Overview
Introduction
Studying an MSc in Social Anthropology at LSE will give you a solid understanding of the subject, both in terms of its ethnographic diversity and its theoretical development. This programme is ideal for graduates with a degree in any discipline. Even if you have no prior knowledge of anthropology, you’ll enjoy developing a critical and comparative understanding of human societies and cultures over time.
The MSc provides an excellent introduction to the subject, even for those intending to pursue careers in other fields. It’s also ideal for those who want to undertake further research work in anthropology and related disciplines at LSE.
This is a 12-month programme consisting of one compulsory course, which examines the relationship between theory and ethnography in modern social and cultural anthropology. It covers the development of modern anthropological theory and the relationship between theoretical analysis and ethnographic data. You’ll also write a 10,000-word dissertation on an approved topic of your choice.
Teaching in the department is grounded in a strong tradition of fieldwork-based research, and you’ll benefit from the expertise and specialisms of our faculty. You’ll attend lectures and seminars every week as well as regular academic tutorials.
Preliminary readings
- L Bear Navigating Austerity (Stanford University Press, 2015)
- T H Erkisen Small Places, Large Issues: an introduction to social and cultural anthropology (Pluto Press, 2001) (If you have no existing knowledge of the subject)
- A Kuper Culture: the anthropologists’ account (Harvard University Press, 2009)
- J Carsten After Kinship (Cambridge University Press, 2004)
- D James Money from Nothing (Wits University Press, 2014)
- N J Long Being Malay in Indonesia (University of Hawaii Press, 2013)
- S McKinnon and F Cannell Vital Relations: modernity and the persistent life of kinship (School for Advances Research Press, 2013)
- R Willerslev Soul Hunters: hunting, animism, and personhood among the Siberian Yukaghirs (University of California Press, 2007)