MRes/PhD in Anthropology

Page contents > Programme Structure: MRes in Anthropology | Programme Structure: PhD in Anthropology | Footnotes

Programme Code: TMRESAN/RPAN2

Department: Anthropology

For students starting this programme of study in 2025/26

Guidelines for interpreting programme regulations

Programme Structure: MRes in Anthropology

Programme Code: TMRESAN

Department: Anthropology

Classification scheme for the award of a taught master's degree (four units)
Exam sub-board local rules

Please note that places are limited on some optional courses. Admission onto any particular course is not guaranteed and can be subject to timetabling constraints and/or students meeting specific prerequisite requirements.
Paper	Course number, title (unit value)

Paper 1	AN471 Qualitative and Quantitative Methods for Anthropologists (1.0)

Paper 2	AN472 Evidence and Arguments in Anthropology and Other Social Sciences (1.0)

Paper 3	AN442 Supervised Reading Course and Fieldwork Preparation (1.0)

Paper 4	AN443 Research Proposal (1.0)

Paper 5	In addition students are required to complete the following course, which is compulsory but not examined: AN500 Seminar on Anthropological Research (0.0)

Paper 6	All MRes students are required to audit courses to the value of 0.5 units from the following list:
	One term of: AN404 Anthropology: Theory and Ethnography (1.0)

	AN451 Politics and Power: Debates in Anthropology (0.5)
	AN456 Economic Anthropology (0.5)
	AN479 Anthropology of Law and Human Rights (0.5)
	AN485 Mind and Society (0.5)
	AN487 Environmental Anthropology (0.5)
	AN488 Gender, Sexuality and Kinship (0.5)
	AN490 Anthropology and Religion (0.5)

	And either another half unit from the list above
	OR one half unit from the following list: AN419 The Anthropology of Christianity (0.5)
	AN420 The Anthropology of Southeast Asia (0.5) (suspended 2025/26)
	AN424 The Anthropology of Melanesia (0.5) (suspended 2025/26)
	AN436 The Anthropology of Development (0.5)
	AN458 Children and Youth in Contemporary Ethnography (0.5) (suspended 2025/26)
	AN463 Borders and Boundaries: Ethnographic Approaches (0.5)
	AN467 The Anthropology of South Asia (0.5) # (suspended 2025/26)
	AN469 The Anthropology of Amazonia (0.5) (suspended 2025/26)
	AN476 Anthropology and the Anthropocene (0.5)
	AN477 Topics in the Anthropology of sub-Saharan Africa (0.5) # (suspended 2025/26)
	AN480 Public Anthropology (0.5) (suspended 2025/26)
	AN483 Anthropology, Art, and Poetics (0.5) (suspended 2025/26)
	AN484 Anthropological Approaches to Race, Racism, and Decolonisation (0.5) (suspended 2025/26)
	AN489 Anthropology of the Body (0.5) (suspended 2025/26)
	AN492 Anthropological Entanglements in the Middle East (0.5)
	AN493 Language, Signs, World, Action! Introduction to Linguistic Anthropology (0.5)
	AN495 Digital Anthropology (0.5)
	AN4A1 Understanding Religion in the Contemporary World (0.5)

Award of the MRes in Anthropology
The award and classification of the MRes degree is consistent with the School's Scheme for the Award of a four-unit Taught Master's Degree.

The marks for AN471 and AN472 will count respectively as 25% of the total mark for the year. The research proposal, worth 50% of the total mark for the MRes year, will be examined (and the examination includes a viva).

In order to be upgraded to PhD registration and allowed to commence fieldwork, students must earn a minimum mark of 60 or more in each of AN471, AN472 and the Research Proposal.

Progression to the PhD
If the above MRes requirements are met, students will be upgraded to PhD registration and will commence the fieldwork phase of the programme. The mandatory first year progress review of PhD students will be based on written reports about the early phase of fieldwork. The mandatory third year progress review for students in Anthropology is held in the third term (or, exceptionally, in the fourth term) after their return from fieldwork; this entails a viva with both supervisors and one external examiner.

Programme Structure: PhD in Anthropology

Programme Code: RPAN2

Department: Anthropology

In the programme regulations below Years 1 and 2 are listed as "fieldwork", with Years 3 and 4 being post-fieldwork, although in practice the timing/duration of these stages may vary to some extent between students.
Paper	Course number, title (unit value)
Year 1	- Fieldwork
Year 2	- Fieldwork
Year 3
Paper 1	AN505 Advanced Professional Development in Anthropology (1.0)

Papers 2 & 3
	Compulsory non-examined courses: AN500 Seminar on Anthropological Research (0.0)
	AN503 Thesis Writing Seminar (0.0)

Year 4
Papers 4 & 5
	Compulsory non-examined courses: AN500 Seminar on Anthropological Research (0.0)
	AN503 Thesis Writing Seminar (0.0)

Footnotes

# means there may be prerequisites for this course. Please view the course guide for more information.

Local rules
The only permitted format for theses in the Department of Anthropology is that of a monograph that forms an integrated whole.

Note for prospective students:
For changes to graduate course and programme information for the next academic session, please see the graduate summary page for prospective students. Changes to course and programme information for future academic sessions can be found on the graduate summary page for future students.