Anthropology with a Language

Anthropology is the study of what it means to be human, examined through the immense diversity of cultural forms, social arrangements, beliefs, and practices that people across the world have developed. It is a discipline that takes difference seriously, treating the varied ways in which human communities organise kinship, exchange, religion, politics, and everyday life as sources of genuine insight rather than as curiosities to be explained away. Combining anthropology with a language extends this commitment to genuine cross-cultural engagement, giving you linguistic access to at least one community on its own terms.

At Sussex this three-year full-time programme includes a foundation year, a sandwich year, a year abroad, and a work placement, making it one of the most richly structured anthropology programmes available. You will explore a wide diversity of cultural contexts and examine how people around the globe are tackling contemporary issues including climate change, health inequalities, environmental degradation, racial discrimination, gender-based violence, and human rights. Anthropology's methods, including fieldwork, participant observation, and the careful analysis of cultural texts and practices, give you a distinctive toolkit for understanding social life that complements the language skills you develop alongside it.

The year abroad is a particularly important component, providing the kind of extended cross-cultural experience that is central to anthropological understanding. Sussex has long been at the forefront of engaged, politically alert social science, and the programme reflects that tradition.

Anthropology graduates find careers across an unusually wide range of fields. International development and humanitarian organisations, public health, education, the civil service, journalism, social research, the charity sector, and cultural consultancy are all natural destinations. The combination of cross-cultural awareness, research skills, and language competency that this programme develops is particularly valued in organisations working across national and cultural boundaries.

Many graduates also continue to postgraduate study in anthropology, development studies, area studies, or social research methods, or pursue professional training in social work, law, or international affairs.