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.

Course Modules

Foundation year (Year 0) you will study the following modules:

• 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 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 also take 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

• 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.