School of Society and Culture

BA (Hons) Anthropology with Foundation

UCAS tariff 32 - 48
UCAS course code L609
Institution code P60
Duration

4 years

(+ optional placement)
Course type

Full-time

Location Plymouth

Immerse yourself in the variety of cultures on our doorstep and beyond to build your understanding of the world and your role in it. Learn by doing, whether that’s collecting stories from refugees housed in the region, working with local communities to understand how different people engage with sport or using our location to explore the importance of the sea to coastal communities.

Anthropology with Foundation
Find out how our flexible course structures provide you with an opportunity to personalise your studies, feed your curiosity, and help you achieve your career aspirations.

Careers with this subject

As an anthropologist, you will possess many skills. You will learn how to communicate clearly and coherently, and how to work effectively alone or in groups. At Plymouth, you will become fluent in qualitative research, able to navigate the practicalities and ethics of data-collection. Above all, anthropologists become expert translators, brokers, and negotiators between different cultural groups – be they religions, ethnicities, classes, genders, etc. 
This will allow you to pursue many different career options. Anthropologists have worked as consultants and directors in the following contexts, all of which are becoming more important in the age of globalisation: 
  • Museum Curatorship
  • Environmental Conservation 
  • Development 
  • Public Health and Epidemic 
  • Advocacy 
  • Market Research 
  • Inclusivity and Human Resources 
  • Engaging in Multiculturalism Campaigns
  • Journalism
  • Fiction Writers 

Key features

  • All our modules rely on 100% coursework. We want to create inclusive learning environments, designing forms of assessment that reflect real working conditions and truly test the skills anthropologists will need to apply in their future careers.
  • Learn anthropology through an innovative, hands-on approach. Throughout your time with us, you will get many opportunities to participate in real anthropological research.
  • You will be taught by research-active anthropologists, who constantly publish work in renowned academic journals, ensuring your course is based on cutting-edge developments in the field.
  • Take part in two major, funded field trips that enable you to practice core anthropological skills, and get to know your colleagues better. Travel to London and Oxford to visit various ethnographic museums, and take part in an international field trip to carry out fieldwork in a non-British setting.
  • Shape the way anthropology is taught. Many of the subjects we teach are directly proposed by students themselves. That’s why you’ll learn about marine ethnography, humour and laughter, conspiracy theory, and anything in between.
This course is an integrated part of the BA (Hons) Anthropology degree at the University of Plymouth. Successful completion of your foundation year (Year 0) will not lead to a separate award or qualification in its own right but provides progression onto Year 1 of one of BA (Hons) Anthropology, or one of the following degree courses:
  • BA (Hons) Art History 
  • BA (Hons) Creative Writing 
  • BSc (Hons) Criminology 
  • BSc (Hons) Criminology and Psychology 
  • BSc (Hons) Criminology and Sociology 
  • BA (Hons) English 
  • BA (Hons) English and Creative Writing 
  • BA (Hons) History 
  • BSc (Hons) International Relations 
  • LLB (Hons) Law 
  • LLB (Hons) Law and Criminology 
  • BSc (Hons) Politics 
  • BSc (Hons) Politics and International Relations 
  • BSc (Hons) Sociology 
  • BSc (Hons) Professional Policing

Course details

  • Foundation year

  • In your foundation year, you’ll you acquire the knowledge and skills you’ll need to progress through your studies and become a confident, independent learner.

    Core modules

    • Discovering Your Inner Academic (SSC301)

      In this module, students will learn the core academic and organisational skills required to succeed at university. They will benefit from a range of skill development sessions and subject-specific seminars, allowing them to practice applying the delivered academic skills in the context of their field of study.

    • Individual Project (SSC302)

      Students will undertake, with supervision, an individual project related to their degree programme. Staff will guide students through the process of defining, planning, and setting up their project. As part of the module, students will gain research and time management skills that will support their successful progression through their degree programme.

    • Crime and Deviance (SSC303)

      This module will introduce students to the main institutions and processes of the legal system and criminal justice in England and Wales, while developing key transferable skills related to the study and practice of law and criminal justice.

    • Human Rights and Social Justice (SSC304)

      Through the lens of human rights and social justice is module will introduce students to a foundational sociological understanding of the structure and organisation of society; and to the main institutions of domestic and international government, and the theories and concepts used by political science to study them.

