Queen's University Belfast

Source: https://www.qub.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/anthropology-irish-ba-ql56/ Parent: https://www.qub.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/

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Undergraduate 2027

Undergraduate 2025

BA | Undergraduate

Anthropology and Irish

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Entry year : Academic Year 2027/28

Entry requirements : ABB

Attendance : 3 years (Full-time) \

UCAS Code : QL56

Overview
Course content
Modules
Entry requirements
Careers
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In Anthropology, you will explore what it means to be human, learn about human cultural diversity, compare societies and cultures from around the world and understand how conflict arises and how resolutions are found.\ \ Students on this course will receive intensive tuition in the Irish language and culture. Language modules examine core aspects of written and spoken Irish, covering subjects such as syntax, phonetics and semantics. A range of optional modules provide you with a broad understanding of diverse aspects of Irish culture, society and identity. These include film studies, studies in Irish translation, language and rights, modern poetry, Irish linguistics, and the short story. The growth of Gaelic identity is also explored and insight into the country’s wider heritage is developed through the study of mythology, folklore and Scottish Gaelic. All our students spend an extended period in the Gaeltacht each summer as part of our residential course. Final-year students can also avail of work internships in an Irish-language setting. \ \ Through classroom modules, optional placements, and your own anthropological fieldwork, you will also gain valuable skills in critical thinking, cross-cultural understanding, researching, interviewing, writing, and presenting.

In the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2023, Anthropology was ranked 10th in the UK for graduate prospects. Irish at QUB is ranked 1st for Research (The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2022).

Course highlights

Global Opportunities

Undergraduate anthropology students, as part of their training, have carried out ethnographic field research around the world. Projects have focused on cultural identity in the Irish diaspora in the USA; 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.

In addition, through the different stages of the dissertation module (preparation and research design, fieldwork itself, and post-fieldwork writing-up), students develop a range of skills (organisational skills, interpersonal skills, information-handling skills, and project management skills) that prepare them for later employment. Many of our students work with NGOs and other organisations as part of their fieldwork.

Industry Links

We have former students in senior positions in most Irish language sectors and we maintain good links with media production companies, the translation sector and language promotion agencies.

Current placement partners include Operation Wallacea, which works with teams of ecologists, scientists and academics on a variety of bio-geographical projects around the globe, the Belfast Migration Centre and Heavy Sound (Edinburgh).

In Anthropology, a growing number of internship opportunities will match dissertation students with organisations and institutions relevant to their career paths by building on local and international staff networks and professional connections.

Career Development

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 applied anthropology.

Employability: The Level 3 module ‘Gairmeacha le Gaeilge’ enables students to undertake an internship (minimum of 50 hours across one semester) in an Irish-language organisation, public body, company, or educational service, where work is conducted through Irish.

Anthropology at Queen's is ranked 19th in the UK by subject (The Complete University Guide 2025).

World Class Facilities

The Performance Room 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.

Queen’s has an excellent library for Irish materials and an outstanding collection of resources relating to Ireland.

Internationally Renowned Experts

Queen’s has world-leading experts in the history of the Irish language and literature, Irish linguistics and Gaelic names.

Anthropology study at Queen's also connects with the following research centres: The Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice;\ the Institute of Cognition and Culture; and the Institute of Irish Studies.

https://www.qub.ac.uk/schools/happ/subject-area/anthropology/research/

Student Experience

Strong emphasis on Irish language and culture. Students complete 4 hours of language per week (interactive classes based on the national syllabus for Irish). Teaching on core and most optional modules is conducted through the medium of Irish.

Irish has a bespoke online platform for language learning called Learning Branch (this contains a range of subject-specific language tasks and mirrors content in language modules).

The Irish student society, An Cumann Gaelach, is one of the biggest in QUB. The society is extremely active and holds a range of events and activities each year (annual festival, Irish classes, concerts, annual dinner-dance, etc.).

Gaeltacht: Students have a unique opportunity to engage with native speakers through attendance at an annual Gaeltacht residential in Rannafast, Donegal. The course lasts 3 weeks and takes place at the end of Stage 1 and Stage 2.

Irish Language Residential Scheme: Students studying Irish have the opportunity to live in QUB accommodation with other Irish speakers (subject to eligibility).

The School of HAPP provide financial support up to a maximum of £400 for the Anthropology dissertation fieldwork research.\ \ Anne Maguire Memorial Prize\ The prize is awarded to an Anthropology student who, in the judgement of the Board of Examiners for Social Anthropology, produces the best dissertation for this module in any year.\ \ Improved Performance Undergraduate Prize\ The Improved Performance Undergraduate prize is awarded by the Board of Examiners of the School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics to the student, registered on any HAPP UG programme with the most improved performance between Level 2 and Level 3.\ \ The Joint Honours Undergraduate Prize\ The Joint Honours Undergraduate Prize is awarded to the student with the highest final degree mark in a School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics - owning Joint Degree programme, excluding any combination with History or Politics.

https://www.qub.ac.uk/News/Allnews/2022/irish-languages-scheme-unveilied.html?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=organic_social&utm_term=&utm_content=irish_accommodation&utm_campaign=Comms2022

Further Study Opportunities

Further study is also an option (eg MA Anthropology, MA Conflict Transformation and Social Justice, MA in Irish Studies, MA in Arts Management, MA in Translation, and MA in Linguistics); see the school website for details.

‘’Recently the dissertation experience has been really useful in my job search. Because it involves different research methods and demonstrates good written and verbal communication skills, it's great for the CV and even better for coming up with examples for competency questions in interviews. It's also brilliant for networking because it provides easy conversation and an awareness of social issues etc.” \ Lucy Proudlock

"The fieldwork and dissertation have been central to my experience as a Anthropology student. While I am sure it will stand me in good stead in my future search for employment, its central value was as a practice which revealed what Anthropology is really about; through fieldwork, the abstract and theoretical concepts which we had absorbed in two years previous study became immediate and concrete; the subject came alive. Observing and analysing patterns of human action and thought, and later attempting to relay any inferred information (in the form of a dissertation) was a stimulating and challenging process, which seemed to me to be of value in and of itself." \ Samuel Ward

‘’Doing an anthropology dissertation is great for allowing you to use your own creativity and actually apply your knowledge rather than simply learning from others. It is a fantastic way of building confidence for any future career as it gives you the opportunity to expand on something independently and looks great on the CV!’' \ Genevieve Bigger

‘’Recently the dissertation experience has been really useful in my job search. Because it involves different research methods and demonstrates good written and verbal communication skills, it's great for the CV and even better for coming up with examples for competency questions in interviews. It's also brilliant for networking because it provides easy conversation and an awareness of social issues etc.” \ Lucy Proudlock

"The fieldwork and dissertation have been central to my experience as a Anthropology student. While I am sure it will stand me in good stead in my future search for employment, its central value was as a practice which revealed what Anthropology is really about; through fieldwork, the abstract and theoretical concepts which we had absorbed in two years previous study became immediate and concrete; the subject came alive. Observing and analysing patterns of human action and thought, and later attempting to relay any inferred information (in the form of a dissertation) was a stimulating and challenging process, which seemed to me to be of value in and of itself." \ Samuel Ward

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History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics

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