Pre-fieldwork training

The taught element of this course consists of these compulsory streams:

  • The Pre-fieldwork seminar
  • The Ethnographic Methods Course, Parts I (Michaelmas) and II (Lent)
  • Statistics for Social Anthropologists (workshop in Michaelmas term)

Please see summary of the course and the SAR/PhD Lecture List.

You are also strongly encouraged to attend other optional elements:

  • The ‘Experiences from the Field’ seminar, run by writing-up students recently returned from the field.
  • The division also organises ad hoc sessions in transferable skills or anthropological method. In past years we have run workshops on technologies of research and data management, something we hope to repeat in the academic year 2011/12.
  • And you should attend the Senior Research Seminar, scheduled for Fridays during term time, and starting at 4.15pm. This is the place where the division really gets together, and we usually attract very good speakers from across the UK and overseas.

You are also expected to develop your own training programme by making full use of the range of courses available in Social Anthropology and the University more widely. You should discuss your training needs with your supervisor, but you should consider the following:

  • language learning sessions. These can be organised through the University Language Centre or privately, or you can also arrange to attend undergraduate language courses, depending on circumstances.
  • training in advanced statistical methods or other qualitative social science methods provided by the Joint Schools Course in Research Methods. Of particular interest to you will be the modules on Historical Methods and Sources and Doing Qualitative Interviews, but others may also catch your eye.
  • participation in Undergraduate or Masters level lectures and seminars which address on themes specific to your research topic (this might for example include attending the seminars in the ethnography of a particular geographical area – see the course information for S6).
  • research seminars at one of the Area Studies centres in the university: African, Middle Eastern, Latin American, South Asian, Mongolia and Inner Asian, Scott Polar.

Introductory week

During the first week, you are required to attend the University’s safety and risk assessment courses and the Social Anthropology’s induction course.

Reading lists

Previous years’ reading lists are available here.