  • Year 1

  • In your first year, we introduce you to the core of the discipline. You will learn how to think like an anthropologist, comparing data from across the worlds to make solid statements about human behaviour. You will also have the chance to start actually doing your own ethnographic fieldwork, not just reading about it!

    Core modules

    • Introduction to Anthropology (ANT4001)

      This introductory module provides students new to anthropology to the core topics, goals, theories, and methods of the discipline. Students will learn foundational skills related to how to understand and analyse forms of human life socially, culturally, and morally different from their own. They will also learn how to compare different societies in order to produce solid arguments about the human condition.

    • Visual Cultures and Art History (ANT4003)

      This module provides Anthropology students with a comprehensive understanding of the major theoretical and methodological techniques used to understand art, visual culture, and visual representations. Basic research literacy will be developed in a number of exercises and group-based activities.

    • Fieldwork and Ethnography (ANT4004)

      In this module, students will learn how to conduct an ethnographic project from inception to completion. We will focus on training methodological skills, familiarising ourselves with anthropological ethics, and producing anthropological arguments using the ethnographic evidence we ourselves collect.

    • Cultural Practices in Context (ANT4005)

      This module is geared toward fieldwork and independent study in a museum and/or gallery context. Following a Fieldtrip to public collections in London and/or the Southwest students complete an Object Report on an object of their choice seen in situ. This module will include 2, 2 hour talks that introduce our School and programme level employability related opportunities and support, including details of the optional placement year.

    • Social Identities and Inequalities (SOC4002)

      This module explores how and why social inequalities influence lived experience and social identities. It focuses on a range of substantive issues, such as poverty, social class and hierarchies, health, gender and sexuality, family and kinship, neo-colonialism and 'race', and violence and ethnicity. This module explores how these influence culture, social identities and lived experience throughout the life-course.

    • Body Relatedness and Identity (SOC4003IE)

      This module draws on a range of sociological and anthropological sources to examine how societies across the world perceive, transform, control and use the human body. The module's themes are designed to help students appreciate the body as central to the way humans experience the world. Seminars explore the disciplining and surveillance of bodies, the development of "habitus", bodily adornment and transformation, gender and sexuality, biopolitics, the commercialisation of the human body, and the body as a window on wider symbolic-cultural orders. In discussing these topics, first-year students will learn important social science skills, namely the ability to compare different socio-cultural contexts and engage in productive, multidisciplinary discussions.

  • Year 2

  • In your second year, you will further develop your social scientific research skills, and get to practice more advanced ethnographic fieldwork techniques (such as multi-species and multi-sensory ethnography, and participant observation of digital worlds). You will be also able to explore many specialist subjects, and start to identify the topic you’d like to explore for your dissertation.

    Core modules

    • Applying Anthropology (ANT5003)

      In this module, students are acquainted with advanced ethnographic research techniques, including reflexivity, netnography, multi-species relations, narrative analysis and multi-sensory ethnography. They also explore the interplay between methods and writing. Building on their existing skills, students develop a research project that applies these advanced concepts and methods.

    • Stage 2 Professional Development, Placement Preparation and Identifying Opportunities (SSC500)

      This module is for students in the School of Society and Culture who are interested in undertaking an optional placement in the third year of their programme. It supports students in their search, application, and preparation for the placement, including developing interview techniques and effective application materials (e.g. CVs , portfolios, and cover letters).

    • Collecting and Exhibiting Cultures in the 19th and 20th Centuries (ARH5001)

      This module examines historical and contemporary cultures of collection, exhibition, and display. Drawing on interdisciplinary debates, students will learn to discuss and analyse the politics and ethics of art ownership, theft, looting, and repatriation.

    Optional modules

    • Gifts, Commodities and Crises: A contemporary guide to economic anthropology (ANT5002)

      This module that uses ethnographic evidence from across the world to examine how humans exploit their environments (and each other) to make a living. Focus will be on how 'value' is socially produced, on how different societies people produce, distribute, consume, accumulate, and own resources, and on how economic practices interact with other spheres of society.

    • The Anthropology of Justice and Morality: Legal Anthropology in the 21st Century (ANT5004)

      This module teaches students to address global issues – from political correctness, to migration, to neo-nationalism - through the toolset of Legal Anthropology. What does law, justice and punishment look like in different societies? What is the relationship between morality, law, and the state? How are ideas of “good” and “bad” shaped by the socio-cultural context in which they are embedded?

