African Studies with Anthropology BA

Summary

This degree aims to promote an interdisciplinary understanding of Africa, its history, cultures and societies, but also to focus critically and analytically on the unique contribution anthropology has made to the study of Africa and things African. The Centre of West African Studies is a small department, whose strong sense of community and support among its undergraduates, postgraduates and staff is well known in the University.

Key facts

UCAS code: T5L6

Duration: 3 years

Start date: September 2012

Places available: 18 (all African Studies courses)

Applications in 2010: 83

Entry requirements

Number of A levels required: 3

Typical offer: BBB

General Studies: accepted

Additional information:

Other qualifications are considered – learn more about entry requirements|

We expect applicants to have an interest in Africa rather than a detailed knowledge of the continent

We welcome applications from mature and Access students

International students:

International Baccalaureate Diploma: 32 points

Standard English language requirements apply 
Learn more about international entry requirements|

Contact details

Admissions Tutor: Dr Stewart Brown
Telephone enquiries: +44 (0)121 414 5127/5128
Email: s.brown@bham.ac.uk|

How to apply

Apply through UCAS at www.ucas.com|  
Learn more about applying|

Fees and funding

Standard fees| apply 
Learn more about fees and funding|

Scholarships
 Learn more about our scholarships and awards|

Programme overview

This degree aims to promote an interdisciplinary understanding of Africa, its history, cultures and societies, but also to focus critically and analytically on the unique contribution anthropology has made to the study of Africa and things African.

The Centre of West African Studies is a small department, whose strong sense of community and support among its undergraduates, postgraduates and staff is well known in the University. We have a wide range of visiting scholars and a cultural events and seminar programme. The student society is very lively and provides a full programme of activities, from sport to music.

See Additional information for course structure|

Teaching and assessment

Our courses are made up of a combination of mostly lectures and tutorials, but with occasional student workshops, debates and presentations. You will be expected to devote at least as much time to private study as to attending formal lectures and tutorials. Your coursework is assessed continuously throughout the year, and there are unseen examinations in some modules. You are assigned a personal tutor at the start of each academic year, and a dissertation supervisor at the start of your third year.

Career opportunities

Our graduates have gone on to forge successful careers, both at home and abroad, in teaching, development work, publishing, human resources, the media, retail management, banking, insurance, the foreign service and other arms of the Civil Service.   

Related links

Centre of West African Studies website: www.cwas.bham.ac.uk|

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A student needs to complete a total of 120 credits per year.

First Year

As your core transferable skills course you take Focus on African Studies|, along with the other students in the Department.  In addition, you take the discipline-specific, Anthropology and ethnography| course which introduces you to classical anthropology and contemporary theoretical debates. We also strongly encourage you to take Introduction to African environments and societies|, because this will improve your understanding of sociological and historical thinking about the 'third world'. You can choose options from the same range of courses as Single Honours African Studies students (below), ensuring a broad introduction to Africa from different disciplines.   

Options

 

Second Year

In the second year you take the core skills course, Perspectives on African studies| includes a substantial section on dissertation preparation for your final year.  The anthropological focus is given by EITHER Anthropology: debates and controversies| (40 credits) or Anthropology: history and theory| (20 credits).  Your remaining  either 60 or 80 credits should include one other course with an anthropological focus and the rest should be drawn from African Studies options

Options (Second Year only)

Options (Second and Third Year, NB not all are offered every year)

Third year

Your final-year dissertation| (40 credits) should be on an anthropological topic. You also take one other anthropologically focused course from your African Studies choices and select three additional courses from a wide range of available options.

Why study African Studies with Anthropology BA at Birmingham?

Why Study African Studies?

It is humankind’s original home. It is a continent of vast cultural and natural resources. The range of kinds of African societies that is apparent today and has existed in the past is enormous: from egalitarian communities to elaborately hierarchical empires. There are and have been extremes of wealth and poverty; ancient oral cultures exist side by side with old traditions of literacy and state-of-the-art electronic media; successful local exploitation of Africa’s massive pools of biodiversity contrasts with the famines we are all too familiar with the 6-o’clock news.

What is indisputable is the creativity of the continent. Whether in coping with massive urbanisation, in developing new kinds of politics, or in inventing original literary and theatrical genres, Africans have been active and resilient makers of their own fortunes. Centre of West African Studies (CWAS) teaching programmes are grounded in Africans’ own views of the continent and the world.

"There was never really one defining moment in my life when I decided that I was destined to study Africa, like most things it started as a vague possibility and gradually grew on me. When choosing my degree subject, I always knew that it would include some geographical element… African Studies seemed to be a sort of enhanced degree in that it was everything I loved about Geography but with a lot more focus. Also I loved the idea of contrasting lectures…

Teaching and Learning

Students are provided with guidance and welfare support at a range of University-wide and Department-wide levels.
The main levels in operation are:

Personal Tutors

Each undergraduate student is assigned a Personal Tutor for each year. Tutors are there to discuss students' progress and to offer help and advice when necessary. It is a University requirement that tutors meet with their tutees at least once a semester (and twice in the first semester in the case of first-year undergraduates). But you don't need to wait for a formal appointment: you are encouraged to contact your tutor whenever you need help or advice.

The Welfare Officer liases with Personal Tutors, the SSCS, the EISU, and students. However, most routine and minor welfare problems are dealt with by the Personal Tutors. In the case of students living in Halls of Residence, Hall Tutors are another valuable source of advice and support.

Dissertation Supervisors

All final-year Single Honours (SH) students must write a Dissertation, and Joint Honours (JH) students may also do so. A Supervisor is assigned to each student writing a Dissertation

Employability

What can I do with an African Studies degree?

The short answer here is ... "anything that you can do with any other arts or social science degree."
Check out the blogs of former CWAS students:

You may think your best bet, from an employment point of view, is to do a vocational course. But this isn’t necessarily so. Recent reports show that students with humanities and art degrees have roughly the same success rate in the job market as those with degrees in business studies, engineering, and design. Among the humanities, arts and social sciences degrees you could do, African Studies has the advantage of being a bit special. You stand out from the crowd. Our graduates have shown themselves to be employable in lots of fields. And about 25% of them enjoy their studies so much that they go on to acquire additional higher qualifications in a wide range of fields, both at Birmingham and elsewhere.

Some of our students decide to put their knowledge about Africa to work while they are still doing their degrees. The Centre of West African Studies is very proud that many CWAS students have been involved in founding and supporting the NGO Challenge Africa|  .

Recent examples of the career paths of recent African Studies graduates include:

Bank management, teaching, civil service (admin), Foreign Office, NGO work in Kurdistan, retail management,  work with adults who have learning disabilities,  aid work with Save the Children,  research with Amnesty International, probation work, officer in the Parachute Regiment, welfare rights worker, EFL teaching, computer programmer, BBC radio producer and BBC World Service correspondent.