DPT: Persian and Social Anthropology (MA Hons) (UTPRSSA)

Jump to: Year 1, Year 2, Year 3, Year 4

Year 1 Academic year: 2025/26, Starting in: September

Students should aim to divide the number of credits they take in each academic year evenly between Semester 1 and Semester 2.

Compulsory courses

Persian 1a

Must be passed

Persian 1b

Must be passed

Islamic and Middle Eastern Cultures

Social Anthropology 1A: The Life Course

Must be passed

Social Anthropology 1B: Anthropology Matters

Must be passed

Course options

Islamic History A: The Formation of the Islamic World

Islamic History B: From the Crusades to the 'Gunpowder Empires'

Year 2 Academic year: 2025/26, Starting in: August

Entry to Honours:

(1) Students must pass courses to the required value of 240 credits in the first two years.
(2) Students must achieve 50% or more, at the first attempt, in Persian 2.

All courses (including outside subjects) must be passed before embarking on the year abroad; an outside course passed at Resit in August will be acceptable.

Compulsory courses

Persian 2

Must be passed 1st time at 50%

Ethnography: Theory and Practice

Must be passed

Social Anthropology 2: Key Concepts

Must be passed

Course options

Selected courses must be passed

Modern Middle Eastern History A: Domestic Transformation and International Challenges

Modern Middle Eastern History B: Postwar Independence and Conflict

Introduction to Islam

AND

Selected courses must be passed

Challenge Courses are designed to bring together students from different degree programmes to explore the complex issues facing the world today through interdisciplinary collaboration and creative thinking.
Working with each other and expert academics, students will gain new perspectives and develop important life skills highly valued by employers, such as teamwork, problem-solving and adaptability.

Selected courses must be passed

Our Changing World

Sustainability and Social Responsibility (UG)

Sustainable Development Goals: History, Progress and Beyond 2030

Living in the Anthropocene

Understanding Gender in the Contemporary World

Healthy Eating for People and Planet

Year 3 Academic year: 2025/26, Starting in: August

During 3rd year, when study in a Persian-speaking country or at an approved institution elsewhere is permitted, at least 8 weeks of approved residence must be spent in a relevant country.

Final Assessment:

One unit of assessment is allocated to every 20 credits and constitutes one 20-credit paper. The following are the twelve 20-credit papers on which the classification of the degree is based. (Papers that for the purposes of degree classification acquire a weighting of 40 credits are, therefore, listed twice.)

With Persian study abroad in 3rd year:

1. Advanced Persian
2. Advanced Persian
3. Advanced Persian
4. IMES Honours Option (Persian Language)
5. Persian Coursework Essay
6. IMES Dissertation Part 1 (same mark as 7)
7. IMES Dissertation Part 2
8. Persian Honours Option
9. Social Anthropology Honours Option
10. Social Anthropology Honours Option
11. Social Anthropology Honours Option
12. Social Anthropology Honours Option

Without Persian study abroad in 3rd year, two Advanced Persian papers are replaced by Intensive Persian (40 credits). (NB This option is only available to students when study in a Persian-speaking country or at an approved institution elsewhere is not permitted.)

Compulsory courses

IMES Dissertation (Part 1)

Persian Coursework Essay

Course options

Persian Language Acquisition Through Residence/Study Abroad (Full Time)

Intensive Persian

Persian Language Acquisition Through Residence/Study B

AND

Social Anthropology Core Courses include Kinship: Structure and Process; Anthropological Theory; Ritual and Religion; and Consumption, Exchange, Technology (these four usually done in third year); and Belief, Thought, and Language; and Culture and Power (these two usually done in fourth year).

Advanced Issues in the Making of Contemporary Africa

Contemporary Issues in International Development

South Asia: Culture, Politics and the Economy

Kinship: Structure and Process

Anthropological Theory

Ritual and Religion

Culture and Power

Consumption, Exchange, Technology

Social Development

Anthropology of Health and Healing

Anthropology and Environment

Anthropology of Sex and Reproduction

Latin American Anthropology

Contagion

Ethnographies of the United States

Anthropology of East Asia

Anthropology and Africa

War and Peace: Anthropological Perspectives

Waste: Anthropologies of Pollution and Repair

Digital Global Development

Anthropology in Practice

Ethnography of the Supernatural

Anthropology of the Far-Right

Health, Environment and Society

Collaborative Ethnography of Edinburgh

The Internet and Society

Energy Policy and Sustainability

Controversies in Medicine, Technology and the Environment

Sociology of Medicine

Year 4 Academic year: 2025/26, Starting in: August

Final Assessment:

One unit of assessment is allocated to every 20 credits and constitutes one 20-credit paper. The following are the twelve 20-credit papers on which the classification of the degree is based. (Papers that for the purposes of degree classification acquire a weighting of 40 credits are, therefore, listed twice.)

With Persian study abroad in 3rd year:

1. Advanced Persian
2. Advanced Persian
3. Advanced Persian
4. IMES Honours Option (Persian Language)
5. Persian Coursework Essay
6. IMES Dissertation Part 1 (same mark as 7)
7. IMES Dissertation Part 2
8. Persian Honours Option
9. Social Anthropology Honours Option
10. Social Anthropology Honours Option
11. Social Anthropology Honours Option
12. Social Anthropology Honours Option

Without Persian study abroad in 3rd year, two Advanced Persian papers are replaced by Intensive Persian (40 credits). (NB This option is only available to students when study in a Persian-speaking country or at an approved institution elsewhere is not permitted.)