing to die for a group?
Through classroom modules, optional placements, performance ensembles and your own anthropological fieldwork, you will also gain valuable skills in critical thinking, cross-cultural understanding, researching, interviewing, writing, and presenting.
Global Opportunities
As part of their dissertation study in years 2 and 3, students have carried out ethnographic field research around the world, including on orphanages in Kenya, AIDS in southern Africa, education in Ghana, dance in India, NGOs in Guatemala, music in China, marriage in Japan, backpacking in Europe, and whale-watching in Hawaii.
Students have the opportunity to use practice-based research skills during eight weeks of ethnographic fieldwork in areas of their specialisation, which can entail working with organisations around the globe.
World Class Facilities
Anthropology at Queen's provides students access to world-class facilities, including; The Ethnomusicology Performance Room, which includes a variety of musical instruments from around the world, a collection that has grown since the 1970s when Ethnomusicology was first established as an International Centre at Queen’s by the late Prof John Blacking. These instruments, together with the sprung performance room floor, facilitate music and dance ensembles, enabling our unit to remain one of the leading departments in Ethnomusicology.
Internationally Renowned Experts
Anthropology at Queen’s is internationally renowned in the following areas: Ethnomusicology and performance; Conflict and borders; Religion; Cognition and culture; Migration and diasporas; Irish studies; Material culture and art; Human-animal relations and The cross-cultural study of emotions.
Students can also work with world-class institutions, including; Senator George J. Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice: The Institute of Cognition and Culture; The Institute of Irish Studies; Two International Summer schools, including the Irish Studies Summer School; and the Conflict Transformation and Social Justice Summer School.
Student Experience
- Anthropology combines an understanding of cultural diversity through human behaviour and expression with a hands-on method of study that focuses on lived experience.
- Queen's offers the only anthropology course in the UK that combines the study of expressivity (through art and music) with thematic strands on conflict, religion, cognition, and business anthropology.
- Anthropology at Queen’s offers the opportunity to learn about human and cultural diversity through field research funded by the university.
- There is a focus on creativity, performance, religion, the study of conflict, and business anthropology, that sets Queen's apart from other UK universities.
- In the Guardian University Guide 2020, Anthropology was ranked 4th in the UK for student: staff ratios.
- Our National Student Survey results have returned 100% student satisfaction with the course consistently since 2019.
Gallery
Admissions
Curriculum
Introduction
The BA in Anthropology is constructed around four innovative, engaging themes:
1. What Makes Us Human?
Key modules explore core elements of anthropology. They examine social groups, from families to nations, and social dynamics, from village politics to globalisation. In understanding social groups, we examine individual life trajectories against the background of diverse social expectations.
Modules may include: Being Human: Evolution, Culture and Society; World on the Move; How Society Works.
2. Conflict, Peacebuilding and Identity
Modules on this theme deal directly with large-scale Global Challenges such as conflict, security, and peacebuilding. Issues such as migration, ethnic conflict, and globalisation will be covered across all three years of the degree, with specialist modules looking at Ireland and at the role of anthropology in the policy.
Modules may include: Us & Them: Why We Have Ingroups and Outgroups; Why Are Humans Violent? Understanding Violence, Conflict, and Trauma; Migration, Mobilities and Borders.
3. Arts, Creativity and Music
Globally renowned for long-standing research expertise in the area of ethnomusicology and the arts, our modules examine issues of sound and music making; art, aesthetics and emotion; and performance and identity around the world. We explore the production, appropriation and use of material artefacts and images in a world of interconnectedness through migration, trade, and digital communication technology.
Modules may include: Being Creative: Music, Media and the Arts; Radical Music: Understanding Sounds of Defiance across Disciplines.
4. Morality, Religion and Cognition
These modules examine a number of important themes in religion and morality, including the origins of religion, apocalyptic movements, sacred values, and the relationship between emotion and religion. We will explore our moral worlds and beliefs through the socio-cultural, psychological, and evolutionary sciences.
Modules may include Apocalypse!: The End of the World; In Gods We Trust: The New Science of Religion; Human Morality; Love, Hate, and Beyond.
Stage 1
- Being Human: Evolution, Culture and Society
- A World on the Move: Anthropological and Historical Approaches to Globalisation
- Us and Them: Why Do We Have In-groups and Outgroups?
- Being Creative: Music, Media and the Arts
- Understanding Northern Ireland
(Plus two optional courses from other subject areas)
Stage 2
- How Society Works: Key Debates in Anthropology
- Skills in the Field: Dissertation Preparation
- Hanging out on Street Corners: Public and Applied Anthropology
- Business Anthropology in the Digital Age
- Why Are Humans Violent? Understanding Violence, Conflict, and Trauma
- Human Morality
- Radical Music: Understanding Sounds of Defiance across Disciplines
- Apocalypse! The History and Anthropology of the End of the World
Stage 3
- Dissertation in Social Anthropology: Writing-Up
- The Politics of Performance: From Negotiation to Display
- Human-Animal Relations
- In Gods We Trust: The New Science of Religion
- Love, Hate and Beyond: Emotions, Culture, Practice
- Music and Identity in the Mediterranean
- Ireland and Britain: People, Identity, Nations
- Remembering the Future: Violent Pasts, Loss, and the Politics of Hope
Note that this is not an exclusive list and these options are subject to staff availability.
Rankings
In the Guardian University Guide 2020, Anthropology was ranked 9th in the UK for Course satisfaction.
Program Tuition Fee
Career Opportunities
Studying for an Anthropology degree at Queen‘s will assist you in developing the core skills and employment-related experiences that are increasingly valued by employers, professional organisations and academic institutions. Through classroom modules, optional placements and your own anthropological fieldwork, you will gain valuable skills in critical thinking, cross-cultural understanding, researching, interviewing, writing, and presenting.
Employment after the Course
Our graduates have followed careers in a wide variety of areas.
Career pathways typically lead to employment in:
- User Experience
- Consultancy
- Civil Service
- Development, NGO work, International Policy, Public Sector
- Journalism, Human Rights, Conflict Resolution, Community Work
- Arts Administration, Creative Industries, Media, Performance, Heritage, Museums, Tourism
- Market Research
- Public and Private Sector related to Religious Negotiation, Multiculturalism/Diversity.
- Teaching in schools
- Academic Teaching and Research
- Human Rights, Conflict Resolution, Community Work, Journalism
Employment Links
Internships will match dissertation students with organisations and institutions relevant to their career paths by building on local and international staff networks and professional connections.
Current placement partners include
- Operation Wallacea works with teams of ecologists, scientists and academics on a variety of bio-geographical projects around the globe.
- Belfast Migration Centre offers students of the module ‘Migration, Displacement and Diasporas’ internship opportunities in their ‘Belonging Project’.
Professional Opportunities
International Travel
As part of undergraduate training, students have the opportunity to use practice-based research skills during eight weeks of ethnographic fieldwork in areas of their specialisation, which can entail working with organisations around the globe.