Undergraduate Programme

Anthropology

Our Programmes

Why Anthropology

Anthropology is the study of what makes us human. It considers the range of human diversity, accounting for how people in different times and places have developed distinctly different societies. It exposes us to a vast variety of different beliefs and health practices, economic and political systems, material culture, and even different notions of beauty, the environment, food, family … and the good life. How do we account for such diversity? Do we even experience pain, happiness, and love the same way in every society? How are climate change, racism, and inequality understood and dealt with in different places and times? Together, these and a litany of other questions invite us to explore the variations and commonalities of the human experience. In the process, anthropology overturns our common-sense views of the world and opens our eyes to the possibilities of human existence.

Anthropology equips us with analytical and methodological skills to carefully observe and interpret human behaviour holistically. Ethnography, as a hallmark of anthropology’s distinctive approach to studying human societies, offers intimate views of social life as they happen and how they are linked to the larger forces and global systems to which they may be connected. The wealth of ethnographic insights, combined with anthropological theorizing, are powerful tools for understanding contemporary social issues and problems.

Introduction to Major

Message from the Head of Department

Associate Professor Kelvin Low is the Head of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology. His research interests cover: Senses and Society; Migration and Transnationalism; Social Memory, Historiography, Heritage; and, Food and Foodways. He is co-founder of the TG07 Senses and Society group in the International Sociological Association (ISA), Academic Editor of Social Justice and Democratisation Space (by ISA) and Social Sciences in Asia, and serves on the editorial advisory boards of The Senses and Society and Perspectives on Sensory History.

Curriculum

Single Major

Single Major [B.Soc.Sci (Hons)]

Pass at least 60 units of AN courses or AN-recognised courses which include the following:

AN1101E Anthropology and the Human Condition
AN2101 Research Methods in Anthropology
AN3101 Anthropology and Theory
SC4101 Practising Anthropology and Sociology
a minimum of 36 units at Level-3000 or higher (including AN3101 and SC4101) with
1. a minimum of 20 unitss at Level-4000 or higher (including SC4101)
2. a maximum of 8 unitss of AN-recognised courses at level-4000 (excluding SC4101)
3. a maximum of 8 units of AN-recognised courses at level-5000 (subject to Department's approval)
a maximim of 20 units of AN-recognised courses (including SC4101)

Note 1:

The Honours Thesis (8 units) is optional. To qualify for Honours Thesis, students must complete 110 units including 40 units of AN major requirements with a minimum SJGPA of 4.00 and a GPA of 3.50. Students may seek a waiver of the SJGPA pre-requisite from the department if they have a minimum GPA of 4.25 after completing 110 units.

Note 2:

Students who do not attempt the Honours Thesis will read 5 level-4000 AN courses to fulfil the Honours Requirement.

Note 3:

Students may also read a level-4000 Independent Study Course (4 units) subject to the agreement of the Supervisor and Department. The level-4000 ISC carries a pre-requisite of 100 units completed, including 40 units in AN, with a minimum GPA of 3.20. It precludes the Honours Thesis.

Note 4:

All level-4000 courses carry a general pre-requisite of having completed 80 units, including 28 units in the Major.

Second Major

Second Major

Pass at least 40 units of AN courses or AN-recognised courses which include the following:

AN1101E Anthropology and the Human Condition
AN2101 Research Methods in Anthropology
AN3101 Anthropology and Theory
a minimum of 16 units at level-3000 or higher (See Note 1) (including AN3101)
a maximum of 8 units of AN-recognised courses

Note 1: Students are allowed to read Level-4000 courses subject to Department's approval.

Note 2: Students should refer to the department website for prevailing course pre-requisites / preclusions.

Minor

Career Prospects

Anthropology graduates are trained observers who are particularly adept at collecting data systematically and contextually; listening and observing what others are doing; researching and appreciating the historical and socio-political context; applying various explanatory cultural models; and adopting a broad and comparative perspective to frame and understand issues. Cultural expertise, one component of anthropological training and research, is a sought-after skillset by employers and institutions covering a wide-ranging scope of industries.

Anthropology graduates have entered a variety of professions including market and social research and policy formulation; research companies and audit consultancies; advertising and sales; health and social work; business and finance; civil service; journalism and mass-media; non-governmental organisations; arts and events management; and conservation, museum and heritage management. In more recent years, the emergence of disruptive technologies has seen an upsurge in interest in business anthropology and consumer ethnography, and in the hiring of anthropologists to optimise organisational culture, design user-friendly products and interfaces, and study consumer behaviour in foreign markets.

Testimonials

Delia Shamaney

Anthropology

Why study Anthropology?

It is often misunderstood that Anthropology is solely the study of “bones” and “dirt”, Anthropology is so much more phenomenal. Anthropology at NUS grants you the lens to understand why complex societies, communities and their people live divergently in both macro and micro ways. People are fundamentals in our realities, and I believe Anthropology answers the mysteries of the “why”, “who”, “what”, “how” of people globally from dissecting the aspects of our own mundane lives, to its technological entanglements, and even to aspects of migrations and nature and much more.

I have always been passionate about understanding who we are as humans. We are undefined without the intersection of social, cultural, biological and physical elements in our identity and society. I believe Anthropology is a fun and exciting way to appreciate the diversity and speciality of our homo sapiens species. Nonetheless, Anthropology also widens my own eyes to the plethora of cultural magnificence out there. It is crazy how ingenious people were in the past and still are in the present!