    • Why so Serious? The Anthropology of Humour and Laughter (ANT5005)

      This module examines the nature and function of humour and laughter across a range of socio-cultural and political-economic settings. Students examine how humour can create, reinforce, shape, and undermine and destroy all sorts of political relationships and structures. Accordingly, we see how mockery, sarcasm, and ridicule can become tools of domination, resistance, and transformation.

    • Research Methods in Visual, Material and Oral History (HIS5005)

      This module investigates the use of oral, material & visual sources as a means of investigating the past. Also, the contextualisation of historical sources and questions in the wider historiographical literature.

    • Race, Nation, Empire: Understanding Identity and Belonging in the UK (SOC5002)

      This module explores how intersecting ideologies of racism, nationalism, and imperialism relate to contemporary struggles over identity and belonging in the UK. In doing so, the module seeks to provide students with a critical understanding of the ideological bases of some of the most urgent issues facing British society today, including: the fracturing of the UK after loss of empire; the racist backlash against postcolonial migration; and, the rise of English nationalism and the vote for Brexit.

    • Regimes and Revolutions in European Art (ARH5007)

      This module examines the visual culture of the long eighteenth century in Europe, and the development of art in relation to the age of revolution (1750 to 1850). Focusing on Britain and France, it will explore the changes occurring in art and society in this period. It will include such topics as Neo-Classicism and Romanticism; the Academy; the rise of portraiture and the changing status of history painting; in a context of politics, war and uprising.

    • Harm in the 21st Century (CRM5003MX)

      This module explores the global challenges of harmful behaviours and activities in contemporary society by considering specific areas of concern for criminologists. By drawing on real-world examples in everyday life, the module examines how social problems and issues have arisen due to processes of globalisation that have changed the social, political and economic landscape of the 21st century.

    • Crime, Harm and Culture (CRM5009MX)

      The module aims to provide students with a critical appreciation of harm and crime by exploring relevant issues from film, television, music, fiction literature and art. By applying a criminological lens to different forms of popular culture, students will be able to examine a variety of media forms in terms of its content and its contemporary political, social and economic context using different theories and concepts.

    • Gothic Fictions: Villains, Virgins and Vampires (ENG5002MX)

      This module looks at eighteenth- and nineteenth-century novels to trace the variety and scope of literary contributions to the Gothic. It begins by discussing the origins of the Gothic novel, then moves to the heyday of the genre in the revolutionary 1790s, on to authors writing in the early and mid-nineteenth century, through to the decadence of the 1890s.

    • ‘Hurt Minds’: Madness and Mental Illness in Literature (ENG5013MX)

      This module considers changing attitudes towards, and a variety of theories of, the mind, examining how different cultures have understood ‘healthy’ and ‘unhealthy’ mental states. It will look at how the experience and treatment of mental illness has been represented in fiction. The mind is at its most fascinating when it behaves outside of expected social norms. By considering a variety of literary texts over several centuries, this module explores shifts in the definition, understanding, evaluation, and management of exceptional mental states.

    • Writing Genre Fiction (ENG5017MX)

      This module takes students into in-depth engagement with prose fiction writing in various genres, with possibilities including fantasy, science-fiction, period/historical, young adult fiction, horror, comedy, romance, crime, and thriller. The module is taught through lecture, seminars, and workshops where students are asked to submit and feedback to peers and tutors on a regular basis.

    • Law in Context: Commerce and Intellectual Property (LAW5019MX)

      This module focuses on the work of commercial lawyers in practice in helping businesses to trade. It analyses a range of contractual agreements dealing with the manufacture, sale, supply and distribution of goods, assets and services in general and intellectual property in particular.

    • Play and Games for Performance (PER5008MX)

      This module will introduce students to practical methods for designing games and play structures for participatory performances that invite audiences to become actively involved in the work. In addition to learning new tools for designing and facilitating play, students will be prompted to consider playfulness from a theoretical perspective, recognising the connection between the play of mimesis and theatrical performance.

    • Politics Beyond Parliaments (PIR5013MX)

      This module analyses the role of civil society and the public sphere in democratic governance and in democratization from a variety of theoretical perspectives.

