Anthropology BSc (Hons)

Durham University

Course details

You will receive broad training in the scientific and social scientific study of humanity encompassing our evolutionary origins and relationship to other primates, cultural diversity, as well as interdisciplinary perspectives on health, politics and the environment.

Year 1

In your first year, you will receive a thorough grounding in the theory and practice of anthropology in the broadest sense, addressing the core disciplines of social and biological anthropology as well as interdisciplinary perspectives on culture, society and health. Currently, students take five modules in anthropology and select one elective module offered by another department, including the option to study a module in a modern foreign language.

Compulsory modules:

Peoples and Cultures

Human Evolution and Diversity

Being Human: An Introduction to the History and Practice of Anthropology

Doing Anthropological Research

Health, Illness and Society.

Year 2

In your second year, you will develop a deeper and more complex grasp of biological and evolutionary anthropology and continue to gain "hands-on" experience of conducting research through a series of regional field trips and activities that form our Anthropological Research Methods in Action module. You will also begin preparation for your dissertation through modules that are designed to support you to follow either a more social or biological pathway as you design your own research project, in addition to a core module that will help you develop plans for your dissertation and prepare to do your own research. You will also take two elective modules that will enable you to pursue your interests in specific topics from the wider anthropological discipline.

Compulsory modules:

Anthropological Research Methods in Action

Research Project Design

Evolution, Variation and Adaptation

Our Place in Nature

And one of the following modules:

Biology, Culture & Society

Reading Ethnography

Examples of optional modules:

Kinship and Religion

Politics and Economics

Global Health and Disease

Sex, Reproduction and Love.

Year 3 (Year 4 if undertaking a Year Abroad)

In your final year, you will design and carry out your own dissertation project and take part in our Anthropology Field Course Module. The Field Course usually takes place in the September prior to your final year and offers an intensive two-week fieldwork experience at one of the department’s residential field schools. You have a choice of up to six advanced optional taught modules, and you can take an elective option from another department if you wish.

Optional modules are generally based on the research expertise of staff, and reflect the University’s ideal of research-led education. Options available in the Department cover the full disciplinary spectrum, from the entirely biological to the entirely socio-cultural, or a mixture of anthropological sub-disciplines. Options change slightly from year-to-year, with a minimum of 18 different options to choose from every year.

Throughout your degree you are also invited to attend the regular round of departmental research seminars given by visiting scholars or Durham-based researchers and can participate in a key forum for current innovative research.

Core modules:

Field School Module

Dissertation