THE UNIVERSITY of EDINBURGH

DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2025/2026

Draft Edition - Due to be published Thursday 10th April 2025

Timetable information in the Course Catalogue may be subject to change.
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Degree Programme Table: Social Anthropology (MA Hons) (UTSANPY)

Jump to: Year 1, Year 2, Year 3, Year 4

Year 1 Academic year: 2025/26, Starting in: September

Compulsory courses

You must take these courses
Social Anthropology 1A: The Life Course

Must be passed

SCAN08013 20 credits
Social Anthropology 1B: Anthropology Matters

Must be passed

SCAN08012 20 credits

Course options

Group A

Select exactly 80 credits in this group.

Level 7 and 8 courses in Schedules A to Q, S, T, W and Y

Select between 60 and 80 credits from Level 7 and 8 courses in Schedules A to Q, S, T, W and Y
Notes:
If you struggle with choosing level 8 electives, you can choose the SUGGESTED courses: Empires SCAN08010, Social Life & Climate Change SCAN08016, Introduction to Queer Studies DESI08141 and/ or South Asia in the World SAST08003.
AND

Challenge Courses: Engaging with complex problems through interdisciplinary collaboration

Select between 0 and 20 credits of the following courses
Notes:
Challenge Courses are designed to bring together students from different degree programmes to explore the complex issues facing the world today through interdisciplinary collaboration and creative thinking.

Working with each other and expert academics, students will gain new perspectives and develop important life skills highly valued by employers, such as teamwork, problem-solving and adaptability.
Our Changing World
BIME08006 20 credits
Sustainability and Social Responsibility (UG)
EDUA08116 20 credits
Sustainable Development Goals: History, Progress and Beyond 2030
EFIE08008 20 credits
Living in the Anthropocene
GESC08004 20 credits
Understanding Gender in the Contemporary World
SSPS08012 20 credits
Healthy Eating for People and Planet
VETS08016 20 credits

Year 2 Academic year: 2025/26, Starting in: August

Notes:
Students who are planning on spending their Junior Year Abroad in Y3 must successfully progress to honours before they can proceed on their exchange. It is compulsory to have passed 240 credits by June before the JYA in September.

Compulsory courses

You must take these courses
Ethnography: Theory and Practice

Must be passed

SCAN08005 20 credits
Social Anthropology 2: Key Concepts

Must be passed

SCAN08011 20 credits

Course options

Group A

Select exactly 80 credits in this group.

Level 7 and 8 courses in Schedules A to Q, S, T, W and Y

Select between 60 and 80 credits from Level 7 and 8 courses in Schedules A to Q, S, T, W and Y
AND

Challenge Courses: Engaging with complex problems through interdisciplinary collaboration

Select between 0 and 20 credits of the following courses
Notes:
Challenge Courses are designed to bring together students from different degree programmes to explore the complex issues facing the world today through interdisciplinary collaboration and creative thinking.

Working with each other and expert academics, students will gain new perspectives and develop important life skills highly valued by employers, such as teamwork, problem-solving and adaptability.
Our Changing World
BIME08006 20 credits
Sustainability and Social Responsibility (UG)
EDUA08116 20 credits
Sustainable Development Goals: History, Progress and Beyond 2030
EFIE08008 20 credits
Living in the Anthropocene
GESC08004 20 credits
Understanding Gender in the Contemporary World
SSPS08012 20 credits
Healthy Eating for People and Planet
VETS08016 20 credits

Year 3 Academic year: 2025/26, Starting in: August

Notes:
Students who are planning on spending their Junior Year Abroad must successfully progress to honours before they can proceed on their JYA.

Students interested in the Year 4 Social Anthropology dissertation must take Imagining Anthropological Research in Year 3 (even if on a year abroad).

Students in year 3 may choose 0-20 credits of level 10 courses from the schedules of A to J and W.

Compulsory courses

You must take these courses
Imagining Anthropological Research
SCAN10037 0 credits
Anthropological Theory
SCAN10022 20 credits
Consumption, Exchange, Technology
SCAN10031 20 credits
Kinship: Structure and Process
SCAN10021 20 credits
Ritual and Religion
SCAN10023 20 credits

Course options

Group A

Select exactly 40 credits in this group.

