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School of Global Studies

Anthropology and History

(BA) Anthropology and History

Entry for 2023

FHEQ level

This course is set at Level 6 in the national Framework for Higher Education Qualifications.

Course Aims

In anthropology, this programme aims to:
1. Develop the intellectual and practical skills of students in the analysis, interpretation and understanding of ethnographic data and their understanding of anthropological theory.
2. Prepare students for employment in a wide range of contexts or for further study and a career where anthropological skills and understandings will be applied.
3. Enable students to engage in life-long learning, study and enquiry and to appreciate the value of education for society.

The aims of the History programme are:
1. Develop knowledge and understanding of the human past.
2. Foster awareness and understanding of historical processes which have a direct or indirect bearing on the present.
3. Encourage respect for historical context and evidence.
4. Reflect critically on differing interpretations of the medium and distant past.
5. To impart particular skills and qualities of mind relevant to the discipline of history.
6. To satisfy key criteria of historical knowledge and method, including an awareness of span and change over time across geographical range.
7. Engage with primary as well as secondary sources.
8. Reflect on the theoretical underpinnings of the historical discipline.
9. Foster an appreciation of the diversity of historical specialisms (including social, economic, cultural, political, intellectual, gender, oral, and environmental history).
10. Satisfy progression requirements by conducting i) survey history, ii) particular historical topics or short periods, iii) comparative and thematic history, iv) historiography, v) documentary-based special subjects.

Course learning outcomes

1. Comprehensive knowledge of the broad field of social and cultural anthropology.

2. Understanding of the key contemporary debates in anthropology.

3. Familiarity with the history of the discipline and the development of theoretical perspectives over time.

4. Detailed knowledge of a number of specialist areas within the discipline.

5. Knowledge of a wide range of ethnographic material and the way in which anthropological theory is used to understand this material.

6. Understanding of the ethical and political issues involved in anthropological research, analysis and writing.

7. Knowledge of a range of ethnographic research methods and ability to apply these.

8. Ability to communicate effectively with others and to present material both orally and in writing.

9. Ability to deploy a range of communication and information technology skills.

10. Ability to apply a range of skills in the retrieval and use of primary and secondary sources.

11. Ability to work together with others as well as independently, including to manage time effectively.

12. Ability to present concise and cogently structured arguments, both orally and in writing.

13. Ability to carry out critical analysis on complex issues related to the discipline.

14. Have acquired a range of core and personal attributes, cognitive, research, practical, and transferable skills (HAHP Core Transferable Skills).

15. Formulate, execute, and complete an extended piece of writing under appropriate supervision (Extended Writing).

16. Critically engage with a variety of approaches to history and critically engage with the concepts and methodologies of other disciplines where appropriate (Diversity of Spacialisms).

17. Reflect critically on the nature of the discipline, its social rationale, its theoretical underpinnings and its intellectual standing (Critical Awareness).

18. Have undertaken close work on primary source material and carry out intensive critical work on such source material (Contemporary Sources).

19. Have a broad and comparative understanding of the history of more than one society, culture or state (Geographical Range).

