Who is this programme for?
The degree is suitable for students with an interest in anthropological approaches to diverse aspects of tourism as a cultural force in the contemporary world, from sustainable development to cultural heritage. Our students come from all over the world, following BA study, a masters degree in another field, or work and travel experience. This combination of diverse backgrounds and skills creates a uniquely stimulating intellectual environment. Many of our graduates go on to a PhD; others pursue careers in research and consulting; NGOs; museums and other cultural institutions; travel-writing; alternative tourism enterprises; and government agencies.
The SOAS MA Anthropology of Travel and Tourism enables students to pursue specialist interests in global voluntary mobility while gaining advanced training in social and cultural anthropology in a world-leading department. Combining a rigorous set of core courses with options to suit each student’s unique interests, the programme is designed to accommodate students with or without a prior degree in Social Anthropology.
Students will develop expertise in anthropological theory and practice; learn to undertake ethnographic research; and gain comprehensive grounding in the anthropological study of travel and tourism, including issues of development, political economy, cultural change, heritage, cross-cultural encounter, representation and meaning, space and place, commodification, and interconnections between diverse histories and cultures of travel worldwide.
Tourism is not only a culturally and historically shaped form of travel, but a complex social field that spans the globe, comprised of diverse actors, institutions, activities, and modes of interaction that overlap with and cross-cross other forms of global interconnection. As a whole, it comprises the world's largest industry and the single greatest peacetime factor moving people around the globe.
Both a manifestation and a medium of globalisation, tourism has profound significance in multiple realms of human life—economic, environmental, material, social, and cultural. This makes it an ideal lens through which to explore core themes in contemporary social anthropology, such as identity and alterity, political economy, development, heritage, locality, representation, imagination, commodification, and the global circulation of people, objects, ideas, images, and capital.
The MA programme draws upon:
the emerging body of theoretically sophisticated, ethnographically rich work involving tourism and travel;
a thorough grounding in the history and contemporary theoretical trends of social-cultural anthropology;
close engagement with noted and rising scholars in the field, via the programme's Colloquium Series in the Anthropology of Tourism and Travel, as well as opportunities for informal dialogue with visiting anthropologists and sociologists of tourism;
other areas of expertise in the Department of Anthropology, including anthropology of development, migration and diaspora, museums and material culture, anthropology of food, global religious movements, anthropology of media, human rights, and anthropology of globalisation;
the unparalleled concentration of area expertise among SOAS' academic staff, covering Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, together with their diasporas;
the opportunity to engage with numerous other units at SOAS, such as the Centre for Migration and Diaspora Studies, the Food Studies Centre, and the Centre for Media Studies, among many others; and
the vibrant intellectual and cultural life of the School, the University of London, and the city of London itself—a global tourist destination inviting study on a daily basis.
Dissertation in Anthropology and Sociology - 15PANC999 (1.0 unit). This is a 10,000 word dissertation on a topic approved by the Director of Studies and the candidate’s supervisor.
Additionally all MA Anthropology students 'audit' the course Ethnographic Research Methods during term 1. This will not count towards the 4 unit total.
Theoretical Approaches to Social Anthropology - 15PANC008 (1.0 unit). This is compulsory only for students without a previous anthropology degree.
Students choose their remaining unit (or two units if exempted from Theoretical Approaches to Social Anthropology) from the Options course list. Contact the Director of Studies for a list of currently preapproved options.
Popular options for the MA Anthropology of Travel and Tourism include Perspectives on Development, African and Asian Diasporas in the Modern World, Anthropology of Globalisation, Issues in the Anthropology of Film, Issues in the Anthropology of Gender, and any of our courses on culture and society of different world regions. While these are common options, they are not required, and students are encouraged to locate courses both within and outside the department that speak to their interests.
A language course taken for credit in the Faculty of Languages and Cultures may also be included.
As each student's interests are unique, other relevant courses at SOAS may be selected under guidance from the Director of Studies and subject to approval.
Courses without a "15PANxxxx" course code are taught outside of the Anthropology Department. No more than 1 unit in total of these courses may be selected.
Your 1 or 2 total units may be made up of any combination of 0.5 or 1 unit option courses.
Evening Colloquium Series:
The programme also includes the biweekly Colloquium Series in the Anthropology of Tourism and Travel, with visiting speakers -- noted and rising scholars in the anthropology and sociology of tourism, many of them coming from outside the UK -- who present their current research and discuss it at length with the group.
Language Entitlement Programme:
Many students choose to pursue language study through the SOAS Language Entitlement Programme (LEP). Languages normally available include Arabic, Chinese, French, Hebrew, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swahili, Turkish and Urdu. Others may also be offered.
