Social Anthropology

Professionalization in an International Field

Social Anthropology asks what being and becoming human means across different social, cultural and historical contexts. It asks: What is the relationship between the local worlds that people inhabit and the global structures in which they are embedded? This requires social anthropologists to exercise their imagination and decenter common understandings of social relations, economic livelihoods and political power, among other things. They must thus strive to broaden the possible ways of perceiving and conceiving key challenges of our times.

Focal areas of teaching and research

Building on the fundamentals of social anthropology acquired in the bachelor's program, students in the master's program are guided in expanding their theoretical knowledge, delving deeper into a specific subfield, and acquiring specific knowledge about a research area. Students learn about ethnographic methods and acquire the ability to design and carry out an individual research project, evaluate the findings, interpret them in relation to the theoretical framework, and present them in an academic text.

While the regional focus of Social Anthropology at the University of Basel is on Africa and Eastern Europe, our researchers also conduct research and teach on Oceania, Asia, Latin America, and the Afro-Atlantic region, among other areas.

Our research and teaching focus thematically on general anthropology; the global economy; migration, mobility and belonging; gender, sexuality and kinship; medicine, health and the body; and the politics of knowledge production.

From a methodological perspective the program of Social Anthropology represents primarily qualitative and interpretive approaches. In particular, it nurtures the development of methods that can detect current changes under globalization.

Study structure

The Master's degree is the second degree after the Bachelor's degree and comprises a total of 120 credit points (CP). In addition to Social Anthropology, students choose a second, independent subject, whereby both subjects are studied for 35 CP each. The subject in which the master's thesis (30 CP) is written becomes a major, the other a minor. In addition, there are free electives (20 CP).

Students may choose a subject from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences or an extra-faculty subject as their second Master's degree subject (https://philhist.unibas.ch/de/studium/studienangebote/master/). Students can choose their second subject according to their interests and career perspectives. Social Anthropology can for instance be combined with disciplines that deal with societies and their cultures or cultural sub-areas (such as art or language), with human behavior, norms (law), history, or natural environment.

The 20 CP for the free electives can be gained in courses of your choice (please check entry requirements of the respective courses). They can be used to deepen knowledge in the degree subjects, gain insights into other degree subjects offered by the University of Basel or acquire language skills.

Admission

Admission without conditions is generally granted to students who hold a bachelor's degree in Sozialanthropologie from the University of Basel or who can provide evidence of equivalent academic achievements at a university recognised by the University of Basel.

Binding information on admission can be found in the relevant study regulations and at  https://unibas.ch/admission.

Latin / Greek

Latin is not a compulsory subject for the field of study Social Anthropology.

Tuition fees per semester (also for examination semesters): CHF 850.-

Guidelines, study plans, and study regulations for the subject of Social Anthropology can be found on the website of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences:

https://philhist.unibas.ch/en/studium/documents-factsheets/