About Us

Welcome to the Department of Global & Sociocultural Studies. GSS provides a unique opportunity to integrate the disciplinary approaches of anthropology, geography, and sociology with cross-disciplinary theorizing and research.

Our BA, MA, and Ph.D. programs focus on three overlapping themes: Identities and Inequalities, Migrations and Diasporas and Nature-Society.

Utilizing comparative, transnational, diasporic, and global perspectives, GSS pursues research on these themes through a variety of theoretical approaches and by utilizing qualitative, quantitative, and applied research methods. The program’s research and teaching themes reflect and resonate with our university’s location in one of the world’s most dynamic regions: the greater metropolitan area of Miami—a hemispheric crossroads of sociocultural, political, economic, and environmental forces bridging the United States with the Caribbean and Latin America, the Atlantic region, and the world at large.... [-]

Education, learning and knowledge are widely recognised as the prime drivers in our rapidly changing world of global mobility. They are also the processes that build equal opportunity, economic development and citizenship – in the North as well as the South. The MA in Anthropology of Education and Globalisation at Aarhus University is unique in offering an in-depth understanding of the ways in which education, learning and knowledge are negotiated and managed in everyday life in different contexts – across national and cultural boundaries.

The programme, which is based at the Emdrup campus in Copenhagen, is designed for students seeking advanced training in anthropological approaches to educational practice and process in settings as varied as educational institutions, workplaces, and civil society. The teaching faculty are all active researchers, and this means that a fruitful dialogue has been developed between the anthropological and educational traditions of inquiry, leading towards new areas of study. Using ethnographic research methods and cross-cultural comparisons, the programme analyses specific (local) practices of education and knowledge in relation to broader (global) social and cultural contexts.... [-]

This is a pathway of the MA in Applied Anthropology & Community and Youth Work, aimed both at international applicants who may not need a British National Youth Agency qualification and those who want to become specialists in community development.

This MA is a second pathway to the MA in Applied Anthropology and Community and Youth Work. It was launched in 2012 as an option for international or home students who do not need a National Youth Agency qualification and for those who want to specialise in community development. A third pathway, the MA in Applied Anthropology and Community Arts started in 2015.

The three pathways entail different placements but are taught together, providing many opportunities for exchange of ideas and collaboration amongst students.... [-]

Fusing Goldsmiths' academic excellence and professional training from the Horniman Museum, the MA in Anthropology & Museum Practice provides you with a uniquely comprehensive set of skills.

This degree draws on expertise in the Department of Anthropology at Goldsmiths, in partnership with The Horniman Museum and Gardens, to deliver a unique opportunity to develop both your academic knowledge and practical professional skills.

Whether you're a mid-career professional looking to expand your subject expertise in anthropology, or an anthropologist looking to move into the museum sector, the course will provide you with the skills and knowledge required to be a confident, knowledgeable and professional practitioner in the anthropology and museum sector.... [-]

The master's program provides students with a comprehensive grounding in the four fields of the discipline: biological anthropology, sociocultural anthropology, archaeology, and linguistics. Students may choose concentrations in the following:

Anthropology and Social Change is a small, innovative graduate department with a particular focus on activist scholarship, militant research, and social change. Our unique approach to ethnographic research methodology dissolves traditional barriers between research and political activism, between insiders and outsiders, and between researchers and protagonists. Ethnography is a tool for "creating the conditions we describe." We engage in the process of co-research to explore existing alternatives and possibilities for social change.

MA and PhD students learn how to apply the practice of direct action to the research process with the support of talented faculty. We set out to create the conditions we describe when our research begins to embody the values of the world we want to create.... [-]

The MA in Anthropology is a 30 credit program combining the theoretical and methodological foundations of social and cultural anthropology with an emphasis on the critical exploration of how ethnographic sensibilities matter in the world today.

The program is designed to provide students with a broad understanding of the development of anthropology within the social sciences and introduce them to key concepts and issues that shape contemporary fields of knowledge production.

A full account of degree requirements and procedures is contained in the Anthropology departmental handbook.

To earn the MA in Anthropology, a student must complete a total of 30 credits, of which 18 credits must be listed or cross-listed in Anthropology. These 18 credits include core courses as well as courses within “Perspectives” and “Practices” categories.... [-]

What values can the past bring to the fast-paced and swiftly changing present? How can we discover and interpret where the roots of the present lie? The contemporary moment offers us new opportunities and new technologies with which to explore the historical, bring to the fore people’s experiences of the past, and through that new understanding recreate and present new perspectives on heritage.

