PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION FOR MSc IN SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY

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Awarding institution/body Teaching institution Programme accredited by Final award Programme UCAS code Relevant subject benchmark statement Date of programme specification

University of Oxford University of Oxford n/a MSc (one year) Social Anthropology N/A

May 2005, revised Sept. 2008

1. Educational aims of the programme

This course presents students with an understanding of issues at the forefront of modern social anthropology, in the context of the discipline's history and current practices across the world. Students will have opportunity to exercise their judgement in developing original ideas through independent work, and in confronting the often complex real-life problems of pursuing both theoretical and applied problems through research. The QAA benchmark statement for Anthropology at Honours level refers to its 'holistic' character. In this masters course, the vision of a holistic study of the nature and contexts of human life is retained as a background against which to develop through intensive teaching and learning a systematic investigation of the relevance of social form and the comparative study of social relations. The programme thus aims to: n Provide a strong background in the theory and methodology of Social Anthropology, and practice in the critical evaluation of its sources, both in the library and in the context of fieldwork; n Prepare high quality students from the UK, EU and overseas either for further research in the discipline or for employment in fields where sensitivity to cross-cultural variability is required; n Teach all aspects of the course taking into account the recent significant advances in techniques, information and ideas at the forefront of current research and to integrate these within a general anthropological perspective;

n Provide a range of generic research skills relevant not only to this discipline but to several neighbouring fields where students might eventually be given responsibility for research or the administration or application of research.

10. Programme outcomes A. 1. Students will develop a knowledge and understanding of: skills specific to social anthropology arising from the comparative study of small and large-scale societies in different regions of the world; research methods of social anthropology, including qualitative and quantitative aspects; 3. the fundamental concepts, techniques, principles and theories relevant to the student's chosen area of specialisation; the relative value of different theoretical principles within the subject and the way these should be applied in the context of investigating a problem of the student's own choice in the long dissertation ;

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5. the role of social anthropologists in society, not only as academics but as consultants, commentators, and facilitators especially in cross-cultural contexts .

Related teaching/learning methods and strategies Each student is allocated a main academic supervisor for the year, who provide the bulk of tutorials and will oversee general progress. Methods of teaching and learning are as follows: By a combination of lectures, classes, and self-directed study, supported by individual one-on-one tutorials throughout the year; By undertaking a research exercise for a dissertation which must show knowledge from more than one of the basic approaches to anthropology as applied to a specific problem; by discussion of source material with an appropriate tutor and by discussing preliminary plans for the dissertation with that tutor; By extended discussion not only of items on the syllabus during tutorials, in seminars and in or after lectures (where appropriate), but also of occasional special lectures or seminars attended across the University.

Assessment Formative assessment: By the reading and discussion of essays written on a weekly basis throughout the academic year, in tutorials which provide informal feedback; by preliminary planning for the dissertation; and by the writing of formal reports at the end of each of the three academic terms. These

reports go to the Graduate Studies Office and the Director of Graduate Studies for Anthropology, and also to the student's College. Summative assessment: By a combination of unseen written examinations and the examination of a dissertation (10,000 words).

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Skills and other attributes

Students will have the opportunity to develop the following skills during the course: Intellectual skills 1. to read and evaluate original research articles and major theoretical works; to use modern electronic search tools in pursuing background information; 2. to consider problems in Social Anthropology from a range of perspectives available in the discipline, and in relation to those of neighbouring disciplines; to be able to address issues of research method in the subject, including those of fieldwork and modes of presentation both literary and visual; to present a written argument based on reading from a variety of

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to support that argument in oral discussion; to plan and conduct a programme of original literature research requiring input from key texts in Social Anthropology.

Related teaching/learning methods and strategies 1-4 are covered in the tutorial essays, and in the 10,000 word dissertation. 5 is developed in the context not only through tutorial discussion but also through the class teaching carried out in relation to lectures delivered beforehand on the relevant topics. 6 is part of the preparation for the dissertation and is further developed in the dissertation itself. Assessment Formative assessment: By the reading and discussion of weekly tutorial essays; and on the basis of termly reports by the tutor;

Summative assessment: By unseen written examination; and By writing the 10,000 word dissertation.

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Transferable skills Ability to communicate effectively through written and verbal reports; Use of libraries and information technology; Time management, especially in meeting weekly essay deadlines; Independent enquiry and learning, especially for the dissertation

project; 5. Critical analysis of sources and of

theoretical argument. Related teaching/learning methods and strategies In the reading for (and searching databases for relevant references) and writing of tutorial essays and the defence of those essays during tutorial discussion; Preparation and presentation of papers in classes or seminars especially those provided as part of the chosen regional option; In the preparation of the 10,000 word dissertation (which may include personal field observations but this is not compulsory) and organising time to produce the dissertation on schedule. Assessment Formative: by the presentation of written essays and the planning of independent work for the dissertation, which is initially discussed with and endorsed by the tutor; and from October 2005 through the preparation of Personal Development Plans, to be discussed with the supervisor, and to reflect improvement in general transferable skills over the period of the course.

Summative: By unseen written examinations, and the submission of the dissertation for examination.