    • Voter Behaviour and Effective Election Campaigning (PIR5014MX)

      This module undertakes an advanced examination of contemporary trends and developments in theories of electoral behaviour globally; then more specifically the relationship between electoral rules, electoral systems and election outcomes; the evolution of campaign techniques, and the role, mechanics, and accuracy of opinion polls in modern electoral politics. These global understandings are applied directly to the case of British politics.

  • Optional placement year

  • Gain valuable on-the-job experience through our optional placement year. We will support you in your second year in deciding whether to take this opportunity, and assist you in finding a placement and being prepared for it.

    Core modules

    • School of Society and Culture Placement Year (SSC600)

      Students have the opportunity to gain work experience that will set them apart in the job market when they graduate by undertaking an optional flexible placement year. The placement must be a minimum of 24-weeks (which can be split between a maximum of two different placement providers) and up to a maximum of 48-weeks over the course of the academic year. The placement is flexible and can be undertaken virtually, part or full time and either paid or voluntary. This year allows them to apply and hone the knowledge and skills acquired from the previous years of their programme in the real world.

  • Final year

  • In your final year, you will work closely with your personal supervisor and use all the skills you’ve learned to produce an anthropological dissertation on a topic of your choice. At the same time, you will also take on the role of live consultant to apply anthropology to solve a particular problem, ideally in an area in which you wish to work or pursue further study.

    Core modules

    • Anthropological Dissertation Project (ANT6001)

      In this module students conduct a year-long ethnographic project. Liaising closely with their Dissertation supervisor, students choose an appropriate topic, engage in research using ethnographic methods, and write a dissertation that addresses contemporary debates in the discipline and adheres to anthropological writing conventions.

    • Anthropology on the Ground (ANT6006)

      In this module students take on the role of a live consultant in a professional setting. Working with partners in industry, governance, or civil society, students will apply anthropology to solve a particular problem, ideally in an area in which they wish to work or pursue further study.

    Optional modules

    • Different Ways of Knowing: The Anthropology of truth, post-truth and conspiracy (ANT6002)

      This module explores the nature of knowledge and truth from a cross-cultural perspective. How do ideas of truth differ culturally, and change over time? How do people produce, guard, and destroy knowledge? After an introduction to phenomenology and ontology, students will be able to engage with different systems of truth and knowledge - from oral history, to scientific debate, to prophecy and conspiracy.

    • Gifts, Commodities and Crises: A contemporary guide to economic anthropology (ANT6003)

      This module that uses ethnographic evidence from across the world to examine how humans exploit their environments (and each other) to make a living. Focus will be on how “value” is socially produced, on how to make sense of the different ways in which people produce, distribute, consume, accumulate, and own resources, and on how economic practices interact with other spheres of society.

    • The Anthropology of Justice and Morality: Legal Anthropology in the 21st Century (ANT6004)

      This module teaches students to address global issues – from political correctness, to migration, to neo-nationalism - through the toolset of Legal Anthropology. What does law, justice and punishment look like in different societies? What is the relationship between morality, law, and the state? How are ideas of “good” and “bad” shaped by the socio-cultural context in which they are embedded?

    • Why so Serious? The Anthropology of Humour and Laughter (ANT6005)

      This module examines the nature and function of humour and laughter across a range of socio-cultural and political-economic settings. Students examine how humour can create, reinforce, shape, and undermine and destroy all sorts of political relationships and structures. Accordingly, we see how mockery, sarcasm, and ridicule can become tools of domination, resistance, and transformation.

    • Art After 1950: Abstract Expressionism to a 'Black Arts Movement’ (ARH6003)

      The module examines artistic practices and theories of the later twentieth-century and beyond, investigating the interrelations of art and theory in conditions of diversification, profusion of styles, forms, and agendas, development of new media and representational modes, displacements and reinscriptions of modernism, and challenges to traditional concepts of art. It situates these shifts in the visual language within the broader critical context of racial and gender inequalities.

    • Decolonizing Modernism: Art 1890 - 1940 (ARH6004)

      This module aims to explore the history of the beginnings of modern art across Europe and/or the United States, incorporating its theory, practice and reception, through an analysis of the development of selected moments, schools and individuals central to the Modernist tradition. The module also addresses the impact of colonial structures on the creation, distribution and consumption of art.

    • Ethnomusicology (MUS6002)

      This module teaches ethnomusicology at an advanced level and considers music in its cultural and everyday context. It includes practical engagement with specialist practitioners as well as keynote lectures that expand on methodology/theories of selected pioneers in ethnomusicology. It will also investigate the how ethnomusicological research can be applied to musicianship and research.

