School of Anthropology & Conservation

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Anthropology Ranked 1st in the National Student Survey 2012

In the NSS 2012 Anthropology at Kent has been ranked 1st in the UK for Overall Student Satisfaction and 1st in the UK for Teaching. Find out more of the reasons why students rank us 1st and about what our alumni are doing now.

 

BSc (Hons) Medical Anthropology

This specialist programmes explores the causes and consequences of illness and disease.

The BSc in Medical Anthropology explores the causes and consequences of illness and disease. Medical anthropologists are interested in how culture, environment, history, and political economy influence health, sickness, care facilities and medicine.

Students entering the programme should have an interest in health as well as a willingness to take part in informed debates about current and often controversial issues relating to health, policy, and medicine.

Typical questions that medical anthropologists might ask include: why do people get sick? How does one's experience of the body differ between cultures? Are humans the only species that use medicine? What happens when folk medicine and professional biomedicine are used at the same time? What are the health effects of mass-produced food? What makes plants effective medicines? Why are pharmaceuticals so expensive?

 

Course Structure

Note: Some modules run in alternate years and all modules are subject to change. Select the module code to access full details of each module.

"An exciting degree programme that offers a scientifically based approach to the study of humans and provides you a wide range of skills that prepare you for your future. We have expanded and invested in teaching materials to give you a range of unique opportunities in biology and anthropology."

 

Stage 1 (a total of 120 credits to be taken)

The following modules are compulsory:

SE301: Introduction to Social Anthropology, 30 credits, term 1 and 2

SE302: Foundations of Biological Anthropology, 30 credits, term 1 and 2

SE307: Thinkers and Theories: An Introduction to the History and Development of Anthropology, 15 credits, term 2

SE308: Skills for Anthropology and Conservation, 15 credits, term 1

 

The following modules are recommended:

SE305: Practical Introduction to Biological Anthropology, 15 credits, term 1 and 2

SE306: Animals, People and Plants, 15 credits, term 2

SE309: Violence and Conflict in the Contemporary World, 15 credits, term 1 and 2

HI385: Introduction to the History of Medicine, 15 credits, term 1

BI305: Fundamental Human Biology, 15 credits, term 1 and 2

OR

BI307: Human Physiology and Disease, 15 credits, term 1 and 2

 

Further modules may be chosen from a very wide range available to first-year Social Science students.

 

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Students take 240 credits over Stages 2 and 3. 120 credits are taken at each Stage. 60 credits must be taken in each of Autumn and Spring tems.

The following modules are compulsory:

SE533: Project in Anthropological Science, Stage 3, 30 credits, term 1 and 2

SE549: The Anthropology of Health, Illness and Medicine, term 2

SE567: Methodology in Anthropological Science, Stage 2, 15 credits, term 2

SE575: Medicinal Plants, Traditional Healing, and Drug Discovery, term 1

SE585: Anthropology of Eating: From the Raw to the Cooked, term 1

SE581: Biological Anthropology: The Human Animal, Stage 2, 15 credits, term 2

OR

SE582: Comparative Perspectives in Primate Biology, Stage 2, 15 credits, term 1

 

 

Students must take at least 45 credits from the following modules: (all 15 credits)

SE542: Human Ecology, term 2

SE550: Anthropology of Gender, term 2

SE554: Visual Anthropology Theory (Stage 3), term 1

SE565: Sex, Evolution and Human Nature, normally Stage 2, term 1

SE566: Human Osteology, Stage 2, term 1

SE569: Palaeopathology, Stage 3, term 1

SE589: Advanced Social Anthropology II, term 2

SE593: The Evolution of Human Diversity, normally Stage 3, term 2

SE594: Anthropology and Development, term 1

 

The following modules are optional: (all 15 credits)

DI503: Evolutionary Genetics and Conservation, term 2

LW615: Neuroscience in Law: Forensic, Medical and Ethical Aspects, 15 credits, term 1 and 2

SE512: African Societies, term 1 and 2

SE541: The Evolution of Hominin Behaviour, Stage 3, term 1

SE547: Southeast Asian Societies, term 1

SE548: North Mediterranean Societies, term 1

SE551: Anthropology and Language, term 1

SE552: Culture and Cognition, term 2

SE555: Project in Visual Anthropology (stage 3 only), term 2

SE568: History of Evolutionary Thought, term 1

SE573: Ethnicity and Nationalism, term 1

SE579: The Anthropology of Amazonia, term 2

SE580: Primate Behaviour and Ecology, normally Stage 2, term 2

SE583: Pacific Societies, term 2

SE584: The Anthropology of Business, term 2

SE588: Advanced Social Anthropology I, term 1

SE590: The Anthropology of Law, term 2

SE591: South Mediterranean Societies, term 2

SE592: Central Asian Societies, term 1

SE595: Social Computing, term 2

 

Students may take other ‘wild’ modules options consistent with the programme aims with the approval of the Programme Convenor.

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School of Anthropology and Conservation - © University of Kent

School of Anthropology and Conservation, Marlowe Building, The University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent, CT2 7NR, T: +44 (0)1227 827056

Last Updated: 25/02/2013