History with Anthropology, BA (Hons)

Course summary

This programme offers an exciting and complementary combination of two humanities disciplines which promote the understanding of human life, culture, and society in the past and present.The BA History with Anthropology at Goldsmiths will enable you to explore and analyse contemporary social, cultural, and anthropological issues in their historical contexts. You will learn the importance of historical understanding for exploring and analysing the complex present-day world that surrounds us.Combine the study of History and AnthropologyThis programme will give you a grounding in both History and Anthropology, teaching you to think about History like an anthropologist, or Anthropology like a historian. Through History, you will learn to study, analyse, and understand the past and how it continues to make vital contributions to how we comprehend and interact with the world around us. Through Anthropology, you will learn to contextualise contemporary societal and cultural issues, and explore the complex and global world we live in. You will have the opportunity to develop knowledge of many key anthropological concepts, such as kinship, ritual, world systems, and development, as well as investigating anthropology in relation to history, politics, religion, philosophy, and psychology.From day one, you will be introduced to complementary aspects of the two disciplines, developing Historical skills in modules addressing how History is written and how it should be read while focusing on a range of specific historical controversies. You will also be introduced to key concepts in social anthropology and field research methods. Your first year will also give you the choice of studying a range of subjects in History, many of which can be analysed using anthropological approaches.As you progress through your degree, you will continue to develop your expertise in both fields, and eventually choose to focus your studies on either History or Anthropology, depending on how your interests have developed over the first two years of study. Principally, this means either choosing a History Special Subject or writing a dissertation which links the two subjects. Student choice is key here.Learn from expert staff in a global environmentThe academic staff in the Department of History and Department of Anthropology are at the forefront of research excellence and research-led teaching, delivering modules and conducting research about Asia, Africa, the Americas, the British Isles, Eastern and Western Europe, and the Middle East. Study with your career in mindAlongside intellectual and personal development, we equip you with the skills and experience you need to progress into a rewarding career. This might be through our History in Practice work-placement module or through other career-orientated opportunities and forms of assessment.

Year 1 Compulsory modules: Reading and Writing History Historical Perspectives Introduction to Social Anthropology Anthropological Methods You will also study one of the following modules, as well as one option module of your choice from a list approved annually by the Department of History. Global Connections: the violence and exchanges that shaped the modern world OR Historical Controversies Year 2 In your second year, you will choose two of the modules below: Working with Images Anthropology of Religion Anthropology and Political Economy Ethnography of a Selected Region 1 You will also select 90 credits of year 2 modules approved annually by the Department of History. Up to 30 credits of this may be a related studies module offered by another Goldsmiths Department, and 30 credits can be a University of London intercollegiate Group II module. Year 3 In your third year, you have the option to take a more History-orientated or Anthropology-orientated approach, depending on whether you choose a History Special Subject (with dissertation) or a linked History-Anthropology dissertation. You may then take one of the following approaches: One 60 credit specialist subject module, which can be within the Goldsmiths Department of History or a University of London Intercollegiate Group III special subject module. You also take 30 credits of History modules, or a 15 credit History module and 15 credit Anthropology module. OR A 30 credit linking dissertation supervised jointly by the departments of History and Anthropology, and 60 credits of History modules, one of which may be an Anthropology module. Any Special Subject History module you choose may be from a wide range of subjects offered not only at Goldsmiths but also by history departments throughout the University of London. You will also take 30 credits of modules offered by the Department of Anthropology. Please note that due to staff research commitments not all of these modules may be available every year.