11. Programme structure and features The programme is offered as a twelve-month course leading to the degree of Master of Science. Every candidate will be required to satisfy the examiners in four papers as follows: Core Paper I: Culture and Identity This paper will focus on the following topics: history and politics of anthropology; anthropology, ethnography and colonialism; gift and exchange; production and consumption; aesthetics, poetics, music and dance; material culture and museums; landscape and the built environment; personhood and the body; identity, ethnicity and nationalism; power, violence, resistance and agency. Core Paper II: Kinship, Power and Change This paper will focus on the following topics: family, kinship and relatedness; gender and age; ritual and religion; myth, history, memory and time; symbolism; representations of misfortune, including witchcraft, possession and healing; politics, law and the state; multiculturalism, migration and globalisation; language and literacy; classification. The two option papers are as follows: Option Paper I: The Social Anthropology of a Selected Region This option paper must be selected from List A (below). Option Paper II: Open Choice This option paper must be selected from any of the lists below: List A. Anthropology of a Selected Region List B. Topics in Material Anthropology List C. Anthropology and Topical Issues

12. Criteria for admission Criteria against which applications for degrees in social and cultural anthropology are assessed: . Consistently high levels of academic peformance: Predicted or actual minimum of an Upper Second class honours degree at the undergraduate level, or its equivalent; for those applying to be admitted as Probationer Research Students this background must be within the field of social and cultural anthropology; OR Non-academic experience relevant to the proposed field of study. 2. Evidence of motivation and understanding of, the proposed area of study.

3. Evidence of commitment to the subject, beyond the requirements of the degree course. 2. References should support: Intellectual ability; Academic achievement; Motivation; Ability to work in a group (where appropriate). 4. Native English speaker, or pass in standard at the higher level. 5. Appropriate supervision available. 3. The written work submitted is assessed against the following criteria: Comprehensive understanding of the subject area; Understanding of problems in the area: Ability to construct and defend an argument; Powers of analysis;
Powers of expression.

13. Methods for evaluating and improving the quality and standards of learning The course is under the overall direction of the Life and Environmental Sciences Divisional Board, and is administered by the Graduate Studies Committee of the School of Anthropology which carries immediate responsibility for the matters set out below. The divisional board has formal responsibility for the maintenance of educational quality and standards across its broad subject area; it scrutinises, and reports to the Educational Policy and Standards Committee on, examiners' reports, new course proposals and proposed course revisions, and it deals with academic appointments and the various measures (including mentoring, appraisal and the ensuring of teaching competence) to support new academic staff. Students in the School arrange their own representation on the Joint Consultative Committee for Anthropology and provide the chair of this committee, at which issues concerning the running of the post-graduate degrees are discussed with staff representatives.

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The quality and standards of learning are formally evaluated by the examination system. Improvements in the quality and standard of learning are sought through :

a) consultation with students in the Joint Consultative Committee and action on their recommendations, along with any feedback received from the Colleges through their graduate consultations; a) involvement of administrators from the Graduate Studies Office where possible in the efficient running of the Graduate Studies Committee for Anthropology; b) through seeking to encourage more undergraduates from Human Sciences and Archaeology and Anthropology to enter post-graduate study;

b) seeking to widen the cultural diversity of the student body, through improved and more extensive publicity in both Europe and Overseas; c) consulting regularly with colleagues to evaluate the efficacy of class and individual tutorials in relation to lectures; a) through mentoring of n ew academic staff, and through participation in the staff appraisal scheme and monitoring the rota of examining duties and administrative duties for academic staff in connection with student affairs including the admission of students; d) through responding appropriately to external funding bodies such as the ESRC and AHRB in respect of their assessment evalulation procedures for the courses they supports . Examiners' reports are considered by representatives of the departmental committee of ISCA, by the Graduate Studies Committee for Anthropology, by the Graduate Studies Panel of the Life and Environmental Sciences Division, and by the Educational Policy and Standards Committee (EPSC). All action taken as a result of suggested changes is reported, through the division, to EPSC. The University periodically reviews the teaching programmes of all departments.

14. Regulation of assessment Internal examiners are selected on the basis of a rota among academic staff, each appointment being for two, or sometimes three years, bearing in mind the need for continuity where possible, and also the examining needs of the undergraduate degrees for which Anthropology is partly responsible. External examiners are selected for invitation after discussion within the departmental committee, with a view to their broad competence in relation to the range of Masters courses offered by the School of Anthropology. Successive externals are invited from a variety of different UK universities. Decisions to invite examiners both internal and external are made by the departmental committee of the Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, and information about externals is forwarded for approval to the Proctors and Vice-Chancellor. The Graduate Studies Committee for Anthropology sets examination conventions, within the framework of the LES Divisional Board's Standing Orders, EPSC policy guidance and University regulations, and compliance with the regulations is monitored by review of examiner's reports. Summary of the regulations: 1. Candidates must follow a course of instruction in Social Anthropology for at least three terms, and will, when entering for the examinations, be required to produce a certificate from their supervisor to this effect. Candidates will be required to present themselves for written and (if requested by the examiners) oral examination and to submit three copies of a dissertation in prescribed form on an approved topic as defined below. The written examination will consist of four papers on the syllabus described in the Schedule. Each candidate will be required to submit a dissertation of approximately 10,000 words on a subject selected in consultation with the supervisor and approved by the Chairman of Examiners. The proposed title of the dissertation together with a paragraph describing its scope and the supervisor's written endorsement must be submitted to the Chairman of Examiners by Tuesday of the second week of Trinity Term. Three typewritten copies of the dissertation must be delivered not later than noon on the second Tuesday of September in the year in which the examination is taken, to the Chairman of Examiners, MSc in Social Anthropology, c/o Clerk to the Schools, Examination Schools, High Street. The examiners shall retain one copy of the dissertation of each candidate who passes the examination for deposit in the departmental library. The oral examination, if held, may be on the candidate's written papers, or dissertation, or both. The examiners may award a distinction for excellence in the whole examination.

