DPhil in Anthropology

The DPhil in Anthropology is the School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography’s advanced research degree, and is awarded to candidates who have completed a substantial original piece of research in the field. The DPhil in Anthropology is the School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography’s advanced research degree, and is awarded to candidates who have completed a substantial original piece of research in the field. Anthropology - the study of humans - is a very diverse field and a wide range of research foci are reflected within the activities and structure of the department (see the description of the School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography and its constituent units). DPhil students in the department research topics across this wide range of research foci, including migration and migrant populations, social and cultural influences on medical practice and health, material culture and its representation in museums, human cooperation and pro-social behaviour, the evolution of human behaviour, human adaptations and interactions with the environment and technology, and the huge range of topics that fall under the social anthropological concerns of learning about different populations’ versions of the world and relating them to each other. The programme provides training and practice in developing research skills, especially through fieldwork with human subjects, though this is not compulsory. It also offers practice in analysing, interpreting and writing up research-related materials, and in presenting such materials in seminar-type formats. Upon successful completion of the course students will have developed the skills and a body of work that qualifies them to work as researchers within their chosen area.