Course summary

The PhD in Social Anthropology is intended for students who already have full training at undergraduate and/or Master's level in the methods and perspectives of Social/Cultural Anthropology. A first class Honours degree or strong High Pass in a Master's degree in Social Anthropology is normally required. The course includes intensive fieldwork training in the first year, a research period of 12 to 18 months, and a further year for writing the thesis (a maximum of four years is allowed in total). The part-time course proceeds in a similar sequence but over a longer duration, with a maximum allowed length of seven years. Students work under the guidance of a Principal Supervisor and a Faculty Advisor, and are supported also by a general research training curriculum and extensive programme of department seminars and workshops. Students beginning their training through the PhD Pre-Fieldwork Course can expect to leave for field research at the end of their third term (June-July). Part-time students can expect to leave for field research at the end of their second year. Those beginning through the closely-related MRes course, who then hope to proceed directly to PhD, can expect to leave for their PhD fieldwork in their fourth term (October-December). A Cambridge PhD in Social Anthropology is very highly regarded, both in the UK and overseas. We have some extremely distinguished alumni who have been enormously influential in academic Anthropology globally. The majority of our PhD graduates go on to jobs in academia, while others build very successful careers in the media, civil service, and the development sector, among others. The Cambridge University Department of Social Anthropology is unparalleled as a place to study for a PhD, combining world-class teaching and resources with a friendly but intellectually challenging atmosphere.