About subject area content
About
About content
We are among the largest departments in the UK for Anthropology.
Our work generally combines a traditional anthropological emphasis on ethnographic fieldwork with a focus on contemporary issues.
Our anthropologists work in a wide range of geographical areas, including Scotland; Africa; the Middle East; South, Southeast, and East Asia; South, Middle and North America; and Europe.
Our teaching
Our teaching is research-led and international in its orientation. We are committed to taking our students along with us on our critical journeys through the comparative study of culture and society.
We offer undergraduate and postgraduate training on a wide range of longstanding and emerging anthropological fields and house research that is opening up the discipline into new and urgent terrains.
We're ranked in Europe’s top five universities for anthropology (QS World University Rankings by Subject 2022)
Across all our programmes, we offer hands-on research-led teaching, independent creativity, and interpersonal and group-based learning.
Our research
Our research is global in scope and at the heart of our teaching practice.
First in the UK for quality and breadth of research - Anthropology and Development Studies (REF 2021)
It includes core themes in:
- Core themes
- medical anthropology
- religion and society
- migration and refugee studies
- politics and law
- science and technology
- the anthropology of kinship and relatedness
- peace and conflict studies
- anthropology and the arts
- media anthropology
- cultural heritage
- international development
- human-animal relations
- sexuality and reproduction
- infrastructure and energy transitions
An interdisciplinary approach
Our research is interdisciplinary, with connections and partnerships across our academic areas of expertise.
We are home to the Edinburgh Centre for Medical Anthropology (EdCMA).
We collaborate with colleagues in other parts of the College and University, including GeoSciences, the Medical School and the Edinburgh College of Art. We also work closely with the Centre of African Studies and the Centre for South Asian Studies.
Our history
Social Anthropology was established at the University in 1946.