Master of Science by Coursework in Social Anthropology

Differences from 2021/22 to 2023/24

    1. 1. The Social Sciences Divisional Boardcourse shall electbe forunder the supervision of the course a Standing Committee, namely the Teaching Committee of the School of Anthropology, which shall have power to arrange lectures and otherMuseum instruction.Ethnography

    2. TheCandidates course director shallwill be responsiblerequired to that committee.

    3. 2. Candidates must follow a course of instruction in Social and Cultural Anthropology for at least three terms, and will, when entering for the examinations, be required to produce a certificate from their supervisor to this effect.

    4. 3. Candidates will becomplete requiredthe tofollowing presenttwo themselvescore forcourses:

      1. Theories, writtenApproaches and (if requested) oral examinations and to submit written work for assessment, including a dissertationThemes in prescribedSocial formAnthropology on an approved topic as defined below.

      2. 4. Three papers will be taken to constitute Part I of the degree, as follows. (Paper 1) will be examinedassessed by one coursework essay and by one three-hour paper; Papers 2 and 3 (options) will each be examined either by coursework essay or by one three-hour paper. The dissertation will be taken to constitute Part II of the degree. A candidate who fails any of the component parts of the examination may re-take or re-submit that part of the examination on one occasion only. At the close of the written examinations, the examiners will publish a list of those who have satisfied them in Part I.

      3. 5. The assessed written work will consist of:

        • (i) onean essay of no more than 5,000 words, forto be submitted by noon on Thursday of week 1 of Hilary term; 

        • Comparing Cultures (Paper 14) assessed by two essays of no more than 2,500 words each, forto whichbe submitted by noon on Monday of week 6 of Trinity term. 
    1.  Candidates will take two option papers (Paper 2 and 3) from a list of essaythose titlesapproved by the School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography to be published by the end of week 2 of Michaelmas term. The option papers will be announcedassessed noby laterone thanor Fridaymore submissions, full details of thewhich seventhare weekset ofout Michaelmas Term. The essay must be uploaded toin the UniversityCourse approved online assessment platform not later than noon of the Thursday of the first week of Hilary Term; the essay must be anonymous, accompanied by confirmation that it is the candidate’s own work, and submitted in electronic file formatHandbook.

    2. (ii) Candidates will complete a dissertation of no more than 10,000 words, onand aan subjectabstract selectedof inup consultationto with250 thewords. supervisorThe dissertation and approved by the Chair of Examiners.  The proposed title of the dissertation, together with a paragraph describing its scope and the supervisor's written endorsement,abstract must be submitted to the Chair of Examiners by Thursday of the fifth week of Trinity Term.

  • 6. The dissertation must be uploaded to the University approved online assessment platformnot later than noon on the last Wednesday in August.

  • All in the year in which the examination is taken. The dissertationassessments 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 dissertation.

  • 7. The written examination will consist of one three-hour paper for Paper 1. Papers 2 and 3 (options) may each be assessed either by one 3-hour paper or by coursework essay. For those taking Papers 2 and 3 assessed by coursework essay, each essay must be uploaded tousing the University approved online assessmentsubmission platform notsystem. laterTechnical thaninformation noon ofon the Thursdayrequirements offor online submissions is provided in the secondCourse weekHandbook. of 

    1. TrinityCandidates Term; each essay mustmay be anonymousrequested and accompaniedto byattend confirmation that it is the candidate’s own work.

    2. 8. Thean oral examination (if requested) may be on any of the candidate's writtenexamination papers, assessed written work, and/or dissertation.

      3. Schedule

      Students must satisfy the examiners in three papers, one of a general nature and two options. 

      • 1. Theories, Approaches and Themes in Social Anthropology

      • 2. Option Paper I

      • 3. Option Paper II

      Paper 1 is examined by assessed essay submitted in Hilary Term and by one three-hour paper sat in Trinity Term. The two option papers (Papers 2 and 3 above) may be examined by assessed essay or by a three-hour sat examination, and must be selected from the list of options offered. 

      Options offered may vary from year to year. The list for the current academic year will be issued by the Director of Graduate Studies or his or her delegate by the end of the third week of Michaelmas term.