    • Media, State and Society (SOC6001)

      The media occupy key arenas whereby various social groups compete with one another to set public, political, commercial and cultural agendas. This module examines the relationship between media, state and society. It covers a number of substantive topic areas such as environmental issues, terrorism, war reporting, gender, crime and violence.

    • Food, Culture and Society (SOC6002)

      This module aims to provide a critical understanding of sociological issues relating to food and foodways, (the beliefs and behaviours surrounding the production, distribution and consumption of food both on an individual and collective level). The module encourages critical reflection and practical experience of research in the area of food and foodways, with a focus on lived experience.

    • Advanced Short Story Workshop (ENG6003)

      In this module we will examine a range of contemporary short story writing and relevant theory as a way for students to learn how to compose their own short fiction. Class time will be divided between discussion of short fiction and theory, writing exercises and peer workshops of student work. The workshops will be substantially informed by staff research practice.

Every undergraduate taught course has a detailed programme specification document describing the course aims, the course structure, the teaching and learning methods, the learning outcomes and the rules of assessment.

The following programme specification represents the latest course structure and may be subject to change:

BA (Hons) Anthropology with Foundation programme specification_7223

The modules shown for this course are those currently being studied by our students, or are proposed new modules. Please note that programme structures and individual modules are subject to amendment from time to time as part of the University’s curriculum enrichment programme and in line with changes in the University’s policies and requirements.

Personalise your degree

All our degrees have a wide range of optional modules and there is even the opportunity to study modules from any of the School of Society and Culture 's subject areas.
You could graduate with one of the following personalised course title combinations:
 
Anthropology with Art History

Modules

  • Painting Sex and Power (ARH5008MX)

    The module examines the link between the perception of sexuality and power in a variety of media, and from diverse historical and geographic contexts. Critical approaches from gender studies will be combined with visual analysis in order to contextualize the biased and stereotypical nature of the imagery.

  • Imagery in Online and Offline Worlds: Film, Television and Video Games (ARH5002MX)

    This module provides students with a comprehensive understanding of current approaches towards mass media and visual culture. Particular emphasis will be put on medium-specificity, content analysis and audience studies.

  • Questions in Contemporary Art (ARH6002MX)

    The module introduces and examines selected questions raised in the last three decades in contemporary art. Case studies drawn from art history, critical and cultural theory, and where appropriate related disciplines, will be examined.

Anthropology with Creative Writing

Modules

  • Writing Creative Nonfiction: Autobiography, Travel Writing, Reportage (ENG5010MX)

    This module introduces students to the key concepts and issues in contemporary works of creative nonfiction, or 'life writing'. Included in our readings will be works of memoir and autobiography, travel writing, personal essays and reportage. The module is entirely taught in workshops where we experiment with producing our own works of creative nonfiction and learning to refine them, as well as critically evaluate and contextualise them.

Anthropology with History

Modules

  • Global Cold War: Politics, Culture and Society (HIS5004MX)

    This module is an introduction to major themes in the political, social and cultural history of the modern world with special focus on the 20th century and the Cold War.

  • Eighteenth-Century Empires (HIS5007MX)

    This module is designed to explore the ‘long eighteenth century’ with a broad geographical focus, encompassing, but not limited to the Atlantic Isles, Atlantic world, formal and informal empire, and trading connections. It takes in the slave trade and impact of slavery globally, studies voyages of exploration, examines the scientific and political enlightenment, and wider cultural and social impacts of imperialism.

  • Middle Kingdoms: Themes in Early Modern Asia (HIS5009MX)

    This module introduces the history of early modern Japan (c.16th-19th centuries). At one level, it explores key questions shaping the histories of the late Sengoku (‘Warring States’) and Tokugawa Japan. Building on these questions, it then situates the Japanese experience in a trans-regional perspective with reference to early modern China, Korea, Ryukyu, as well as Europe.

  • Dunkirk to D Day: The Second World War in Europe (HIS5014MX)

    The module examines the Second World War in Europe and the Atlantic Ocean from 1940 to late 1944.

  • Piracy and Privateering, c.1560-1816 (HIS6002MX)

    This module explores piracy and privateering activity in the seas around the British Isles and further afield from the reign of Queen Elizabeth to the end of the second Barbary War in 1816. This course focuses on the social history of piracy and privateering, the organisation of pirate society, and the economic impact of piracy and privateering.

