Queen's University Belfast

Source: https://www.qub.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/anthropology-politics-ba-ll62/ Parent: https://www.qub.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/

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Undergraduate 2027

Undergraduate 2025

BA | Undergraduate

Anthropology and Politics

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Entry year : Academic Year 2027/28

Entry requirements : ABB

Attendance : 6 years (Part-time) \ 3 years (Full-time) \

UCAS Code : LL62

Overview
Course content
Modules
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The Joint Honours Programme in Anthropology and Politics provides students with an in-depth, interdisciplinary understanding of contemporary cultures and politics, international affairs, societies, and institutions in their political, historical, social, cultural, economic and legal dimensions. \ \ Anthropology is the study of human diversity around the world. In studying anthropology, you will learn how different societies live together and think about such topics as family, religion, art, politics and economics and gain skills increasingly in demand in a globalized and automated world. \ \ Studying anthropology at Queen’s will allow you to examine through working closely with people on the ground some of the deepest and most pressing questions about human beings. Issues addressed in our modules include:\ \ Does globalisation mean the end of cultural difference?\ Can a post-conflict society heal? \ How do ritual traditions, musical performances, and art shape cultural identities? \ How do some people become willing to die for a group? \ \ 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.\ \ The academic study of politics is concerned with the sources of conflict, co-operation, power and decision-making within and between societies, how differences are expressed through ideology and organisation, and how, if at all, disagreements and problems are resolved. We look at conflict, co-operation and its origins, dynamics and trajectories, at theories of society, at the value and ethical basis of political ideas and action, and at politics in different national and historical contexts.

In the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2023, Anthropology was ranked 10th in the UK for graduate prospects. Politics at Queen's was ranked in the top 200 in the world by subject (QS World Rankings by subject 2024).

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 nationalism in Scotland; orphanages in Kenya; AIDS in southern Africa, education in Ghana; LGBTQ+ rights in India, NGOs in Guatemala, music in China, marriage in Japan, backpacking in Europe, and whale-watching in Hawaii.

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.

QUB students, uniquely in the UK, still have the opportunity to spend part of the course studying in other European universities, through our Erasmus programme. There are also opportunities to study at partner institutions in the USA and Canada.

Industry Links

Anthropology students develop a range of skills (organizational 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 (e.g. Operation Wallacea; Belfast Migration Centre) as part of their fieldwork.

Career Development

Politics graduates have risen to the top in a number of fields, including media, print journalism, translating, marketing, local government, fast-stream Civil Service, and a very wide range of local, national and international companies.

In the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2023, Anthropology was ranked 10th in the UK for graduate prospects.

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 one of the largest politics departments in the UK and Ireland.

Queen’s is one of the top 10 most beautiful universities in the UK (Times Higher Education, 2023).

Internationally Renowned Experts

Anthropology at Queen’s has international renown in the following areas: Ethnomusicology and performance; Conflict and borders; Religion; Cognition and culture; Migration and diasporas; Irish studies; Material culture and art; Human-animal relations; The cross-cultural study of emotions.

Politics: with over 30 staff at the cutting edge of research and publication, the School is the largest in Ireland and one of the largest in the UK and Ireland, with specialisms in Irish and British politics, environmental politics, political theory, sustainable development, the politics of film and literature, gender, democratic innovations, European Union politics, ethnic conflict, and international relations.

Centre of Excellence: the School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics at Queen‘s has 30 full-time academics, making it the largest institutional centre for the study of these subjects in Ireland and one of the largest in the UK.\ \ The School also boasts the following:\ • Democracy Unit\ • Centre for Gender in Politics\ • Centre for Public History\ • Institute of Cognition and Culture\ • The Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice\ • Institute of Irish Studies\ • Two International Summer Schools (the Irish\ Studies Summer School; and the Conflict\ Transformation and Social Justice Summer\ School)

Student Experience

A number of prizes and Awards are available during the programme of study.\ \ 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.

Politics at Queen's was ranked in the top 200 in the world (QS World Rankings by subject 2023).

Further Study Opportunities

Further study is also an option (eg MA Anthropology, MA Conflict Transformation and Social Justice, MA Politics, MSc International Public Policy, etc.); 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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