Anthropology of Travel and Tourism - 15PANC098 (1 Unit) - Full Year
Dissertation in Anthropology and Sociology - 15PANC999 (1 Unit) - Full Year
Theoretical Approaches to Social Anthropology - 15PANC008 (1 Unit) - Full Year
Department of Anthropology
African and Asian Cultures in Britain - 15PANH009 (0.5 Unit) - Term 2
African and Asian Diasporas in the Modern World - 15PANH010 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1
Anthropological approaches to agriculture, food and nutrition - 15PANH053 (0.5 Unit) - Term 2
Anthropology of Globalisation (PG) - 15PANH061 (0.5 Unit) - Term 2
Anthropology of Human Rights (PG) - 15PANH058 (0.5 Unit) - Term 2 - Not Running 2016/2017
Anthropology of Law - 15PANH056 (0.5 Unit) - Term 2
Anthropology of Urban Space, Place and Architecture - 15PANH029 (0.5 Unit) - Term 2 - Not Running 2016/2017
Comparative Media Theory - 15PANH028 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1
Culture and Society of East Africa - 15PANC084 (1.0 Unit)
Culture and Society of China - 15PANC089 (1.0 Unit)
Culture and Society of Japan - 15PANC086 (1.0 Unit)
Culture and Society of the Near and Middle East - 15PANC097 (1.0 Unit)
Culture and Society of South Asia - 15PANC087 (1.0 Unit)
Culture and Society of South East Asia - 15PANC088 (1.0 Unit)
Culture and Society of West Africa - 15PANC083 (1.0 Unit)
Directed Practical Study in the Anthropology of Tourism - 15PANH060 (0.5 Unit) - Full Year
Ethnographic Research Methods - 15PANH002 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1
Issues in Mind, Culture and Psychiatry - 15PANH032 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1
Issues in the Anthropology of Film - 15PANH022 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1
Issues in the Anthropology of Gender - 15PANH024 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1
Media Production Skills - 15PANH050 (0.5 Unit) - Term 2
Therapy and Culture - 15PANH027 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1
Courses in other departments
A wide range of courses can be approved for the degree on a case-by-case basis. All students should meet with the programme convenor before selecting courses.
Students may choose to study any language offered at SOAS that is normally available to students taking one of the taught masters programs.
Teaching & Learning
The learning environments making up the MA programme in Anthropology of Travel and Tourism run the gamut from lecture halls to intimate seminar rooms, suiting a wide range of learning styles. Study a language; take a course (or two) in anthropology of human rights, development, globalisation, religion, or gender, among many others; choose a course in another department that catches your interest and contributes to your dissertation plans, from world music to development studies.
The academic staff in the Department of Anthropology are dynamic, experienced teachers who are widely recognised for their expertise and enjoy working directly with students. Renowned scholars from other institutions also come to share their knowledge: nearly every day of the week, the SOAS Anthropology Department has a public lecture series running, including series in the general Social Anthropology, Anthropology of Food, Migration and Diaspora Studies, and, of course, Anthropology of Tourism and Travel.
In addition to these formal settings for learning, our students also learn from one another. Hailing from around the globe and bringing diverse life experiences to bear on their studies, all MA students in the Department of Anthropology can take courses together, making it a rich environment for intellectual exchange. Students also benefit from campus-wide programmes, clubs, study groups, and performances.
Many students in the MA Anthropology of Travel and Tourism opt for hands-on learning via the half-unit Directed Practical Study in Anthropology of Tourism course, with placements in leading UK-based NGOs like Equality in Tourism and Tourism Concern, among others, as well as in private tour operator firms, providing background material for future research.
While students in the MA Anthropology of Travel and Tourism may take a language course for credit, all SOAS MA students, regardless of department or degree, are also entitled to register for non-credit free courses in a single language through the Language Entitlement Programme (LEP). Languages normally available include Arabic, Chinese, French, Hebrew, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swahili, Turkish and Urdu. Others may also be offered.
Pre Entry Reading
All incoming students will be expected to have read at least two of the following. These are paperbacks written for newcomers to the discipline, widely available used online and relatively affordable to purchase new.
*Erikson, Thomas Hylland. What is Anthropology? Pluto Press, 2004.
*Hendry, Joy and Simon Underdown. Anthropology: A Beginner's Guide. Oneworld, 2012.
*Erikson, Thomas Hylland. Small Places, Large Issues: An Introduction to Social and Cultural Anthropology, 4th ed. Pluto Press, 2015. (*3rd edition also ok)
*Hendry, Joy. An Introduction to Social Anthropology: Sharing Our Worlds. Palgrave, 2008.
Further readings in anthropological theory and method:
*Agar, Michael. The Professional Stranger: An Informal Introduction to Ethnography, 2nd ed. Emerald Group Publishing, 2008.
*Gay y Blasco, Paloma and Huon Wardle. How to Read Ethnography. Routledge, 2006.
*Rapport, Nigel and Joanna Overing. Social and Cultural Anthropology: The Key Concepts, 3rd ed. Routledge, 2015. (*2nd edition also ok)