LSE is one of the best institutions in the world to study social anthropology at undergraduate level. From modern anthropology to old, the Department of Anthropology at LSE boasts an incredible range of opportunities to study. Previously the home of key figures like Bronislaw Malinowski, LSE has long been a centre for anthropological work.
Social anthropology at LSE is a programme that enables you to develop valuable and transferrable critical thinking skills; much of the degree asks you to consider differences between societies and why this is the case. This programme has broken down and reconstructed many aspects of my worldview and urged me to question things that often go unnoticed.
At LSE, the BSc in Social Anthropology consists of three courses in the first year – A History of Anthropological Theory, Contemporary Themes in Social Anthropology and Ethnography Through Mixed Media, plus one outside course option of your choice. In the later years of the programme there are many more options on what to study as you select from an array of courses, ranging from anthropology on kinship, development or close-ups on countries and societies of choice.
The journey through the degree is all supported by an academic mentor – a person assigned specifically to you to help you through all of your anthropological studies and lend any advice you may need along the way. The best part of studying Anthropology at LSE is the professors – the course is full of incredibly passionate people who care about what they teach and that makes all of the difference.
There are many career options after you graduate, directly academia but also in communications, marketing, policy work and much more. There are also other pathways such as law which can be achieved through doing the BA/BSc in Anthropology and Law which splits your degree between the two fields. It can be difficult to know where you’d like to take your degree with careers but LSE has an excellent LSE Careers services for advice and guidance on what you can do and even just where to start looking for future jobs.
Choosing a degree and university to study at can seem like a big leap but I’m glad I chose BSc in Social Anthropology at LSE. The programme is both rich and engaging, I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in anthropology and different ways of thinking. The degree does require a lot of reading, and I would suggest getting used to that to make things quicker during studies.
Studying Social Anthropology at LSE has already taught me so much in my first year of study and I look forward to all that I will learn in the years to come. Beyond just knowledge, this course is teaching me about the anthropological perspective – from scholars and examples both inspirational and worthy of critique. This degree is teaching me that even when something may not be right there is still a lot you can learn from it and never to assume. If you are looking for a course that will expand your perspective and view on all kinds of people and places then Social Anthropology at LSE may be the degree for you.
