Why Study Social Anthropology at Manchester?
At a glance
- Study at a UK Top 10 and Global Top 20 university for Anthropology (QS World University Rankings by Subject 2026).
- Explore visual anthropology at the world-leading Granada Centre for Visual Anthropology, internationally recognised for its expertise since 1987.
- Learn from experts across one of Britain’s largest Social Anthropology departments, covering a wide range of topics and approaches.
- Explore some of today’s most pressing global challenges, from migration and inequality to climate change, digital technologies and AI.
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Frequently asked study questions
You’ll explore issues that shape people’s lives and societies around the world, connecting anthropological ideas with contemporary challenges.
Depending on your interests, you can engage with areas including:
- migration and mobility;
- race and racism;
- gender and kinship;
- health and inequality;
- climate change;
- development and humanitarianism;
- digital technologies and AI;
- housing and energy transitions.
Our current research examines these areas and other issues across different cultures and regions, helping you understand how global changes affect people and communities in different ways.
At Manchester, you’ll have the chance to connect anthropological ideas with contemporary issues and learn from researchers with expertise across a wide range of areas.
You’ll encounter ethnographic and creative approaches to investigating social life, giving you opportunities to develop your own interests and pursue questions that matter to you.
You can also explore Manchester’s expertise in visual anthropology through the Granada Centre for Visual Anthropology. Its work includes ethnographic film, photography, sound and sensory research, giving you creative ways to investigate and represent people’s experiences.
Together, these approaches will encourage you to investigate questions, develop your ideas and find new ways to communicate what you discover.
This degree encourages you to look beyond familiar assumptions and consider experiences and ideas from different points of view.
You’ll learn to make connections between individual experiences and wider social change, helping you think more deeply about complex questions and form your own conclusions.
Studying the subject can help you:
- approach unfamiliar ideas with curiosity and an open mind;
- consider different cultural viewpoints;
- think critically about evidence and arguments;
- investigate questions through independent research;
- communicate complex ideas clearly;
- develop a deeper understanding of an interconnected world.
These ways of thinking can help you understand, not only other societies and cultures, but also the ideas and assumptions that shape your own.