Social and Cultural Anthropology

What levels are on offer?

You can take Social and Cultural Anthropology at Higher Level or at Standard Level.

How do I decide which to choose?
  • Higher Level Social and Cultural Anthropology is aimed at students who are possibly interested in taking it at University.
  • The course also has close links with the social sciences and philosophy.
What will I need?

You do not need to have studied social and cultural anthropology before.

What will I study?

Standard Level

Part 1 - Underlying Principles

You will study the underlying principles that focus on the nature, strengths and problems of anthropology:

  • Approaches to the Analysis of Society and Culture
  • Key Concepts
  • Methods
  • Construction of Ethnographic Accounts
  • Relevance of Social and Cultural Anthropology

Part 2 - Themes

You will consider the themes that deal with aspects of human experience:

  • Social Organisation
  • Systems of Belief and Knowledge
  • Processes of Change and Transformation

Part 3 - Ethnographic Materials

Ethnographic Materials are the descriptions of the social life and culture of specific groups. You will need to develop detailed knowledge of three societies:

  • Ethnographies
  • Cultural Materials
  • Your Own Social and Cultural Knowledge.

The Higher Level Course adds Part 4 to the Standard Level course.

Part 4 - Fundamental Theoretical Issues

  • Materialism and Idealism
  • Agency-centred and Structure-centred Approaches
  • Particularistic and Universalistic Explanations
  • Synchronic Diachronic Perspectives
  • Cohesion and Conflict
How will I be assessed?

In each case there are two aspects to the assessment.

Internal Assessment

At Standard Level, you will conduct a one-hour observation with a short written report, followed by a critique of the initial report. This is worth 20% of the total marks.

At Higher Level you will conduct Field Research using two different data collection techniques and present your findings in a report. This is worth 30% of the total marks.

The External Assessment is an end of course exam taken in May of the second year consisting of two papers for Standard Level and 3 papers for Higher.

Previous Page