Anthropology
What is Anthropology? Anthropology is the study of humans, past and present. It draws and builds upon knowledge from the social and biological sciences as well as the humanities and physical sciences.
The Complete University Guide page is here as is their version of the league table.
- I used to define Social Anthropology as cultural history: more fully, it looks at social patterns and practices across cultures, particularly in how people live in particular places and how they organise, govern, and create meaning. It is concerned with similarities and differences, both within and between societies, and its attention to race, sexuality, class, gender, and nationality.
- Biological Anthropology seeks to understand how humans adapt to diverse environments, how biological and cultural processes work together to shape growth, development and behaviour, and what causes disease and early death. It also looks at human biological origins, evolution and variation and so courses often include the study of other primates (primatology), the fossil record (paleoanthropology), prehistoric people (bioarchaeology), and the biology (health, cognition, hormones, growth and development) and genetics of living populations.
- An area not available on all Anthropology courses is Linguistic anthropology which looks at how language reflect and influence social life. They can define patterns of communication, formulate categories of social identity and equip people with common cultural representations of their natural and social worlds.
The Complete University Guide page is here as is their version of the league table.
Cambridge |
Oxford |
Archaeology - incorporating Biological Anthropology - In the first year you choose 3 from 7 papers (Bio Anth is one of them) PLUS one from HSPS, PBS or another one from the 7. In the second and third years you can specialise in BioAnth (looking at behavioural ecology, human origins, health and disease)
DATA
HSPS - incorporating Social Anthropology as an option in the first year (alongside two from Sociology, Politics and International relations, plus a paper from Archaeology, PBS or the Bio Anthropology: Social Anthropology can be the sole or combined subject of the second and third years. DATA
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Archaeology and Anthropology
The Oxford course in Archaeology and Anthropology offers excellent resources and fieldwork. There is no written test for applicants, but you will have to understand the relationship between archaeology, social anthropology and biological anthropology, so some understanding of the interrelationship is useful prior to interview! A good outline of the course is given on the department's website. DATA
To the Anthropology Resource Page |