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Department of Social Anthropology

 
Read more at: Where art meets anthropology
Field note from the neurosurgery © Maxime Le Calvé, Berlin, 2022

Where art meets anthropology

What makes a piece of poetry, fiction or a sound recording also anthropological? How can drawing or sketching become ethnographic? Is it enough that the work is by an anthropologist or ethnographer? How can we make these alternative forms of expression more visible and legitimate, yet also uphold academic standards?


Read more at: Introducing our new William Wyse Professor
Professor Rebecca Cassidy

Introducing our new William Wyse Professor

Anthropologist Rebecca Cassidy brings a rich and diverse body of research—from racetracks to orchards—to her new role at Cambridge.


Read more at: The future of indigenous knowledge
The River Amazon, Peru

The future of indigenous knowledge

How a rewired education system that values marginalised forms of knowledge can reach far beyond minority communities.


Read more at: MPhilSA, MPhilSAR and PhD Applications Deadline 30 April 2025

MPhilSA, MPhilSAR and PhD Applications Deadline 30 April 2025

The deadline for applications to our postgraduate courses is Wednesday 30 April 2025. To see the courses we offer, visit our Prospective Postgraduates webpage .


Read more at: AIM: PhD Application Support Programme

AIM: PhD Application Support Programme

AIM: PhD is an application support programme, designed to support PhD applicants with their application for doctoral study at the University of Cambridge. Over the course of six months, participants receive support to prepare their PhD application through one-to-one mentoring and group online sessions.


Read more at: Professor Harri Englund awarded the Curl Essay Prize

Professor Harri Englund awarded the Curl Essay Prize

The Department are delighted to announce that Professor Harri Englund has been awarded the Curl Essay Prize of the Royal Anthropological Institute for the essay Why Is There No Slavery in the Anthropology of Freedom?


Read more at: New Publication - Freedoms of Speech: Anthropological Perspectives on Language, Ethics, and Power
Freedoms of Speech book front cover

New Publication - Freedoms of Speech: Anthropological Perspectives on Language, Ethics, and Power

Following a six-year ERC-funded research project on the comparative anthropology of free speech, Matei Candea, Taras Fedirko, Paolo Heywood and Fiona Wright have published a large open-access edited volume entitled Freedoms of Speech: Anthropological Perspectives on Language, Ethics, and Power.


Read more at: Anthropology’s real-world value
Dr Naomi Richman, Junior Research Fellow in Anthropology, Trinity College

Anthropology’s real-world value

How one Cambridge researcher is reaching beyond academia to enhance societal understanding of witchcraft and possession.


Read more at: Prestigious book prize for Cambridge Anthropologist

Prestigious book prize for Cambridge Anthropologist

Cambridge social anthropologist Dr Christina J. Woolner has won the 2024 International Council for Traditions of Music and Dance (ICTMD) Book Prize. Each year, the prize recognises an exceptional book of outstanding scholarship.


Read more at: The Anthropology of Amazonia: Interview with Dr Natalia Buitron
Dr Natalia Buitron

The Anthropology of Amazonia: Interview with Dr Natalia Buitron

Dr Natalia Buitron has had a deep connection to the Amazon since childhood. Her PhD led her back to study the region and its indigenous people more closely. And the Amazon has shaped her research and teaching ever since, resulting in long-term fieldwork with the Shuar of Ecuadorian Amazonia.