20. Have understood historical process over an extended period.

21. Have developed an awareness of continuity and change over an extended time span (Time Depth).

22. Have developed the historians skills and qualities of mind.

Full-time course composition

YearTermStatusModuleCreditsFHEQ level
1Autumn SemesterCoreKey Concepts in Anthropology (L6067)154
  CoreThe Anthropological Imagination (L6001)154
  CoreThe Early Modern World (V1227)304
 Spring SemesterCoreAnthropology of Capitalism, Care and the Environment (L6070)154
  CoreThe Making of the Modern World (V1228)304
  CoreWorlds and Selves (003AN)154
YearTermStatusModuleCreditsFHEQ level
2Autumn SemesterCoreEthnographic Research Methods (L6046N)155
  CoreIdeas of History (V1375)155
  CoreReligion and Ritual (L6072)155
  OptionHistory Short Period: America in the 20th Century (V1408)155
  History Short Period: Britain in the 20th Century (V1321)155
  History Short Period: Europe in the 20th Century (V1319)155
  Short Period: The Asia-Pacific in the 19th Century (V1480)155
 Spring SemesterCoreGlobal History from the Global South (V1376)155
  CorePolitics and Power (L6071)155
  OptionCities and Urban Lives (L6076)155
  Culture and Representation (L6075)155
  Ethnographic Field Research (002AN)155
  Political Ecology and Environmental Justice (013IDS)306
  Time and Place 1899: Apex Empires, Savage Wars (V1482)155
  Time and Place 2015: Fortress Europe and the Migration Crisis (V1428)155
  Time and Place: 1661: Slavery in English America (V1386)155
  Time and Place: 1942: Holocaust (V1331)155
  Time and Place: 1948: The Arab-Israeli Conflict (V1449)155
  Time and Place: 1953: Monarchs and Murders (V1446)155
  Time and Place: 1984: Thatcher's Britain (Observing the 1980s) (V1333)155
  Visual Anthropology (L6074)155
YearTermStatusModuleCreditsFHEQ level
3Autumn SemesterOptionDeath, Dying and the Corpse (L6307A)306
  Global Work Experience (D6001)306
  Human Rights (L2124A)306
  Re-Thinking the World (Dis) Order: Anthropological perspectives on Geopolitics and Diplomacy (L6301A)306
  Slavery, Emancipation and Legacies (L6303A)306
  The Anthropology of Work, Labour and Precarity (L6302A)306
 Autumn & Spring TeachingOptionHistory Special Dissertation: The Civil Rights Movement (V1378D)306
  History Special Dissertation: The French Empire (V1433D)306
  History Special Dissertation Britain & the Second World War (V1346D)306
  History Special Dissertation End of Empire (V1353D)306
  History Special Dissertation Israel-US Special Relations and the New Diplomatic History (V1472D)306
  History Special Dissertation Palestine from the Ottomans to Nakba (V1424D)306
  History Special Dissertation Post-Rave Britain (V1460D)306
  Special Subject: Britain and the Second World War (V1346)306
  Special Subject: End of Empire: Nationalism, Decolonisation and the British Raj in India 1937-1950 (V1353)306
  Special Subject: Israel–US Special Relations and the New Diplomatic History (V1472)306
  Special Subject: Palestine from the Ottomans to Nakba (V1424)306
  Special Subject: Post-Rave Britain, 1988 - present (V1460)306
  Special Subject: The Civil Rights Movement (V1378)306
  Special Subject: The French Empire and Its Aftermath (V1433)306
 Spring SemesterOptionAnthropology in the World: Theory, Knowledge, Action (and back again) (L6304S)306
  Development, Business and Corporate Social Responsibilities (L2131SID)306
  Ethical Worlds (L6308S)306
  Political Ecology and Environmental Justice (013IDSANTH)306
  Race, Ethnicity and Identity (L6090)306
  Understanding Contemporary India (L6057)306

Course convenors

Photo of Geert De NeveGeert De Neve
Head of School Global Studies

Photo of Iain McDanielIain McDaniel
Associate Professor In Intellectual History

Photo of Joanne PaulJoanne Paul
Honorary Senior Lecturer in Intellectual History

Photo of Christopher WarneChristopher Warne
Associate Professor

About your joint honours course

Sussex has always promoted interdisciplinary study by encouraging students to combine different subjects and different approaches to learning. Joint-honours courses are an ideal option if you want to study more than one subject in depth. A key idea behind joint-honours is to experience the range of ways that different academic disciplines use to teach, learn and research. Those differences are stimulating and challenging, but they can also be confusing, so you will find some useful information below to help you get the most out of your course.

  • To find information about the individual modules that make up your course, go to the school that teaches the module. Each module is assessed by the school that teaches it, so on their website you will find (under “student information”) information about the assessment criteria being used, the referencing style you need to use for your work, contact times for your tutors, information about the student reps scheme and lots of other useful information.
  • To find general information about joint honours, use the Frequently Asked Questions list
  • For information about the rules and regulations that govern all Sussex students, start with the general student handbook
  • For help in improving your study skills, using the library and with careers, try the Skills Hub.

And if you have any other questions, contact the convenors for your course; they are here to help you.

Useful links

Please note that the University will use all reasonable endeavours to deliver courses and modules in accordance with the descriptions set out here. However, the University keeps its courses and modules under review with the aim of enhancing quality. Some changes may therefore be made to the form or content of courses or modules shown as part of the normal process of curriculum management.

The University reserves the right to make changes to the contents or methods of delivery of, or to discontinue, merge or combine modules, if such action is reasonably considered necessary by the University. If there are not sufficient student numbers to make a module viable, the University reserves the right to cancel such a module. If the University withdraws or discontinues a module, it will use its reasonable endeavours to provide a suitable alternative module.