  • America, the United Nations and International Relations 1945 to the present (HIS6006MX)

    This module provides a detailed examination of the relationship between the United States of America and the United Nations in the management of international relations from 1945 to the present.

Anthropology with Criminology

Modules

  • Green Criminology (CRM6010MX)

    This module will address theoretical perspectives, methodological issues, and empirical research related to the field of green criminology, including applied concerns, such as policy and social/political praxis, through a range of concepts, topics, and themes that are central to green criminology.

  • Contemporary Issues in Criminology (CRM5007MX)

    This module focuses upon a contemporary criminological or criminal justice-related issue that has received attention in the media and in official reports but may not be well covered yet in an established academic literature. The purpose of the module is for students to collect data on the issue and to subject it to a criminological analysis appropriate to the topic.

  • Security and Policing Today: Debates and Issues (CRM5008MX)

    This module provides students with a contemporary overview of debates and issues in policing and security environments that inform practice and development in the field. The module examines how modern policing and security function, the impact of professionalization on all aspects of policing tasks and the tensions and benefits attained from multi-agency working. The module considers policing legitimacy, the ethics of crime control and associated engagement with the diversity of contemporary society, competing community interests and professional practice.

  • Security Management (CRM6011MX)

    This module provides students with a critical insight into the professional domain of security management. It provides an overview of the theories, policies, procedures and practices that underpin the work of the security manager, and focuses upon a career-relevant knowledge and understanding of this significant area of expertise.

Anthropology with International Relations

Modules

  • Global Environmental Politics (PIR6007MX)

    This module examines the problem of environmental degradation and its implications for our global political economy. It discusses the major debates in political thought around the primary causes of environmental degradation. The module outlines the major attempts to build international regimes for global environmental governance, and the difficulties and obstacles that such attempts have encountered. A range of ideas, critiques, policy proposals, innovations in governance, and templates for political activism within the environmental movement are critically evaluated.

  • Refugee Studies (PIR5009MX)

    This module focuses on the political, economic and social context of forced migration and considers the complex and varied nature of global refugee populations. It analyses responses at international, national and regional level and engages with a range of challenging questions around international co-operation, the framework of international protection, humanitarianism and the causes of displacement.

  • Global Development (PIR5011MX)

    This module embraces both theoretical and empirical approaches to understanding development issues and policies, at international and multilateral scale. The approach incorporates historical, economic, political and social perspectives. The module considers issues faced by international development agencies, as well as the impact on populations in the developing world to illustrate and provide context for the discussion of various developmental concerns.

Anthropology with Politics

Modules

  • Voter Behaviour and Effective Election Campaigning (PIR6008MX)

    This module undertakes an advanced examination of contemporary trends and developments in theories of electoral behaviour globally; then more specifically the relationship between electoral rules, electoral systems and election outcomes; the evolution of campaign techniques, and the role, mechanics, and accuracy of opinion polls in modern electoral politics. These global understandings are applied directly to the case of British politics.

Anthropology with Law

Modules

  • Public International Law (LAW6012MX)

    A module that focuses on the primary legal principles of the public international legal order, before exploring a range of substantive areas, such as, for example, the use of force, the law regulating the conduct of war, International Human Rights, International Criminal Law and International Environmental Law.

  • Environmental Law (LAW5009MX)

    The module provides an examination of key themes in environmental law, with a focus on the generation, application and enforcement of this law within a critical and applied context.

  • Law, Literature and the Screen (LAW5012MX)

    To introduce students to fictional and factional representations of the legal order in prose, film and TV, and to examine the inter-connections between law, literature and the screen.

Anthropology with Sociology

Modules

  • Globalisation and Social Justice (SOC5005MX)

    This module investigates the key debates of globalisation and critically evaluates, in terms of its economic, political, socio-cultural and legal dimensions, the causes and consequences of a globalising world. It furthermore explores a range of international social justice issues to examine the relationships (causative and ameliorative) between policies and (in)justice

  • Gender, Sex and Sexuality (SOC5006MX)

    This module introduces students to the sociology of gender, sex and sexuality. It interrogates these concepts with particular reference to identity, activism, social justice and social change. It develops an understanding of the similarities, differences and intersections between gender, sex, sexuality and other social signifiers of difference/diversity including ‘race’, ethnicity, dis/ability, class and age.