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Marking Scheme

Formally the available grades are Distinction, Pass and Fail. In practice, the examiners mark on a numeric basis in order to provide a more refined grading. Marks for the whole examin ation, and for individual papers where requested, may be made available through supervisors or Colleges. The marks are used: a) to make decisions about a candidate's future progress in ISCA; b) to allow an overview of the quality and achievement of the examination process as a whole, by comparison with previous years; c) (occasionally) to aid supervisors in writing references. The marking scheme is based on a notional balance which gives the dissertation mark double the weight of an individual paper mark (i.e. the final result will reflect the average of four individual set paper marks and a doubled-up mark for the 10,000 word dissertation. Each of the four set papers requires candidates to attempt three questions, each of which is marked out of 100, and the paper as a whole given a mean final mark. The dissertation is also marked out of 100 and the mark doubled-up as indicated above. The final overall mean will indicate Distinction, Pass, Fail, and whether the candidate has done well enough to proceed to PRS status or, in other occasional cases, to transfer to the second year of the MPhil instead of completing the MSc. The relevant grades for MSc completion are: 70 and above 67-69 student 60-66 M.Phil. 50-59 49 or less Pass MSc. Fail MSc Distinction. From this level up, candidate is qualified to apply for admission as PRS

From this level up, candidate is eligible to transfer to 2nd year of

Note: Any candidate wishing to proceed to PRS status and thence to the D.Phil., must have an agreed supervisor, who must be able to assure the Graduate Studies Committee for Anthropology that the candidate has prepared a viable research proposal. A candidate who fails to present an acceptable dissertation, however good their performance in the written exams, will not have fulfilled the requirements for the MSc.

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Marking Procedure The examining board consists of two internal examiners and one external examiner. Candidates are anonymous. All papers are double-marked. Dissertations are marked by two internal Examiners and sampled by the external. Each of the four papers has equal weight but the dissertation is given double weight. Viva voce examinations may be held if deemed necessary. Where the marks assigned by the two Examiners differ by only two or three points (and do not involve a difference of grade), they are averaged to produce an agreed mark for the question. Where agreement cannot be reached by internal Examiners, the External Examiner is asked to adjudicate. In addition, the External Examiner may query any mark assigned to a question, even if the internal Examiners are unanimous in their judgement. Any differences of opinion are discussed fully at the Examiners' meeting, and if still unresolved may (in very rare instances) form the basis of questions in the viva voce examination. MARK Quality of Answer > 70 comprehensive 60-69 50-59 40-49 30-39 question <29 Totally inadequate A good answer that includes major points and their significance A less than satisfactory answer that includes some major points A weak answer that omits several major points A very poor answer that fails to address considerable areas of the A very good answer that is structured, innovative and

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Indicators of quality and standards

1. External examiners' reports have regularly noted the high quality of graduates taking the M.Sc. in Social Anthropology, and on the breadth and depth of the course, especially the range of regional options open to the students. The course is very successful by national standards. 2. Internal examiners' written reports are discussed thoroughly at the ISCA departmental committee and in its teaching sub-committee. Internal examiners also report verbally on their main findings at the two postexamination departmental meetings held at the time of the results of the written exams in June, and again after the final M.Sc, results in September, where they comment in detail on the overall pattern of the results, the particular successes and difficulties of the process and on individual students' performance. Feedback can then be provided by supervisors to students, and any lessons built in to future practice.

3.Anthropology at Oxford gained a 5 grade in the 2001 RAE.

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4. The ESRC awarded recognition in 2004 of the M.Sc. in Social Anthropology (Research Methods), a degree closely related to the M.Sc. by coursework which is reviewed here. This is not currently offered to students except those in receipt of an ESRC award who are required as a condition to demonstrate that they have the requisite research skills. 4. It is rare for students to fail the M.Sc. in Social Anthropology; this might happen once every two or three years, but occasionally a student who needs more time will be advised to take two years over the course instead of one. About half those who graduate from this course continue with further postgraduate study, either at Oxford or elsewhere, quite frequently moving into vocational fields such as development studies, charity work, or the media.

GALES Prog Specs \Final Drafts \MSc Soc Anth.doc

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