We envision the Public History and Heritage Interpretation as an opportunity to learn new ways of engaging with historical sites, monuments and institutions and thus address the contemporary challenges of interpreting history. This specialization will empower students to include in their interpretations of heritage the diverse voices that have been ignored so far and so engage with history outside conventional academic practice. This specialization will create professionals who have the ability to transform museums, heritage sites, and archives into spaces that dynamically interpret the past by reimagining history with new technologies.... [-]

Anthropology prides itself on its inclusive and interdisciplinary focus. It takes a holistic approach to human society, combining biological and social perspectives.

This programme is designed as an advanced course in social anthropology and is for students who have already studied anthropology either as a degree course or as part of a degree course at undergraduate level. It provides in-depth generalist training in anthropology and is excellent preparation for those embarking on research degrees in anthropology or intending to enter professional fields in which anthropological training is advantageous.

Please note that this degree will NOT be running in 2018/19

Duration: 1 year full-time or 2-3 years part-time.

Minimum Entry Requirements: Upper second class honours degree (or equivalent, e.g. 3.3 GPA or higher); other strong qualifications may be taken into account. Please note that admissions are suspended for 2017-18. Admissions for 2018-19 will resume in autumn 2017.

Start of programme: September intake only

Mode of Attendance: Full Time or Part Time

The degree is suitable for students with an interest in anthropological approaches to diverse aspects of tourism as a cultural force in the contemporary world, from sustainable development to cultural heritage. Our students come from all over the world, following BA study, a masters degree in another field, or work and travel experience. This combination of diverse backgrounds and skills creates a uniquely stimulating intellectual environment. Many of our graduates go on to a PhD; others pursue careers in research and consulting; NGOs; museums and other cultural institutions; travel-writing; alternative tourism enterprises; and government agencies.... [-]

Duration: One calendar year (Full-Time) Two or three years (Part-Time, daytime only) The expectation in the UK is of continuous study across the year, with break periods used to read and to prepare coursework. We recommend that part-time students have between two and a half and three days free in the week to pursue their course of study.

Minimum Entry Requirements: Minimum upper second class honours degree (or equivalent)

Start of programme: September only

Mode of Attendance: Full Time or Part Time

The MA in Migration and Diaspora Studies is a broad-based degree for students who want to receive specialized research training in Migration and Diaspora Studies, including a relevant language, which will prepare them to proceed to advanced postgraduate research in Migration and Diaspora Studies at SOAS or elsewhere.... [-]

Duration: One calendar year (full-time) Two or three years (part-time, daytime only) We recommend that part-time students have between two and a half and three days free in the week to pursue their course of study. The expectation in the UK is of continuous study across the year, with break periods used to read and to prepare coursework.

Entry Requirements: Minimum upper second class honours degree (or equivalent)

Start of programme: September intake only

Mode of Attendance: Full Time or Part Time

The programme is designed on a modular basis offering different pathways to suit, broadly, three categories of students:... [-]

Duration: 1 year full-time or 2/3 years part-time. The expectation in the UK is of continuous study across the year, with break periods used to read and to prepare coursework.

Minimum Entry Requirements: Minimum upper second class honours degree (or equivalent) in Social Anthropology. This Master is designed for students wishing to pursue a PhD in Social Anthropology. Exceptionally this course may be taken as a conversion MA. Students who would like to take this path must demonstrate the regional and language expertise necessary for continuing onto a PhD.

Start of programme: September.

Mode of Attendance: Full-Time or Part-Time.

Duration: 2 years full-time, 4 years part-time.

Entry Requirements: Minimum upper second class honours degree (or equivalent).

Start of programme: September

Mode of Attendance: Full-time or Part-time

This Anthropology MA provides an understanding of the ways in which anthropological approaches and debates inform the study of meanings and concepts in development, its priorities, policies, and practice. It attracts students with diverse backgrounds and study/work experiences which makes for a lively and challenging atmosphere.

The degree is designed to provide students with a fairly detailed knowledge of anthropology, development issues, research methods, and either an ethnographic region (and/or language) and/or thematic interest in health/gender/food/ media. Advice will be given to match the choice of optional components to the requirements, interests, and qualifications of individual students whose background may be in general social science, regional, language or other studies. While the focus of the degree is on development issues and practice, its disciplinary orientation remains anthropological.... [-]

Duration: One calendar year (full-time); two or three years (part-time, daytime only). The expectation in the UK is of continuous study across the year, with break periods used to read and to prepare coursework.

Minimum Entry Requirements: Minimum upper second class BA degree (or equivalent) in the humanities, social sciences or natural sciences, or significant experience in a relevant food- and/or agriculture-related career

Food is a fundamental human necessity, essential to the sustenance of the human body. At the same time, food may be associated with pleasure, passion, even luxury. Food is also essential to the social body. Who eats what, who eats with whom, and whose appetites are satisfied and whose denied, are all profoundly social dynamics through which identities, relationships, and hierarchies are created and reproduced.... [-]