PhD Social Anthropology with Visual Media

The three/four year full-time (or part-time equivalent) PhD in Social Anthropology and Visual Media programme is intended for those with an Undergraduate or Master's degree in Social Anthropology who wish to incorporate the use of visual media whilst pursuing doctoral research.

Substantial original research, including ethnographic fieldwork of 12-18 months, will lead to the production of a thesis. You are required to produce audio-visual media as a necessary and integral feature of your thesis, there is an expectation that the textual component should be no more than 60,000 words or a 25% reduction on the normal maximum length for the PhD in Social Anthropology.

Throughout, you will work closely with an expert supervisor, with further guidance from at least one extra supervisor.

The structure depends on prior qualification:

You will, during the first year, take a set of research training courses. After about 10 months (or 20 in part-time study) produce a 12,000-15,000 word research proposal. This proposal is examined in an oral viva. Successful completion of this viva and of coursework at satisfactory level, is a condition for you to proceed to field research. After fieldwork, you will return to the University and start writing your dissertation and editing your audio-visual material under the guidance of your supervisors.
If you have successfully completed our MA Anthropological Research course (or an equivalent ESRC-recognised course in another UK institution), you may be in a position to start fieldwork as soon as is practicable, provided that you have submitted a satisfactory research proposal as part of your previous degree and it has been approved by the School of Social Sciences. After fieldwork, you will return to the University and start writing your dissertation and editing your audio-visual material under the guidance of your supervisors.
Currently, social anthropology at Manchester has a lively PhD community of over 50 students working in all of the world's continents and on a variety of topics. This programme is delivered in conjunction with the Granada Centre for Visual Anthropology