Human Geography and Anthropology BSc

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.

• Global London

  Through focusing on the concept of ‘Global London’, this module shows you how the social sciences can enable you to better understand their lived social environment. It introduces you to the techniques used by a range of disciplines within social science for gaining and validating knowledge of the social world and equips you with an academic skill base appropriate for university study. 

• 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.

• Practising Anthropology

  In this continuing module your learning will be based around three elements. In workshops, research methods will be introduced and practised with your peers, whilst seminar sessions will deepen your understanding of the methodological, political and ethical principles of action research. Later in the module, through extended workshop activity you will work in teams to plan a research project in response to a simulated social situation.

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. 

• Critical Perspectives on International Development

  You will gain a theoretical and historical overview of the changing relationship between anthropology and international development as you learn to understand the multiple ways in which anthropological research can enhance our understanding of contemporary policies and practices in international development. 

• Ethnicity, Migration and Identity

  Learn about the range of key concepts, theories, and controversies in the anthropology of ethnicity, culture, nationhood, and identity. Drawing on case studies from within and beyond Britain, it will encourage you to consider how identities are created, deployed, and contested.  

• Ethnography in South Asia

  This module explores classic anthropological themes -- such as community, class, kinship, gender, and globalisation -- through an indepth focus on a particular ethnographic region: South Asia and its diasporas.

• Ethnography of a Selected Region

  In this module you will grasp the interplay between ethnographic observations during fieldwork and theory building during the write up process. You will examine key cultural issues for the region, covering topics such as religion, nationalism, economics, and the interplay of politics and memory.

• Global Health in Anthropological Perspective

  This module explores what anthropology can contribute to debates around global health issues.

• 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’.

• 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.

Compulsory

• Human Geography and Anthropology Dissertation

  You will undertake an individual research project on a topic of your choice. You will gather and analyse data and write up your findings, with support from a dissertation supervisor.  

• Leadership for Change

  This module aims to develop the leadership and influence skills that will help you to promote forms of positive change within society and the environment (either individually or collectively). Through engagement with a project in the local community, you'll engage in personal and professional development activities that will enhance your employability.  

Optional

• Anthropology of Education and Learning

  Gain an appreciation of the key issues in the anthropology of education and learning and an understanding, ethnographically, of how culture shapes and informs the educational and learning process an and in turn impacts social and cultural practices.

• Cities, Power and Social Change

  An introduction to urban sociology and will develop the students understanding of urban development, cultures, and representation. The course will offer theoretical tools and provide practical applications for the relationship between space, culture, and social life in contemporary cities.

• Contemporary Anthropological Theory

  This module offers a historical and critical perspective on the development of theories and methods in social anthropology from around 1980 to the present day, focussing on contemporary theoretical debates and how these have shaped the discipline of anthropology.

• Critical Perspectives on International Development

  You will gain a theoretical and historical overview of the changing relationship between anthropology and international development as you learn to understand the multiple ways in which anthropological research can enhance our understanding of contemporary policies and practices in international development. 

• Environmental Justice

  The module introduces students to diverse notions and theories of social justice, and to the emergence and development of environmental justice movements. It enables students to explore how environmental justice claims are made in relation to substantive issues at different scales of analysis.

• 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. 

• Ethnography in South Asia

  This module explores classic anthropological themes -- such as community, class, kinship, gender, and globalisation -- through an indepth focus on a particular ethnographic region: South Asia and its diasporas.

• Ethnography of a Selected Region

  In this module you will grasp the interplay between ethnographic observations during fieldwork and theory building during the write up process. You will examine key cultural issues for the region, covering topics such as religion, nationalism, economics, and the interplay of politics and memory.

• Global Health in Anthropological Perspective

  This module explores what anthropology can contribute to debates around global health issues.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• Race, Class and Space

  This module introduces you to contemporary debates on race, class, and space. You'll become familiarised with different theoretical positions, and ways in which race and class are spatially structured.  

• South Asia – Societies and Development

  In this module we explore the theoretical and empirical debates surrounding the politics, society and economics of South Asia as a region and its place in the larger world. We focus in particular on countries of the Indian subcontinent that were former colonies of the British Raj – India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

• 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’.