Course description
Graduate Diploma
Anthropology is the study of humans, with the emphasis on group activity rather than individuals. This course emphasises the holistic and comparative breadth of the subject, studying humans from a variety of social, cultural, biological and evolutionary perspectives.
Oxford Brookes is one of very few UK universities where social and biological anthropology are taught alongside each other. Studying social anthropology will help you appreciate the customs and beliefs of other societies and develop a deeper understanding of your own culture. Biological anthropology provides complementary perspectives on human life within a broad evolutionary framework.
The Graduate Diploma in Anthropology enables graduates from other disciplines, and those with equivalent qualifications or work experience, to gain a qualification in anthropology at undergraduate level. It is also suitable for those graduates of anthropology and related disciplines who wish to extend their areas of specialist study. The course is flexible to enable students to follow their own particular interests. It can provide excellent preparation for further postgraduate study and research, for instance our MSc in Primate Conservation.
Course content
This programme provides students with intensive training in selected aspects of anthropology at undergraduate level. It can constitute a conversion course for students wishing to continue with anthropology at master's level or higher, depending on their background and achievements. Students usually opt to follow pathways focusing on social or biological aspects of anthropology. However, it is equally possible to select a programme aimed at gaining broader training across both aspects of the subject.
The course is built around three compulsory modules: two modules introduce social anthropology and the study of human evolution, while the third provides a grounding in theoretical approaches of either social or biological anthropology. For the rest of the course, in discussion with the course tutor, students put together a programme of anthropology modules chosen to suit their aims and interests.
To gain the award, students must pass eight modular credits from the broad range of acceptable anthropology modules offered at Oxford Brookes, including three compulsory modules.
Compulsory modules:
* The Study of Social Anthropology
* The Study of Biological Anthropology.
Plus one of:
* Social Anthropology Theory I
* Theories in Biological Anthropology.
Acceptable modules:
* Introduction to Japanese Society and Culture (basic)
* Work and the Japanese
* Minorities and Marginality, Class and Conflict in Japan (2009/10 and 2010/11)
* Japan at Play (2008/09 and every three years)
* The Anthropology of Art (2008/09 and alternate years)
* Anthropology of Ritual (2009/10 and alternate years)
* European Societies (2009/10 and alternate years)
* Research Methods in Social Anthropology
* South Asian Ethnography (2008/09 and alternate years)
* Human Origins
* Human and Other Primates (2008/09 and alternate years)
* Primate Societies (2009/10 and alternate years)
* Current Issues in Anthropology (occasional module)
* Independent Study in Anthropology
* Advanced Topics in Social Anthropology
* Advanced Topics in Biological Anthropology
* Human Resources Ecology
* Cross-Cultural Perspectives in Psychology
* Ethnicity and Health.
Teaching, learning and assessment
We provide a broad range of learning experiences, including independent study, work in small groups, seminars and lectures. Correspondingly we use a wide range of assessment techniques, including essays, book reviews, class presentations, fieldwork reports and exams.
