Anthropology (MA) at University College Cork

MA Anthropology at UCC is an exciting new postgraduate degree that represents the state-of-the-art in field training in ethnography, combined with cultural, political and social theory. Bringing together the knowledge & skills of staff at the Marginalized & Endangered Worldviews study centre and the Moral Foundations of Economy & Society research centre, taught through students’ active participation in international summer schools & colloquia, as well as classroom seminars, and with practical fieldwork opportunities in Latin America, India, and several sites throughout Europe including Ireland, this Masters degree offers a unique opportunity to gain intercultural competencies as well as professional and transferable skills. It will appeal to students with a strong international and intellectual outlook who seek a deeper understanding of the cultural, political and social challenges of the 21st Century.

Why Choose This Course

The MA in Anthropology is a new and unique programme that fills a large gap in the Irish higher education landscape

Anthropology is uniquely well-placed to provide an analysis of our contemporary local and global situation: Recent and on-going political and economic crises bring into sharp relief the need to forefront anthropological perspectives and expertise to the benefit of the social sciences and public life.  Such a programme will offer the increasing number of international students with personal lived experience of migration, immigration and globalisation, conflict and war, a vehicle with which to voice their own thoughts and experiences to an academic standard. There is no graduate programme in Ireland and few internationally that address this intersection.

The programme will employ conventional classroom pedagogy combined with summer school, winter school and fieldwork placements with partner institutions globally. The already existing summer and winter schools will service not only the students from the MA in Anthropology programme but also students in other Irish Third Level Institutes, and, will also offer a recruitment window for international students.

The summer school and winter school plus the fieldwork placement make this a very attractive programme with a unique profile in Ireland.

Placement or Study Abroad Information

Students will be exposed to international perspectives and possibilities facilitated in particular through summer, winter-schools and the fieldwork placements.

The fieldwork placement will offer a unique opportunity for Irish students to engage in ethnographic practice at a range of institutions in India, Latin America and Europe, and for international students to conduct ethnographic research in Ireland.

The international local and global experience of transcultural learning and communication offers unique academic think-tank and creative spaces which foster global empathy through local engagement.  

Skills and Careers Information

Anthropologists can be universally employed as intercultural competency, socio-cultural reflexivity and cultural literacy represent key social and educational skills in contemporary societies. Identified career paths are

• Research
• Education
• Higher Education
• International and national politics
• Journalism
• International Organisations (UN, UNESCO etc)
• NGO sector