{"id":2533,"date":"2022-11-10T15:22:17","date_gmt":"2022-11-10T15:22:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.manchester.ac.uk\/sossteachlearn\/?page_id=2533"},"modified":"2022-11-10T15:24:04","modified_gmt":"2022-11-10T15:24:04","slug":"social-anthropology","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.manchester.ac.uk\/sossteachlearn\/about\/depts\/social-anthropology\/","title":{"rendered":"Social Anthropology"},"content":{"rendered":"

[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section” fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”3.17.6″ next_background_color=”#000000″ global_module=”322″][et_pb_fullwidth_menu global_parent=”322″ menu_id=”7″ submenu_direction=”downwards” fullwidth_menu=”off” module_class=”main-navigation” _builder_version=”3.0.106″ background_layout=”dark” \/][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ module_class=”header-image-section” _builder_version=”3.0.74″ custom_padding=”0px||0px|” custom_css_main_element=”padding-top:0px” transparent_background=”off” prev_background_color=”#000000″ next_background_color=”#000000″][et_pb_row custom_padding=”||0px|” custom_margin=”||0px|” parallax_method_1=”off” module_class=”header-image” _builder_version=”3.0.47″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/sites.manchester.ac.uk\/sossteachlearn\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/312\/2021\/05\/events-1400.jpg” show_bottom_space=”off” _builder_version=”3.17.6″ border_color_all=”#ffffff” custom_margin=”0px|||” animation_direction=”left” use_border_color=”off” \/][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.0.74″ custom_padding=”||0px|” transparent_background=”off” prev_background_color=”#000000″ next_background_color=”#000000″][et_pb_row custom_padding=”||0px|” custom_margin=”||0px|” parallax_method_1=”off” module_class=”breadcrumbs-row” _builder_version=”3.0.47″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Breadcrumbs (do not remove)” module_class=”breadcrumbs” _builder_version=”3.0.87″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” module_alignment=”left” custom_css_main_element=”border-bottom: 1px solid #ececed;” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\nSoSS Teaching and Learning<\/a><\/span><\/span>\n

[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ use_custom_gutter=”on” gutter_width=”2″ specialty=”on” parallax_method_1=”off” parallax_method_2=”off” _builder_version=”3.0.74″ transparent_background=”off” prev_background_color=”#000000″ next_background_color=”#1d1d1d”][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_sidebar admin_label=”Left Nav Sidebar” area=”et_pb_widget_area_1″ show_border=”off” module_id=”left-nav-menu” _builder_version=”3.0.74″ remove_border=”on” \/][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_3″ specialty_columns=”2″][et_pb_row_inner admin_label=”Row” _builder_version=”3.17.6″][et_pb_column_inner type=”4_4″ saved_specialty_column_type=”2_3″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Main text” _builder_version=”3.17.6″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” module_alignment=”left” use_border_color=”off”]<\/p>\n

Social Anthropology<\/h1>\n

Department statement<\/h2>\n

Social Anthropology has a diverse set of expertise, from migration to material cultures. Through ethnographic and creative research methods, social anthropologists at Manchester shed light on some of the most pressing challenges of our time. Overall, our strengths lie in visual anthropology, the study of global social and health inequalities, and urban and environmental challenges. Students will be learning from experts doing cutting-edge work.<\/p>\n

We are renown for our teaching and research in visual anthropology<\/em><\/strong>. Visual anthropologists use film, photography, and other visual media as a research tool and a way of sharing their research findings. Ethnographic films refer to films made by anthropologists based on long-term fieldwork. Undergraduate students who have an interest in film and visual media, will have opportunities to practice digital filmmaking and learn about the history of ethnographic film and documentary. Students will also have access to one of the largest ethnographic film libraries in Europe<\/strong>. Undergraduate students who want to further develop practical visual media skills, can join the master’s in Visual Anthropology (MAVA). Postgraduate students will get a chance to work with sound, video and film equipment in our editing suites and have the unique opportunity to make their own films<\/strong>. View the Granada Centre for Visual Anthropology<\/a> for more information.<\/p>\n

Social anthropology has expertise in global social and health inequalities<\/strong>. From the study of race and genomics in Latin America to the experiences of migration and immobility in the Mediterranean, anthropologists at Manchester are engaged in analysing and addressing inequalities. Undergraduate students begin by studying a module called Power and Culture: Inequality in Everyday Life, a theme carried through the rest of your degree programme, whether learning about kinship or about museum displays.<\/p>\n

Our students also tend to be the kind of people who are invested in tackling inequalities. This is evident in the final year dissertation topics, which are diverse and engage with a range of pressing topics including the refugee crisis, LGBTQ+ issues, food poverty, ethical consumption, and other pressing societal challenges.<\/p>\n

Although many of the anthropologists at Manchester study societies in different countries, from Brazil to Siberia, our strength also lies in the Anthropology of Britain<\/strong>, particularly on questions of class and race.\u00a0 One example is Dr Katherine Smith\u2019s research in North Manchester. In this video, \u2018Challenging Stereotypes\u2019 (https:\/\/vimeo.com\/182988870<\/a>), she takes us to the neighbourhoods where she did her ethnographic research and introduces us to the people she came to know well.<\/p>\n

Urban and environmental challenges are also a sustained site of critical enquiry. The effects of climate change, risky urban infrastructures, and other environmental problems demand new ways of thinking and living in the world. Anthropologists in our department work on shamans, scientists, and climate change at the ethnic borderlands of China and Russia (see Cosmological Visionaries<\/a>); the decommissioning of a nuclear site in Britain (see Sellafield Site Futures<\/a>); and the hopes and failures of high-rise tower blocks in London and Nairobi (see Tower Block Failures<\/a>).<\/p>\n

These projects shed light on the power of ethnographic and anthropological research. They show, for example, the importance of bringing together knowledge and belief systems from diverse traditions, and the power of ethnography in spotlighting on-the-ground perspectives.<\/p>\n

You can learn more about the various research projects here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Students in the Anthropology of Development and Humanitarianism module have created a website<\/a> over the past years, in dialogue with aid workers from the British Red Cross, Save the Children, organisations assisting refugees and asylum seekers, and more. They prepare for a visit from aid practitioners throughout the semester, working together in small groups to research what anthropological perspectives could offer to a particular humanitarian issue. They learn the valuable employability skills of teamwork and communication, in addition to how to apply scholarly analyses to \u2018real world\u2019 challenges.<\/p>\n

Students who take the Anthropology of Vision, Memory, and the Senses learn to engage with the city of Manchester through multimedia and visual modes of exploration and expression:<\/p>\n