Over the last ten years, global aspirations to reduce the suffering of the ‘bottom billion’ have led to unprecedented attention on international development. International agencies, governments and NGOs are working more intensely than ever before to deliver appropriate policies and interventions.

Anthropology has played a key role in the emergence of new perspectives on humanitarian assistance and the livelihoods of populations caught up in extreme circumstances such as famines, natural disasters and wars.

On the one hand, this has led to a radical re-thinking of what has been happening, but on the other hand, it has led to anthropologists sometimes playing controversial roles in agendas associated with the ‘war on terror’.

This course will provide you with insight into contemporary issues and debates and explores their implications. It also sets them in the context of anthropology as a discipline.

The course will appeal to graduates from a variety of backgrounds, including anthropology, sociology, economics, politics, geography, law and development studies. It is suited for those interested in critically assessing the policies and practices of international development and humanitarian assistance to war-affected regions from an anthropological perspective.

Anthropology at Brunel is well-known for its focus on ethnographic fieldwork. As well as undertaking rigorous intellectual training, you will be expected to get out of the library and undertake your own, original research – whether in the UK or overseas – and to present your findings in a dissertation.

In recent years, Brunel students have undertaken fieldwork in locations across the world, including India, Mexico, Bolivia, Papua New Guinea, China, Nepal, Peru, Morocco, and New Zealand as well as within the UK and the rest of Europe.

Entry Requirements

Are you eligible to apply?

Course Content

You will study a set of modules focussed on your anthropology specialism alongside others that provide a greater understanding of anthropology and how to conduct ethnographic research.

Further into the course, you have a choice of options from within anthropology such as childhood and education, medical anthropology, ethnicity and culture, as well as others from related disciplines like human rights law and globalisation.

While there is no placement, you have the opportunity to conduct your own dissertation fieldwork anywhere in the world according to your anthropological interests.

Teaching and Learning

You will learn through a combination of lectures, seminars, workshops and tutorials as well as through your own reading. You will also be encouraged to attend the department’s calendar of lunchtime research meetings where guest speakers share insight from their own research and experience.

Anthropology of International Development and Humanitarian Assistance MSc is taught by a team of Brunel experts who have worked in many countries across the globe, including South, West and East Africa, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, India and Sri Lanka, as well as Britain.

Ethnographic Research Methods

This module will introduce you to the methods employed by anthropologists when undertaking ethnographic research in preparation for your own fieldwork research on which your dissertation will be based.

Critical Perspectives on International Development

Gain a theoretical and historical overview of the changing relationship between anthropology and international development as you learn to understand the multiple ways in which anthropological research can enhance our understanding of contemporary policies and practices in international development.

Dissertation in Anthropology of International Development and Humanitarian Assistance

The opportunity to carry out a major research project in the subject of your degree based around your own fieldwork experience.

Anthropological Perspectives on War and Humanitarian Assistance

In this subject you will analyse the social and economic consequences of contemporary warfare and the rebuilding war-torn societies from an anthropological perspective and by doing so, understand the different ways anthropological research can enhance the understanding of contemporary warfare.

Careers

In addition to providing a firm grounding for doctoral research in the international environment or a research assistant position, this degree will enhance your professional development in many fields, including:

NGOs
international agencies (e.g. the World Health Organisation, the World Food Programme)
the civil service (the UK Department for International Development)
the private sector