Anthropology

The MPhil/PhD programme has been a key element in the life of the Department for many years. We place the highest priority on the field research of our postgraduate students and on their professional development. The programme has a strongly international character, with students from a range of cultural and academic backgrounds.

To register for the MPhil/PhD in Anthropology, students must normally have obtained either an upper second class honours degree in social anthropology or a master's degree in social anthropology (passed at a high standard) from a UK university. Students who do not have these qualifications will need to obtain a Merit in one of the following programmes at LSE before applying to the MPhil/PhD: MSc Social Anthropology, MSc Anthropology and Development, MSc Anthropology of Learning and Cognition, MSc Law, Anthropology and Society or MSc China in Comparative Perspective. The following additional eligibility conditions apply to students taking one the interdisciplinary MSc programmes.

MSc Anthropology and Development
All Anthropology and Development students take the core course AN404 Anthropology: Theory and Ethnography. Students who also take one unit of the anthropology main courses (AN402 The Anthropology of Religion, AN405 The Anthropology of Kinship, Sex and Gender, AN450 Anthropology of Economy: Transformation and Globalisation (H), AN451 Anthropology of Politics (H), AN452 Anthropology of Economy: production and exchange (H), AN437 Anthropology of Learning and Cognition and AN438 Law in Society: A Joint Course in Anthropology and Law) are qualified to apply for MPhil/PhD, if their proposed research is in the anthropology of development field.

MSc China in Comparative Perspective
All students on the MSc China in Comparative Perspective follow the programme's core course AN447. China students who also take the AN404 Anthropology: Theory and Ethnography are qualified to apply for MPhil/PhD, if their proposed research is in the anthropology of China field.

MSc Law, Anthropology and Society
All students on the MSc Law, Anthropology and Society follow the programme's core course AN438. Students who also take one unit from AN404 Anthropology: Theory and Ethnography, AN402 The Anthropology of Religion, AN405 The Anthropology of Kinship, Sex and Gender, AN450 Anthropology of Economy: Transformation and Globalisation (H), AN451 Anthropology of Politics (H), AN452 Anthropology of Economy: production and exchange (H) and AN437 Anthropology of Learning and Cognition are qualified to apply for MPhil/PhD, if their proposed research is in the anthropology of law field. MSc Law, Anthropology and Society students who do not satisfy this condition, but have previously studied a substantial amount of anthropology equivalent to AN404, may be permitted to apply in exceptional cases.

The first year of the MPhil/PhD programme focuses on research preparation and methodological training. The first year course requirements are as follows: AN500 Seminar on Anthropological Research; AN501 Field Research Seminar; AN449 Ethnography in relation to other Research Methods; AN455 Statistics and Causal Analysis for Social Anthropologists. AN449 and AN455 will be examined in the ST. Students with a strong background in statistics can take MI452 instead of AN455. In addition, students are required to attend and produce coursework for the department's main courses, to the value of one unit (AN402 The Anthropology of Religion, AN405 The Anthropology of Kinship, Sex and Gender, AN456 Anthropology of Economy: Production and Exchange (H), AN457 Anthropology of Economy: Transformation and Globalisation (H), AN451 Anthropology of Politics (H), AN437 Anthropology of Learning and Cognition and AN438 Law in Society: A joint Course in Anthropology and Law). Students also follow a reading and fieldwork preparation course (AN442) under the direction of their supervisors and prepare a 10,000 word research proposal (AN443). The proposal will be examined, and must be passed before a student will be allowed to begin fieldwork. After fieldwork (which normally lasts approximately fifteen to eighteen months) students begin writing their PhD dissertations under the close supervision of members of staff. During this period of their studies, they attend weekly thesis-writing seminars (AN503), as well as the departmental Seminars on Anthropological Theory (AN500), and fortnightly seminars on recent developments in anthropology (AN507).

^