Master of Science by Coursework in Cognitive and Evolutionary Anthropology
Differences from 2020/21 to 2023/24
1. The course shall be under the supervision of the Teaching Committee of the School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography.
- 2. Candidates
mustwill be required to follow a course of instruction in Cognitive and Evolutionary Anthropology, including training in research,forat leastthree terms, and will, when entering for the examination, be required to produce a certificate from their supervisor to this effect. - 3. Candidates will
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3.The written examination will consist of four papers, one in each of the subjects listed in the Schedule. 4.(a)ForPractical Quantitative Methods (Paper 1,)candidatesassessedwill be required to completeby a take-homeexaminationpaper(provided by the course convener not later than the Friday of eighth week of Michaelmas Term), which mustto be submitted bythenoon on Thursday of week 0 of HilaryTermterm.- (b)
anonymouslyPrinciplesviaofWebLearn,Evolutionaccompaniedand Behaviour (Paper 2) assessed byconfirmationtwothatessaysitofisnothemorecandidate'sthanown2,500workwords each, to be submitted by noon on Monday of week 4 of Trinity term. - (c) Evolution and Human Behaviour (Paper 3) assessed by two essays of no more than 2,500 words each, to be submitted by noon on Thursday of week 5 of Trinity term.
- (d) Mind and Culture (Paper 4) assessed by two essays of no more than 2,500 words each, to be submitted by noon on Monday of week 7 of Trinity term.
5.For each of Papers 2, 3 and 4, candidates will be required to sit an examination.64. Candidates willbe required to submitcomplete a dissertation of no more than 15,000 wordsin length,onandaantopicabstractagreedofwithuptheirtosupervisors250 words. Theproposed title of thedissertation, together with a paragraph describing its scopeandthe supervisor’s written endorsement,abstract must be submittedto the Chair of ExaminersbyThursday of the fifth week of Trinity Term. The dissertation must be submitted via WebLearn not later thannoon on the last Wednesday in August.- 5. All assessments must be submitted using the University approved online submission system. Technical information on the requirements for online submissions is provided in the
yearCourseinHandbook. - 6.
whichCandidates may be requested to attend on oral examination on any of the examinationis taken. The dissertation must be anonymous, accompanied by confirmation that it is the candidate’s own work, and submitted in electronic file format. The dissertation shall be provided with an abstract of up to 250 words, to be placed immediately after the title page. The word count shall be stated on the title page of the thesis. 7.The fourpaperswill be taken to constitute Part I of the degree and the dissertation to constitute Part II. At the close of the written examinations, the examiners will issue a list of those who have satisfied them in Part I.8.The oral examination, if held, may be on any or all of the candidate’s assessed essays,and/orthedissertation.9.In order to pass the degree, a student must pass all its assessed components. Where one or more components are failed, the student will be given the opportunity to re-sit or re-submit them once, as the case may be. Any subsequent award of the degree on successful completion of all the assessed components may be delayed by up to three terms, i.e. until the Examination Board next meets.
2be required to present themselves for written and (if requested bycomplete the examiners)following oralfour examinationscore and to submit a dissertation in a prescribed form on an approved topic as defined in (6) and (7) below.
Schedule
Paper 1.Quantitative Methods in the Human Sciences(a)Hypothesis testing(b)Statistical analysis(c)Research design
Paper 2.Principles of Evolution and Behaviour(a)Primate and hominin phylogeny and evolution(b)Primate and hominin physiology(c)Primate and human diet and subsistence(d)Reconstructing past behaviour from primatology and archaeology
Paper 3.Evolution and Human Behaviour(a)History of evolutionary approaches to human behaviour(b)Human evolutionary psychology(c)Human behavioural ecology(d)Cultural evolutionary processes
Paper 4.Mind and Culture(a)Cognitive and evolutionary explanations in anthropology(b)Pan-human cognition: developmental and evolutionary perspectives(c)Cognitive origins of culture(d)Communication and transmission of culture.