Social Anthropology Honours Electives - Level 10

Select between 20 and 40 credits of the following courses
Notes:
Culture and Power MUST NOT be taken as an optional course in Year 3, as this will be taken as a compulsory course in Year 4.
Advanced Issues in the Making of Contemporary Africa
AFRI10003 20 credits
Contemporary Issues in International Development
AFRI10004 20 credits
South Asia: Culture, Politics and the Economy
SAST10001 20 credits
Kinship: Structure and Process
SCAN10021 20 credits
Anthropological Theory
SCAN10022 20 credits
Ritual and Religion
SCAN10023 20 credits
Culture and Power
SCAN10030 20 credits
Consumption, Exchange, Technology
SCAN10031 20 credits
Social Development
SCAN10044 20 credits
Anthropology of Health and Healing
SCAN10062 20 credits
Anthropology and Environment
SCAN10066 20 credits
Anthropology of Sex and Reproduction
SCAN10068 20 credits
Latin American Anthropology
SCAN10069 20 credits
Contagion
SCAN10070 20 credits
Ethnographies of the United States
SCAN10086 20 credits
Anthropology of East Asia
SCAN10087 20 credits
Anthropology and Africa
SCAN10088 20 credits
War and Peace: Anthropological Perspectives
SCAN10089 20 credits
Waste: Anthropologies of Pollution and Repair
SCAN10090 20 credits
Digital Global Development
SCAN10092 20 credits
Anthropology in Practice
SCAN10093 20 credits
Ethnography of the Supernatural
SCAN10096 20 credits
Anthropology of the Far-Right
SCAN10100 20 credits
Health, Environment and Society
SCAN10101 20 credits
Collaborative Ethnography of Edinburgh
SCAN10102 20 credits
The Internet and Society
STIS10001 20 credits
Energy Policy and Sustainability
STIS10008 20 credits
Controversies in Medicine, Technology and the Environment
STIS10009 20 credits
Sociology of Medicine
STIS10013 20 credits
AND

Level 10 courses in Schedules A to J and W

Select between 0 and 20 credits from Level 10 courses in Schedules A to J and W

Year 4 Academic year: 2025/26, Starting in: August

Notes:
Students in Y4 may choose 0-20 credits of level 10 courses from the schedules of A to J and W.

Compulsory courses

You must take these courses
Culture and Power
SCAN10030 20 credits
Dissertation (MA Social Anthropology)
SCAN10036 40 credits

Course options

Group A

Select exactly 60 credits in this group.

Social Anthropology Honours Electives - Level 10

Select between 40 and 60 credits of the following courses
Advanced Issues in the Making of Contemporary Africa
AFRI10003 20 credits
Contemporary Issues in International Development
AFRI10004 20 credits
South Asia: Culture, Politics and the Economy
SAST10001 20 credits
Kinship: Structure and Process
SCAN10021 20 credits
Anthropological Theory
SCAN10022 20 credits
Ritual and Religion
SCAN10023 20 credits
Culture and Power
SCAN10030 20 credits
Consumption, Exchange, Technology
SCAN10031 20 credits
Social Development
SCAN10044 20 credits
Anthropology of Health and Healing
SCAN10062 20 credits
Anthropology and Environment
SCAN10066 20 credits
Anthropology of Sex and Reproduction
SCAN10068 20 credits
Latin American Anthropology
SCAN10069 20 credits
Contagion
SCAN10070 20 credits
Ethnographies of the United States
SCAN10086 20 credits
Anthropology of East Asia
SCAN10087 20 credits
Anthropology and Africa
SCAN10088 20 credits
War and Peace: Anthropological Perspectives
SCAN10089 20 credits
Waste: Anthropologies of Pollution and Repair
SCAN10090 20 credits
Digital Global Development
SCAN10092 20 credits
Anthropology in Practice
SCAN10093 20 credits
Ethnography of the Supernatural
SCAN10096 20 credits
Anthropology of the Far-Right
SCAN10100 20 credits
Health, Environment and Society
SCAN10101 20 credits
Collaborative Ethnography of Edinburgh
SCAN10102 20 credits
The Internet and Society
STIS10001 20 credits
Energy Policy and Sustainability
STIS10008 20 credits
Controversies in Medicine, Technology and the Environment
STIS10009 20 credits
Sociology of Medicine
STIS10013 20 credits
AND

Level 10 courses in Schedules A to J and W

Select between 0 and 20 credits from Level 10 courses in Schedules A to J and W
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