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MSc in Anthropology of Childhood, Youth and Education

Brunel University London, United Kingdom

msc-in-anthropology-of-childhood-youth-and-education

Next enrollment cycle

September 2023

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Total Course Fee

USD 22,379

Course Accredited By

NA

  • 1 Years
  • On Campus
  • Postgraduate
  • Degree
Anthropology of Childhood, Youth and Education MSc was the first degree of its kind to be established and is still unique in its deep anthropological exploration on what it is to be a child or to be young.
  • As part of the course, you will look at historic perceptions of childhood in the West to the development of European rights of protection, compared to experiences of childhood in other parts of the world, like the street children of Brazil.
  • In a module on learning and education you will compare physical development stages, including how learning is acquired and universal patterns of play, to the range of ways children are prepared or educated to fit cultural expectations.
  • The course’s key organising principle is that understanding children requires the study of how their relations with others – peers, older and younger children, parents, teachers and other adults – inform their practices, identities and world views.

The course addresses the following issues from an anthropological perspective:-

  • Do children of ‘different cultures’ live ‘different worlds’?
  • How does education impact upon children’s worlds and upon social and cultural practices more broadly?
  • How do the everyday processes of learning – both formal and informal – help to shape children’s ideas of and engagement with society at large?
  • What is the role of schools in the transmission and acquisition of cultural values to children and youth?
  • Why are adults’ ideas about childhood and youth so important for what children learn and aspire to become?
  • The distinctiveness of this degree derives from an anthropological approach that focuses on the importance of children’s and youth’s perspectives, on the role that education (formal and informal) plays in children’s learning processes, and in the transmission and acquisition of cultural knowledge.
  • Anthropology at Brunel is well-known for its focus on ethnographic fieldwork. As well as undertaking rigorous intellectual training, you will be expected to get out of the library and undertake your own, original research – whether in the UK or overseas – and to present your findings in a dissertation.
  • In recent years, Brunel students have undertaken fieldwork in locations across the world, including India, Mexico, Bolivia, Papua New Guinea, China, Nepal, Peru, Morocco, and New Zealand as well as within the UK and the rest of Europe.
  • A 30 month part-time option of the course is also available. If you wish to be considered for the part-time 30 month version, please make your application for the 24 month part-time route and then contact the Admissions team to request the change to the 30 month duration.

Enrollment Cycles

  • September 2023

UK entry requirements

  • A 2:2 (or above) UK Honours degree or an equivalent internationally recognised qualification.
  • Applicants with other degrees along with relevant experience will be considered on an individual basis.

EU and International entry requirements

  • If you require a Tier 4 visa to study in the UK, you must prove knowledge of the English language so that we can issue you a Certificate of Acceptance for Study (CAS). To do this, you will need an IELTS for UKVI or Trinity SELT test pass gained from a test centre approved by UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) and on the Secure English Language Testing (SELT) list. This must have been taken and passed within two years from the date the CAS is made.

English language requirements

  • IELTS: 6.5 (min 6 in all areas)
  • Pearson: 59 (59 in all subscores)
  • BrunELT: 63% (min 58% in all areas)
  • TOEFL: 92 (min 20 in all)
  • You will study a set of modules focussing on childhood, youth and education alongside foundational modules in social and cultural anthropology and on conducting anthropological research. 
  • In your second term you have a choice of options from anthropology as well as from related disciplines such as globalisation and development.
  • You will also have the opportunity to conduct your own dissertation fieldwork anywhere in the world according to your anthropological interests.

Please see programme specification for the specific optional module combination choices that are available.

  • This course can be studied 1 year full-time or 2 or 2.5 years part-time, starting in September.

Year 1
Compulsory

  • SA5603 - Ethnographic Research Methods
  • SA5550 - Dissertation in Childhood, Youth and Education
  • SA5623 - Understanding Childhood and Youth
  • SA5618 - Anthropology of Education and Learning

Optional

  • SA5604 - Thinking Anthropologically
  • SA5523 - Anthropology of the Body
  • SA5527 - Anthropology of the Person
  • SA5540 - Kinship, Sex and Gender
  • SA5619 - Critical Perspectives on International Development
  • SA5621 - Anthropological Perspectives on War and Humanitarian Assistance
  • SA5601 - Ethnicity, Identity and Culture
  • SA5614 - Applied Learning for Children, Youth and International Development
  • UK
  • £8,485 full-time
  • £4,240 part-time 
  • N.B. UK and EU applicants: the 30 month part-time course will not be eligible for a Postgraduate Loan. If you wish to be considered for the part-time 30 month version, please make your application for the 24 month part-time route and then contact the Admissions team to request the change to the 30 month duration.
  • Fees quoted are per year and are subject to an annual increase. 
  • Fees for EU applicants – For entry in 2021/22 academic year, eligible EU applicants will have the same tuition fees as UK students to support EU students during this transition period. These fees will be applied for the duration of the course. EU fees for 2022 entry are not yet confirmed.

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