  • Health, Medical Power and Social Justice (SOC6004MX)

    This module considers a range of issues concerning health, illness and medical power in contemporary society. The module seeks to develop an understanding of the impact of ‘medicalisation’ on everyday life, as well as the importance of social divisions, such as age, gender, ethnicity and socio-economic status. There will be a focus on a range of sociological perspectives on health with an opportunity to focus upon areas of particular interest.

Anthropology with Policing and Security Management

Modules

  • Security Management (CRM6011MX)

    This module provides students with a critical insight into the professional domain of security management. It provides an overview of the theories, policies, procedures and practices that underpin the work of the security manager, and focuses upon a career-relevant knowledge and understanding of this significant area of expertise.

  • Security and Policing Today: Debates and Issues (CRM5008MX)

    This module provides students with a contemporary overview of debates and issues in policing and security environments that inform practice and development in the field. The module examines how modern policing and security function, the impact of professionalization on all aspects of policing tasks and the tensions and benefits attained from multi-agency working. The module considers policing legitimacy, the ethics of crime control and associated engagement with the diversity of contemporary society, competing community interests and professional practice.

  • Forensic Criminology: Social Investigations (CRM5006MX)

    This module focuses on how social science can contribute to criminal investigations. This involvesforensically investigating the backgrounds and experiences of individuals involved in criminal or deviantbehaviour. The sociology of the police who are tasked to conduct investigations is also analysed. Students will be encouraged to apply criminological techniques and theory to scenario-based examples which will focus on victims, offenders and the police, and their positions in society.

Entry requirements

UCAS tariff

32 - 48

A levels: Typical offer 32 points from a minimum of two A levels.
18 Unit BTEC National Diploma/QCF Extended Diploma: PPP Refer to tutor, however BTEC are usually only considered with another qualification i.e. A level.
International Baccalaureate: 24 overall 
All Access courses: Pass a named Access to HE Diploma (e.g. Preferably English, humanities or combined), including GCSE English and Mathematics grade C/4 or above or equivalent. 
T levels:Pass in any subject.
GCSE English: Grade C/4 or above, if your grade is lower then please refer to the institution for further advice.
We are looking for applicants with good potential including with non-standard qualifications and background, so will consider every application on a case by case basis.
Get in touch with our friendly admissions team on +44 (0)1752 585858 or email us at admissions@plymouth.ac.uk.
We welcome applicants with international qualifications. To view other accepted qualifications please refer to our tariff glossary. 

Fees, costs and funding

Student 2023-2024 2024-2025
Home £9,250 £9,250
International £16,300 £17,100
Part time (Home) £770 £770
Full time fees shown are per annum. Part time fees shown are per 10 credits. Please note that fees are reviewed on an annual basis. Fees and the conditions that apply to them shown in the prospectus are correct at the time of going to print. Fees shown on the web are the most up to date but are still subject to change in exceptional circumstances. More information about fees and funding.

Undergraduate scholarships for international students

To reward outstanding achievement the University of Plymouth offers scholarship schemes to help towards funding your studies.

Additional costs

This course is delivered by the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business and more details of any additional costs associated with the faculty's courses are listed on the following page: Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business additional costs.

Tuition fees for optional placement years

The fee for all undergraduate students completing any part of their placement year in the UK in 2023/2024 is £1,850.
The fee for all undergraduate students completing their whole placement year outside the UK in 2023/2024 is £1,385.
Learn more about placement year tuition fees

How to apply

All applications for undergraduate courses are made through UCAS (Universities and Colleges Admissions Service). 
UCAS will ask for the information contained in the box at the top of this course page including the UCAS course code and the institution code. 
To apply for this course and for more information about submitting an application including application deadline dates, please visit the UCAS website.
Support is also available to overseas students applying to the University from our International Office via our how to apply webpage or email admissions@plymouth.ac.uk.
Natasha Beadon - BA (Hons) Anthropology student

Opening your eyes to opportunity

Natasha used skills gained from her anthropology degree to sidestep into a career in marketing.
"Having a degree is great, but having experience will put you above other applicants. If you’re unsure of what you want to do after university, then consider applying for an internship to help make that decision easier.” – Natasha, BA (Hons) Anthropology student

