African Studies PhD/MA by Research (On-Campus or by Distance Learning)
Social Anthropology PhD/MA by Research (On-Campus or by Distance Learning)
The African Studies PhD and Social Anthropology PhD at Birmingham offer promising candidates the opportunity to carry out research in a centre of excellence in the study of Africa and Social Anthropology. The Department of African Studies and Anthropology has over 50 years' experience and expertise in supporting students from all over the world.
The PhD – the most advanced research degree – leads to a dissertation of up to 80,000 words on a subject of your choice and under the expert supervision of our academic staff.
We also offer an MA by Research programme, which requires you to prepare a dissertation of up to 40,000 words again under the supervision of academic staff members.
PhD researchers are usually supported under the expert guidance of a primary supervisor, co-supervisor and mentor, supported by complementary research training.
Our programmes can be studied on campus or by distance learning. Please note that if you are studying with us by distance learning, there is a required visit to campus in the first year of study.
Research interests of staff include:
The Department of African Studies and Anthropology is internationally recognised as a centre of excellence in research and postgraduate training.
We are able to provide expert supervision on a variety of topics including environmental knowledge and practice, oral and print culture, histories of local and national identities, labour history and anthropology, research on marginality, exclusion and slavery, migrations and mobility, gender, kinship and marriage in society and policy, education and its legacies, religious difference in everyday life, and African links with the Islamic world. As a postgraduate researcher in the Department, you will benefit from its international staff, interdisciplinary approach, diverse range of expertise, and active research community. Alongside our expertise in Africa and its diasporas, current DASA anthropologists also work in Europe and Melanesia, and can supervise projects related to their wide-ranging thematic expertise.
For full research interests of staff, please read our staff profiles or visit the 'Research' tab on the African Studies PhD and Social Anthropology PhD programme webpages.
Funding Notes
Please visit the College of Arts and Law funding page for information on possible funding opportunities: View Website. You can find out about all the scholarships that are available on our Postgraduate Funding Database. If you find a scholarship that you are interested in, I would recommend you check the application guidelines as these can differ between funding schemes. For some of them, you can apply for funding as soon as you have submitted an application for the course. If you would like to start in 2024, applications for the AHRC Midlands4Cities Scholarship opened on 16 October 2023 and closes on 10 January 2024.