Anthropology

Why study BA Anthropology at Goldsmiths
On this degree you'll explore anthropology from fresh, contemporary perspectives.

• You'll investigate the world of anthropology from a new angle, drawing on interdisciplinary perspectives to approach issues such as the environment, the state, its politics towards refugees and asylum seekers.

• The BA Anthropology degree offers a challenging and contemporary syllabus. You'll explore key anthropological debates and use them to help you understand contemporary societal and cultural issues.

• We offer a fresher approach to the subject than other universities – from the impact of the environmental crisis and austerity economics, to border politics, the state and racism, you’ll learn much more than just ‘traditional’ anthropology. This is one of the reasons we were ranked top 10 in the UK for anthropology in the QS World University Rankings by Subject in 2025.

• In the first two years, you’ll concentrate on contemporary anthropological approaches and concepts, such as kinship, ritual, critical ecologies, and intersectionality. You'll also learn to analyse these concepts using video, film and written texts, and you’ll get to study about different regions of the world in depth.

• You'll also hone your anthropological skills by choosing from a selection of optional modules, tailoring your degree to your own interests, aspirations and future employability.

• You'll explore links between theoretical issues and ethnographic studies, enabling you to think critically about culture and society in Britain, and around the world.

• Our graduates have gone on to work for the UN, World Bank, NGOs, law companies and corporate social responsibility (CSR) consultancies.

Course Modules

Year 1 (credit level 4)
You'll study the following compulsory modules:

• Being Related

• Approaches to Contemporary Anthropology

• Anthropological Methods

• Ethnographic Film

• Academic Skills for Anthropology

• Anthropological Ideas Today

Year 2 (credit level 5)
In your second year, you'll take the following compulsory modules:

• Critical Ecologies: black, indigenous and transnational feminist approaches

• Anthropology of Politics, Inequalities and Social Change

• Thinking Anthropologically

• Thinking Through Race

• The Goldsmiths Elective

Optional modules
You'll also take 2 or 3 modules from a list that currently includes:

• Anthropology and Public Policy

• Indigenous Cosmopolitics, Anthropology and Global Justice

• Anthropology in Public Practice

• The Goldsmiths Project

Year 3 (credit level 6)
In your third year, you'll complete an individual research project. You can choose either to complete an Individual Project or to complete an extended version.

• Individual Project or

• Extended Individual Project

You will make up the remaining credits (5 or 6 modules depending on your chosen project) from a list of optional modules. Recent examples of optional modules include:
Anthropology in Public Practice

• Psychological Perspectives in Anthropology

• Anthropology of Health and Medicine

• Anthropology of Rights

• Multimodal Experiments

• Theorising the Visual

• Anthropology of Violence

• Learning from Social Movements

• Borders and Migration

• Digital Anthropology

Please note that due to staff research commitments not all of these modules may be available every year.