Visual, Material and Museum Anthropology (Taught)

The information provided on this page was correct at the time of publication (November 2024). For complete and up-to-date information about this course, please visit the relevant University of Oxford course page via www.graduate.ox.ac.uk/ucas.

MSc
The MSc in Visual, Material and Museum Anthropology (VMMA) consists of a structured programme of lectures, classes, and tutorials from October to June, followed by individual study and the writing of a dissertation over the summer.

Course structure
In addition to the teaching provided specifically for the VMMA programme, you will also be able to attend lectures in social anthropology to link your work to broader trends in the discipline. A programme of research seminars is available, some specifically for research students and others featuring talks by invited speakers, often from outside the University. The principal event in this programme is the departmental seminar, run weekly during term time.

The MSc is structured around teaching for four papers:

• Contemporary themes in visual, material and museum anthropology

• one option paper

• Research methods in visual, material and museum anthropology

• Fundamental concepts in visual, material, and museum anthropology.

You will then use the next three months to research and write a dissertation for submission in September; you will be able to choose and refine the dissertation topic in consultation with your supervisor and other tutors as appropriate, but you will be required to write the dissertation unaided as a piece of independent research.

MPhil
The MPhil in Visual, Material and Museum Anthropology will introduce you to theories and perspectives on museum anthropology, visual anthropology, and material culture theory, as well as practical field- and museum-based research methodologies.

The MPhil acts as a terminal degree but it will also provide a broader and deeper preparation for doctoral research than is possible with the MSc in Visual, Material and Museum Anthropology.

Course structure
An overview of the course structure is provided below. Details of the compulsory and optional elements of the course are provided in the Course components section of this page.

First year
The first year of the MPhil consists of a structured programme of lectures, classes, and tutorials from October to June. You will then start the research for the MPhil thesis over the summer.

The first year is structured around teaching for four papers:

• Contemporary themes in visual, material and museum anthropology

• one option paper

• Research methods in visual, material and museum anthropology

• Fundamental concepts in visual, material, and museum anthropology.

Second year
You will spend the summer conducting preliminary research. You will then focus principally on research and writing for your thesis in the second year, so the emphasis is on independent study. However, you will still be expected to spend three to four hours per week in term time in formal teaching contexts, including a writing-up seminar and field research training, as well as regular meetings with your thesis supervisor, again supplemented by attendance of research seminars and lectures as you choose.

Fieldwork is not expected as a basis for the MPhil thesis, but it can be conducted, and you will be encouraged to make use of the extensive visual and material cultural resources available in the department and the museum in selecting and researching dissertation and thesis topics.

You will also take another option paper, again selected from any of the options offered within the School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography.

For the full descriptions and information on Second Year, please visit the relevant University of Oxford course page via www.graduate.ox.ac.uk/ucas