Social Anthropology PhD
The Social Anthropology Department at the University of Manchester is one of the lodestones in the discipline’s history, a fact we celebrate in 2024 as we mark the 75th anniversary of our founding in 1949. The post-War vision of the Manchester School of Social Anthropology framed new questions for those new times. That spirit of intellectual orientation towards the contemporary social and cultural horizon guides the research of our department’s members.
Programme structure
Programme Structure
Our PhD Programme is Social Anthropology is three years of full-time study (or part time six years). The PhD in Social Anthropology with Visual Media follows the same structure.
The PhD programme is structured through a combination of supervised research, research training and researcher development. You will begin work on your research from the start date of your PhD with support from your supervisory team. Research training to support you in your research is available at the University and your training needs and requirements should be discussed with your supervisors.
Year 1 is focused on training in research design, enabling students to develop a doctoral research plan. You acquire research training in anthropology from three mandatory course units: Issues in Ethnographic Research 1 (SOAN 80641), and Issues in Ethnographic Research 2 (SOAN 80952), and the Post Graduate Research Seminar (SOAN 80940). Additional and optional units of study might be required by your supervisory team.
Years 2 is dedicated to full-time independent fieldwork and research with the aim of creating an ethnographic record for your dissertation. Most research is conducted off – campus for 12 months.
Year 3 focuses on the acquisition and refinement of the interpretive and analytical skills needed to present an anthropological argument within a doctoral dissertation. Research training is provided on-campus with events and occasional workshops, but most especially over two semesters of the Postgraduate Research Seminar (SOAN 80940), a course unit which is mandatory for all Year 3 PGRs.
Doctoral Dissertation writing in year 3 and will often extend to an additional period of one or two semesters of supervised writing, during which the candidate is enrolled as ‘submission-pending’.
At the completion of the doctoral programme, candidates for the PhD in Social Anthropology will submit an 80,000-word dissertation for examination.
Candidates for a PhD in Social Anthropology with Visual Media will submit a 60,000-word dissertation with an accompanying visual component. Notably, the visual component is typically a 40-minute ethnographic film or the equivalent in other forms of visual media.
To satisfy the aims of the programme, the visual component of the project must be more than a simple visual accompaniment to the text. There must be an integral relationship between the visual anthropology aspect of the project and the textual aspect, as would be the case, for example, where questions of ethnographic representation and the relationship between different media were central to the analysis and argument of the thesis.
Programme Progression in Social Anthropology
Reviews of progress through the PhD Programme in Social Anthropology and Social Anthropology with Visual Media focus on the candidate’s aims for each year of study. The Annual Review is normally held in June, and like all annual reviews in HUMDA, it is based on the discussion of a document of 8000 words minimum. In anthropology that document has a different focus each year to align it with our programme’s research training aims.
Year 1 focuses on the research proposal and plan for anthropological fieldwork (as well as mandatory research training course work). Notably, the document might exceed 8000-words to accommodate the full research plan for the fieldwork. Year 1 is the only year in the programme when two Independent Assessors review the candidate’s work.
Year 2 focuses on the fieldwork report. The report should discuss both the quality of the ethnographic record as well as progress against the research plans set out in the proposal. It might include samples of fieldnotes or visual materials
Year 3 focuses on the chapter for the dissertation and its relation to the outline of the dissertation argument (as well as the work in the PGR Seminar).
Professional training
Additional Professional Training events in Social Anthropology are provided throughout the year and are attuned to the needs of different PGR cohorts.
Most importantly we expect that PGR candidates attend the weekly Departmental Research Seminar in Social Anthropology and forms the centre of the department’s intellectual community.
PhD in Social Anthropology with Visual Media
This degree aims to promote substantially innovative work on the use of visual media in anthropological research, and candidates will conduct a substantial ethnographic research project which will also involve an original use of visual media in the analysis and representation of social and cultural life. To satisfy the aims of the programme, the visual component of the project must be more than a simple visual accompaniment to the text.
There must be an integral relationship between the visual anthropology aspect of the project and the textual aspect, as would be the case, for example, where questions of ethnographic representation and the relationship between different media were central to the analysis and argument of the thesis.
Graduates from this programme will have acquired technical skills in the research applications of visual media not possessed by researchers trained in social anthropology alone, which will equip them for specialised academic and non-academic careers, but they will also be able to conduct other kinds of research in anthropology and related fields through the broader theoretical and methodological training that they receive. The PhD programme is therefore specifically, though not exclusively, directed towards candidates seeking academic careers in anthropology.
The addition of a film constitutes a significant addition to the time and effort needed for the PhD programme. In recognition of this, the word length for the written thesis is reduced to 60,000 words (80,000 for the standard PhD).
Your research community
Ethnographic resources
The Film Library of the Granada Centre for Visual Anthropology houses an unrivalled collection of ethnographic films. It is located on the Ground Floor of the Arthur Lewis Building (G.020). For opening times and charges please email: gcvafilmlibrary@manchester.ac.uk.
The North West Social Sciences Doctoral Training Partnership has a recognised Social Anthropology Pathway, through which students can get funding to do training in Social Anthropology both at doctoral level or as part of a 1+3 package (research). The centre also offers the chance to collaborate with students from Liverpool and Lancaster.
Language learning
For many major world languages, courses are available in the relevant Language Schools of the University, which students are free to attend. In the case of other languages for which published teaching material is available, Social Anthropology provides what support it can in helping the student to locate the relevant material and, if possible, to locate a suitable teacher.
Part-time study
Pre-fieldwork training normally takes up to two years for part-time students. The way that the compulsory training courses (and any other optional courses) is structured over the pre-fieldwork period is subject to agreement between the student and supervisor(s) and, if necessary, the PhD Programme Director. It often makes sense to do the two core courses (Issues in Ethnographic Research 1 and 2) in the first year and then attend the Postgraduate Research Seminar in Year 2. However, this can be adapted to suit individual circumstances, as long as the compulsory courses are taken and the associated assessments completed. Part-time students are encouraged to attend the weekly Social Anthropology research seminars.
Who's who
Key people
Director of Postgraduate Research Study
Professor Karen Sykes