Preparing you for your future

Real-world workplace experience ensures our students are career ready upon graduation
We believe that real-world experience is central to success in today's job market. We focus on embedding experiential learning into our courses through our exciting partnerships with external organisations, offering students the opportunity to undertake internships, placements and volunteering. 
Two young intercultural interns or placement students discussing notes in copybook in and office setting.Shutterstock 2224873497

Join the Plymouth Cold Case Unit

The Plymouth Cold Case Unit (PCCU) investigates unsolved missing persons cases. We uncover new evidence which can be used by the police to solve these cases while giving students experience and skills – including investigative, analytical and social – to launch them into rewarding careers.
We are a student-led, expert-guided group with international connections and access to facilities and training at both the University of Plymouth and Locate International.
Applications are open to all foundation and year 1 students in the School of Society and Culture.
Staff and students from the Cold Case Unit work on the Salcombe Man case

Where can anthropology take you?

As an anthropologist, you will possess many skills which will allow you to pursue many different career options.

  • Museum Curation square

    Museum curatorship

    Anthropologists are leaders when it comes to thinking about new forms of curatorship, or navigating restitution issues or colonial legacies.
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    Environmental conservation

    Anthropologists tend to be especially good at understanding local approaches to the environment, as well as tricky issues of governance, like poaching.
  • Development for Anthropology (square)

    Development

    Anthropologists have always been instrumental in showing that effective development is one that “fits” local culture and understands local needs.
  • Face masks square

    Public health and epidemic

    Anthropologists are key in designing health campaigns that embrace local understandings of health, disease and death.
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    Advocacy

    Anthropologists represent groups who lack the voice or power to defend themselves. They fight for the weak, the poor, the misunderstood, and have been key players defending indigenous rights.
  • Marketing

    Market research

    Anthropologists have a strong understanding of how people imbue things with value, and are very important for companies developing and marketing new products.
  • Inclusivity for Anthropology (square)

    Inclusivity and human resources

    Anthropologists are particularly good in thinking about representation, and in creating inclusive and fair workspaces.
  • Multiculturalism for anthropology (square)

    Engaging in multiculturalism campaigns

    Anthropologists are excellent at leading projects and policies that promote the strong aspects of multiculturalism without reproducing its pitfalls and failures.
  • Stack of newspapers square

    Journalism

    Anthropologists’ ability to think critically and write clearly has made them excellent journalists, particularly regarding issues such as capitalism and politics. Anthropologists were key in predicting and describing the financial crash of 2008.
  • Fiction writing for anthropology (square)

    Fiction writers

    With such a sensitive grasp on the way humans behave, anthropologists have produced outstanding fiction and become excellent writers.

What our students think

Our lecturer has always been on hand both to aid us academically and care for us as individuals.” – Gregor Sime, Anthropology

2021 NSS results

Our BA (Hons) Anthropology degree is:

  • 1st in the UK for teaching on my course, assessment and feedback, academic support and student voice
  • 3rd for overall satisfaction

Meet our experts

Dr Ivan Tacey 

Ivan has conducted long-term ethnographic fieldwork with Batek and Manya’ tropical foragers of Peninsular Malaysia since 2007. His research explores how environmental degradation, socio-political marginalization and relations with outsiders have transformed these indigenous peoples’ religions and lifeways. Ivan has lectured in anthropology, sociology, cultural studies and anthrozoology at universities in France and the UK. He is a member of the executive board of the International Society for Academic Research on Shamanism and their journal Shaman. Alongside anthropology, Ivan is a collector of rare soul, jazz, hip-hop, afrobeat and afro-Brazilian music and has run several sound-systems in the UK and France
Ivan Tacey rechecking data with Batek friends in Kelantan, Malaysia
Ivan rechecking data with Batek friends in Kelantan, Malaysia
Brian Campbell in Ceuta
Brian in Ceuta

Dr Brian Campbell 

Brian's primary research looks at the relationship between Christians, Muslims, Jews and Hindus in Ceuta, a small Spanish enclave-town in North Africa. He is particularly interested in the local concept of “convivencia”, the idea these religious groups should live together in harmony. The opportunities and fears presented by “convivencia” strongly influence Ceutan life and politics. Brian also conducts plenty of multidisciplinary research on conservation, focusing on the conflict between bird-hunters and environmental NGOs in Malta, where he is from. Of late, he has become interested in migration issues in the Mediterranean, on right-wing nationalism in Spain and Malta, and the fortification of Europe’s southern borders.