MA Anthropology of Food and Intensive Language
SOAS University of London
Key Information
Campus location
London, United Kingdom
Languages
English
Study format
On-Campus
Duration
2 - 4 years
Pace
Full time, Part time
Tuition fees
GBP 11,980 / per year *
Application deadline
Request Info
Earliest start date
Request Info
* full-time fees per academic year: UK £11,980; Overseas £23,400
Introduction
Mode of Attendance: Full-time or part-time
This two-year intensive language pathway is directed at students who wish to combine knowledge of the anthropology of food with expertise in a regional language. It prepares students to apply their anthropological knowledge in a specific region by achieving proficiency in a language.
Our MA programme in the Anthropology of Food offers you the opportunity to explore historically and culturally variable foodways, from foraging to industrial agriculture, from Europe and North America to Africa, Asia and South America.
You will study the passage of food from plant to palate, and examine who benefits, and who suffers, from contemporary modes of food production, exchange, preparation, and consumption. You will also explore the role of food in human migrations, the formation of regional and national cuisines, and food fears and food safety and concerns over ‘nutrition transition’.
Debates over the impact of agricultural biotechnology on agrarian livelihoods and knowledge systems, as well as on the natural environment, are assessed. Movements toward organic agriculture, veganism and vegetarianism, fair trade, and slow food are also analysed.
An anthropological approach to the study of food draws upon and challenges the perspectives of other disciplines, whether agronomy or nutritional science, economics or law, history or literature.
This programme has a first-rate graduate employability record, with graduates moving on to find employment in food-related government ministries, international organisations, development agencies, or non-governmental associations.
May be combined with:
The following Intensive Language pathways are available with the MA Anthropology of Food
- Arabic
- Japanese
- Korean
- Persian
- South-East Asian Languages: Burmese, Indonesian, Thai, Vietnamese
- Swahili
- Turkish
Gallery
Admissions
Curriculum
Structure
Students on this two-year Intensive Language programme must take 315 credits in total, comprised of 255 taught credits (45 of which are taught abroad as part of a Summer School) and a 60-credit dissertation as outlined below.
In their first year, students on this two-year Intensive Language programme take 60 credits of intensive language instruction and 60 credits in the discipline. During the summer, they participate in a Summer School abroad. In the second year, they take another 30 language credits as well as 60 credits in the discipline; they also complete their dissertation in the discipline.
The structure of the programme can be adjusted for those who wish to take the programme part-time over a period of four years and/or for those who have a previous background in Anthropology.
Year 1 (two years full time)
Discipline Component
Compulsory Module
- Anthropology of Food: Politics, Place and Mobility
- Anthropology of Food: Diet, Society and Environment
- Theoretical Approaches to Social Anthropology
and
Language Component
- Students take 60 credits in the selected language.
Summer Abroad
- Students participate in a Summer School abroad for the selected language.
Year 2 (two years full time)
Discipline Component
Compulsory Module
- Ethnographic Research Methods
and
- Guided module(s) from the lists below, OR from the Postgraduate Open Options List, to the value of 45 credits.
and
Language Component
- Students take 30 credits in the selected language.
Dissertation
Students must complete a Dissertation (10,000 words) worth 60 credits.
- Dissertation in Anthropology and Sociology
List of modules (subject to availability)
- Anthropology and Sociology
- African and Asian Diasporas in the Contemporary World: Cultures of Resistance and the Dissolution of Boundaries
- African and Asian Diasporas in the Contemporary World: Migration, Space, Identities
- Anthropology of Development and Sustainability: Global Challenges and Alternative Futures
- Anthropology of Development and Sustainability: History, Politics and Culture
- Body politics: the anthropology of "race", gender and desire
- Culture and Society of Near and Middle East
- Culture and Society of East Africa
- Directed Practical Study in the Anthropology of Food
- Issues in Anthropology and Climate Change
- Issues in Anthropology and Film
- Issues in Mind, Culture and Psychiatry
- Medical Anthropology: Bodies and Cultures
- Medical Anthropology: Global Perspectives
- Centre for Gender Studies
- Gender in the Middle East
- Queering Migrations and Diasporas
- Development Studies
- Agrarian Development, Food Policy and Rural Poverty
- Energy Transition, Nature, and Development in a Time of Climate Change
- Gender and Development
Important notice
The information on the programme page reflects the intended programme structure against the given academic session.
Rankings
Our Anthropology Department is ranked 5th in the UK and 13th in the world in the 2020 QS World University Rankings
Program Outcome
Why study MA Anthropology of Food at SOAS?
- We draw on the exceptional regional expertise of our academics in Asian, African, and Middle Eastern languages and politics, many of whom have joined us with practical working knowledge of their disciplines
- You will be joining our thriving community of alumni and academics who have an impact on the world outside of academia
- You will be able to flexibly structure your programme using our optional modules and/or optional modules from other departments, including the opportunity to learn a regional language
- We are specialists in the delivery of languages. Your command of a second language at SOAS will set you apart from graduates of other universities
This two-year intensive language pathway is directed at students who want to engage with a country academically and/or professionally, as the intensive language courses will enable them to reach near proficiency in the language.
English Language Requirements
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