MA Anthropology of Food
London, United Kingdom
DURATION
1 Years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
Request application deadline
EARLIEST START DATE
Sep 2024
TUITION FEES
GBP 25,320 / per year *
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* for overseas student fees | home student fees: GBP 12,220 per year
Introduction
The MA Anthropology of Food programme offers you the opportunity to explore historically and culturally variable foodways, from foraging to industrial food, from Asia, Africa and the Middle East to Europe and the Americas.
You will examine the roles that food classification, production, distribution, exchange, cooking and eating play in social organisation, differentiation, religious practice and cultural identity, and in mediating our relationships with non-human beings and surroundings. You will also explore the trans-regional and transnational movements of foods and culinary practices and the role of food in human migrations, as well as the formation of regional and national cuisines.
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 address debates on the impact of contemporary food systems on food safety, dietary health, agrarian livelihoods and environmental sustainability and examine concerns over the alleged demise of family meals, traditional food knowledge and cooking skills.
Food activism, including digital food activism and movements toward sustainable food production and against food waste, and movements advocating fair trade, veganism and vegetarianism are explored in diverse cultural contexts. You will also address initiatives to protect local and artisanal foods, including promotions of heritage foods and food tourism in rural development and nation-building.
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Admissions
Curriculum
Degree programmes at SOAS - including this one - can include language courses in more than forty African and Asian languages. It is SOAS students’ command of an African or Asian language which sets SOAS apart from other universities.
The programme consists of 180 credits in total: 120 credits of taught modules and a dissertation of 10,000 words at 60 credits.
There are three types of taught modules: Compulsory (60 credits), Guided Options (30 credits, chosen from Lists A and B below), and Open Options (30 credits, chosen from Lists A, B or C below or from the School-wide open options list, including languages).
Compulsory Modules
- Ethnographic Research Methods
- Food, Place and Mobility
- Diet, Society and Environment
- Contemporary Anthropological Theory
- Food Forum Seminar
Dissertation
The MA Anthropology of Food culminates in a 10,000-word dissertation, based on original research on a topic of the student's own choosing and developed in discussion with a supervisor.
Program Tuition Fee
Career Opportunities
The MA Anthropology of Food programme has a first-rate employability record. SOAS graduates move on to find employment in various fields.
Recent Department of Anthropology and Sociology graduates have been hired by:
- Allen & Overy
- BBC
- British Council
- Deloitte
- Hackney Migrant Centre
- IFAD (International Fund for Agricultural Development)
- IOM- UN Migration
- Media 52
- New York Times
- Social Mobility Foundation
- The Week
- UNICEF
- United Nations Development Programme
- World Bank Group
Program Leaders
Program delivery
During the academic year, modules are delivered through a combination of lectures, tutorials and/or seminars. Students can expect an average of two hours of classroom time per week for each module. Outside of the classroom, students explore topics of the module through independent study and through personal exchanges with teachers and fellow students.
In some cases, modules are taught by several teachers within the department to provide students with an array of perpsectives on the subject. All modules involve the active participation of students in the discussion of ideas, viewpoints and readings.