The Anthropology and Sociology degree is particularly suited to students who are curious about their own and other societies, and who are interested in understanding social processes and meanings in the world around them.

Rigorous training is provided in a range of methodologies and research skills appropriate to anthropology and sociology.

Anthropology at Brunel

Anthropology at Brunel is one of the more outward-looking and cosmopolitan social sciences, its subject being the documentation and explanation of cultural diversity.

The course differs from Anthropology courses at other universities because of the broad social science perspective from which it is taught.

Our research has an international reputation, with particular expertise in child-focused anthropological research and medical anthropology.

Sociology at Brunel

A central theme of Sociology at Brunel is the study of the development of techno-cultural phenomena such as media and information technology, and environmental issues, which straddle traditional conceptual distinctions between the social, the natural, the technical and the material.

At Brunel, Sociology has developed a particularly close relationship with Communication and Media Studies, reflecting and emphasising the central and ever-increasing importance of the communications media within our culture.

Among the more specific interests of Brunel sociologists are, for example, social theory, celebrity culture, the influence of the media, environmental risk, media regulation, media discourses, and contemporary social structure and change, urban spaces, and addiction and deviance. These various interests strongly reflect the options available in Level 3 of our degree course.

Students of Anthropology and Sociology can go on to pursue both private and public sector careers including work with governmental organisations like the United Nations and with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) like Save the Children and Oxfam.

Others now work as teachers, journalists and research officers in the health and social sectors, and in other professions requiring knowledge of social and cultural processes.

Some pursue further research degrees in anthropology and become academic anthropologists.

Level 1

You will gain a broad social science training in your first year. This includes an introduction to key theoretical issues and practical training in research methods, such as interviewing and participant observation.

Level 2

Anthropology modules introduce students to the history and theory of anthropology, and to some of the current issues in the fields of ethnicity, gender, religion and kinship. Sociology topics include sociological theory, methods and contemporary social institutions. You also continue your studies of research methods, and conduct your own research exercises.

Level 3

You can choose from a wide range of advanced options in topics as varied as family, gender, kinship, ethnicity, medical anthropology and cultural patterns of consumption.

The BSc consists of both compulsory and optional modules, a typical selection can be found below. Modules can vary from year to year, but these offer a good idea of what we teach.

Level 1

Compulsory

• Introduction to Anthropology: Themes
• Introduction to Anthropology: Beliefs and Ways of Thinking
• Research Methods in Anthropology
• Anthropology, Objects and Images
• Key Ideas in Sociology
• Contemporary Society and Media

Level 2

Compulsory

• Classical Anthropological Theory
• Political and Economic Issues in Anthropology
• Sociology of Everyday Life: Issues in contemporary culture
• Visual Cultures
• Apocalypse! Crisis and Society

Optional

• Ethnicity, Culture and Identity
• Ethnography of a Selected Region

Level 3

Compulsory

• Social Anthropology and Sociology Dissertation

Optional

• Anthropology of the Person
• Anthropology of the Body
• Understanding Childhood Youth
• Themes in Psychological and Psychiatric Anthropology
• Medical Anthropology in Clinical and Community Settings
• Anthropology of Education and Learning
• Contemporary Anthropological Theory
• Ethnography of a Selected Region
• Anthropological Perspectives on War and Humanitarianism
• Global Health in Anthropological Perspective
• Comedy, the Media and Society
• Race, Idientity and Difference
• Digital Cultures
• Global Cities: Space and Culture
• Beyond Human

• GCE A-level BBB (all subjects considered).

• BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma DDD in a related subject.

• BTEC Level 3 Diploma DD in a related subject with an A-Level at grade B.

• BTEC Level 3 Subsidiary Diploma D in any subject with A-Levels grade BB.

• International Baccalaureate Diploma 30 points.

• Access to Higher Education Diploma Complete and pass a related subject Access course with 45 credits at Level 3, of which 30 credits must be at Distinction and 15 credits at Merit or higher.

A minimum of five GCSEs are required, including GCSE English grade C or grade 4. GCSE Mathematics grade C or grade 4 is also normally required.