Anthropology with Foundation Year (Integrated Degree)

Why study the Integrated Degree in Anthropology

This is a four-year degree at Goldsmiths. If you successfully achieve the progression requirements of the foundation year, you can continue with the full-time three-year BA (Hons) Anthropology degree which investigates the world of anthropology from fresh contemporary perspectives.

• All you need is an interest in anthropology – there aren’t any formal entry requirements.

• You’ll learn about the key issues and themes and problems that have shaped contemporary anthropological thought.

• You’ll study a diverse range of human societies and cultures to acquire an understanding of the importance of anthropology to contemporary global issues. In this respect, you’ll explore relevant political, economic and social anthropological themes (including social justice; global inequalities; human rights; the environment and sustainability; race and ethnicity; sex, sexuality and gender; capitalism and consumption; peace and violence; nation, place and migration) with a focus on the kinds of inclusive, socially aware, politically engaged, and decolonial practice that epitomises anthropology at Goldsmiths.

• You’ll acquire key academic and study skills for essay writing, reading academic texts, note-taking, giving presentations, and undertaking independent research. You'll also develop digitally based and audio-visual research skills throughout your time on the programme. This will form part of your own, personalised learning journey, which will enable you to produce innovative research projects unique to you, but which will also be supported by your tutors.

• If you successfully achieve the progression requirements for the course, you'll be able to progress onto Year 1 of our BA Anthropology degree and really delve into the specifics of the subject investigating 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..

• You'll be learning from leading academics in the Department of Anthropology, which has been rated top 10 in the UK for anthropology in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2025.

During the Foundation year (Year 0) you will study the following modules:
Ways into Anthropology
Contemporary Issues in Anthropology
Ethnography in Action: Short Research Project
Doing Anthropology: Writing, Research, and Methods
Modern Cultures in Interdisciplinary Focus
Academic Literacies

Individual tutorial support and academic guidance is given by the programme tutor. You'll also attend a study skills course as part of the programme.

Year 1 (credit level 4)
In your first year, 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 then 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 75-90 credits (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.

You’ll be assessed by a variety of methods, depending on your module choices. These include coursework, examinations, group work and projects.